With Lee County Speedway wisely postponing their Drive for Five finale and season championship event from last Friday, the temperature was much improved on Thursday as August bowed out. Although several drivers were unfortunately unable to attend, the promoters considered this night as their best option. The highlight of the night would be the Late Model feature. The winner would collect at least $2,000, however drivers with the minimum number of appearances in the seven qualifying events were eligible for a $5,000 payday. Thirteen drivers were eligible for the bonus, with all but one - Jeff Guengerich - in attendance. The race would go fifty laps with a ten minute break with drivers allowed to add fuel and make adjustments other than changing tires. If a racer did need to or chose to swap rubber they would be sent to the back of the pack for the restart. Season point champions would be determined in all five regular classes, as well.
Seventy six race teams signed in, led by twenty two IMCA Late Models and twenty one IMCA Modifieds. The Late Models contested two sets of ten lap heat races with the second set lining up in the reverse order of the first set. Then points gained in those heats determined the feature line up.
The IMCA Northern Sport Mod feature would roll off first, thirteen cars for eighteen laps. Josh Holtman and Tom Bowling Jr. would lead the field to green, with Bowling setting the pace early. Charging through the pack from row four, Brandon Dale would split a pair of front runners, moving to second on lap seven. Dale was slowly closing the big gap between himself and Bowling when the only yellow flag of the event came with six laps to go. Ironically, the caution was for debris, which appeared to come from the Dale #12D machine. One lap after the restart Brandon cleared the leader and began to pull away from Bowling while Sean Wyett, John Oliver Jr., and Holtman battled in tight formation for third. Those five cars crossed the line in that order as the checkers flew. Besides his feature win, Dale was also crowned the Sport Mod points champion.
As the large crowd looked on, the Late Models lined up, all but rookie Dallon Murty on the starting grid. It would be a pair of non bonus eligible drivers in row one, Mark Burgtorf subbing for Guengerich in the Richard Racing #15R, and Silvis, Illinois visitor Evan Miller, #88. The first twenty five lap segment ran caution free. Burgtorf paced lap one before Miller shot to the front the next time around. Along with row two starters C.J. Horn and Nick Marolf, those four put distance on the field. Horn powered to second with five laps scored. With Miller rolling through the middle of turns one and two, then pounding the narrowing cushion at the other end, Horn was moving around searching for his best line. Slower traffic came into play on lap ten, and Horn took the lead on lap fifteen. Marolf worked his way to the runner up spot one lap later. At the break it was Horn, Marolf, Miller, Burgtorf, and eighth starting Tommy Elston in the top five. Following the break, Austen Becerra, behind the wheel of the Derek Hollenstine #21 charged from seventh to third, then to second with three laps scored, while Jeremy Pundt climbed from ninth to fifth. Three more trips past the flag stand and Becerra took over the top spot. Andy Nezworski was also on the move, advancing to fourth on lap eight. The leader caught the back of the pack on lap eleven but two laps later the caution flag waved. Back to racing, all heck broke loose! Becerra was tagged from behind and when the yellow again was displayed he had suffered a flat left rear tire. He took time to show his displeasure before exiting the track, his strong run over. With the leader gone, Horn and Burgtorf lined up side by side for the restart, but a jumbled up restart triggered a massive five car melee. Marolf made hard contact with the turn one guardrail, and with at least five cars involved, it was Nick and Denny Woodworth who came out the worst. In fact it appeared that both were left with "junked" race cars. After a lengthy clean up, Horn grabbed the lead ahead of Nezworski and Burgtorf. One final stoppage came with eleven laps remaining, and back to green it was Pundt the man on the move. He hot footed his #52J into second and set his sights on the leader. However he could never get close enough to make a move as Horn held on the collect the $5,000 prize as well as the track championship. Following the two leaders, it was Burgtorf, Nezworski, and Sam Halstead. Elston settled in sixth, chased by Darin Weisinger Jr., Jason Oenning, Christian Miles, and Ray Raker. Pundt took the hard charger bonus, advancing eleven positions.
Perhaps not surprisingly on a work and school night, many in the crowd headed for the exits with three features still to go. Sport Compacts were way short on cars, with only seven signed in, but they lined up for fifteen laps of racing. Brandon Reu took the early lead over Josh Barnes. Following a lap five caution, Barry Taft joined the party, driving to the lead with six laps to go. Reu regained the lead one lap later just ahead of a final caution. Now it was Reu and Taft locked in a side by side battle. Taft took the white flag in front by inches, but Reu rebounded to cross the finish line ahead by less than a car length. Josh Barnes, Chevy Barnes, and Blaine Lambert filled out the top five, with Chevy the season points champ.
Twenty IMCA Mods took the green flag for eighteen laps. After an original restart, the race went caution free! Kyle Madden and Dustin Kroening paced lap one before Chris Zogg split the front duo to snatch the lead away on lap two. From that point there would be no catching the #9Z. As the pack sliced and diced behind in entertaining fashion, Chris drove away. Finally with seven circuits left, Jarrett Brown emerged from the pack in second and attempted to run down the leader. Although he was closing fast at the end, the laps ran out, and Zogg picked up the win. Dakota Simmons was steady in third, while Brandon Banks seemed to come out of nowhere, starting in row six and finishing strong in fourth. Bill Roberts Jr. completed the top five. A seventh place run was still enough to net the track title for Austen Becerra.
IMCA Stock Cars would put a cap on the action, with all thirteen cars doing battle for eighteen laps. Leremy Jackson paced lap one, with Jason Cook blasting through to top the next circuit, taking along Derrick Agee. As Cook built a lead, a pair of double duty drivers, Pundt and Oliver Jr. cleared Agee in a dog fight for second. Eight laps in, Neal Kohlmorgan, who had been riding the rim in turns three and four suddenly was out of shape, and flipped his #07 over the barrier, rolling a couple more times before landing on pit road. Again it was a bit of a red flag delay as Neal apparently checked out okay, his race car perhaps not so much. One more yellow came with eleven in the books, then Cook drove on to the checkers. Oliver Jr. topped Agee for second, and it looks as though those two may have finished tied for the points lead, so I am not sure about a tie breaker. Pundt ran fourth while visiting Jason McDaniel came on strong in the closing laps to finish fifth.
The track was hammer down fast early, smooth as glass all night, serving up outstanding side by side racing. The lights will now be off until Friday night September 22, when Sprint Invaders will top the card. As of now, there are two race nights scheduled in October, the 7th, and the always popular Shiverfest on the 28th. Keep an eye on the Lee County Speedway website for details.
Thanks as always to Brian and Marcie for their season long hospitality. We had a fun time visiting with friends, old and new, and it was great to see long time track scorer Roy Ross in the house!
Edit: It was Derrick Agee topping the Stock Car points.
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