Another Beautiful Night at Donnellson

While cranky Mother Nature wiped out racing in most of eastern Iowa, the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson escaped with comfortable temps and a gorgeous sunset. Between the rainouts and the addition of the Sprint Invaders and vintage cars, the pits were jammed with race cars. A total of 18 heat races, including three for the 11 vintage cars, A sprint B-main and shake up dash set the stage for feature racing, with no intermission needed or taken. First up was the 15 lapper for the IMCA sport compacts. All 20 cars took the green, with outstanding rookie Daniel Fellows jumping to the lead from row two. With Brandon Lambert in hot pursuit, those two broke away from the pack. On the fifth lap, Lambert found his way to the lead. Meanwhile the father son duo of Mike and Brandon Reu raced side by side, lap after lap for third. Barry Taft had issues in his heat race, forcing him to start in row nine, but he quickly charged to seventh. With no caution periods, Taft was forced to settle in behind the leaders. Lambert held on for the win, followed by Fellows, Mike Reu, Brandon Reu, and Kimberly Abbott. All but one of the 15 IMCA stock cars rolled out of staging for their 18 lap main event. Jim Remon grabbed the lead from row one. with Dean Kratzer on his bumper. Jason Cook was an also ran in his heat race, but powered quickly to third. Following a lap six caution and a Delaware restart, John Oliver Jr. took fourth, and one lap later, Cook took the lead. The front pair put some distance on the field, while Shane Paris and Kratzer battled for third. Cook was running the low line, while Oliver ran the top side., and with five laps to go, it was a side by side duel. Oliver edged ahead at the line with three to go, but Cook fought back down the backstretch. Oliver was ahead by a nose as the white flag waved, and he also won the drag race out of turn four to the checkers by inches. Paris came home third ahead of Jeremy Pundt and Redmon. The preliminary events whittled the 27 car 360 sprint field to 20 for the 25 lap feature. Future sprint car Hall of Famer Terry McCarl was a surprise entrant, and he showed his special talent by winning his heat and the shake up dash. Curiously, to me at least, the Invaders put the top two finishers from the three heats in the dash, but it seems to be meaningless, as the winner, instead of earning the pole position for the feature, then draws for his spot. McCarl drew a six, putting him outside, row three. Jamie Ball jumped to the early lead, opening a sizable lead running the high line, before encountering slower traffic by lap six. Chris Martin was now closing on Ball, while McCarl had moved quickly to third, and was biding his time there. The only yellow of the race came on the tenth circuit, but the single file restart saw no changes up front. Randy Martin appeared to be the fastest car for a few laps after the restart, as he moved to fourth. Meanwhile, McCarl was searching for a line lower on the track as the leader pounded the cushion. Traffic again became a factor just past the half way mark, with the younger Martin and McCarl closing in on Ball, with McArl finding a line to take second. The leaders were running next to and sometimes touching the guardrail, but when Ball bobbled slightly with three to go, McCarl drove around for the lead, and the sweep of his events. Ball settled for second, followed by the Martins, Chris and Randy. The UMP Pro Crate late models were up next for 20 laps, with Tommy Elston drawing the pole position next to Sam Halstead. Tommy jumped to a large lead followed by " Superman " Sam, with seventh starting Denny Woodworth moving to fourth behind Jeff Guengerich on lap three. While Elston had a big lead, Halstead put distance between himself and Guengerich before a lap nine caution for Chase Frank. The Delaware restart saw Guengerich take second, but the caution waved one lap later when Brandon Savage and Brian Crebo got together between turns one and two. Back under green, Elston again pulled away, while Guengerich and Woodworth locked into a side by side battle for second. Lap 13 saw Todd Frank spin in the same corner, with son Gunner Frank taking evasive action to avoid Dad. Unfortunately, Brandon Ruffcorn in his first night out this season, got the worst of the deal, suffering race ending front end damage. Again Elston shot to a big lead, while the pack sliced and diced behind him. Guengerich held second, with Halstead taking third on lap 14. At the checkers, it was Elston with his first LCS win of 2017 followed by Guengerich, Halstead, Woodworth and a rebounding Todd Frank. Next came Matt Strassheim, piloting a second car from the Lynn Richard stable, which looks like the car driven two weeks prior by Greg Kastli. Savage, Gunner Frank, Crebo, and Chase Frank completed the top ten, with Ruffcorn credited with 11th. John Oliver Jr doubled up by putting the Cossell racing #15 out front from flag to flag in the IMCA sport mod feature with no serious challenges following a caution about lap seven. Tony Dunker raced his way to second, with Brandon Lennox coming home third. IMCA modifieds saw 21 cars sign in. UMP hot shoe Michael Long has added IMCA racing to his resume on occasion, and he was one of several surprised entrants on Friday. Michael showed his prowess by cruising to a heat race win, then coming from row three to nab the early lead and pick up the main event win. Hunter Marriott was unable to run down the # 18L, settling for second, followed by Colby Springsteen and Brandon Banks, as visitors dominated the class on the fast smooth 3/8 mile oval. A long day at work, and I was on the road before the vintage cars finished off the 25 event program. Sunday night, the MOWA 410 sprint cars will take center stage at Quincy Raceways along with UMP super late models, IMCA stck cars, sport mods and sport compacts, with the UMP Pro late models and UMP modifieds getting the night off. Then next weekend will kick off early as the MLRA super late models head back to the Tri State area for a three night swing, Thursday night at the super fast Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo., Friday night in Donnellson, and Saturday night at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly,Mo. Hopefully, I will be able to catch all three shows, and I hope to see you there!