Following a cancellation following overnight and early morning rains on Friday, the annual Harvest Hustle event at Lee County Speedway was reduced to a one night show on Saturday. There were no such issues on Saturday as unseasonably warm temperatures and a stiff breeze greeted us at our late afternoon arrival.
One hundred and four race teams signed in to do battle in six classes on the super fast three eighths mile D shaped oval. Fifteen heat races clicked off in a timely fashion, and only the hybrid Sport Mod/B Mod division required a B Main to whittle their thirty competitors down to twenty four for the feature.
Following intermission and the awarding of Junior Fan Club prizes, a short field of seven Hobby Stocks lined up for fifteen laps. Dustin Griffiths lined up outside row two, grabbed the lead on the opening circuit, then led all fifteen caution free laps to continue his 2024 unbeaten streak at the speedway. Shane Richardson cleared James Pilkington for second on lap three, but could not run down Griffiths, who opened a half lap lead by the end. Having returned from a lengthy "retirement," Harley Hill ran fourth after an entertaining top five battle with Aaron Martin.
Fifteen laps was also the distance for the Limited Mod main event. Cody Agee and Logan Anderson brought the field to green, running in that order ahead of a lap three caution. Following the Delaware Style restart, Dylan VanWyk charged from fourth to the runner up position with another yellow flag waving one lap later. Back to racing, the leaders ran three wide as Van Wyk grabbed the lead. Agee would go over the treacherous turn four cushion allowing both Anderson and Mexico, Missouri racer Parker Smith to drive by. With the race staying green the rest of the way, VanWyk opened a commanding lead. He would catch the back of the pack with just two laps remaining, but he worked the traffic smoothly to collect the win. Anderson, Smith, Brandon Lennox and Agee would complete the first five.
Sixteen Stock Cars would go at it for twenty laps. Derrick Agee outgunned Todd Reitzler as the green flag flew, but a yellow flag would set up an original restart. This time it was Reitzler gaining the advantage from the outside pole. Racing around the top of the track, Reitzler opened a lead before he also went over the cushion in turn four allowing Agee to erase his advantage. As the race hit the half way mark, Johnny Spaw began to close on the top two. Two more times the caution flag would be displayed with six then four laps remaining. On the final restart Reitzler appeared to pick up the pace, and he drove on to a flag to flag victory. Agee and Spaw were trailed by a back and forth battle between Abe Huls and Jason See to round out the first five positions.
The rules were also relaxed in the 4 cylinder Compact division, and eighteen cars checked in. Outside row one starter Jaden Delonjay and fourth starting Travis Demint would pace the opening circuit before the red flag would fly for an accident on the front stretch. Harrison Horn clipped the guardrail, then did a complete rollover in his #58 machine. He was uninjured, and soon it was back to racing. Delonjay would open up a lead as the next five cars battled side by side and nose to tail behind him. A final stoppage came at lap five as Joey Laws and Kimberly Abbott got together, eliminating both cars from the action. Brandon Reu would join the leaders in third as racing resumed, now chasing Jeffery Delonjay in second. While Jaden again extended his lead Jeffery would dart to the infield on lap ten of the fifteen lapper. Jaden would drive off for the win ahead of a close battle for second between Reu and Demint. Cincinnati, Ohio visitors Jack and Joe Pflum would bookend fifth place Barry Taft at the checkers.
A solid field of eighteen Late Models lined up to contest twenty five laps. Dustin Smith in the Leroy Brenner #53 and Freeport, Il. driver Mike Fryer paced the field. Smith would lead lap one ahead of track regular Darin Weisinger Jr., but fifth starting Quad City ace Evan Miller would pick up the chase on lap two. Miller would move to the front out of turn four as lap five was scored, and one lap later Austen Becerra would drive to third while Jackson Frankel powered his new ride to fourth. Those three soon gained separation from the pack, and on lap eleven Becerra cleared Smith for second. Miller was working the inside line as Becerra pounded the cushion. The first yellow came at the mid point as Weisinger Jr. saw his #11 go up in smoke. Back under green the top three again pulled ahead and Becerra began to hound Miller lap after lap. With just five laps left Becerra worked a partially successful slide job exiting turn two with Miller making contact with the left rear of his car. Both maintained control as the yellow waved a final time one lap later. With a final wave of the green by starter Kevin Eggleston Becerra drove away for the win. Miller would take the runner up spot in front of Frankel. Sport Mod hot shoe Logan Anderson made I believe his first Late Model start wheeling the Travis Denning #56D and turned in an impressive run coming from row six to fourth at the checkers. Denny Woodworth gained four positions to complete the top five. C. J. Horn advanced seven spots to sixth besting Tommy Elston, Jeffery Delonjay, Gary Webb, and first time visitor Fryer.
Modifieds would round out the action, fifteen strong for twenty laps. Becerra redrew the outside pole position, and as the saying goes, "that was all she wrote." He would open a sizable lead over pole sitter Dakota Simmons and former track promoter Mike Van Genderen ahead of a caution period with three in the books. As the green flag again waved, Becerra pulled away and seventh starting Kurt Kile charged to second. By the halfway nark, Austen had caught slower traffic, but he was now working with a full straightaway advantage. He would extend that lead to a full half lap before the yellow would wave a final time as Van Genderen tagged the turn one guardrail flattening a tire during a close battle with Robbie Reed for third. This yellow would replace the white flag to set up a green, white, checkers finish. It was no issue for Becerra, who collected win number two for the night. Reed cleared Kile for second in the closing laps, Simmons outran Jesse Belez for fourth.
The final checkers on the crisp, well run show waved just past 10:00 P.M. Thanks as always to Neal, Patrick and the LCS crew for their hospitality. We now await one final show at the track for 2024, the highly anticipated Shiverfest event on Saturday, October 26. The now legendary program, drawing cars from several states features trick or treating and hay rack rides for the youngsters and exciting racing for all, so don't miss out! In the meantime, there is still plenty of racing throughout the mid west, so check back to see where we show up next!
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