Marolf, Oliver Jr., Huls, Fellows, and Reu Top Lee County

  If you go to fifty plus races a year as I do, once in a while, you are going to run into " one of those nights. " And Friday at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson was definitely " one of those nights! " Yellow flags that needed measured in dozens, overly aggressive driving, unpopular calls, and boundry cones flying all over the track made for a very late and very atypical night of racing. To be fair, LCS has built a reputation for starting on time and running a smooth, efficient program that typically has everyone out the door by 10:00 or shortly after. But once in a while, everyone has " one of those nights."
  With the cancellation of races at Columbus Junction due to high water, the car count swelled to 89 in the five IMCA divisions, as several of their regulars made the trek south to race. A dozen heat races followed by a longer than usual intermission during which drivers passed helmets in the stands to take up a collection for racer Michael " Taco " Larsen, who is hospitalized with an as yet undiagnosed ailment, set the stage for feature racing. So far, so good.
  All but two of the twenty two sport mods lined up for eighteen laps. Ron Kibbe started inside row two and paced the opening lap, followed by his row two mate, Adam Birck. Daniel Fellows lined up outside row four, but moved to third on lap two. Those three began to put distance on the pack, although row three starter Brandon Dale kept them in sight in fourth. Fellows charged to the lead on lap five just ahead of the first yellow - and things went downhill from there. Following a lengthy delay for fluid cleanup, the green flag waved, with Birck sliding out of the groove, dropping to fifth. Blaine Webster was now in third, but contact up front sent Kibbe spinning, bringing out another caution. By my count, six more cautions slowed the race, with the final one resulting in a single file alignment and a green, white checkers finish. Fellows took the win, followed by Webster, Dale, Kibbe, and Birck.
   The twenty car sport compact main was missing only top competitor Barry Taft as they got set for fifteen laps of action. Larry Miller paced lap one ahead of the first of five yellow flags. On lap seven, Miller brought out the final caution, his machine spewing heavy smoke. Now the field was lined up single file, with the final eight laps running caution free. Brandon Reu and Jacob Houston staged a good battle before Houston slowed momentarily, falling to third. When the checkers waved, it was Reu with the win over Brandon Allison, Houston, Jason Ash, and Cody Staley.
  Now it was time for the nineteen car, twenty lap modified main. Unfortunately, this seven caution event turned out to be the low light of the night. Mike Van Genderen lined up on the pole and led throughout, even as a fascinating combination of great racing punctuated by moments of chaos kept us glued to our seats. But with three laps remaining, Van Genderen and tenth starting Kurt Kile were in a side by side tussle, when Van Genderen appeared to drive through the bump in turn two, making contact with Kile. The ruling from the judges stand sent both drivers to the tail on the restart, turning the lead over to John Oliver Jr. Oliver had previously been involved in a couple of controversial calls, first on lap two when he spun to the infield, then pulled back on the track to draw a yellow flag, then with four laps remaining when he made contact with Dakota Simmons, which resulted in Simmons making contact with a tractor tire, ending his third place run, with the contact ruled incidental and Oliver retaining his position. After Kile stopped in turn three with one lap to go, the race was called complete by the time limit. Oliver scored the win ahead of Brandon Banks, Matt Bodman, Dugan Thye, and Mitch Boles.
  The stock car main event featured fifteen cars for twenty laps, with three yellow flag periods and the only red of the night slowing the action. Derrick Agee powered from the outside pole to lead the first four circuits before fourth starting Abe Huls charged to the front. One lap later, Agee stopped in turn two, his night over. Former track regular Jason See grabbed second on the restart, as four cars battled in back and forth fashion for spots three through six. A pair of cautions came with six laps remaining, and back to green, See tried to squeeze under Huls, but ran out of room, with Dustin Griffith seizing the moment to move to second. With four circuits left, contact on the backstretch sent the car of Brett Lowry on its top. The driver was uninjured, his shot at a top five wiped out. The final laps saw plenty of action behind the leaders, with the checkers waving for Huls, followed by Griffith, See, Jeremy Pundt, and Beau Taylor.
  Thirteen late models signed in, with all taking the feature green. As it was only the second points night for the late models, a draw, redraw format was used, and that may have helped lure a couple of IMCA hot shoes to Donnellson. Nick Marolf shot to an early lead from his pole position, with Ron Boyse, Matt Strassheim, and Jay Johnson in tow. With Marolf well out front and Boyse comfortably ahead of the third place car in second, he began to chip away at the leader ahead of a lap seven spin by Brandon Queen. However Strassheim used the Delaware restart to slide in to second. Meanwhile, ninth starting Andy Eckrich entered the top five just as the yellow waved for a spinning Jake Dietrich. Eckrich gained one more spot on the restart before Blaire Barton went for a spin one lap later. Back to racing, the youngest of the Eckrich brothers powered to second, briefly pulling alongside Marolf for the top spot. But Marolf was able to hold off his charge and again began to open a lead of several car lengths. Now it was seventh starting Tommy Elston entering the top four as the final caution of the night came with eight laps to go. One lap later, Elston jumped to third, but even though Eckrich was able to make a last ditch effort with two laps to go, Marolf held on for the flag to flag win. Eckrich took runner up honors, besting Elston, Strassheim, and Boyse. Johnson won a spirited battle for sixth over Ray Raker, with Queen, Chris Richard, and Darin Weisinger Jr. completing the top ten.
  While it was not the best of nights at LCS, there was plenty of good racing, and after all, anyone can have " one of those nights!"
Thanks to Brian and Marcie and the staff for working hard to make sure we had racing in these less than ideal weather conditions.