Gustin Doubles Up at Donnellson

Although I was on hand for both nights of action at the Fall Extravaganza at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, I must confess that I spent too much time visiting and not enough time note taking, so this column will be too short on details. But I will say that it was two amazing nights of racing even though other commitments caused me to leave early both nights. On Friday night, grandson Peyton joined me, as nearly 160 cars signed in for the action. With the added completion of the IMCA sport mod feature which was rained out with four laps in the books on August 19, 32 races were on the docket for Friday. Jim Gillenwater was the leader when that race was halted, and when action resumed, he was basically unchallenged in picking up the win. Following that, 19 heat races and four B mains events set the field for the seven regular feature races, with a micro mod/mod lite combo class a late addition to the program. Josh May was a runaway winner in the 12 car division to start off feature racing. Next up was the Lee County late model 25 lap finale. In an attempt to boost the car count, and in a continuing pledge to even the playing field, IMCA late model legal cars were allowed to run with no restrictions other than running their approved IMCA tire. Earlier attempts to blend in the spec engine cars with various restrictions had shown the IMCA guys to be at a disadvantage, however the cars were much more even this time around. A nice group of 17 cars checked in to challenge for the $1,000 top prize, and with the " silly season " in full swing," there were some driver changes throughout the weekend. Richie Gustin, who was on hand for the first night of late models in his own #19G, was behind the wheel of the Justin Kay # 15K. In a preview if 2017, Jeremiah Hurst abandoned his familiar #41 to pilot the Roberts Racing #58, replacing the now retired Ray Guss Jr. And Jay Chenoweth was driving the # 6D Doug Nigh machine. Luke Merfeld made the trip down from Dubuque, Iowa to capture the first heat win in his IMCA #21M, and he jumped to the lead over heat two winner Chad Holladay in his IMCA #32C. On the fifth lap, Merfeld suddenly veered into the turn three guardrail, ending his run with an obviously broken race car. On the Delaware restart, third running Gustin shot to the lead ahead of Holliday, track champion Tommy Elston, and Hurst. The next caution came on lap 13, as rookie late model driver Blake Woodruff # W30 nailed the turn one guardrail. But nothing would deter Gustion, who used strong speed off the corners to pick up the win. Holladay ran second ahead of Elston, Hurst, and LCS regular Todd Frank. The second five saw Sam Halstead leading the pack over second generation driver, the vastly improved Gunner Frank, Chenoweth, Charles Vanzandt and Lynn Richard in his second night back from retirement. IMCA stock car racing is always second to none at Lee County, and Friday did not disappoint. 24 cars took the green flag, and although young Cayden Carter took the win from row one, it was far from a cake walk. Mike Hughes is one of the top stock car pilots in the state of Iowa, smooth and fast, and he stalked Carter for 20 laps. The win came down to a drag race off turn four, with Hughes coming up just short at the checkers. Track champion Jeff Mueller was setting in third looking for an opening that never came. John Oliver Jr and Kirk Kinsley completed the top five. Although the show moved along nicely with only a few breaks for track prep as the crew tried to keep the tacky surface as wide as possible, it was now on the wrong side of 11:00, and Peyton and I had an early morning commitment at church, so we regretfully packed up and head for the car. We had seen 27 races, with four features still to go! Justin Lichty topped the hobby stocks, Josh Barnes edged Kimberly Abbott in the sport compacts, Michael Long topped Gustin, who competed in three classes, in the modifieds, and Jared Boumeester captured the sport mod finale. For more on these features, check out Jeff Broegs Backstretch column. For those who are wondering, my unofficial report was that the UMP modifieds of Long and David Weitholder had to add a chip to their engines to run with the mods, as UMP and USRA cars were invited to participate. Saturday nigh the action started two hours earlier, with hot laps at 5:00. I counted something close to 139 cars for night two, with temperatures about 20 degrees warmer than Friday! Only eleven micro mod\mod lites checked in, with their 15 lap main event running ahead of the IMCA mod B-mains. Again it was May with the easy win, as he swept the weekend. The late models were up next, with the car count down to 13. The only newcomer was Quad City racer Chuck Hanna in his sharp red #65. After damaging his ride on Friday, Blake Woodruff climbed in Brian Woodruffs # 1, and Brain Harris came out of retirement to pilot the #26 Richard machine. This car was one the Harris had driven for Richard, and apparently had been sold then bought back by Lynn. Richie Gustin had picked up the second hit win, drew the outside pole position for the feature, and took off from there. While Gunner Frank ducked to the infield on the parade lap, the first caution came on lap five. Harris had been challenging for the lead when he spun off of turn two, collecting Holladay. The night was over for Chad, while Harris rejoined the field at the tail. On the restart, Elston grabbed the runner up spot, and it quickly became a two car race. Elston on several occasions grabbed the lead coming off turn two, but Gustin had too much speed down the straightaway. The race stayed green for the rest of the 25 laps, with Gustin completing the weekend sweep. Elston added a second place run to his third on Friday, with Halstead out racing Hurst for third. Jeff Guengerich recovered for a DNF on Friday to take fifth. Hanna finished sixth in his first visit to LCS ahead of Harris, Todd Frank, Chenoweth, Woodruff, and rookie Pat Gordin. It would not be an overstatement to say that the IMCA stock car feature was the best race I have seen in 47 nights of racing in 2016. John Oliver Jr and Mike Hughes had been locked in a ferocious battle two weeks prior at Memphis,Mo. that ended with the tow drivers bringing out a caution sending both to the back. But on this night, no such bad luck occurred. The two veteran battled back and forth, swapping the lead, swapping grooves when needed, and trading paint more than once. Oliver preferred the low line, as did Hughes, but both used the high side as needed. As those two battled it out, there were at least four other cars within striking distance looking for racing room. With the crowd roaring, Oliver took the win, and he was more than excited to say the least. Hughes settled for second for the second night in a row. Johnny Spaw picked his way to third, while Cayden Carter, who actually had the lead briefly, came home fourth ahead of David Brandies and Jeff Mueller. Dustin Griffiths captured the hobby stock main event, besting an eight car field. Logan Anderson was more than excited with his win in the sport mod class, nosing up against the front stretch guardrail to treat the crowd to a dirt track burnout after holding off Oliver Jr. and Brayton Carter. Barry Taft powered his way to the win in the sport compact division. With four laps remaining, during a caution period, sprinkles began to fall. Even though it was only a little past nine, the combination of possible rain and a short night on Friday sent me towards the car. Checking the results, I see Kyle Brown topped Long for the modified win, wrapping up a great two days of racing. Next weekend, action resumes with tow complete shows at the Scotland County Fairgrounds in Memphis,Mo. Five classes will do battle on Friday, with the late models added on Saturday. Then in two weeks, the final race in Iowa for 2016 will be Shiverfest back at the Lee County Speedway on Saturday, October 29. I hope to make both Saturday shows, and I hope to see you there!