Superman Flies in Donnellson Win

   "Superman" Sam Halstead turned an outside row one start into a flag to flag win in the 20 lap late model finale Friday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. Halstead is always at his best on a dry slick track, and he was able to hold off the persistent challenges of Tommy Elston to pick up his second win of the season. The only caution period of the race came at the end of lap one, when Chase Frank, Todd Frank, and Darin Weisinger Jr. were involved in a turn four tangle, ending the night for Todd Frank. For most of the 20 laps, Halstead ran a middle groove, while Elston tried to use the inside line . Several times Tommy was able to show his nose coming through turns three and four, but Sam was better in turns one and two. Jeff Guengerich picked up the heat race win, then won a battle with Ron Boyse to come home a distant third in the feature. Vance Wilson completed the top five, followed by Brandon Queen and Weisinger Jr., as Chase and Todd Frank sat in their disabled rides in the infield.
  Feature racing began with a 14 lap IMCA sport compact event. All but one of the ten cars on hand took the feature green. Outside pole sitter Mike Reu and Kimberly Abbott, who started outside row two ran side by side for the first two laps before Abbott put her #71 out front on the third circuit. Point leader Barry Taft moved up to challenge Reu by lap five, taking over the second spot one lap later. By now Abbott had a sizable lead, and the battle on the track was between visiting Darin Smith and Brandon Reu for fourth. With no yellow flags to stop the action, Kimberly cruised to the win, leading Taft and Mike Reu, with Smith narrowly edging out Brandon Reu for the fourth position.
   The IMCA sport mods turned out the largest car count, with 20 entries, and all but one lined up for 18 laps of action. Austen Becerra jumped to the early lead ahead of Austin Howes, but the caution came out as third starting Daniel Fellows made contact with the tractor tire in turn four, resulting in a complete restart with Fellows now at the tail. On the second try, Becerra was followed by Adam Birck when the caution again came out for John Renier, also in turn four. Surprisingly, another complete restart was ordered. Attempt number three saw Becerra lead Bob Cowman across the stripe as yellow number three waved for Kyle Hamilton. This time, the lap was scored complete. So one lap, three cautions... Becerra again powered to the lead, and Birck charged to the runner up spot. Fellows had managed to gain a couple rows off the tail, and began to move through the pack. A half dozen laps clicked off before another yellow slowed the action, but Becerra kept his new hot rod out front. With only a pair of laps remaining, Howes and Brandon Dale made contact while battling for third, with both retiring to the pits. Birck took one final shot at the leader, but could not make the pass, as Becerra scored a marathon ( 22 minute ) flag to flag win. Sean Wyett took third place honors, while Brandyn Ryan was strong in fourth. Fellows came back to score a top five finish.
   Beau Taylor started inside row two and led the opening lap of the IMCA stock car 20 lapper. Jeremy Pundt came from row three to second on lap two and began to work on Taylor. One lap later, seventh starting John Oliver Jr. entered the top three. The leaders continued to "catfish" around the inside line of the slickening track. Meanwhile, fourth running Jason Cook jumped out of line to try a higher line in turns three and four, but soon fell back in line after failing to overtake Oliver. With seven laps remaining, Oliver was able to stick his nose under Pundt, taking over the second spot. Five laps later, as Taylor began to push up a bit off turn four, Oliver used the same move to take the lead. As the white flag waved, Taylor and Pundt were side by side, but again the handling seemed to be going away for Beau, and Jeremy took command of the runner up spot. Cook and Chad Krogmeier completed the top five in the non stop event.
   305 sprint cars were a mid week addition to the card and a dozen signed in for the action. Daniel Bergquist was unable to take the green flag, pulling off on the parade lap. Joe Simbro paced the opening circuit, with Brayden Gaylord in second. Joe Laue took over the second spot on lap two, then moved to the front one lap later. Laue pulled out to a nice lead, but soon Mason Campbell and Harold Pohren began to run down the leader. Suddenly, as the leaders came through turn four, Campbell appeared to lose power and attempted to pull to the infield. At the same time, Pohren tried to duck under the #11C, resulting in a collision, with Pohren taking a soft roll. Both challengers were done for the night. On the restart, Gaylord took the top spot. One more stoppage came just before the halfway mark of the 20 lapper, but Gaylord had no issues the rest of the way, racing out to a comfortable margin. Bailey Goldesberry, the up and coming teenage female competitor from Springfield,Il. used a late race pass to score runner up honors. Laue settled for third, besting Jarrod Schneiderman and Dave Getchell.
  The IMCA modifieds had a nice turnout of 17 cars, with all but one starting the 20 lap main event. Mitch Boles paced lap one ahead of Jeff Waterman, with the caution coming out for Dustin Crear. Waterman grabbed the lead on the restart, taking along Dean McGee. Jarrett Brown made the trip to LCS on Friday, started in the eighth slot and rolled past McGee for second on lap six. As the crossed flags waved to mark halfway, Colby Springsteen entered the top three. Brown began to make up ground on the leader, especially in turns three and four on the now very slick surface. With five trips past the flag stand remaining, Brown got a nose under Waterman, setting up a two car shootout. As the "two to go" signal was given, Brown used a diamond move in turns three and four to overtake the leader. He then held on for his first win at the 3/8 mile speedway. Waterman came home second ahead of Springsteen and McGee. John Oliver Jr. scored a ride in the Dennis Laveine #71, drove a conservative race, and crossed the line in fifth.
  With the late models again running last, the final checkers waved just after 10:30. Next Friday night at the track will be the rescheduled Fan Appreciation Night, with $5.00 adult admission.
  The forecast looks a bit iffy, but I am hoping to spend Sunday night at Quincy Raceways for a regular night of racing.
  Thanks for reading!