I caught a break this racing weekend as for once, the weather shined on me while it certainly wasn't quite as nice for some of the tracks trying to get shows in as scheduled. But one man's famine is another's feast, and on this weekend, the stars were aligned in my favor.
After witnessing two excellent nights of racing at Marshalltown, I was able to take advantage of a rain out by Pepsi Lee County Speedway on Saturday for their annual Shiverfest and attend that event on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure they would have rather ran off their program as scheduled, but there were a few of us in attendance that were able to take advantage of the situation and attend one more race on this last full weekend of October. And it is seldom to be able to get three races in on such a late date in the year.
I attended the first few Shiverfests when it was almost absurd to even schedule a race so late in the year. My how things have changed, as now this isn't even the last race of the season in the state of Iowa! The racing calendar keeps getting longer and longer and while I'm not complaining, for many people it has led to an adjustment in their priorities with them picking and choosing more on what races they will attend.
As it was for the first two nights of the weekend, it was a beautiful day for racing at Donnellson on Sunday and while it was cool, it was still very nice to be outdoors so late in the racing season and have that glorious sun shining down.
A good field of cars was on hand with ninety seven signing in to race and while that wasn't an overwhelming number, it was just about right to allow track officials to run off a quick and brisk racing program so as to allow folks to get home early and prepare for the dreading Monday morning experience. There were even seven racers that participated in the program at Marshalltown on Saturday night that made the last minute decision like I did to haul down to Lee County on Sunday and get another race in.
Making a rare Modified run on Sunday was Mike VanGenderen who has been busy promoting races to the point of not allowing himself time to do any racing of his own. He reported that he was very happy with his first year of promoting at Stuart and that the car counts were significantly higher than at any time previously in Stuart history. He said that the 2020 racing schedule should be very similiar to this year's with several special events and the appearance of the Late Models for a few events as they were this year. He was strong in his belief that picking Wednesday night was the best option for his track and that it would certainly stay as a Wednesday night track in 2020, which was good news for someone like me trying to fill in those midweek races. Mike also reported that he has been hired to be a track consultant for the Duel in the Desert and will be spending the week working at the Dirt Track in whatever capacity management decides to use him.
It was also announced that Bruce Hanford would be hanging up his helmet after this season is over, completing forty one years of racing in the Quad Cities area and surrounding tracks. When I first attended races in the state of Iowa, Bruce Hanford was one of the star attractions in those years of the past, and he has remained so for the entire period of his racing career. It will be strange to not see the #61 car in action any more.
Look for an announcement sometime today(if it hasn't happened already) on who the new promoter at Maquoketa will be for 2020. I think folks will be pleased on who the Fair Board there has selected.
There were lots of Halloween type activities going on before the race program started on Sunday with hay rides through the pits to watch the teams as they prepared their cars, trick or treating in the infield before the show, box car races on the front chute and lots of people in costumes. It brought a fun and family type atmosphere to the final race program here of 2020.
No B Feature races were required as management opted to start everyone in the five main events of the day. This made for a crowded field in the Sport Compacts with an event high twenty nine of them signing in for racing action, of which twenty six were still running to start the main.
The track was heavy and just a bit choppy for the early qualifying events but they tilled the track before the mains and while this helped to open up the high groove somewhat, the track was still holding a lot of moisture which made it very fast and totally dust free, despite racing the prelims under a bright October sun.
The twenty six car Sport Compact main was up first and while the stats would show that Jason Ash would lead all laps, it wasn't quite as simple as it might sound. He was pressuring for most of the race with primary contenders Trent Orwig and Codey Phillips both ending up dropping out of the race as the attrition rate stood at 50% before the final checkered waved. One of the toughest flips of the season was executed by Ricky Miller Jr who went high and hard in turn number one but was uninjured.
Ash drove on despite the stoppages to take the win with Jeffery Delonjay and Cody Staley finishing behind him.
The Stock Car feature was filled primarily with local, weekly racers as for some reason there weren't many out of town, non regulars who showed up to run in this class. And the outcome was settled early when John Oliver Jr found a hole on the low side of the pack, drove from seventh into the lead early and then just drove away from the field. Abe Huls eventually got to second and with a long green flag period in this race, had time to cut into the Oliver Jr advantage but as hard as Abe tried, it was Oliver Jr who had the fastest car on this day. "Big Daddy" Jason Cook would complete the top three.
The Late Model feature had much the same scenario as the Stock Cars. Nick Marolf started on the pole and led from green to checkered for the win. This race ran nonstop and while Chad Holladay tried his best to cut into the Marolf lead, it was Nick who comfortably led the whole way. Ray Guss Jr surprised by being on hand and he drove Lynn Richards' car to a third place finish.
The Modified feature saw rookie driver Daniel Fellows take the early lead as he battled with Derek Thompson(one of only two Badger state drivers on hand). They went back and forth for the lead with Tyler Madigan, Jeff Waterman, Denny Eckrich and VanGenderen all battling right behind them. Madigan was able to put the best pressure on and he appeared just ready to make a move for the lead when Fellows suddenly slowed on the back chute.
He had broken the rear suspension and while Madigan got hung up behind him as Fellows slowed, Echrich made a great move to drive into second and then blew past Thompson who had grabbed the lead through the scramble. After that, Eckrich just motored away from the field as his rare outing in a Modified led to a feature win. Thompson and Madigan trailed.
The best was saved for last as the Sport Mods wrapped up the night with an exciting eighteen lap main event. Logan Anderson took the early lead but was soon challenged by Austen Becerra for the top spot. They battled back and fort with Becerra moving into the top spot. Both Brayton Carter and Colton Livezey were challengers until both broke and left the track.
Becerra continued to lead but on a restart, Anderson was able to get back around him and take over the lead. Suddenly, Jason Roth became a contender and he moved into second and put heavy pressure on Anderson for the lead. They battled it out on the last lap with contact between them on the back chute, only as a result of just plain, good old hard racing. Both lost control and it was Anderson who regained momentum first and he was able to drive across the line for the win with Roth and Becerra close behind. It was a good and competitive way to wrap up the season at Pepsi Lee County.
The show concluded in the early evening hours and was a quick one as everyone cooperated with moving things along and other than a medical emergency that stopped the action for a bit, it was a tight run program.
Thanks to Brian Gaylord and the whole staff at Pepsi Lee County Speedway for a nice welcome to an unannounced guest and particularly to Brian Neal for the awesome help with line ups and names. I look forward to catching a race here in 2020 before October but also hope that Shiverfest continues for the years to come.
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