Three drivers dominated their respective division's main event while the Sport Mods and Stock Cars went right down to the wire during Friday night racing action at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
The 18-lap Sport Mod main event was another LCS classic, one that we have seen here often where drivers can try out many different lines around the D-shaped 3/8ths-mile track with this one involving three drivers battling for the lead over the final six laps. Brandon Dale would lead the opening lap before Austen Becerra came from the outside of row two to take the lead on the second time around. Vance Wilson advanced quickly from sixth to second, but his night would come to an early end when he slowed with mechanical woes on lap six.
Brandon Lennox and Tony Dunker would line up in the row behind Becerra for the restart and Austen maintained the lead as those two raced it out for second. Both challengers wanted to use the high to low line through turns one and two as that would allow them to get a run on the leader, but if Lennox was in second and he entered high, Dunker would go low into turn one and take away that prime low exit line off of two. The caution waved one last time on lap twelve when Jeffrey DeLonjay spun in turn two and the final six laps were nothing short of spectacular.
Again Lennox and Dunker swapped positions as they challenged Becerra, but in the final two laps it would be Lennox who would firmly take second and pull even with Becerra. Austen did not flinch though, held his line and the two drivers took the white flag in a dead heat with Dunker right behind waiting for an opening. They would stay side-by-side down the back stretch and in the final turns Lennox slipped a bit high giving Becerra the win and allowing Dunker to get under him for second in a thrilling finish. Sean Wyett and Brandon Dale were not far behind in fourth and fifth.
It always seems like the Stock Cars have a good feature at Lee County and tonight was no different as pole-sitter Chad Krogmeier paced the tightly packed field through the first three laps. Jeremy Pundt started fifth and on lap four he would take the lead only to give it up a lap later to the sixth-starting John Oliver Jr. Pundt was not about to fade away though and he stayed close to the new leader through the middle stages of the 18-lap event.
With Oliver using the low line on both ends, Pundt started to search for a faster line and he soon found that a higher exit from turn two would give him a big run on the leader down the back stretch. The first try got him within a half car length of Oliver and the next lap Pundt was able to pull even with the leader only to have Oliver pull back in front off turn four where the low line was obviously the best. On lap sixteen Pundt was able to nose ahead of Oliver on the back stretch and the next time around, racing to the white flag, Pundt cleared Oliver by a full car length and if he knew that he had that much of a gap he might have driven low into turn three to take away Oliver's line that he again used to maintain the advantage at the stripe. On the final lap Jeremy tried something a bit different in one and two and it was not as effective as Oliver would stay ahead down the back stretch and keep it planted on the bottom to take the win. Pundt got a big hand from his hometown crowd for his runner-up effort while Abe Huls was right there to watch the thriller close behind in third. Jason Cook came from eleventh to finish fourth while Beau Taylor completed the top five in his first appearance at Donnellson this season.
The first of the three "walk aways" came in the Sport Compacts when Daniel Fellows flew past early leaders Ron Kibbe and Josh Barnes on lap four and then built a half lap bulge on his way to victory. Mike Reu started sixth and finished second, Barry Taft moved from tenth to third, Kibbe finished fourth and Brandon Reu moved from ninth to fifth.
The UMP Pro Late Model feature saw some tight racing for the lead early with Todd Frank leading the opening lap before Denny Woodworth got by on lap two. Frank battled back though and used the cushion to retake the lead on lap four, but when he bobbled on the cushion in turn two Woodworth came right back to the front on lap five. Cautions on laps twelve and thirteen brought the field back to Woodworth for the final seven laps, but neither Jay Johnson or Tommy Elston could keep up with the racing attorney as Woodworth picked up another win at Lee County. Johnson's 2017 debut here at LCS resulted in a runner-up finish, Elston finished third, Gunner Frank was fourth and Sam Halstead took fifth.
The IMCA Modifieds closed out the night with a twenty car field going for twenty laps and pole-sitter Dugan Thye would set the pace. Michael Long moved from sixth to second on lap three and Thye would fight off his challenge until the caution waved for a Larry McConnell spin on lap five. On the restart Long drove under Thye for the lead and would steadily drive away while the racing remained tight within the pack. One more restart on lap eleven caused a shuffle in the top five as Long again drove away over the final nine laps to take the win with Jeff Waterman, Chris Zogg and Dennis LaVeine next in line while Thye completed the top five.
A full night of racing action for the 69 car field along with a fun filled intermission that included a Candy Dash courtesy of the night's sponsor Darkside Tint & Graphics was all completed before ten o'clock. Weekly racing action continues at the Lee County Speedway next Friday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment