There are likely a few Late Model drivers who have a new favorite race track today after the MLRA show at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Friday night. And one of those just might be Terry Phillips who checked out just about every line he could over the forty-lap distance to find the one that he would use to make a late pass and take the feature win just one night after damage from a first lap melee left his primary car in the hauler.
The D-shaped track in Donnellson is quickly building a reputation for being one of the raciest around and this would be the first opportunity for many of the Late Model drivers to take a look at it as the MLRA made their first ever appearance here. Dave Sapp, Mike VanGenderen and the entire crew worked diligently all week and once they had it groomed and ready for hot laps they did not touch it for the rest of the night. Not even a spritz of water here or there, and what resulted was a masterpiece that allowed drivers from all six divisions to race high, low, a combination of the two and anywhere in between resulting in a night of racing that many in the large crowd will be talking about for some time to come.
Sorry, just had to get that out there right up front. Now on to the action.....
A dual spin by Travis Dickes and Ryan Gustin wiped out the first attempt at a start for the Late Model main event, but with MLRA rules allowing a free restart on the first lap both drivers retained their seventh and eighth starting positions. Thursday's winner at Oskaloosa, John Anderson raced to the lead from the pole with Andy Eckrich challenging to his outside. Jason Utter and Chad Simpson made it a four car fight for the lead early while the rest of the field remained tightly packed behind them with drivers looking around for the ideal groove on this unfamiliar track. Gustin was one of the first to go to the very top at both ends and by lap eight he was up to fourth. On the following lap "The Reaper" caught the cushion just right in turns three and four and he swept past both Simpson and Eckrich to takeover the second spot with Anderson square in his sights.
The leader either has amazing instincts or more likely a crewman with great hand signals though as on the following lap Anderson changed his line from bottom to top in turns three and four to block off the high flying charge of Gustin. After watching the kid from Marshalltown go sailing by him, Terry Phillips went to the top as well and as the leaders started to work lapped traffic the fans were treated to an amazing four car battle between Anderson, Gustin, Simpson and Phillips. Weaving through traffic, moving from bottom to top and back down again Anderson maintained the advantage though before the caution waved on lap nineteen for Billy Koons who had stopped in turn three.
On the restart, with clear track ahead of him Anderson was able to lead Gustin and Phillips around the cushion while Simpson was persistent in using the bottom and the race seemed to settle in for several laps. Not about to settle for third, Phillips started to search around for a better line kicking off the cushion and then exiting the turns either low or in the middle while Gustin gradually moved closer to Anderson. With ten laps remaining the leader had to deal with the soon to be lapped car of Scott Lewis and when Anderson hesitated just a bit that was all that Gustin needed to drive by. Phillips followed suit a couple of laps later and the race again heated up as the laps wore down. With three to Gustin had to change lines to get by a lapped car and Phillips used a lower groove that he had found to liking earlier to make the pass for the lead. With only two remaining, Gustin did not have enough laps to regroup and the veteran driver out of Springfield, Missouri, notched his 107th career victory with the MLRA.
Gustin was a very gracious runner-up stating that you will win some and lose some when working lapped traffic after telling series announcer Trenton Berry, "this is the best surface that we have been on all year, hats off to the Lee County Speedway!" Chad Simpson finished third for the second night in a row as he continues to lead the MLRA points, after leading the first thirty laps Anderson faded to fourth while Oklahoma driver Tommy Weder Jr. came from tenth to fifth. Dickes would remain near the top of the point standings with his sixth-place run, Utter was seventh, Matt Furman finished in eighth, Mark Burgtorf got up to sixth early but had to settle for ninth while Dave Eckrich completed the top ten.
MLRA LCS Notes......Reportedly after some grumbling from the drivers about using passing points, the "I'm Fast, Start Me Up Front" syndrome, series officials went with the qualifying method where the four heat race groups were determined by a draw but then the lineups were set for them by time trials with, of course, the fastest driver starting on the pole. Obviously, even if you didn't click on the link before, you know that I am not a fan of this method as it typically leads to uneventful heat races and locked down, one-grooved feature races. Tonight was an exception, especially in regard to the feature but let's be realistic, it had everything to do with the superior track preparation and the unique configuration of the Lee County Speedway. This race procedure more often than not leaves the ticket-buying fans wanting for more......Tonight's first heat had the Simpson brothers, Chad and Chris, starting door-to-door on the front row and when Chad drifted up the track in turn two on the opening lap it forced Chris up over the cushion and he faded to fourth heading down the back stretch. That was where he would finish and as the top four headed to the scales Chris charged past Tommy Weder Jr. and Ryan Gustin to get right up under Chad's rear end..... The second heat got off to a wild start as well as third-starting Travis Dickes got under polesitter Jason Utter and when Utter went into turn one a little too hot he slid sideways in front of the field. Somehow everybody avoided him though and it was in turn three where Jamie Wilson and Matt Furman went for a spin to bring out the yellow. Furman had to restart at the rear, but fought his way back to third at the finish behind Utter and Dickes......Heat three was a bit of a yawner and while it was running I wrote in my notebook, "if you are going to start straight up at least cut the laps from ten to eight to save the track and reduce the monotony"......There were no position changes up front in heat four, but at least it was interesting as both Terry Phillips and Jeremy Payne hounded Andy Eckrich the entire distance.......Ricky Frankel won the B-Main as Brian Harris picked his way through the field to finish second ahead of Jason Bodenhammer........The large crowd was asked if they would like to see the MLRA return to the Lee County Speedway in 2015 and the response was obvious. They didn't need to be asked, as the fact there was a large crowd on hand had already provided the answer and when the date is booked it will be one that you will definitely want to add to your calendar.......The MLRA closes out its three-night swing tonight at the Randolph County Speedway in Moberly, Missouri.
