It was a long night of racing at Lee County Speedway as the Sprint Invaders joined the regular five classes on a beautiful Friday night. The sprinters had their holiday weekend show postponed last Friday, so promoter Brian Gaylord offered them a quick reschedule this week, and they turned out twenty five strong to swell the pit area to ninety nine cars. The open wheel fans did their part as well, with a large crowd on hand. The action got off to a bit of a late start with race teams lining up and down the highway waiting to sign in - extra help was added - and the track crew dumping extra water on the 3/8 mile in search of a quality surface that would hold up for the extra laps put down by the big tires. The result was a smooth track with lots of action, and the final checkers waving just ahead of 11:30.
With all preliminary racing done and the Invader field trimmed to twenty starters plus one provisional, the IMCA sport mods kicked off feature racing. Seventeen of the twenty cars on hand lined up for eighteen laps. Trayton Buckallew gave up his pole position to start at the tail as the youngster is still getting the feel for his #10, and outside row one starter Bobby Six was a scratch. This moved a pair of #14s', Brandon Lambert and Bob Cowman to the front row. Lambert shot to the early lead but Brayton Carter took the spot away just ahead of the first of six yellow flags which marred the event. With Carter opening up a commanding lead, Reed Wolfmeyer came from row three to the runner up spot, followed by John Oliver Jr., back from a brief "retirement", now behind the wheel of the #557 machine. With the low groove the preferred way around the track, Adam Birck was trying multiple lines, and he suffered a rare spin just before the halfway mark, sending him to the tail of the still seventeen car field. Now on a mission, Birck gained back six spots in one lap before another caution at the crossed flags signalling nine down, nine to go. With three laps to go, Oliver Jr. looped his ride, ending his night, and before the final yellow Birck had powered back to third. But this night belonged to "Speedy Bray", as Carter cruised to the win ahead of Wolfmeyer and Birck. Matt Tucker turned in a solid fourth, and Lambert completed the top five.
Now it was IMCA modified time, with Levi Smith the only scratch in the fifteen car filed. Jardin Fuller paced the opening laps as Austen Becerra was advancing from a row four start to third before a lap two caution. Lap three saw Austen in second, and as Fuller stayed committed to the low line, Becerra went up top to grab the lead. He opened a big lead before a lap ten yellow brought him back to the pack. The final stoppage was a bad one, as the red flag was displayed on the restart. The field was bottled up and Scott Boles suffered a nasty end over end flip on the front stretch that eliminated several cars. Scott appeared unhurt, and after a lengthy cleanup, racing resumed with only seven cars lining up single file. Becerra then went back to work, completing a dominating win. Jardin Fuller held on for second, edging out Mark Burgtorf. Mitch Boles was fourth, and Dennis Laveine, who had to restart not once, but twice at the tail, came through in fifth.
The Sprint Invaders then came trackside for twenty five laps. Jeff has the complete story on the Back Stretch, but this one featured an intense early battle between Cody Wehrle and Josh Schneiderman, including several trips through heavy lapped traffic and some side by side action. It took about fifteen laps for Schneiderman to finally grab the lead, and he then drove off to victory. All but one of the starters failed to complete the twenty five laps. Wehrle was second, while Chase Randall from row seven and Terry McCarl from row eight came next. Ninth starting Riley Goodno rounded out the first five.
All eleven IMCA late models came to the track, however Nick Marolf, who had exited the track while leading his heat race, pulled to the infield as the green flag waved. Heat winners Darin Weisinger Jr. and Tommy Elston sat on row one, and Elston jumped to the lead. With no cautions slowing the action and everyone running the inside line, Weisinger Jr. was able to close the gap somewhat, but Elston led all twenty laps for the win. Sam Halstead cam home third, chased by Dalton Simonsen and Ray Raker. Bobby Hansen, racing at Lee County for the first time since 2003, ran sixth in front of Jeremy Pundt, Jeff Guengerich, Denny Woodworth, and Blake Woodruff.
The fifteen car IMCA sport compacts were up next for fifteen laps. Justin Stevenson held off Barry Taft as five cars did a mad scramble behind them. Taft grabbed the lead four laps in, and as he stretched his lead, Chevy Barnes moved to second at about the halfway mark. On lap ten, Stevenson may have lost a wheel between turns three and four, and he went for a nasty flip, bringing the red flag out once more. He was a bit shaken, and was being checked out by the EMS crew. When racing resumed, Josh Barnes charged to second as he ran three wide with Chevy and Brandon Reu. Soon Reu, who had been quiet all night, powered to the runner up spot, and as Taft came through turns three and four to the checkers, Reu was able to slip around him for a half car length win. Chevy Barnes rebounded in third, while Kimberly Abbott drove around Josh Barnes for fourth.
IMCA stock cars finished things off, thirteen strong for eighteen circuits. Chad Krogmeier came from row two to pace lap one , with fifth starting Abe Huls in tow. It was three more laps before Abe grabbed the top spot, and once more the pack settled in the low line around the boundary tires. This is where Huls does his best work, and he was never challenged in the caution free event. Krogmeier drove a flawless race to come home second, while double duty Jeremy Pundt was third. David Brandies and Jason See both advanced three spots while trying some other lines, but came home fourth and fifth.
All five regular classes will be in action next Friday night with what I believe will be a Drive for Five night for the late models. Be sure and check the website for details.
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