The Modified division had the strongest car count with 45 and after five heats, a C-Main and an A-Main the top 24 qualifiers were set to go for twenty-five laps. The first try at a start saw a five car pileup in turn four, but after that mess was cleaned up Cayden Carter would use the pole position to snare the early lead. As Kelly Shryock and Bruce Hanford battled for second, Carter would put some distance on them only to have his lead erased when the caution waved on lap five for a wandering track tire in turn four.
On the restart Shryock established himself in second and began to pressure Carter for the lead. With Shryock making a run on the top side, Carter slid up the track in turn four to block that line so the veteran driver calmly turned down the track and made the pass on the inside just after lap seven was scored. Those two would then set a blistering pace leaving the third running Hanford far behind and when lapped traffic came into play late in the race, things heated up. Carter would throw a big slide job on the leader in turns three and four to lead lap 21 only to have Shryock go low in turn one to regain the lead. A lapped car in the lower line blocked Carter from trying the same move a lap later and that would allow Shryock to put a couple of car lengths on his challenger and to secure the $1,000 win.
Carter would settle for second with Hanford over a straightaway back in third while Carter VanDenBerg and Jeff Waterman completed the top five. Tommy Elston who started on the front row with Carter would hold down the sixth spot with St, Louis area driver Joe Walsh moving up from eleventh to seventh. Earlier in the evening former NASCAR driver Ken Schrader ran third in his heat race, but after he failed to make weight Schrader opted to park his car #9 for the remainder of the evening.
Several of the best Stock Car drivers in the region were on hand tonight and they produced another thrilling main event as the top six cars were all within striking distance during the final half of the 22-lap race. Similar to the Modified feature, John Oliver Jr. raced out to a comfortable lead in the opening laps while the battle raged on behind him, but when a track tire was punted onto the speedway on lap eight the caution waved and brought Oliver back to the field. Oliver held true to his low line and maintained the lead for two more laps before Ray Raker spun in three and on the restart Oliver had Jeff Mueller trying to wedge under him for the lead.
After a couple of failed attempts on the inside, Mueller tried one groove higher than Oliver and he was able to pull even with the leader on lap fourteen. As Oliver and Mueller raced side-by-side for the lead over the next three laps Damon Murty Mike Hughes and David Brandies were right behind, plus Cayden Carter was now finding some speed on the cushion at both ends. Mueller finally nosed ahead of Oliver with five laps remaining, but it now looked like Carter was going to ride that high line to the front as he took over third with two laps to go. However, when Carter caught a little too much of the cushion in turn three, he had to keep the car from turning right into the guardrail and that would end his chances to take the win.
Oliver was right there and ready to pounce on any mistake, but none came as Jeff Mueller took the win after starting from the inside of the fifth row. Oliver would hold down second with Hughes in third, Carter dropped back to fourth at the checkers as Brandies and Murty crossed the stripe in close order running fifth and sixth. Northeast Iowa driver Brian Mahlstedt who was in the hunt for the lead early finished in the seventh spot while Hobby Stock driver Dustin Griffiths looked pretty comfortable in Roger Kelderman's #33z normally wheeled by Zack VanderBeek finishing eighth.
Speaking of Griffiths, it was a pretty darn good night for the driver from Ottumwa as before his ride in the Stock Car Dustin placed his own Hobby Stock car #10G in victory lane in the 15-lap Hobby Stock main event. Starting eighth Griffiths gradually made his way to the front of the pack and when race leader Jacob Keiser slowed with a mechanical issue, Griffiths was happy to take over with just three laps remaining. August Bach would chase home the winner in second with Justin Lichty, Bill Bonnett and Nick Ulin rounding out the top five as Keiser faded to eighth at the checkers.The race was red-flagged on lap two when Norwalk's Benji Clemons lost his battle with a track tire and wound up upside down in turn two.
The Sport Mod division was well populated tonight as well with 39 cars requiring four heats, a C-Main and a B-Main to set the field for the 20-lap headliner for the division. Fourth starting Jacob Beal sent the field scrambling when he spun in turn three of the opening lap and once the race stayed green it was Sean Wyett leading the way. The caution waved on lap thirteen for a three-car tangle involving Dave McCalla, Kyle Anderson and Erick Knutson and on the restart Tony Dunker made a run at the lead using the high line in turn three.
Wyett fought off that challenge, but as he entered turn three the next time the leader had Brayton Carter attacking on the low side as Dunker again rode the cushion and with just six laps remaining Wyett now found himself in third. The caution waved again a couple of laps later as Trevor Fecht may have been helped around by Austin Paul in turn three as they battled for fourth and one lap later the caution waved again for debris.
On the restart with three laps remaining, McCalla went for a hard trio of rolls in turn one and he soon climbed out of the car under his own power. Following the red flag break Dunker tried to make another run at the lead, but there would be no catching Brayton Carter who took the win over Dunker and Wyett. Brandon Lennox was in the mix late finishing fourth after starting thirteenth and newly crowned All Iowa Points champion Tony Olson completed the top five. Early in the night Eric Flander was unable to complete a lap in either hot laps or his heat race due to mechanical issues, but they must have figured things out as he came from the back of the C-Main to transfer to the B-Main where he raced his way up to fifth. That would start the Barnes City driver 21st in the main event and he ran out of laps coming up to seventh at the checkers.
Thirty-one Sport Compacts signed in for action and it was this year's track champion Kimberly Abbott who earned the pole position for the 15-lap main event. Josh Barnes would start to her outside in row one and it would be Abbott taking the point at the drop of the green. Caution hit the speedway on lap two as Bryerson Tharp stopped in turn two and it would be Barnes who would get the jump on the restart to take the lead from Abbott. The young lady would fight back with gusto though and in the closing laps with lapped cars that might have appeared to be more like stationary speed bumps shaking things up Abbott would draw nearly even to the leader. Using one of those lapped cars as pick though, Barnes was able to dismiss the challenge of Abbott with two laps to go and the driver from Keokuk would then close it out to secure the win. Abbott would take the second spot while Jake Benischek, the driver who swept the Fall Extravaganza here two weeks ago, finished in third. Fourth and fifth would go to two former track champions here at Lee County, Darin Smith and Brandon Reu.
It was once again a great way to close out the 2015 racing season in Iowa with Shiverfest and it is good to see that promoters Dave Sapp and Mike VanGenderen have maintained the traditions that have made this a great event since 1999, even adding a few extra touches of their own. Did you notice that despite the fact that the other Fall specials in the area over the past four weeks paid more money, Shiverfest still draws the most cars? It is truly an event that you want to mark on your calendar year after year!
Looking ahead to 2016 at Lee County, Sapp will take a step back from being the track owner as the fair board will take over the operation with Mike VanGenderen still on hand to be the promoter. The track will also add a new Crate Late Model division to the weekly show as it was reported that seventeen drivers were in attendance at the rules meeting for the new division held late in the morning on Saturday.
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| I can guarantee you that trick-or-treaters score more loot at Shiverfest than any other place, and this shows only half of the drivers that were participating! |
It is just past the midnight hour as I post this one to the Back Stretch so now it is off to bed for a quick night of sleep before an early morning road trip into Wisconsin for the "Falloween" event to be held at the Dells Raceway Park near Wisconsin Dells. Will I see you there on the paved Back Stretch?
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