Woodworh,Waterman,Cook,Dunker,Fellows Post Wins at Donnellson

The weather was nearly perfect Friday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, and A large, enthusiastic crowd was on hand. Free Passes from B&B Propane and Jet Gas helped to swell the crowd, and the racing action should be enough to make new fans want to come back! Hot laps started promptly at 7:00 and concluded at 7:20, creating a ten minute delay before the advertised race time. If only all tracks operated this way... The car count was a bit light in all classes, but the eight heat races ran off in just 35 minutes. There was some action in the UMP Pro late model heats. In the first eight lapper, Derek Liles looped his ride in an apparently somewhat slippery turn two, and was hit by 14 year old Chase Frank, sending both to the pits. In the second heat, Derek Sammons backed his # 22 hard into the guard rail between turns one and two, ending his run in the event. After an intermission when drivers came through he stands, helmet in hand to take donations for a fireworks display later this month, it was feature time. All IMCA sport compacts except Travis Demint, who also scratched from his heat, started the 15 lap main event. Ron Kibbe paced the opening circuit, with Daniel Fellows in pursuit. Lap two saw Brandon Reu move up to challenge Fellows for second. By the fourth trip around, it was Kibbe and Fellows side by side for the lead. Fellows took over on lap five with Barry Taft moving in to battle with Kibbe. Fellows opened a commanding lead, with the race now a three car duel for fourth through sixth. With the white flag poised to wav, Kimberly Abbott, who was in that battle, clipped one of the tractor tires, spinning to bring out the only caution of the race. On the restart, Kibbe, now in fourth, could not get up to speed, ending his good run. With the green, white, checkers finish, a three wide duel developed for the lead. Taft took control, and grabbed the win. Fellows crossed the stripe in second, ahead of Brandon Reu, Brandon Lambert, and Darin Weisinger Jr. Ten IMCA stock cars came to the 3/8 mile oval for 18 laps. Heat winner Jason Cook jumped from row two for the lap one lead, with John Oliver Jr. advancing from row three to second. Meanwhile, Jeremy Pundt and Abe Huls battled for third. The caution waved on lap seven as Scott Jordon smacked the guardrail. Back under green, the leaders hugged the low line, while fourth running Huls and fifth place Jason See tried the high line. By lap ten, Huls had advanced to second, and See to third. But three laps later, Huls suddenly slowed, and Oliver Jr contacted the turn four guardrail. Now it was See running the low line in second, while Pundt moved to the middle line to challenge for the spot. In the closing circuits, those two ran side by side behind Cook. When the checkers waved, it was Cook, Pundt, See, and a resurgent Huls holding off Oliver Jr. Matt Strassheim and heat one winner Denny Woodworth lined up in row onw for the eleven car, 20 lap late model feature. After a false start, Strassheim was scored the leader as a three car scrum brought out the caution at the end of the first lap. Todd Frank moved up to challenge Strassheimm on the restart, and the two veterans were side by side as lap three was scored. Frank paced lap four through six, with Strassheim, Woodworth, and Sam Halstead in a breakaway. Woodworth took over the top spot on lap seven, as Frank suddenly pulled out. On the same lap, son Gunner Frank, age 16, made contact with the guardrail, bringing out the yellow. Back to racing, Todd rejoined the tail of the field for one lap, before going back to the pits. Tommy Elston was now third after starting eighth. On lap ten, Sammons spun in turn four, and a combination of issues with the caution caused Woodworth to slide into the stalled Sammons. Although the # 45DW suffered heavy body damage, the performance of the car was not affected. The race then stayed green to the end. Woodworth picked up his third LCS win of 2017, followed by Halstead, Elston, Jeff Guengerich, and Bandon Savage in fifth. Chase Frank and Liles completed the cars running at the checkers. Dugan Thye led the eleven car IMCA modified field through a firdt lap caution. Dennis Laveine moved to the runner up slot on lap two, as Jeff Waterman bounced off the turn four fence, falling from fourth to eighth. By the seventh trip past the flagstand, Waterman had rebounded to third, and one lap later he powered his # 71W to second. It was one more lap before he took the lead, with a a good battle for spots two through five developed. Chris Zogg had finished second the week before, and had been running mid pack, when he suddenly caught fire. With the laps winding down, he pulled a dandy move, threading the needle between a pair of cars in turn four to move to second. A caution bunched the pack with two laps remaining, but Waterman was equal to the challenge, picking up the win over Zogg, Dakota Simmons, Laviene, and Thye. Wrapping up the program was 18 laps of IMCA sport compact racing for the ten cars signed in. after a false start, row tow starter Jim Gillenwater topped the first lap followed by two class racer John Oliver Jr. Tony Dunker and Vance Wilson, who started the season in a late model, soon joined the leaders before a lap four caution. Back under green, Dunker charged to the lead, settling into the middle groove, while Wilson used the cushion to take third on lap six. Oliver then rebounded to third on the top side of the tack, and we soon had a three car battle for second , with Oliver running high, Wilson in the middle, and Gillenwater in his patented low groove. As Dunker stretched his margin, Oliver and Wilson ran side by side as Gillenwater faded back. Wilson and Oliver dueled lap after lap before John took the spot on lap 15, as the final yellow waved. Although Dunker saw his big lead wiped out, he was able to hold serve to the checkers for the win. Wison regained the runner up spot ahead of Oliver Jr, Brandon Dale, and Blaine Webster. I did not check my watch at the checkers, but when I started mt car to head home, the clock read 9:56, with a great night of action in the rear view mirror! Next up is mid season champion ship night Sunday at Quincy Raceways, with all six regular classes now on the card following the addition of the UMP Pro late models. Ken Dobson, the front man for promotion group Clitrak announced on Saturday that the group will not be back at QR in 2018, so we will see what the future holds for the storied facility. Until then, scheduled racing will continue as is, with a July 3 visit by the UMP Summernationals. As more information develops, I will keep everyone informed. Thanks for reading!