Houston Worst to First at Donnellson

 By all accounts it was not a pleasant night weather wise Friday at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. But with every track within 200 miles pulling the plug, it was business as usual at the 3/8 mile oval. It was opening points night for four of the five classes on the card, as late model points will begin I believe in May, and the 305 sprints, which were originally on the schedule, had their opener moved to next Friday. There was a solid turnout of cars on such a cold evening, with 76 teams signed in, but as might have been expected, there was plenty of seating to be had in the grandstands.
 In recognition of the weather, no intermission followed the dozen heat races, with the twenty car IMCA sport compact feature rolling to the track for fifteen laps of action. Jotting down the lineup, I quickly noticed that Jacob Houston, already a two time winner this season at LCS, and a heat race winner earlier in the program was scheduled to start in row ten. As we speculated on the reason, it was announced that he had been disqualified from his heat win for a tire infraction. Meanwhile, Brandon Reu and Chuck Fullenkamp made up row one, and they ran the first pair of laps side by side even as Houston charged into the top ten. Denny Berghahn made the trip from Plattsmouth, Nebraraska, captured a heat win, started in row three, and grabbed the lead on lap three. As the race stayed green, Houston entered the top five on lap six, then charged to second on lap seven. At this point, Berghahn enjoyed about a ten car length advantage, but slower traffic was not his friend, and Houston was able to complete his run from last to first on lap eleven. The race was then a battle for second between Berghahn and Fullenkamp. With no cautions slowing the race, Houston cruised to his fourth consecutive win to open 2019. Fullenkamp won the battle for second followed by Berghahn, Barry Taft, and Reu.
  Eighteen IMCA sport mods were up next for eighteen scheduled laps. Unfortunately, yellow fever took over, with the race eventually hitting the time limit, needing a pair of green, white, checkers attempts with about fifteen laps scored. Adam Birck used his outside pole starting spot to lead the early laps ahead of Brayton Carter and row four starter Austen Becerra. With Birck hugging the low line and Carter running the middle, an entertaining duel was interrupted by a lap four caution. Back under green, Brandon Dale began a battle with Becerra, with ninth starting Sean Wyatt cracking the top five. The top two pulled slightly away from the pack, but following a lap six caution, Carter grabbed the lead, and Daniel Fellows joined the fray in fourth.  On lap nine, Dale smacked the turn four guardrail, and showed some displeasure with another car before heading to the pits. Three ( or four?) more caution periods in the next couple of laps took us to the time limit as Becerra tried to challenge Birck for second. On the first attempt at green, white, checkers, Fellows spun his #11. On the next try, Birck used the low line to pull even with Carter, but fell just inches short at the checkers. Becerra claimed third, Wyatt was fourth, and James Roose came home in fifth.
  IMCA stock cars were up next, with all but one of the thirteen competitors taking the green. Front row starters Jeremy Pundt and Michael Larsen battled side by side on the opening circuit as tenth starting Abe Huls cracked the top five. The caution waved on lap two, and as Pundt took off on the restart, a three way scrum developed for second between Jason Cook, in the 3D, Huls, and Damon Murty. The caution waved again on lap seven, and now it was Murty on the high line challenging the bottom hugging Pundt for first. As Jeremy moved slightly ahead, Huls followed in his tracks to again challenge Murty. The three car battle continued, and Huls changed his line to the high side in turns three and four, then tucking in low behind Pundt in turns one and two. Behind the leader, Cook, Huls, and Murty continued to battle, with Beau Taylor looking for racing room behind them. Pundt refused to give up the preferred low line, taking the flag to flag twenty lap win. Huls, Cook, Murty, and Taylor followed in that order.
  Ten late models signed in, with an encouraging four " rookies " in the field. Former sport compact driver Jake Dietrich was unable to make the call for the twenty lapper after he made contact with the turn two guardrail in his heat. Ray Raker and Tommy Elston redrew the front two starting spots, and raced side by side ahead of a lap two caution for debris from Rakers' #07. Brandon Queen went for a spin on the restart, but the race stayed green from that point on. Elston powered past Raker on the restart, and drove away from the field even as there was plenty of action behind him. First it was Brian Harris up to challenge for second on lap three, then fifth starting Jay Johnson cleared Harris and Raker on lap five. At the halfway mark, Port Byron, Illinois driver Chuck Hanna began to pressure Harris, even as Elston opened a full straightaway advantage. A great battle continued between Johnson, Harris, and Hanna and they crossed the line in that order behind Elston, who scored his second win of 2019. Sam Halstead completed the top five. Queen rebounded for sixth ahead of Raker, Solon, Iowa driver Stacy Griffis, and Blaire Barton, in his first night out in his #7 machine.
 As the fifteen car IMCA modified field lined up for the twenty lap finale, we three well chilled fans decided to make our way to the car. Results show that Jeff Waterman came from mid pack to pick up the win over Dennis Laviene, John Oliver Jr., Andrew Schroeder, and Austin Howes.
  Thanks to Brian and Marcie Gaylord and staff for working in less than ideal conditions to put on a program for those of us brave enough ( or crazy enough!) to enjoy a Friday night of racing action. After much debate, we have decided to wimp out on Saturday night racing this week. At this point, I am hoping the forecast changes and we can open the Sprint Invader season on Sunday at Quincy Raceways. UMP modifieds and IMCA sport compacts are also on the card, so hopefully I will see you there!