Racing resumed at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson with night number one of the Harvest Hustle on Friday. The event lived up to its' name as Fall weather made its' debut, a crisp evening enjoyed by those in attendance.
The original five division program was supplemented by the addition of Hobby Stocks thanks to a sponsor coming on board late who wished to include the class. With the rules opened up to allow for certain non IMCA legal cars to participate, the pit area swelled to one hundred thirty three cars on a blustery night! Still track officials did an amazing job. Hot laps started right at the advertised time of 7:15 and just a ten minute break separated the sixteen qualifying heats from the six feature events, with the entire show wrapping up at 11:00, the races clicking off in rapid fire fashion. Even so, there was but a hearty few still in the stands when that final checkers waved.
Kudos to the promoters for giving all drivers the opportunity to start their respective feature, as a couple of classes might otherwise have used a B main. As it turned out, natural attrition eliminated a few competitors along the way.
Sport Mods would roll out first for twenty laps. All twenty five cars lined up although John Oliver Jr. retired to the pits before the green flag flew. Logan Anderson shot to the lead from outside row one ahead of pole sitter Braden Richards. The first caution came with just one lap scored and back under green fourth starting Tanner Klingele charged to second taking along fifth starting Brayton Carter in third. Carter soon powered to second as he and Anderson pulled ahead of the pack. On lap eight Carter used a fourth turn slide job to take the lead. One lap before the halfway mark, as Carter caught the tail of the field, the yellow flag waved for a second and final time. Klingele again took advantage of the Delaware style restart to move to second while Carter VanDenBerg powered to third. Again "Speedy Bray" pulled away from his challengers, with slower traffic coming in to play on lap sixteen. He smoothly moved through the back of the pack, cruising to the win. Klingele held the runner up spot, while Shane Paris showed speed late, advancing from his row four start to third. VanDenBerg and Anderson completed the top five.
Sport Compacts would be up next with all but two of the sixteen checked in racing for fifteen laps. Barry Taft lined up outside row one and charged to the lead followed by third starting Travis Demint. Outside row two starter Jake Benischek came up to battle Demint for second, finally taking the spot just ahead of the lone caution on lap seven, but the field then reverted back to six laps scored. As racing resumed, Jake temporarily rolled to the lead but was soon overtaken by Taft. The three front runners raced side by side and nose to tail while Kimberly Abbott and Rick DeFord ran close behind looking for room to move up. As he entered turn three for the final time, DeFord looped his #00, but the checkers was already out for Taft, who picked up the hard fought win. Demint came in second, followed by Benischek, Abbott, and Corey Crispin.
All but one of the twenty six Stock Cars took the green flag for twenty laps. Derrick Agee charged from row two to pace the opening circuit in front of pole Sitter Dustin Vis. By now the super racy three eighths mile had multiple grooves, and the normally bottom hugging Stockers were using all lines with varying degrees of success. The caution came with six laps scored, and Dustin Griffiths put his #10G in second on the restart. Todd Reitzler had taken the green from outside row four, but he now moved to third with seven laps scored. Agee was driving around the inside boundary tires while Griffiths and Reitzler pounded the cushion. With the crossed flags indicating the halfway mark, they were replaced with a second yellow, and back to racing Reitzler jumped to second. Three more trips around and Todd was able to use his top side momentum to clear Agee for the lead. He then put considerable distance on the pack, but with the white flag displayed it was replaced by the yellow setting up a green, white, checkers finish. (Personally, I am in favor of a one lap shootout in these cases, but I digress.) Reitzler was never the less up to the challenge, scoring the victory. John Oliver Jr. was the beneficiary of the late caution, powering to runner up honors, trailed by Agee, Griffiths, and tenth starting Johnny Spaw.
Wayne Kniffen was the lone Modified of the twenty two on hand not showing for the twenty lap feature. Dustin Kroening and Mark Burgtorf brought the field to green, and the veteran Burgtorf quickly shot to the lead. Matt Werner drove to second on lap two as row three starters Jarrett Brown and Denny Eckrich raced side by side for third. Meanwhile Burgtorf opened a nearly straightaway lead as the race hit the mid point. By now Mark was in heavy slower traffic, but he was skillfully picking his way through. At the same time, an intense battle was going on behind him between Werner, Brown, Eckrich, and twelfth starting Ethan Braaksma. Finally Brown was able to clear that group and he began to run down the leader. As the laps clicked off in the non stop event, Brown was shaving off seconds each trip past the flag stand. When the checkers waved, he was close to showing his nose to the leader, but it was Burgtorf with the flag to flag win. Braaksma claimed third followed by Werner and Eckrich.
Again, all but one of the seventeen Hobby Stocks - a great count considering they were a late addition, came trackside for sixteen laps. Double duty Dustin Griffiths came from outside row two to lead Daniel Wauters on lap one and an early caution, while Bradly Graham powered from sixth to second on the next trip around. Billy Stanford was racing hard for second when he brought out the second caution, spinning with two laps scored. There was another stop on the restart, then Griffiths took off running the top of the track while Graham raced around the low line, both gaining separation. A fourth and final caution at the halfway mark reset the field single file while bringing the front duo back to the pack. It proved only a temporary inconvenience, however, as Griffiths cruised to the win with Graham in second. Calvin Dhondt came from row four to third, followed by ninth starting Des Moines driver Tom Killen Jr.. Wauters completed the first five.
Closing out the night would be twenty five laps of Late Model action. No shows Frank Mason and Kyle Hollenbeck in the #39 normally piloted by Ed, left us with twenty five starters! A pair of veterans, Chuck Hanna and Tommy Elston sat on row one. Tommy shot quickly to the lead while fourth starting Nick Marolf took over second on lap two. With four laps scored, the only yellow came as long time Modified ace Scott Boles had problems with his shiny new #4B Late Model. On the restart Elston went to another time zone as C.J. Horn moved to third after starting in row three. Elston built a straightaway lead before catching the back of the pack around the mid point of the race. Although the traffic was heavy as cars raced for positions, Elston navigated his way through with no issues. Meanwhile, Marolf, who we last saw at LCS behind a wrecker with a heavily damaged machine, gained separation in second. Suddenly it was eleventh starting Jeremy Pundt capturing every ones attention as seemingly from nowhere he entered the top five, then continued to pick off cars, charging to third as the laps wound down. Elston cruised to his first feature win at LCS this season. Marolf took runner up honors with Pundt in third. After that, I am not sure what happened, as by my eyes and the original scoring it was Horn in fourth. However the official results show Denny Woodworth and Hanna rounding out the top five, with Horn in sixth, so I am guessing there may have been some sort of penalty imposed? In any event, seventh through tenth went to Vance Wilson, Bobby Hansen, Darin Weisinger Jr., and Andy Nezworski.
This brought an end to a great night of racing on an immaculately prepared track. I also want to offer up props to flagman Rodney Bleisner and his capable assistant who did an awesome job of keeping the show moving, especially by allowing out of shape cars to right themselves and not throwing a hair trigger caution. This alone shaved several minutes off what could have been a much longer evening!
Thanks as always to Brian and Marcie Gaylord, as their tenure as capable stewards of the famed fairgrounds oval winds down. But in the meantime, we will do it all again tonight, with action kicking off an hour earlier with hot laps at 6:15. Due to the solid car count, Hobby Stocks have again been added to the card, and the always entertaining American Iron Racing Series cars will be on hand as well. So dress warm and join us, won't you please?
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