Saturday was race night once again at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. A solid and well balanced field of ninety four teams signed in, with all but the Hobby Stocks turning out between fourteen and nineteen cars. There was a full moon rising behind the grandstand, and some of the on track action seemed typical of such an occurrence, with a rollover and resulting fuel spill which needed to be burnt off as well as cars attempting unsuccessfully to drive through the guardrail!
Still with the usual on time start, it was soon feature time.
Modifieds would kick things off, sixteen strong for twenty laps. As the cars came to the track with Austen Becerra starting inside row one, it would seem the race was likely for second. And as it turned out, that would be the case. New Sharon, Iowa standout Zack VanderBeek normally spends his time on the USMTS Modified tour, but made a rare visit to LCS, and he quickly became involved in a tight battle with Kurt Kile for second. Those two swapped the position as Becerra stretched his lead ahead of a pair of caution periods at laps six and seven. With the remaining circuits running caution free, VanderBeek was able to take control of the runner up spot, staying close to the leader. As the front pair passed the scoring loop on lap fourteen, Zack was actually ahead by a nose. But Austen would fight back as they exited turn two, and after changing his line at the other end of the track he was able to open a bit of breathing room when slower traffic came into play. As the double checkers waved, it was Becerra, VanderBeek, Kile, Jadin Fuller and Bill Roberts Jr. filling out the top five.
Eighteen Sport Mods lined up to do battle for fifteen laps. Another visiting hot shoe, Logan Anderson would redraw the pole for this one, and he would pace the field ahead of a lap two caution. Back to racing the yellow flag would wave immediately for a multi car pile up in turn two. As the green waved once again, Anderson stretched his margin while Dustin Griffiths in the Goble #55 and "Speedy Bray" Brayton Carter raced side by side behind him. At the same time, Adam Birck and Jim Gillenwater battled closely for fourth. Three more times the caution flag would fly, and following the final single file restart with four laps remaining Carter mounted a strong but unsuccessful attempt to overtake the leader. The final rundown saw Anderson with the first place trophy in front of Carter, Birck, Griffiths and fifteenth starting Cody Agee.
The "race of the night" belonged to the 4 cylinder Sport Compact division. All fifteen cars came to the track to battle for fifteen trips around the three eighths mile oval. Barry Taft and Kimberly Abbott filled row one with Abbott leading the way early on. Behind those two running nose to tail there were two packs of cars running three wide for position. Soon hometown driver Brandon Reu took command of third and set sail for the leaders just as the yellow flag waved with six laps scored. On the Delaware Style restart Reu eased around Taft for second and as they circled the track it was a three wide battle for the top spot. Taft was actually ahead by a nose as lap nine went in the books with Abbott inches in front the next time around. One last time the caution came with five laps to go, and still it was a three wide scrum for position. As the laps wound down Luke Fraise entered the picture, looking for an opening that never appeared. Kimberly Abbott would pick up her first feature checkers of the year while Taft bested Reu for second. Fraise was right there in fourth while Keokuks' Josh Barnes completed the first five.
Racing in two classes each week keeps Dustin Griffiths plenty busy, but on this night he really stretched things out by competing in three divisions! After racing to a fourth place finish in the Sport Mods, the Hedrick, Iowa driver sat on the pole for the ten car fifteen lap Hobby Stock money race. Winning is never "easy" they say, but Dustin came as close as possible, as he was never seriously challenged in keeping his Lee County Hobby Stock undefeated streak alive. Only two yellow flags four laps apart kept him in the same area code as his competitors. Shane Richardson would come from row four to take runner up honors ahead of Tom Killen Jr. and fellow Hedrick driver James Pilkington. Billy Stanford was involved in a three car accident at the half way mark, but after a quick trip to the work area rebounded to claim fifth.
A nice field of sixteen UMP Pro Crate Late Models checked in for the twenty five lap main event. Points leader Tommy Elston had the side wraps of his car replaced with a replica Scott Bloomquist #0 in honor of the legendary National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer who lost his life Friday in a private plane crash on his property in Tennessee. Elston would start in row two behind last weeks' first time winner Jackson Frankel and Darin Weisinger Jr. Those three would drive off from the pack with Frankel and Weisinger battling hard for the lead while Elston lurked close behind. On lap eight Elston was able to slip around Weisinger for second, setting his sights on seventeen year old Frankel. At about the mid point of the race Frankel came upon a slower car and checked up briefly allowing the veteran Elston to drive by on the outside. With zero yellow flags during the event Tommy gradually stretched his advantage, picking up win number eight of the year at the fairgrounds track. After starting third Donnellson racer Jeremy Pundt would rebound late to close quickly on Frankel before settling for third ahead of Weisinger Jr. and C. J. Horn. Spencer Havermale came from tenth to six chased by Denny Woodworth, Vance Wilson, Ron Boyse and Sam Halstead.
Stock Cars would put a wrap on the night, with all but one of the nineteen drivers on hand taking the green flag. Mike McClure would be on the sidelines while Nicholas Profeta made the start in the Stanford #52 Hobby Stock, retiring by the only caution on lap two. It was outside row one starter Tanner Allen leading at that point, but on the restart pole sitter Derrick Agee put his brand new #14 out front ahead of Allen, tenth starting Dustin Griffiths and Dustin Vis. With Agee in command, Allen and Griffiths fought for the second position as Kevin Egglestons' crossed flags signaled the half way mark. With ten laps still showing on the scoreboard, Griffiths charged from third to first, then built a sizable lead leaving Allen and Agee to duke it out for the runner up slot. Griffiths would cruise to his second win and third top five on the night as Agee won the duel for second over Allen. Vis ran fourth topping Milan, Illinois visitor Andrew Burk.
Once again it was a good night of racing staged by rookie promoters Neal Kohlmorgan and Patrick Profeta, with the final checkers coming about 10:30. Racing at the fairgrounds will resume next Saturday night.
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