November 2008 – The Tenth Annual Shiverfest at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson came real close to not happening as a slow moving weather system provided rain and cold temperatures the five days preceding the event including nearly an inch on Friday and that same system then produced forty to fifty mile per hour winds on Sunday. The one and only day of the week that was decent was Saturday October 25th and thanks to the hard work of promoters Terry and Jenni Hoenig plus their dedicated staff, the show went on with only a minor delay.

Just over 170 cars in five divisions made the trip and even though this was a count that was forty fewer than 2007’s pit buster, it was more than enough to produce plenty of action for the nice crowd that gathered for one last racing fix before the off season. One of the likely reasons for the reduced car count was the fact that quick change rear ends were not allowed in the Modified division this year. That did not stop Bruce Hanford though. A former NKF Heartland Tour for a Cure champion and one of the few drivers who has competed in every “Shiverfest”, Hanford and his crew made the extra effort to change rear ends and it paid off as he fought off the challenges of Todd Shute and Jeremy Mills to take the win in the Modifieds. For Hanford it was just another example of the focus that he puts on his family. A few years back he arrived late at the track after all Modified heat races had been run as he made sure that he attended his daughter Kirsten’s swim meet in Cedar Rapids. Bruce started at the back of the C-Main that day, advanced up to the B-Main where again he raced his way to the front to make the Shiverfest finale. Hanford topped off a successful day where he put family first by finishing fifth in the feature race. Back to the present, Bruce wasn’t about to miss this show as his son Kyle loves the event and all of the extra fun that goes with it. The extra efforts paid off handsomely as Kyle proudly hoisted the trophy won by his father in victory lane.

I’d like to think that part of the reason that Todd Shute and Jeremy Mills made their first-ever appearances at Shiverfest was due to the All Iowa Points bonus money that was being offered for feature winners in all five divisions. The two drivers were ranked first and third in the Modified standings and if either of them had won the feature they would have collected the “Gold” bonus of $350 on top of the $500 feature winners check. Hopefully they enjoyed their first experience at Lee County Speedway and perhaps they will be back for next July’s Liberty Cup and of course next October’s “Shiverfest”. With Hanford ranked twentieth in the standings he picked up the “Silver” bonus of $250. I know that Four Cylinder winner Brannon Bechen was there because of the bonus as he said so in victory lane as he collected the $175 “Gold” bonus sponsored by YMH-Torrance. Bechen’s win officially earned him the All Iowa Points championship as he edged out Steve Schueller by one point. Doug Fenton collected an extra $100 “Bronze” bonus in the Hobby Stocks and Boles Auto Sales handed over an extra $250 to Stock Car winner Matt Greiner who was ranked eighth in the standings. When Tony Dunker, who was not in the top 100 of the Limited Modified standings, won the Sport Mod feature, Paul Boles donated the unclaimed bonus money of $200 to the Southeast Renal Dialysis Units bringing the total for the day up to $1,550 for individuals and families fighting kidney disease in the area. If any promoters are interested in the many different ways that you could work with the All Iowa Points Bonus program, please feel free to contact me during the off season.

Shiverfest was once again a great way to close out the season at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, but an announcement on October 22nd already has fans of the speedway buzzing for 2009. The Pilot Grove Savings Bank/Ideal Ready Mix “Drive for Five” will bring the IMCA Late Models to the track for eleven Friday night shows paying $1,000 to win and $150 to start each night. Then, on the Saturday night of Labor Day weekend the Deery Brothers Summer Series will return to Lee County for the first time in a few years and if the race winner of that event has competed in ten of the eleven late model shows in Donnellson he will win $5,000 instead of the customary $2,000. Word is that there are several area drivers who are planning on returning to Late Model racing once again, plus there is one prominent Modified driver looking to move to Late Models as a result of this program. Should be very entertaining!

At eighty-five miles the Macomb Raceway was the track closest from home that I had never been to before, but that changed on Sunday October 19th when I attended their Halloween Hoe Down event. The facilities will take you back to the good old days when somebody decided to convert some of their property into a racetrack as you are not greeted with shiny aluminum bleachers, Musco light towers and modern out buildings for tickets, concessions and restrooms. But put that aside and I’m sure that you will be impressed with the 1/5th-mile racing surface that produced two, three and in a couple hair-raising instances four-wide bullring-style action!

Eighteen Modifieds were on hand and it was Donovan Lodge, who had five victories in seven appearances at Macomb this year, earning the pole position for the main event. As Lodge opened a lead in the early laps the racing was intense just behind him where J.D Beal, Bill Parks and Shane Lewis tussled for second and further back you had hard chargers such as David Wietholder and Scott Keith trying to make their way to the front after starting on the ninth and final row. Beal caused the first caution when he clipped a track tire in turn four on lap four and just two laps later the yellow appeared again when the leader Lodge slowed on the backstretch with a broken axle. This handed the lead over to LaHarpe’s Shane Lewis who then fought off the challenges of Wendell Zulauf over the final laps to take a popular victory. Parks finished in the third spot ahead of Russ Coultas and Scott Keith made it up to fifth at the checkers.

Shane Kelly went the distance for the win in the Four Cylinder feature and then earned an extra $50 when he emerged from his car in victory lane wearing a Halloween costume. The track was trying out the B-Mods for the first time and Quad City area driver Perry Gellerstadt took the win while the Street Stock checkers went to a driver who has one of those classic short track dirt racing names, Cletus Coats. This year’s track promoter Rob Gyles was entertaining on the microphone and he introduced the 2009 promoter Darin Weisinger to the crowd on hand. Check this place out sometime if you get the chance.

With Macomb now crossed off my list, the Mineral City Speedway in Fort Dodge is now the track closest to home that I have not yet visited, and it is the only weekly race track in Iowa that I have not been to. I haven’t seen a race at the track in Sioux Center either, but they are not running weekly there at this point in time.
That’s it for the 2008 racing season! I will have a few thoughts on the World Finals in Charlotte as well as my annual wrap up in the December issue right here in the best regional racing paper in the nation, Hawkeye Racing News. If you do not have your subscription purchased yet, now is the time.