With Mother Nature finally deciding to cooperate, promoter Neal Kohlmorgan was able to get the Lee County Speedway ready for racing on Saturday. Incredibly this would already be the final Drive for Five qualifier for the UMP Pro Crate Late Models, with $1,000 on the line for the feature winner. The five other regular weekly classes filled out the card on an evening that felt more like late September than early August. Toys for Tots would be the beneficiary of the program, with an unwrapped toy able to be swapped for free admission at the spectator gate.
The three eighths mile D shaped oval was in top racing condition for the 73 race teams that rolled through the pit gate, including a handful of late arrivals. With racing action sparse everywhere in the month of July, there was an interesting mix of drivers, old and new that came to race this Saturday.
In addition to the late arriving drivers, the average sized crowd was slow to fill in, and with hot laps complete and racing actually kicking off a few minutes before 6:30, some folks missed more than a handful of qualifiers.
Aided by the always appreciated "one and done" rule, the eleven preliminary events clicked off in timely fashion, with just a short break leading us into feature racing.
Late Models were first on the card all evening, and come feature time all eleven lined up for twenty five laps. Polesitter Spencer Havermale paced the opening pair of laps before his row one mate Denny Woodworth moved to the front on lap three. Early contact between Jackson Frankel and Christian Miles left Miles with a flat left rear tire with both drivers out of the event. While Woodworth opened a commanding lead, Havermale and track points leader Darin Weisinger Jr. battled hard for second. Second generation Weisinger finally completed the pass for the runner up spot with eleven laps remaining, but by now Woodworth had more than a straightaway advantage. In the closing laps Denny came upon a gaggle of cars racing for position causing his lead to shrink a bit, but with zero yellow flags he cruised to victory. Weisinger Jr. and Havemale followed while Kruze Mile topped a tight battle with Tommy Elston to round out the first five. First year Late Model racer Frankie Wellman ran sixth ahead of Jason Oenning and Jeff Dotzert. The Frankel cousins, Rickey III and Jackson were credited with ninth and tenth. Woodworth is currently the UMP Pro Crate Western division and National Points leader.
Fifteen Stock Cars signed in to do battle for twenty laps. Shane Richardson led a tight pack early with Dave McCalla nipping at his heels. On lap four Beau Taylor jumped to the runner up spot taking along Derrick Agee in third. The caution fest started at lap six, with the action stopped a total of five times, quite unexpected for the usually well behaved Stockers. Following the first yellow flag, Agee used the Delaware restart to climb to second, then began to hound Richardson for the lead. Those two swapped the position through the mid point of the event while seventh starting Nathan Wood worked his way to third. Six laps from the checkers Wood used a high side move to power from third to the lead, negated by a final caution. With five laps left on the board Wood muscled his way to the front, then held on for the win. Agee won a close duel with Richardson for second. Fourth running Taylor contacted the guardrail in the closing laps, ending his run, with McCalla and Matt Picray completing the top five.
Starter Kevin Eggleston continued to risk carpel tunnel as all twenty one Sport Mods raced in spurts for fifteen circuits. Again five times the yellow flag waved during the fifteen lap skirmish. Although he gave up the lead a couple of times, those passes were called back and I believe Kyler Girard was scored in first for each official lap. Adam Birck was the early challenger before heading to the infield while running in third with four laps to go. Logan Cumby took up the chase using the top side while Girard hugged the tires down low. The field went single file after caution number four and Cumby eased ahead with two circuits left before a final caution restored Girard to the top spot. The #00 stayed out front for the final two times around, giving Girard the hard fought win as Cumby settled for second. Cody Agee finished where he started in third as did Colton Livezey in fourth. Tyler Heckart advanced five positions to round out the top five.
Both the Sport Compacts and Hobby Stocks were short on cars, with only one heat for each. Five cars took the feature green for the Compacts, with all fifteen laps going caution free. Brandon Reu shot to the early lead and paced the field throughout. Luke Fraise stayed within striking distance, but could never close the gap enough to make a move. Kimberly Abbott worked her way around Blaine Lambert for third, while Christopher Harding came home in fifth.
Seven Hobby Stocks also ran a non stop fifteen circuits. Austin Stalder took the point at the green while Tom Killen Jr. and Tucker Richardson battled side by side for second. Killen was able to break free, and he grabbed the lead on lap four. One lap later Richardson also cleared Stalder as the front three pulled well away from the rest of the field. For several laps Richardson tried to put the nose of his #28 inside of the leader, but to no avail. As the laps wound down, Killen gained a bit of separation and Richardson soon had to contend with a charging Stalder. Killen Jr. made the long drive from Des Moines a successful one with the victory. Richardson held off Stalder for a runner up finish while Jeremy Dooley and Brayden Wood rounded out the first five.
It took until the final feature for the title of this recap to write itself. All fourteen Modifieds lined up for twenty laps. Dakota Simmons grabbed the lead from the pole position with fourth starting Adam Eckrich in second. As Simmons stretched his advantage, third starting Jace Eckrich moved to second on lap five. It took just one more time around and Jace was up to challenge Simmons for the top spot. As those two raced ahead of the pack, Jace made his move to the front on lap ten. Simmons stayed on the bumper of #50 as the laps wound down. Fifteen laps in, third running Blaine Webster suddenly lost the handle on his #7, bringing out the only yellow flag. On the restart Jace Eckrich drove off to the win. But in my mind, the story of this race was three of the next generation of the dirt track famous Eckrich family finishing in the top five! Simmons held second with Adam Eckrich in the #151 in third. Jordon Walker made a late pass to claim fourth over the #58 of Jared Eckrich in fifth. While brothers Dave, Denny and Andy Eckrich continue to carve out wins around the mid west, it looks like an upcoming generation of Eckrichs are preparing to carry on a proud family tradition!
A satisfying night of racing concluded at about 9:30. Lee County Speedway will present the final night of track points next Saturday, with the Drive for Five finale on August 16 before heading to their "post season" schedule.
This beautiful Sunday has us anxious to get back to Quincy Raceways tonight with the heat and rain cancellations hopefully just bad memories going forward.
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