Marolf and Becerra Headline Long List of Winners at Lee County's Shiverfest

It was an absolutely beautiful night for October 29th in southeast Iowa and that brought out 161 cars and a large gathering of fans to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for the annual "Shiverfest". This is not another one of those high paying, high entry fees late season events, but instead a race night that focuses on family fun and entertainment with pre-race hayrack rides through the pits and trick-or-treating where the kids get a chance to meet the drivers and fill up a big sack with candy. Unfortunately on this night with a couple of extra classes added to the card and twenty-seven cautions across the seven features, those kids needed every bit of that sugar high to make it to the final checkers that waved at 11:29 p.m., just a minute shy of six hours beyond the 5:30 scheduled time for hot laps.

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You can't blame the track as promoter Brian Gaylord and his crew had it in near perfect condition where it was ready to go from the start and even without any "farming" during the evening it was still multi-grooved at the end of the night. There were no unnecessary delays as the team of officials kept the event rolling along in a quick fashion with the next race taking the track right as the cars from the one that had just concluded exited, and the realignments (oh so many) were done in an efficient manner. Between hot laps, heat races and features, two extra classes are going to add another forty-five minutes to an hour to the show in the first place. And then add in the cautions (way too many), and you end up with a six hour program. Thankfully though, as I stated earlier, it was a beautiful night for October 29th in southeast Iowa and I would say that about one fourth of the original grandstand count stuck it out until the end.

The American Iron Racing Series (AIRS) would be the first feature on the roster with Robin Atkins taking the lead at the start. These cars not only bring back a bunch of memories for us older fans, but they race hard as well as they are not just out to put on an exhibition. Caution waved on lap five when Ethan Allen spun in turn two and collected a couple of other cars and following the restart Atkins had a challenge from both Tyler Maschmann and Brian Gade.

As Gade pulled even with the leader, the top eight cars were racing two by two four rows deep almost looking like the start of the race again as they came to score lap nine only to have the caution interrupt the show when a back marker spun in turn two. Gade had been scored the leader by a nose the lap before, so he would bring the field back to green and as one of the leaders of the AIRS group, Gade would pace them over the final four laps to take the win. Maschmann would chase him in for second, Atkins settled for third, Jake Hayes came from eleventh to fourth and Bruce Yoerger filled out the top five.

The Modifieds would be up next for twenty laps and with Robbie Reed and Austen Becerra drawing the front row it was a pretty good bet that one of those two would be your winner. The third-starting Mark Schulte had other plans though as he would sneak under those two in the first set of turns to hold the lead on the opening lap only to have Becerra go sailing around him on the outside to take the point on lap two. Travis Denning was on the charge after starting seventh and he would follow Becerra past Schulte as well before the caution waved on lap three when Chris Zogg spun and then backed up onto the utility tire on the inside of turn two.

Coming to the restart, the front of the field wadded up sending Denning spinning into the infield exiting turn four and now with a flat right front tire he would head to the pits. One more lap would be scored before another caution, then we would get to the mid-race point before a three car tangle would slow the field again. On that restart three more cars would get together on the back stretch and one final caution would wave with two laps remaining. All the while Becerra would lead the race while under green and he would take the victory, his twentieth of the season with Reed holding off Jarrett Brown for second. Brown had started from the sixth row and had taken second from Reed on lap seven only to give it back a few laps later. Schulte would finish in the fourth spot while Matt Werner came from eight to fifth.

After six cautions in the Modified feature surely the Stock Cars would get us back on track, they always race clean here at Lee County, right? Not tonight and it would start coming to the initial green flag when five cars starting at the back of the field would pile up even before getting out of turn four. On the second try at a start Kaden Reynolds go go from fourth to the lead using the extreme top line to fly around front row starters Chad Krogmeier and Kirk Kinsley, but with just two laps in the books the caution would wave again for a spinner in turn three.

One more lap would be scored before Zeke Hillgartner went spinning down the back stretch and while Hillgartner was given his spot back, Dustin Griffths was the penalized driver for the restart. As the green flag came out again Griffiths slowed to a stop just past the flagstand and after the caution waved he started it up and drove on in to the pits, perhaps his way of protesting the call? Three more laps would be scored before another back marker would spin in turn two and finally we would get a stretch of green flag laps in.

Reynolds was still riding the high line and was pulling away until he went too wide in turns three and four and got hung up on the guardrail momentarily allowing John Oliver Jr. to erase the gap. Reynolds, who is just two points behind Dallon Murty in the All Iowa Points with just one more event on the schedule after this one, would regain his rhythm and start to inch away from Oliver until lap thirteen when disaster struck for the leader.