It was apparent that there were a lot of people who were at the track for the first time this year with the draw being the first appearance of the MLRA Late Models, but I would be shocked if many of those fans do not come back again soon after seeing the racing action in the track's regular five divisions tonight.
The Sport Mods had to get a couple of cautions out of their system early before settling into what would be a great battle for the lead. Dakota Simmons would lead the first lap before both he and Ryan Fullenkamp would spin in turn one and this handed the lead over to Austin Howes. Brandon Dale powered by him on lap three and looked like he might runaway before a caution on lap six brought the field back to him. Phillip Cossel and Tony Dunker picked up the challenge on Dale following the restart, but as the laps wound down this would now be a two car battle between Dale and Dunker for the win. On the final lap Dunker drove straight to the top at the entrance of turn one, kicked it off the cushion and maybe even the guardrail driving hard toward the bottom of turn two where he shot past Dale heading down the back stretch. Brandon was not going to concede though and he came right back on the bottom of Dunker into turn three making just the slightest bit of contact as the two slid up the track in four and it was Dunker who had the advantage by less than a car-length as they went under the checkers. Not far behind Cossel crossed the line in third while Joey Gower and John Oliver Jr. crossed the finish line in a virtual deaf heat with the edge to Oliver for fourth. However, in post race tech inspection, Dale was found to have an illegal right rear tire and he was disqualified from the runner-up position. (Thank you, by the way, to track announcer Tony Paris for sharing that information with the crowd. I have seen several instances lately where a disqualification is not announced and I often wonder if it was just not communicated to the announcer)
There were only six IMCA Hobby Stocks on hand, but they delivered some excitement as well when Dane Blozovich, Mike Kincaid and Dustin Griffiths went three-wide for the lead down the back stretch. Kincaid and Griffiths got hooked together though and they spun to the infield bringing out the caution and Griffiths headed to the pits with a flat tire. It was all Blozovich from there as he would win ahead of Jason See and Kincaid.
There were some extra Modifieds in the house tonight as David and Kyle Brown along with Jimmy Gustin all made the trip down from the Marshalltown area perhaps to get some laps in here before next Thursday's Hawkeye Dirt Tour event. Bill Roberts Jr. went from the inside of row three to the point on the opening lap and never looked back as he cruised to victory lane in the non-stop twenty-lapper. Roberts thanked his father and gave him a big hug to kickoff the Fathers Day weekend in style. Jeff Mueller started next to Roberts in the third row and finished second, Jeff Waterman passed Hunter Marriott late for third while defending track champion Brandon Banks was fifth.
The Sport Compacts went five-wide off of turn two on the opening lap of their feature that saw Michael Grossman and Barry Taft lead laps early before Kimberly Abbott took over. There is just no stopping Austen Becerra here this year though as the All Iowa Points leader made the pass on Abbott with four laps to go and recorded yet another feature win. Chuck Fullenkamp followed the fast young lady in for third, Taft was fourth and Josh Barnes finished fifth.
The IMCA Stock Cars would close out the night and even though some of the crowd had left right after the Late Models were finished there was still a lot of us who knew that you would not want to miss this one. Corey Strothman took the lead from Gary Harward on lap three and the caution waved the following lap when Louis Lynch and Jim Lynch tangled on the front stretch. Following the restart this became a very entertaining four car battle with Abe Huls, John Oliver Jr. and Jason Cook all chasing Strothman who was running a very unique line, especially in turns three and four. The leader would have about six car lengths on Oliver who was following in his tire tracks as they raced down the back stretch before he would slow to the point that Oliver would nearly hit him in the back bumper entering turn three. Strothman would then turn hard left and drive across the race track to the low side exiting turn four where he would again open up that nice advantage over his challengers. This worked very nicely for the leader until the white flag waved and the money was on the line, for when Strothman slowed to hit his mark at the top of turn three, Abe Huls drove it in deeper on the bottom and then shut the door on Strothman to take the lead and the win. Strothman would take second just ahead of Oliver with Ray Raker and Jeremy Pundt rounding out the top five. Cook sloweed in the final laps with apparent engine problems.
Dave and Mike, if you are reading this I would like to order a track just like this one next Thursday night June 19th for the doubleheader featuring the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders along with the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds. I can't wait!
Before that though my next night of racing will come this Tuesday June 17th as the UMP Summer Nationals roll into the Farley Speedway for a big $10,000-to-win show with a "support class" of IMCA Late Models racing for $1,000-to-win. Should be a good one and I hope to see you there on the Back Stretch!
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