Thursday, May 5, 2016

Sheppard an MLRA Star at Lee County

If you are a Late Model fan then the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, was the place to be Thursday as 58 cars were on hand in the two Late Model divisions. Thirty-seven of those were racing under the MLRA sanction for a $3,000 top prize while twenty-one "Lee County Late Models", a mix of Crate engines and IMCA legal spec engines with some additional restrictions were running for a $1,000 winner's check. Add in four more of the track's weekly divisions and there were 129 cars in action.

The MLRA took top billing with passing points through the four heat races being used as tonight's method of qualifying. Some of the drivers don't like it, including the third-place finisher in the feature who made his feelings known in the post race interview, but as a fan you have to love it as I will guarantee you that you saw more passing in these four heat races tonight than you will see over an entire week worth of UMP Summernationals heat races. Or two weeks for that matter.

Brian Birkhofer won the second heat race after starting sixth and that gave him the most points on the night landing him on the pole of the 40-lap main event lined up next to Dave Eckrich. Birky would race to the early lead, even opening up a bit of a cushion over Eckrich before the only caution of the race waved on lap five for Reid Millard who had spun in turn four.

On the restart Birkhofer again put some distance between himself and Eckrich, but that lead would begin to shrink once Brandon Sheppard slipped by Eckrich for second on lap eleven. By lap sixteen Sheppard was in a position to challenge and after Birkhofer fought him off for a few laps, Brandon took the lead on lap twenty-one. Earl Pearson Jr. driving the Moring Disposal car #1 tonight soon dropped Birkhofer to third, but could not make a solid run on Sheppard who was one of the few working the high line around the 3/8-mile oval.

With the laps winding down the top three seemed to be locked into their positions until Birkhofer slowed suddenly and pulled to the infield with just four to go. Sheppard would then close out the win with Pearson as the runner-up. Chris Simpson started fourteenth and worked his way up to third at the checkers, Tony Jackson Jr. came from twelfth to fourth and Jesse Stovall completed the top five. Eckrich held down the sixth spot, Chad Simpson finished seventh, point leader coming in to the night Jason Papich used a provisional to race his way up to eighth, Justin Kay was ninth and J.C. Wyman was tenth.

The MLRA Late Models continue this three race swing Friday night on the quarter-mile at Davenport and then Saturday night at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. The series returns to the Lee County Speedway on Friday June 3rd.

The "Lee County Late Models" had an interesting roster including several IMCA Late Model regulars who were trying out the rules package plus Norfolk, Nebraska's, Chad Jensen who races in the Grand National division in his home state and Tegan Evans, the 13-year-old girl from Clinton who has run a couple of UMP Pro Late Model events so far in 2016. The 25-lap feature though would be a battle between the three drivers who have already visited victory lane here this season.

Tommy Elston would hold the lead until lap eight when Sam Halstead powered by, but as they lapped Evans both high and low, Elston was able to get back to the front for laps nine and ten. Halstead regained the lead on lap eleven only to see the caution wave two laps later for a Gunnar Frank spin in turn four. Halstead would race away again on the restart and cruise in for the four figure payday while the racing for position in the top five kept us entertained. Colby Springsteen slipped by Elston late to finish the race in second, Jensen made the long trip worthwhile by finishing in fourth while Jeff Guengerich wheeled the Lynn Richard owned #15R in for fifth.

The Stock Cars were actually the first feature of the night and over the eighteen laps most of the sixteen car field determined that the bottom was the preferred line and that suited Jeff Mueller just fine. Jeremy Pundt would lead the first two laps before a caution waved for Greg Gill who had spun in turn two. On the lap after the restart Pundt, John Oliver Jr. and Jake Wenig raced three-wide off turn four with Wenig scored the leader on lap three before Oliver took the point on lap four, Mueller had now picked his way up from eighth to second and when Oliver left him one car-width on the bottom, Mueller filled the space and took the lead on lap seven. Even with another restart on lap twelve there would be no catching Mueller who won for the third straight time here at Donnellson. John Oliver Jr. passed Nathan Wood on the final lap to finish second, something that Wood did himself the night before in Osky. Gill battled back to finish in the fourth spot with Jason See next in line.

The IMCA Modifeds were 23 cars strong tonight and it was Jerad Fuller moving from third to first at the start of their 20-lap feature. Kyle Brown used a freshly manicured cushion to sweep past Fuller and into the lead on lap three. A couple of cautions slowed the race during the first ten laps as Tyler Groenendyk moved to the lead on lap eleven. Cayden Carter had started eleventh, but he was now present for a challenge and he would take the lead from Groenendyk with six laps remaining, A late caution for a Jardin Fuller spin brought the field back to Carter and Richie Gustin tried to pull a repeat of last night in Osky by making a run at Carter on the restart. On this night though Cayden did not flinch, holding back Gustin and taking the win. Groenendyk was the runner-up relegating Gustin back to third, Kyle Brown was fourth and Bruce Hanford took fifth.

Brett Lowry would lead the first three of sixteen laps for the IMCA Northern Sport Mods with nearly everybody hugging the bottom line. The exception? Tony Dunker who was driving in high and coming off low giving him the momentum to breeze past Lowry and into the lead. Two cautions after Dunker had actually taken the white flag delayed the outcome, but there was no denying Dunker who drove this track like a master on his way to victory. Jim Gillenwater started eighth and finished second, Lowry slipped to third ahead of Joey Gower and Austen Becerra.

The Sport Compacts would close out the evening with the first four laps looking like the old-style Talladega where the drivers would not only run in a pack, but they would change positions on a regular basis. Lap leaders for the first four laps were:

1 - Jeffrey DeLonjay
2 - Brandon Lambert
3 - Darin Smith
4 - Ron Kibbe

Kibbe would establish himself as the man to beat and on lap nine two of his chasers, Brandon Reu and Brandon Lambert were racing for third when a lapped car over corrected a near spin in turn two and shot up the track causing both Reu and Lambert to go for a tumble. Both drivers crawled out of their car uninjured and from there Kibbe had to fight back defending track champion Kimberly Abbott to take the win. Josh Barnes recovered from a mid-race glitch that nearly saw him retire to the infield to finish in the third spot while Darin Weisinger Jr. and Levi Heath filled out the top five.

Another tip of the hat to promoter Mike VanGenderen and his crew for running a six division show, including a regional touring series, in as efficient of manner as possible with the final checkers waving at 11 p.m. I also enjoyed chatting with MLRA announcer Trenton Berry who settled into the crowd to watch the Stock Car and Modified features before giving a fine call of the Late Model headliner.

No more racing for me this weekend as other commitments will keep me away from the track. Hopefully you can get out and enjoy some action in my place?

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