DONNELLSON -- Dirt track racing action returned to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on Saturday night with all six regular classes in competition. A balanced field of 73 cars checked in on a very pleasant evening.
Eleven heat races clicked off in just about one hour, with only a pair of yellow flags slowing the action, and with intermission complete, it was time to go feature racing.
With the fans buzzing, a short field of seven sport compacts lined up for 15 laps. Luke Fraise grab the top spot as Barry Taft, Brandon Reu and Caleb Giese raced three wide just behind the leader. Lap five saw Reu snatch the lead away, leaving Fraise and Taft to battle for second.
With only three laps remaining, Fraise was able to find extra speed, moving in to challenge Reu, and as flagman Kevin Eggleston displayed the "two to go" sign, Fraise made an inside move out of turn four to retake the lead and the win. The victory made it two feature wins in a row for the Houghton driver. Reu, Taft, Giese and Ethan Prim would round out the top five.
Modifieds would be up first, with all 13 cars lining up for 20 laps. On the first green flag attempt, Bill Roberts, Jr. was crossed up in turns one and two and was hit by Levi Smith, ending the night for Roberts.
Going back to an original restart, pole sitter Austen Becerra shot to the lead ahead of Dakota Simmons and Denny Eckrich. As lap two was scored, Eckrich moved to second, taking along Kurt Kile in third. Kile and Eckrich swapped the runner-up spot before Denny took control, leaving Kile and Simmons to battle side-by-side for third. Slower traffic came into play around the halfway mark, but Becerra was up to the challenge. With no other stoppages, Austen cruised to the win with only Eckrich, Kile, Simmons and Daniel Fellows on the lead lap.
Sport mods would be next in the running order, 16 strong for 15 laps. Kyler Girard would power from outside row one to pace the field ahead of Cole Gillenwater and Adam Birck. Birck would move to second on the next trip around, and the first caution would come with fours laps in the books.
Back to racing, Birck was all over the leader, finally executing a slide job in turns three and four on lap seven. But Girard was not to be denied as he completed a successful crossover move to retain the lead. With the front pair locked in a tight duel, visiting Trevor Drake of Brighton, Missouri, and Brandon Dale closed the gap to give us a four-car scrum.
A second caution came with just four laps remaining, and on the restart Birck grabbed the lead. But on the following lap he contacted the guardrail in turn four, then rolled to a stop in turn two with a flat tire, ending his run.
This would put Girard back out front with only two circuits remaining, while Dale would take command of the runner up position. But as the leaders entered the final set of turns, Girard missed his mark, going high on the track and Dale was able to drive underneath to pick up a surprising win. Girard would settle for second, trailed by Drake, Cole Gillenwater and Cole Vanderwal.
Eleven hobby stocks battled for fifteen laps. Front row starters James Pilkington and Darin DeZwarte paced lap one, with sixth starting Dustin Griffiths taking second on lap two. The next trip past the flag stand, Griffiths shot to the front ahead of Pilkington and a three-wide battle for third.
A lone yellow flag came with five laps scored, and back under the green flag, Shane Richardson charged to second with Luke Phillips following in third. Seven laps were left when Richardson bobbled, allowing Phillips to take up the chase, but by this time Griffiths was long gone. He would cruise to the victory, continuing his undefeated streak in the division at the track in 2024. Phillips crossed the line in second while Richardson nosed out David McCalla for third. Pilkington completed the first five.
It was now late model time, 10 cars for 20 five laps. This would turn out to be a barn burner. Spencer Havermale was the early leader with rookie Jackson Frankel easing around Christian Miles for second on lap two. Working the high line, Frankel then powered to the lead off turn four as lap three went in the books while point leader Tommy Elston moved to third. Elston then cleared Miles for second on lap six, but by now Frankel had built a sizable lead.
As the race stayed green, Elston slowly cut into the margin to the front. Around the halfway mark Darin Weisinger Jr. raced his way to third, and three laps later the leaders came back to the pack as the yellow waved for a slowing Ed Hollenbeck.
Back to racing Frankel and Elston raced nose to tail with the rookie holding his line on the bottom in turns one and two, then working the high side at the other end. Elston waited for the mistake that never came, with an excited Frankel picking up his first-ever late model win. Elston took second topping Weisinger Jr., Jeremy Pundt, and Havemale. Vance Wilson ran sixth in front of Ron Boyse and Kruze Miles. Christian Miles and Hollenbeck were credited with the final spots.
As good as the Late Model feature was, the stock car finale had an even more dramatic outcome. Trenton Witt led lap one, with Corey Strothman and Dustin Griffiths in tow. A multi-car pile up on lap two would eliminate four of the 16 starters.
Back under green, it was Strothman and Griffiths driving away from the pack. With lots of bumping and banging going on behind them, Strothman and Griffiths gained breathing room. Eventually David Brandies cleared the pack to move to third, but it remained a two-car battle. Strothman stayed in charge, but as the laps wound down the leaders caught the back of the pack.
Although the move over flag was out, a pair of cars were racing for position in the same lower groove as Strothman. Entering the final set of turns, Griffiths switched to the top groove, then used his momentum to squeak past Strothman in a photo finish of .003 seconds for his second feature win of the night. Brandies took third with Keegan Wells and Jason Cook also in the top five.
