Saturday Night Racing in Donnellson

 Heavy rains throughout Iowa cancelled racing just about everywhere in the state on Friday night. In fact, there was so much rain that 34 Raceway in West Burlington pulled the plug on their Saturday night show on Friday afternoon. So the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson took the bold step of moving their 305 sprint car special to Saturday night. Also in action were the five regular classes, although they were run as non point events due to the change in race nights. The decision turned out to be a good one, with the pits packed with just under 100 race cars, and one of the best crowds of the 2018 season on hand. Due to all the rain, track conditions were not the best, but the crew worked hard all night to keep the surface as smooth as possible.
  Hot laps rolled off right on time at 7:00, and we actually had a few minutes of down time waiting to get close to the advertised race time of 7:30.
  Following heat race action and a dash for the sprints, the track took a rare intermission to continue to work on the track.
  It was soon feature time, and the IMCA sport mods were up first, with all but one of the 19 on hand taking the green flag for 16 laps of action. Ron Kibbe took the early lead, with pressure from visiting Levi Layman. Layman took over the top spot as the duo crossed the line to complete lap five. One lap later, Daniel Fellows charged to second. The caution flag flew on lap eight for debris, and fifth running Brandon Lennox headed to the pits. Fellows powered to the lead on the restart and opened a big lead before one more yellow waved with two laps to go. Contact on the restart saw Layman lose several spots. When the checkers flew, it was Fellows with the win ahead of Austen Becerra, Brandon Dale, and Kibbe.
  Again, all but one of the 13 IMCA stock cars lined up for 16 laps of racing. David Brandies rolled off from the pole to pace the opening lap, with Dean Kratzer and John Oliver Jr. in pursuit. Kratzer jumped out front on the next lap, holding on as Oliver moved to second on lap five, pulling Jason Cook along in third. Those two raced side by side until Oliver took command of second, then took the lead on the low side on lap eight, Cook taking second. As Oliver and Cook ran side by side for the lead, the yellow came out with three laps remaining. Kratzer had been running several laps with a broken left front, and his car finally gave up in a cloud of smoke. On the restart, Oliver pulled away from the pack. Brandies third place run ended as he slowed on the final circuit. It was Oliver with the win over Cook, Jeremy Pundt, and Corey Strothman.
  IMCA modifieds, 15 strong,  were up next for 18 laps. A first corner mixup sent second row starter Bill Roberts Jr. home early. Polesitter Bruce Hanford jumped to the early lead, as Jeff Waterman followed in second. Joined by race director Mike VanGenderen, who brought his #57V to the track on this non points night, it became a three car scramble. Meanwhile, Steve Stewart was looking to enter the fray, advancing to third on lap ten and second three laps later. As he began to work on the leader, Stewart spun in turn four, bringing out the caution. Back under green, Van Genderen took over second, and when Waterman got crossed up, he was tagged by fourth place Colby Springsteen, ending the night for both drivers. As Hanford opened a big lead, Stewart charged back to fourth before suddenly ducking into the infield. It was the veteran Hanford leading all 18 laps in front of VanGenderen, Dakota Simmons, and Mitch Boles.
  All 17 305 sprint cars took the green flag for 20 laps of action. John Schulz led the first go around, but it was Ryan Jamison out front when lap two was scored, courtesy of a turn four slide job. Tanner Gebhardt was in second as the yellow came out on lap four.
With the sprints restarting single file, Jamison opened a commanding lead, working smoothly and efficiently through lapped traffic. One more caution period came with eight laps to go when the nose wing came off the Gebhardt ride. Still he was able to keep all four wheels on the ground, as he finished a distant second to Jamison. Schulz and Harold Pohren rounded out the top four. Jamison collected a cool $1,000 for the win while  celebrating his 50th birthday!
  One dozen crate late models signed in, and they were out next for 20 laps. Sam Halstead was the polesitter, and he led third starting Todd Frank for lap one. On the next circuit, the yellow waved for debris. Back to action, Tommy Elston slipped past Frank for the runner up spot, and he took the high line around Halstead on lap four. As Elston began to widen his margin, Jay Johnson entered the top three on lap seven, and next time by the flag stand you could have thrown a blanket over Halstead, Johnson, Frank, and Jeff Guengerich. Johnson won the race for second just after the halfway mark. As Jay tried to make up ground, Elston opened a straightaway lead. At the same time, there was an intense battle for third. Guengerich took the spot on lap 18. At the checkers, it was Elston with his second feature win at LCS this season. Johnson took runner up honors, followed by Guengerich, Halstead, and Frank. Tim Simpson made his LCS debut in sixth, leading last weeks winner Ron Boyse, Clint Kirkham, Darrin Weisinger Jr., and Brandon Queen. Two time winner Gunner Frank and Aric Becker, who was involved in a heat race collision with Kirkham, retired early.
  Getting the races done early is a trademark of the Lee County Speedway. However, with the abundance of cars and all the extra track work necessary to keep the heavy surface raceable, it was now almost 11:00. Having hit the pillow at 3:00 AM Saturday morning, we two old timers decided to head for the parking lot as the 21 car IMCA sport compact finale was getting set to run. I can report that Barry Taft topped Kimberly Abbott for the win.
  It was in many ways like old times at Donnellson, Saturday night racing with lots of cars and lots of fans. There has been a lot of talk lately about the future of weekly racing in general, but for at least one time, the sport we love looked healthy, indeed.
  I am now preparing for race night number four in five days as I head for Sunday night racing at Quincy Raceways. A reminder to late model fans that 305 sprints will no longer be in the rotation at Quincy, with UMP Pro Crate late models topping the bill every week, except for July 8 when the UMP Summernational super late models come to town, and during the September 16 visit by the Sprint Invaders.
  Thanks for reading!