After a late night at Lee County Speedway and a very busy weekend ahead, here is a brief recap of action from Donnellson on Friday.
After pole-sitter Adam Birck spun in the early stages of the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, inside second row starter Brandon Savage assumed the pole position for the restart. Savage took charge at the drop of the green while Ryan Cook settled into second.
As Savage and Cook pulled away from the pack, Brandon Banks and Josh Foster, both fourth row starters, were making a run through traffic. After a couple of mid-race cautions kept the field bunched, Savage maintained the point until he slowed with mechanical problems following the completion of lap 12, leaving Foster out front for the ensuing restart.
Foster held the lead until he suffered a right rear flat on his #77 as the flying green waved. This allowed Tyler Cale to inherit the top spot as he made his way past Banks. Cale led the final two circuits to take the win ahead of Banks. Points leader Jeff Waterman nosed out Lonnie Heap at the line for third while Cook finished fifth.
Jason Cook made his way past front row starters Jeremy Pundt and Jim Lynch a few laps into the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Cook held off a hard-charging Jeff Mueller to take the victory. Matt Greiner ran third ahead of Lynch and Corey Strothman.
Jake Wenig led the 15-lap Hobby Stock feature in its entirety to score his fourth straight win in the division. Dane Fenton challenged to the low side of Wenig late, but came up short to finish second. Victor Hastings, who left the event early to change a flat tire, rebounded to finish third ahead of Kevin Cheney and Mike Kincaid.
Anthony Cassat earned his first-ever win in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Cassat, who ran in the top three for most of the event, took charge when leader Rob Hammel struggled to get up to speed on a late restart. Kimberly Abbott chased Cassat to the checkers ahead of Austin Becerra. Brandon Lambert and Josh Barnes rounded out the top five.
After being involved in the first of four cautions prior to the completion of one lap, Jim Gillenwater survived, then advanced through the field to take the win in the 15-lap IMCA SportMod main. Levi Smith ran second ahead of Kevin Cale, Tony Dunker and Brandon Ruffcorn.
Following the races, there was a lot of discussion about the realignments during the SportMod caution-fest. Many questioned why Gillenwater and Jack Evans restarted so far up in the field for the fourth restart. For those complainers (many of whom were nothing short of embarrassing and tactless in the way they shared their thoughts), here's a brief explanation:
Gillenwater was involved in the first of four caution periods at the start of the race. Only 18 of the 19 cars on the starting grid took the green flag; a handful of which were penalized during cautions following Gillenwater's involvement in the first caution. When you consider the penalized cars for the next three cautions, along with others who went to the pits for repairs, a whole lot of movement occurred prior to the completion of that first lap. Yes, Gillenwater restarted in the first few rows on that final lap 0 restart. Why? Well, I just answered that. Penalized cars and other attrition led to his advancement on the realignments.
The explanation for Jack Evans is even easier to explain. Evans had an outside starting spot in the nine-row feature. Of the other eight cars who started on the outside, five, yes, FIVE, were involved in cautions during the first four stoppages. Cars are moved straight forward under realignments, not criss-crossed, leaving Evans in the first few rows, as well, for the last lap 0 restart.
Saturday, it's off to Independence Motor Speedway for the sixth annual Dick Frye Memorial during this year's Buchanan County Fair. My fair tour will continue on Sunday as I make the annual trek to the Great Jones County Fair in Monticello to call the action in the stock car races and demolition derby. Have a great weekend!
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