A Full Night of Racing in Donnellson

        After yet another rain out, this time for their Saturday night, "Drive for Five" event, Lee County Speedway was geared up for what would now be the sixth and final qualifier in the season long build up to the potential $5,000 to win finales coming soon. Both the IMCA late model and IMCA modified features would pay $1,000 to win this night, plus a $250 bonus for the late models, courtesy of the Sonoco Fuels bonus program. Filling out the card would be the other three weekly IMCA classes, stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts as well as a late addition of the Mini Haulers/trucks class.

    An excellent field of ninety six cars checked in with a full grandstand due in part to the staging of the postponed "Christmas in July" event, with Santa Claus on hand and a host of prizes for youngsters and adults alike. The track was unusually tacky all night long, thanks to a half inch of rain in the early morning hours. It took fourteen heat races to set the feature fields, with no B mains needed as the IMCA sport mods had the highest count at twenty four.

   Feature action kicked off with all twelve IMCA sport compacts lining up for fifteen laps. Heat race winners Brandon Reu and Kimberly Abbott took the green from row five while fourth starting Adam Christy jumped to the lead and opened a nearly straightaway lead. Reu was the first to break through, moving to second about lap six. The only caution flag of the race came just after halfway when Ashton Blain stopped in turn two. This brought Christy back to the pack, and Reu wasted no time powering to the front on the restart. He then cruised to the win, although Christy stayed within striking distance. Abbott won a back and forth duel with Dyllan Bonk for third, while Kaycee McGregor rolled home in fifth. 

   A large field of twenty one IMCA late models signed in to do battle. Stock car veteran Jeremy Pundt made his late model debut in a car purchased just this week from Lynn Richard. For his first time out, Jeremy kept the #15X, tagged the tail and ran competitively in his heat race before an early exit in the twenty five lap finale. Dave Eckrich started on the pole of the draw redraw feature, taking the lead over third starting Dustin Griffin while sixth starting Tommy Elston muscled his way to third. However the yellow flag waved before a lap was scored, causing an original restart. Back to racing, it would be twenty five non stop laps. This time Eckrich led Griffin, brother Andy Eckrich, who lined up eighth, and Elston. On lap two, Andy charged to second and Denny Woodworth cleared Elston for fourth. By the halfway mark, the Eckrich brothers had made it a two car battle. With a dozen laps left on the scoreboard, Andy drove to the front as the duo approached slower traffic. From that point he stretched out to a comfortable margin. Elston found a bit of traction in the closing laps, moving to fourth, then third, but could not run down the leaders. At the line, it was Andy, Dave, Elston, Griffin, and Andy Nezworski. Woodworth ran sixth, besting Gary Webb, who had his hands full with Justin Kay, first time visitor Kirby Schultz, and Mark Burgtorf, who started tenth and finished there. 

   The IMCA stock car class was the lone disappointment, as only nine cars checked in. Eight were left come feature time, with eighteen laps to be run. Chris Wibbell led Beau Taylor for lap one, with Jason Cook and John Oliver Jr. joining Taylor three wide for the runner up spot as they crossed the line for the second time. Six laps in, Oliver Jr. found his way around Wibbell and was opening a lead when the lone yellow came at the halfway point as Leremy Jackson came to a stop on the backstretch with an apparent blown engine. Cook was able to take second on the Delaware restart, but Wibbell continued to hound him for the remaining circuits. Oliver picked up another win, trailed by Cook, Wibbell, Taylor, and Jerry Jansen.

   All twenty IMCA modifieds took the feature green for twenty two laps, and a star studded group it was! Michael Long sat on row one and looked to be the presumptive favorite. But that it why we race 'em and don't just pay 'em! Row two starter Chris Zogg followed Michael while Dennis Laveine slipped past Jeff Waterman for third on lap two. Cayden Carter lined up seventh, and on the third trip around he advanced to fourth. Long stretched his lead as Zogg, Laveine, and Carter battled for second. Five laps in, a multi car mixup in turn two ended with Drew Janssen taking a hard roll in his #127. When action resumed, Carter needed only one lap to claim the runner up spot, and the race was on. Cayden was easing his car around the inside tire barrier while Michael worked the middle groove around the 3/8 mile oval. As the crossed flags signaled eleven down, Carter drove to the front. He then gradually increased his lead while Long was well ahead of a tight battle for third between Zogg and Laveine. Meanwhile, Bill Roberts Jr. and Mark Burgtorf ran side by side for fifth. The checkers waved over the "Gas Man" Carter, followed by Long, Zogg, Laveine, Roberts Jr., and Burgtorf, who came from row seven.

   There were ten trucks signed in to race, and while short on entries they did put on an entertaining twelve laps. Brian Tipps led the first six laps before Ryan Barton took over. Tucker Richardson also cleared Tipps briefly as the top three easily distanced from the rest of the field. Tipps retook the second spot and tried to mount a challenge for the lead on the final set of turns, but Barton held on for the win. Tipps and Richardson followed. The trucks no longer have a "home track," as they just do not have the numbers to support running weekly, although they may be added to the LCS schedule on occasion in 2022.

   Coincidence or not, the IMCA sport mods were last on the card again on Friday, and it proved a wise decision. Three yellow flags and one red in the first five features before six caution flags brought us to the time limit in the finale, which was then shortened to I believe thirteen laps. As the Mayflies threatened to take over the fairgrounds, Brandon Savage and Logan Cumby brought the twenty three remaining cars to green. Cumby took the lead, but the start was waved off as Jadin Fuller pounded the front stretch guardrail. On the second attempt, Austen Becerra was slow on the start, rolling to a stop in turn one. His #22 had similar issues in his heat race, suddenly slowing as he battled for second. In that race he pulled to the infield and had to line up twenty first in the feature. A push start and he tagged the tail of the feature, and this time it was Savage out front. By lap four, eighteenth starting Jim Gillenwater, who spun to avoid an accident in his heat, and Becerra, were in the top ten. Another yellow at lap five saw twelfth starting Jake Griffin now in fifth, and he quickly moved to second. It was the first night at LCS for the young man from Quincy,Il. who most recently competed and I believe finished twelfth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Knoxville Raceway. Another caution three laps later wiped out a big lead for Savage and reset the field single file. Meanwhile Becerra was methodically climbing through the pack, and was in the runner spot with seven laps to go when his gremlins resurfaced bringing out another yellow and ending his night. As the green waved yet again, Joe Bliven, with an assist from another driver, spun on the front stretch and was hit hard by Colton Bowman. The crash caused heavy damage to both cars. Mercifully it was finally time for "green, white, checkers." Savage recorded a jubilant flag to flag win, two weeks after marking his season debut with a blown engine. Griffin was happy with a runner up finish in his first night out. Tanner Klingele, Cumby, and Sean Wyett completed the top five.

   LCS will take next week off before returning with the Sprint Invaders topping the bill on Friday, August 20. Currently we are watching the weather, with a Sunday visit to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa on our wish list. I apologize if you are receiving this entry late, as we seem to be having a bit of trouble with the Positively Racing site today!