Friday night found us back at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, where Mother Nature has been most unkind in 2021. Rain and/or wet grounds has claimed nearly half of the races this season, with track officials adding an unscheduled Saturday night program earlier this month. High heat and humidity was the order of the day, but a nice crowd turned out, no doubt aided by the $3.00 adult admission, and the renegade pop up shower was about twenty five miles away in Hamilton, Illinois!
A solid field of seventy three cars signed in, with twenty four IMCA sport mods leading the way. Hot laps kicked off right on time, and the eleven heat races went quickly, leading us to a brief intermission, then feature racing.
At various times, race fans have heard a driver say " If I just had one more lap..." Well, Mark Burgtorf could have uttered that phrase not once, but twice on Friday! A dozen cars lined up for eighteen laps in the IMCA modified feature, with Burgtorf rolling off tenth in his #03B. Following a false start, pole sitter Austin Howes and third starting Dennis Laveine paced the opening circuit. The yellow flag waved again one lap later as Laveine slowed with a flat tire. Jeff Waterman then took up the challenge, closing in on the leader at various points, then falling behind as Howes continued to run a low line around the oval. At the halfway mark, Waterman made a strong run, but could not complete the pass, and one lap later, the caution waved for Levi Smith. Back under green, Howes stayed on the bottom, while Burgtorf, now running fourth, went to the cushion. Building his momentum, Mark took third with four laps left, and moved to the runner up spot two laps later. As the white flag waved, he looked poised to take the lead, but Austin stayed smooth on the bottom, and although Burgtorf pulled alongside the rear bumper of the #17A at the checkers, it was Howes picking up his first win of the season at LCS. Waterman came home third, followed by Jardin Fuller and Bill Roberts Jr. Mitch Boles lost a top five run when he pulled to the infield on the final lap. Laveine rebounded to sixth, while points leader Brandon Dale ran seventh. Top contender Michael Long was racing elsewhere on Friday.
Twelve cars also checked in for the IMCA late model division, and this time Burgtorf , the points leader, would line up seventh. Sam Halstead and Ray Raker sat on row one, and ran one two before Matt Strassheim climbed to second on the third circuit. By the time Burgtorf cleared Jay Johnson for third on lap five, "Superman" Sam had pulled away from the pack, running around the high line of the 3/8 mile. One lap before the halfway mark of the twenty lapper, Burgtorf slipped past Strassheim for second. He then set about cutting into the sizable advantage of the #84. With no stoppages in the event, and Halstead making no mistakes, it was tough digging for Burgtorf. In the closing couple of laps he had again managed to close the gap, and as the checkers flew, there remained about one car length between the two veteran pilots. As Halstead took his first feature checkers of 2021, Strassheim held off Johnson for third and Nick Marolf advanced sixth spots to fifth after spinning out of the first heat. Denny Woodworth led the second five over Dustin Griffin, Raker, Tommy Elston, and C.J. Horn.
Twelve was the magic number, as that was also the count for the IMCA sport compacts. Chevy Barnes failed to make the main event call after leaving a trail of oil from his #13 in his heat race. Justin Stevenson and Patrick McKasson lined up on row one, but it was fourth starting Kaycee McGregor leading Stevenson in the opening laps. Kaycee stretched her lead as Kimberly Abbott charged to second on lap four just ahead of the yellow flag which moved Luke Fraise back to second for the restart. Contact between Jason Ash and Dyllan Bonk saw Ash retire for the night. Kimberly made it an all female top two on the restart, and one lap later, row five starter Brandon Reu powered to third. One more lap and he cleared Abbott for second. McGregor was rolling through the middle line of the track, and when she drifted a bit high coming through turn four on lap nine, Reu shot to the inside to take the lead. With the top three separated from the field, Reu, the points leader, cruised to the win. McGregor followed, with Abbott in third, Fraise fourth and Bonk completing the top five.
The IMCA stock cars featured a bakers dozen entrants for eighteen laps. Matt Kreiger appeared to be another casualty of engine woes in his #59, and was on the trailer after hot laps. Meanwhile, Beau Taylor, also fighting engines issues, elected to give up his pole start and tag the tail of the feature. This moved Chad Krogmeier to the front row, and he led third starting Jake Wenig the first trip past the flag stand. Following a lap two caution for a Jake Powers spin, Wenig snatched the lead away, with John Oliver Jr. coming from row three to second. Oliver took over the point on lap four. Suddenly all eyes were on first time visitor Cole Mather, who made the long tow in from Oelwein, Iowa. A hard charger at several east central Iowa tracks, he started tenth and defied the usual format of the stock cars hugging the inside line. Moving his #74C to the cushion at about the halfway point, he began to pick off cars. He then sat third in the Delaware style line up following a caution for Pete Stodgell with seven laps left. One more trip around and he was in the runner up spot, and he pulled alongside Oliver with four to go. As lap sixteen was scored, Mather was out front, and he then three wheeled his hot rod to the win. Olver ran second, chased by Chris Wibbell, Wening and points leader Jason Cook.
IMCA sport mods were moved to the final feature of the night, which again proved the right thing to do. All but two of the twenty four on hand lined up for eighteen laps of racing. Fourth starting Jadin Fuller and fifth starting Tom Bowling Jr. paced laps one and two, with Bowling leading lap three. Fuller quickly retook the spot as Bowling stumbled in turn four, turning second over to points leader and tenth starting Austen Becerra. Austen grabbed the lead ahead of a lap six debris caution Another yellow on the restart, with first Sean Wyett, then a rebounding Bowling chasing in second. With the race staying green, Becerra hit a gaggle of slower cars with six laps to go, and as he cleared that group, the yellow came out with five to go, as Matt Tucker went for a spin. Two more cautions came with three laps remaining, including some aggressive driving that ended top five runs for Bowling Jr. and Tanner Klingele. With the five cautions triggering a single file restart, the final laps clicked off uneventfully, and Becerra cruised to the win. Wyett was solidd in second, besting Fuller. Brandon Lambert and Josh Holtman rounded out the top five.
The final checkers on the well run show came as the clock struck 10 PM!
Thanks as always to the Gaylords for their hospitality and for an efficient program. An important note, next week LCS will move to Saturday night for one week only, and will feature another "Drive for Five" qualifying night for late models and modifieds.
We are planning to head south tonight, Saturday, to the I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri. In addition to the regular five division program, the Cash Money Super Dirt series late models will be in action. There is plenty of great racing to be found, so head to a track near you, and remember to stay hydrated!
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