The powers that be at Lee County Speedway faced a nearly impossible task on Saturday. Cloudy conditions and a threat of afternoon / early evening showers created a conundrum. Do we water the track? When and how much? Or do we just cancel the races due to a poor forecast. But the decision was made to carry on with the show. Finally light rain began to fall as race time approached, so everything was pushed back about one hour, and sure enough, the showers subsided, the sun came out and by 7:00 or so we had a near perfect race track, fast and smooth all night long! Not surprisingly, both the crowd and the car count suffered a bit, as some drivers and fans made the unfortunate decision to stay home. But kudos to those that rolled the dice and helped the show go on.
There was another incredible by product of the excellent track conditions. Six feature events ran with zero yellow flags! I'm sure that is something this old race chaser has never witnessed. And although I was not one hundred percent locked in, I am pretty sure there were also none during the heat races - maybe flag man Kevin Eggleston should give back part of his pay! In fact, after Sport Mod driver Jason Von Zomeren unfortunately required a night ending tow back to the pits at the end of hot laps, the wreckers rarely moved the rest of the night. The end result of this fortunate turn of events had the final checkers flying about 9:28, even with the weather delayed start.
So the actual race report for the night will be short (and sweet?)
Sport Compacts were up first, going at it for fifteen laps. And the outcome was a portend of what was to come. Brandon Reu sat on the pole position, drove off at the drop of the green and cruised to the flag to flag win. Up and coming Katelynn Watts also gained separation on the field, coming home in second, while Luke Fraise won an early battle with Kimberly Abbott for third. Christopher Harding completed the top five. It was clean sweep of the night for heat winner Reu.
Jim Gillenwater lined up outside of the front row for the Sport Mod feature and likewise was never headed. Tyler Heckart blasted into the runner up position early as Logan Cumby and Adam Birck battled for third. The veteran Gillenwater maintained a decent lead as Heckart stayed close but was unable to mount a serious challenge. Gillenwater charged to the flag to flag victory, chased all the way by Heckart. Cumby was third, while Kyler Girard slipped past Birck for fourth on the last of the fifteen laps. Birck and Cole Gillenwater picked up heat race wins.
Twenty laps would be set to establish the Modified victor, but it was heat race winner Jace Eckrich out front all the way. It would be the first feature win for the youngster from the famous mid west racing family. Long time racer Kurt Kile did all he could to apply pressure throughout, but Eckrich continued to hit his marks in the "Flyin' 50." Kile would settle for runner up honors after warding off challenges from Jadin Fuller. The other Eckrich rookie, Adam, would finish fourth ahead of Dakota Simmons, who waged a back and forth battle early with Levi Smith.
Each week during the drivers' meeting Lee County Speedway selects a "mystery class" that will race for a cool $1,000 to win their main event, and on this night it was the Hobby Stock division. Fifteen trips around the three eighths mile oval would determine who would collect the prize. Eleven cars took the green flag, with Brayden Wood grabbing the lap one advantage over Justin Chamberlin and Corey VanDerwilt. As Wood began to open a lead, Tom Killen Jr. joined a tight battle for second. When lap four went in the books, Killen powered into second and set his sights on the leader. As the race cleared the half way mark, the Des Moines driver charged to the front. Wood was able to stay close in what was now a two car duel. But when the checkers waved, it was Killen Jr. on top for the second week in a row. Wood came home in the runner up spot in front of VanDerwilt, Jeremy Dooley and seventh starting Austin Stalder. Dooley and VanDerwilt collected heat race wins.
UMP Pro Crate Late Models came next to the track. "Superman" Sam Halstead and Late Model lawyer Denny Woodworth filled out row one. Denny charged to the lead while the #84 of Halstead soon had his hands full of Tommy Elston in a tight battle for second. Lap after lap Elston would dive low in the turns while Halstead kept his momentum running a middle line. While this skirmish raged on Woodworth was able to open a straightaway advantage which eventually swelled to nearly a half lap margin late in the twenty five lapper. With Woodworth cruising to the win, Halstead held off Elston for second. Heat winner Darin Weisinger Jr. lost his power steering early in the race but still muscled his #11 home in fourth ahead of Jason Oenning. It was a rough night for Late Model rookie Reid Sammons, whose night ended on the parade lap. And for those wondering, Andy Eckrich brought his #56 car to the track only for testing.
Stock Cars would be last on the card, going at it for twenty laps. Long time racer and car builder Johnny Spaw made the trip down from Cedar Rapids to debut one of the new Camaro body styles on his several years old chassis. Spaw also returned to the #600 that I remember from his cars raced during the 1992 - 93 seasons (according to his victory lane interview - I remember the cars but not the years raced!) Starting on the pole, Spaw shot to the front at the drop of the green, taking along third starting Thor Anderson. Anderson stayed close to the leader all the way to the checkers in what was essentially a two car race. Following Spaw and Anderson across the line was Nathan Wood in third chased by heat winner Garrett Porter and Jathan Fuller. Spaw stated that while he is not necessarily a fan of the new bodies, approved just this year by the IMCA sanctioning group, they carry less weight, allowing for better weight additions elsewhere on the chassis.
Special thanks this week to Neal Kohlmorgan and his team for sticking it out under very trying conditions. Also thanks to Beau Taylor for the birds eye view of the feature action.
The sky is bright and sunny as I type this report with a Sunday night trip to Quincy Raceways up next. Hope to see you there!
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