Kay Takes Drive For Five Dollars at Donnellson

 Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa was the setting for the once postponed Drive for Five late model finale on Saturday night. In addition, the Sprint Invaders made their second stop of 2020, with sport mods and sport compacts filling out the card. The pit area was brimming with 89 cars on a cool, fall like evening. The late model event was the culmination of a season long quest. Throughout the abbreviated schedule there were five $1,000 to win qualifying races held. Any driver competing in at least four of the five would be eligible for a $5,000 winners share on this final night. All others would be racing for  $2,000 payday. As it turned out, there were twelve drivers who had fulfilled the requirement, of those ten checked in on Saturday night. Veteran racers Ron Boyse and Jay Johnson were no shows. Eleven others filled out the twenty one car field. Drivers drew for their starting position for a first set of ten lap heat races with passing points accumulated. Then the lineups were reversed for a second set of heats. The total passing points earned in both heats would be used to set the feature lineup. That main event would be run in a pair of twenty five lap segments, with a ten minute break between. During this time the cars were parked on the front straightaway with drivers and crews allowed to make any desired changes to the cars. The only stipulation was that if any tires were changed, that driver would have to restart at the tail. Only Jill George, who had ducked to the infield early elected to change rubber.                                                                                               Matt Ryan and Andy Eckrich sat on row one as racing began, neither bonus qualified. Matt shot to the lead, with first Eckrich, then fourth starting and bonus eligible Andy Nezworski in pursuit. It took only three laps for seventh starting Justin Kay to enter the top five, and by the time lap four was scored he had charged to third. Row five starter Tommy Elston also headed for the front, snagging the fourth spot on lap seven. Ryan hit slower traffic on lap nine, but one more trip around and the yellow waved for a spinning Chris Horn. A second caution came on the Delaware restart as the front of the field stacked up, causing a mixup at the rear with Ray Raker, George, and Horn. Again the yellow flew on the restart as Chris Richard and Darren Mish got together in turn two. On the first try, Nezworski had elected to restart on the inside row, and on the following two he took the high side. But each time Kay powered into the runner up spot, with Elston soon following in third. Ryan was again approaching heavy traffic as the yellow flag ended segment one.                                 With work completed, Elston drove to the front on the restart using the middle line around the track while Ryan and Kay committed to the bottom. The front trio gained separation from the pack with Ryan retaking the point with fifteen laps to go. One circuit later, Kay also cleared Elston for second, and at the crossed flags signaling the halfway mark, traffic again came into play. As Elston faded a bit, we now had a two car battle going on. Forty two laps in and Ryan found the back of the pack racing for position in front of his #07. Mish in particular was running the preferred low line, and Ryan followed him for a couple laps before deciding to move up a lane to make the pass. As the cars entered turn one, a small opening appeared down low, and Kay shot through to the lead before Ryan could complete his pass. Justin was then able to put some distance on the second running Ryan, and with zero cautions the rest of the way, he cruised to a $2,000 payday. Ryan held on to second ahead of three qualified drivers, Elston, Nezworski, and Mark Burgtorf. Eckrich topped the second five over Nick Marolf, Gary Webb, Denny Woodworth, and Joel Callahan.                                                                                   Before the late model finale, the Sprint Invaders had contested a twenty five lap main event. All but one of the twenty three entrants lined up to race, with outside pole sitter Josh Schneiderman putting the #88 machine out front. Chris Martin, Kaley Gharst, and Shake Up Dash winner and sixth starting Paul Nienhiser quickly took up the chase. A deluge of early cautions, five in the first six laps, slowed the action. Then on lap eight the red flag was displayed as Wyatt Wilkerson tried to thread the needle at the very top of turns one and two, ran out of room, and flipped his #29W over the guardrail into the Iowa night. Fortunately he was uninjured, but it took some time before racing resumed. Back under green in single file fashion, Nienhiser grabbed the second spot, but by the time he did Schneiderman had opened a nearly straightaway lead. As heavy traffic became a factor at the halfway point, Nienhiser began to close the gap. With just ten laps remaining, the #50 was poised to challenge for the lead. However Schneiderman expertly negotiated the lapped cars and was pulling away as the checkers flew. He lapped up through fifth place, with only Nienhiser, Martin, and Gharst still on the lead lap. Christian Bowman was scored in fifth.                   Track officials are only just beginning to leak word out that there will be a $3,000 to win sport compact race during the next event on the schedule, the Fall Extravaganva weekend October 9 and 10. As a result, a handful of  " out of town " drivers made the pull to LCS on Saturday, increasing the field to twenty cars. Chevy Barnes and Brandon Crawley sat on row one for the feature race. Jumping to second behind Crawley as lap one was scored, Jared Heule took over the lead on lap two, taking David Prim and twelfth starting Jason Ash along in second and third. Ash continued his charge, gaining second on lap four. Meanwhile Josh Barnes was now the car to watch. After mechanical failure while leading forced him from his heat race, he lined up last for the main event but was in the top five by lap five. Heule and Ash were now battling well ahead of the field, and Ash moved to the front with seven laps to go. Four more trips past the flag stand brought out the lone caution of the race. Tenth starting Brandon Reu, the 2020 track champion used the Delaware double file restart to take over the second position. He would however have nothing for Ash, who cruised to the win. Huele came home in third, followed by Barnes and William Michel.                 The clock was now ticking close to 11:00, and following the first sport mod feature caution, my ride for the night decided it was time to head for the parking lot. Checking the results this morning, I see that track champion Adam Birck topped the twenty five car field. Pole sitter Austen Becerra was second, followed by visiting hot shoe Tim Plummer, Sean Wyett, and Ron Kibbe.                                      Thanks to Brian and Marcie Gaylord and Brian Neal for a program that was both unique and entertaining for the large gathering. Our next scheduled adventure will be at the Davenport Speedway Saturday September 26 as the SLMR east series late models battle it out for a $5,000 winners share on the quarter mile oval. There are many specials around the area in the coming weeks, including the aforementioned Fall Extravaganza at Donnellson, so dig out the sweaters and gloves and say " Hi " when you see us at the track!