The thermometer showed temperatures in the fifties, but with a stiff and moist breeze blowing from the east it was a night where only the hardcore racers and fans would come out for the second night of weekly racing at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. As usual though the track was wide and multi-grooved producing five new winners on Friday night.
The IMCA Sport Compacts would start the night off with 15-laps of action as Barry Taft snared the lead from the outside pole position. With four cars racing hard just behind for second Taft would maintain a nice margin until Jake Dietrich broke from that pack and started to chase him down. A late caution brought the field together and when that battle for second picked up once again Taft pulled away to score the win while Josh Barnes edged out Dietrich for second. Brandon Reu came from the fifth row to finish fourth while Kimberly Abbott completed the top five.
Ten of the eleven UMP Pro Late Models would start the A-Main as Derek Sammons was forced to scratch after slamming the turn three guardrail on the opening lap of his heat race earlier in the night. Derek Liles would lead the opening lap by a nose over Gunnar Frank and after Frank drove around him for the lead on lap two Liles would spin in turn four to bring out the caution. On the restart both Sam Halstead and Todd Frank would slip by the younger Frank with Halstead moving to the lead and then pulling away from the field. However, when Chase Frank spun for the second time in the race, that caution would set up a green-white-checkers finish with Todd Frank and last week's winner Denny Woodworth poised to challenge. The elder Frank would throw a slider at Halstead in turn four coming to the white, but Sam was patient and drove right back under Frank to maintain the lead and secure the victory over Todd Frank. Tommy Elston slipped by Woodworth on the final lap to post a third place finish and Liles got by Brian Crebo on the final lap to get back to fifth.
When the green flag waved on the IMCA Stock Car feature the second row of Jeremy Pundt and Abe Huls flared out to make it four-wide entering turn one with front row starters Les Blakely and Corey Strothman. Pundt would find the bite on the very bottom to take the lead going down the back straightaway and he would drive away to a convincing win in the non-stop twenty lap race. Huls was trying to keep pace in second when he smacked the guardrail in turn three ending his night on lap eight so it would be Jason Cook who claimed runner-up honors just ahead of Jason See, Strothman and John Oliver Jr. In victory lane Pundt, tongue in cheek, thanked Jeff Mueller for going to Marshalltown as there have been many nights over the past few years when Jeremy and others were chasing Mueller here at Lee County.
Mitch Boles would lead the opening lap of the 20-lap headliner for the IMCA Modifieds only to have Dennis LaVeine drive by on lap two. Jeff Waterman moved quickly up from fifth to second and he would go to work on the leader using the high line to get the advantage on lap six. A caution for Boles on lap fifteen erased a nice lead, but Waterman was again able to drive away over the final five circuits to get the win ahead of LaVeine. Blake Woodruff back up a convincing heat race win earlier in the night by starting sixth and finishing third, Bobby Six came from the fifth row to go fourth and division rookie Dakota Simmons filled out the top five.
The IMCA Sport Mods would close out the evening with eighteen laps of feature action as Austin Howes would lead the opening laps before the caution waved as Brandyn Ryan spun and collected Dave Kraus in turn three. Howes would be able to hold back Tony Dunker for a lap following the restart, but Dunker was on the fly taking the top spot on lap four and then pulling away for the feature win. Howes would fight off Logan Anderson to finish second, a big improvement for Anderson who did not finish his heat after fighting handling problems. John Oliver Jr, would take fourth as Brandon Dale finished in fifth.
Weekly racing continues at the Lee County Speedway next Friday night when it just has to be warmer! Then, on Thursday May 4th, the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models return to Donnellson for another night of Super Late Model action on one of the drivers' favorite tracks. Thank you to Tony Paris for giving me the opportunity to fill his spot on the microphone while he coached his son Tyson's baseball team to a win tonight and a special thanks to Dan Workman who does a fantastic job with all of the "extras" that an announcer needs to do for the fans and the sponsors.
With a social commitment on Saturday night my next action will come on Sunday as the Deery Brothers Summer Series IMCA Late Models close out a three-race weekend at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway. Look for me on the Back Stretch!
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