A car that was also using the extreme top while racing at the back of the field stuffed it into the turn three guardrail coming to a sudden stop just in front of Reynolds, and when he was unable to get off the cushion in time, hard contact would damage the right front of the leader's car enough that he would have to retire to the pits for the night. 

This would put Oliver out front for the restart and he would cruise the final six laps for the victory. David Brandies would take the second spot while the four car battle for third kept us entertained as Jason Cook came from ninth to join the podium. Miciah Hidelbaugh charged from fifteenth to finish fourth and Quad Cities based veteran Jason Bahrs has a "new to him" Stock Car that he wheeled in for fifth.

An interesting mix of twenty-one Late Models, including two drivers who were out for the first time, would line up next for twenty-five laps. Those two would start at the back of the field while on the pole position would be the well accomplished Modified driver Tom Berry Jr. who had landed the ride tonight in the #77 car normally driven by Jeff Aikey. Berry would race out to the early lead with Sean Johnson in hot pursuit until the caution waved for Dekota Job's spin on lap seven.

C.J. Horn would move to second on the restart only to have just one more lap scored before an uncharacteristic spin by track champion Tommy Elston in turn three. On this restart Nick Marolf would make a big move as he was on the march from a fourth row start and on lap eleven Marolf would squeeze by Berry to take the point. The caution would wave for a spinner with six laps remaining and on the restart Anthony Guss got sideways mid-pack while taking the green sending the back of the field scrambling.

Once back to green there would be no catching Marolf as he raced on to the win ahead of an impressive performance by Berry in what might have been his first Late Model start. Horn finished ahead of Johnson in third and Mark Burgtorf took fifth just ahead of a hard charging Elston from the rear of the field.

Eight of the Mini Hauler trucks had joined the card and while they only had one caution in their feature, it was a long one as the track crew had to dry up the oil from Tim Wagner's blown engine on lap eight of twelve. Brian Tipps was the class of the field and redrawing the pole position left no doubt in this one. Jeff Bockes, Jim Ruble, Sheldon Brockett and Jacob Ruble made up the top five.

The Sport Mods were up next for eighteen laps and with the forty entries whittled down to twenty-four, surely this one would stay green for most part. Not so fast, my friend! Including a false start on the first attempt and a stoppage for debris following a lap three restart, the caution would wave five times with just four laps scored. Thankfully they got it of their system early and the final fourteen laps would stay green with southwest Wisconsin visitor Jason Roth taking the lead from Kip Siems on lap six and then cruising to victory. Brandon Dale outdueled Tanner Klingele late to take second while Brayton Carter and Logan Anderson filled out the top five.

The Sport Compacts would close out the evening and it was obvious that we were racing under a more open rules package tonight as Kimberly Abbott's car featured some kind of side-panel fin above her left side window. Also Michael Grossman's little speedster was lined up in the fifth row, a car that is not seen here when the IMCA rules are in play, and he would steadily make his way through the field before moving in to challenge Chuck Fullenkamp for the lead after the second restart of the race on lap six.

It was an entertaining battle as Fullenkamp hugged the bottom and Grossman raced to his outside taking the lead at the end of the straightaways only to have Fullenkamp forge back at the line which is positioned just off turn four here at Lee County. With three laps remaining Grossman nearly had Fullenkamp cleared heading down the back stretch and when he tried to edge down to shut the door, contact nearly sent Grossman for a spin. Both drivers recovered nicely though, but it would now be Grossman by a nose as lap twelve was scored.

That would be big as the caution would wave just after that for a car stalled in the middle of the back stretch and it would be Grossman on the point for the restart. Now that the Keokuk driver could use the preferred lower line he would pull away over the final three laps to take the win over Fullenkamp. Jason Ash muscled his way past Abbott on the final circuit to finish third while Jimmy Dutlinger came from tenth to fifth.

A big thank you to Brian and Marcie Gaylord for their hospitality and for carrying on the tradition of "Shiverfest". It is their baby now and having been the co-promoter of this event for the first ten years I completely understand the need to sell as many pit passes as possible to make it work. When the show is blessed with good weather, a long night does not bite you like it would if it is cold enough to give you a good "shiver".

One more race on the schedule for the state of Iowa with the annual Turkey Dash set to go for next Saturday November 5th at the CJ Speedway. Here's hoping for another good weather day in Columbus Junction for Larry Richardson and his crew. We hope to see you there!