Simmons Wins First at Donnellson

 Friday night found us back at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa for weekly racing. Six classes of cars were on hand, with the IMCA late models having been added to the schedule after the previous weeks' rain out.
  Following heat race action and a candy dash, it was time to go feature racing.
  The first main event was an eighteen lap affair for the IMCA sport mods. Daniel Fellows started up front in his now plain black #11. Daniel had suffered a hard crash just five days earlier at Quincy Raceways and was unsure how his car would perform. However, he shot quickly to the lead with Ron Kibbe on his heels. By the second lap he was opening a nice lead.  Austen Becerra had moved to third, and Brandon Dale had charged from the tail of the field to fourth, when the yellow flag came out. Becerra used the Delaware restart to grab the second spot, and one lap later Dale moved to third. Fellows again opened a sizable lead while Becerra and Dale battled for second and Kibbe and Sean Wyatt fought for fourth. At the halfway mark, Becerra cleared Dale for second, with Fellows now well in front. With only four cicuits remaining, Becerra belched smoke, slowing down the backstretch to bring out the second and final caution. Back under green, Wyatt mounted a challenge for second as Fellows again pulled away. As the checkers waved, it was Fellows with the win followed by Dale, Wyatt, Kibbe, and Tom Lathrop.
  The 305 sprint cars turned out a disappointing seven cars and the field was whittled to six when Nathan Murders went up in smoke in hot laps. Dillan Roth was also a no show as the remaining five lined up for eighteen laps. Dan Keltner had been a rocket in the heat race, and he wasted no time jumping out to a commanding lead in the feature, with Tanner Gebhardt in second. Meanwhile, Harold Pohren and Jeff Wilke staged a nose to tail, side by side battle for third, with Wilke pulling ahead just after the halfway mark. As the laps wound down, Gebhardt began to make up ground on the leader, weather he was getting faster or Keltner was being cautious. But with no yellows, it was Keltner picking up the win. Gebhardt settled for second trailed by Wilke and Pohren. Joe Laue was scored fifth even as he watched the final laps from the infield.
  The IMCA stock car field was also short, with eight entries. Derrick Agee had dominated the heat race, and jumped to the lead from the pole. David Brandies started in row three, moved quickly to second, and began to apply pressure to Agee. Seven laps in, the front pair were running side by side, and as the crossed flags signaled nine laps to go, Brandies took command. Again, there were zero cautions, and Brandies picked up the win. Agee took runner up honors, followed by Jeremy Pundt. Abe Huls emerged from a back and forth duel with Beau Taylor for fourth.
  All but two of the sixteen IMCA sport compacts lined up for fifteen laps. Following a false start, Josh Barnes shot from the third row to lead the opening circuit. As he built his lead, Jacob Houston emerged from a breathtaking four wide scrum down the backstretch to claim second. An errant boundry tire brought out the caution with four laps down, and on the restart, former late model driver Brandon Ruffcorn, who started tenth, was challenging Houston for second. The second caution came two laps later, with Ruffcorn now taking up the chase in second. With four laps left on the scoreboard, defending champion Barry Taft was rolling around in tenth, seemingly having issues with his #57. But Ruffcorn suddenly slowed, bringing out the final caution, ending his run. Back under green, Barnes maintained his winning margin over Houston, Brandon Reu, and Dylan Schantz. Meanwhile Taft was on the move, charging to fifth as the laps ran out.
  Twelve IMCA modifieds were up next for twenty laps. Dakota Simmons has gradually been improving his game over the last few seasons, and he dominated his heat race on Friday. Now he powered from the outside pole to open a lead, with Bill Roberts and Levi Smith in tow. Meanwhile, Dennis Laviene and John Oliver Jr. battled for third. The yellow waved with twelve to go for debris, and Oliver Jr. took command of third on the restart. At the ten lap mark, Oliver moved to the runner up spot, with Simmons now well in front. Oliver created separation from the pack as he tried to run down the leader. With no more caution periods, Simmons continued to hit his marks, taking the checkers to pick up his first ever IMCA mod win at Lee County. Oliver Jr. cruised to runner up honors, with Laviene, Bill Roberts Jr., and Jeff Waterman rounding out the top five.
  The final race of the night was the twenty lapper for the IMCA late models. With Stacy Griffis not making the call, Darin Weisinger Jr. sat on the pole, with Tommy Elston moved to the outside of the front row.  The defending track champion shot to the lead on the hammer down track, and was never seriously challenged. Weisinger Jr.  slowed momentarily on the backstretch as Brian Harris came from a row three start to grab the second spot on lap two, and set sail for the leader. Sam Halstead started one row behind Harris and moved to third one lap later. While Elston built a straightaway advantage, Ron Boyse cleared Halstead for third at the halfway mark. The lone stoppage came with four laps to go when Brandon Queen jerked to a sliding stop right in front of the leader at the exit of turn four. Elston was able to avoid contact, charging to a commanding lead on the restart. It was the third win of the season for Elston at LCS. Harris brought the Richard Racing #15R home in second, followed by Boyse, Halstead, and Jay Johnson. Ray Raker ran a steady race in sixth, followed by a trio of young drivers in Dayton Lynch, Weisinger Jr., and Jake Dietrich. Queen was credited with tenth and Blaire Barton also saw his night end early.
  The final checkers came just after 10:00 P.M.
   Lee County will take next weekend off, which is a change from their original schedule, while we plan to be in our usual perch Sunday night at Quincy Raceways. Late model fans should take note of next Thursday, May 16, when the stars and cars of the Lucas Oil late model series invade 34 Raceway in West Burlington for a $10,000 to win event.
  Thanks to Brian and Marcie Gaylord and the staff at Lee County for an entertaining Friday night! We will see you somewhere Racin' Down the Road.