7/3
Lee County Speedway
Donnellson, IA
Sprint Invaders
28 cars
Heat one (started): 1. Charlie Gilpin Jr. 9G (1) 2. Brian Hetrick 35 (6) 3. Brandon Hainline 4J (4) 4. Matt Harms 53H (7) / 5. Justin Newberry 36 (5) 6. Scotty Peitz 77 (2) 7. Jerrod Hull 50 (3)
The top four in the heats went to the A, while the top two went to the shake-up dash. Peitz took the early lead from Gilpin with Hull hot on his heels. Hull would stop on the backchute on lap two and retire pitside for the remainder of the night. At the time, Peitz led Gilpin, Hainline, Hetrick and Harms. Lap four saw smoke plume from the powerplant of the "Rome Rocket", and finally the leader was blackflagged on lap five. Gilpin led the rest of the way after assuming the lead. Newberry worked Harms over for the final transfer, to no avail.
Heat two (started): 1. Ryan Jamison 51J (4) 2. Dustin Whiting 1 (2) 3. Bobby Mincer 15 (5) 4. Jimmy Davies 99 (1) / 5. Scott Boles 4B (3) 6. Lyle Sylvester 12 (6) 7. Matt Sutton 3 (7)
Sutton and Sylvester got together as the green flag fell, with Sutton getting the worst end. He would return for the B. Whiting led early until Jamison got by him on lap three and led the remainder. Mincer had pulled up to Whiting's nerf bar by the checkered flag, but could not earn a dash spot.
Heat three (started): 1. Jeff Nehring 9 (4) 2. Bobby Hawks 5H (5) 3. Billy Alley 22A (2) 4. Eric Vanderploeg 24v (3) / 5. Rusty Potter 3P (6) 6. Rob Edwards 22x (7) 7. Matt Rogerson 22 (1)
Weird start to this one. The polesitter, Rogerson, did not take off on the initial green. This resulted in a controversial black flag for Alley who was sent to the tail. He was noticeably upset, and understandably so. He would get his revenge later. The second start saw a similar result from Rogerson, and Vanderploeg was blacked this time. Rogerson had obvious mechanical ills and would park his mount for the night after exiting on lap two. Nehring took over Alley's spot and led the distance with Hawks in tow. Both Alley and Vanderploeg got around Potter in the late stages to complete good runs from the back into transfers.
Heat four (started): 1. Jon Agan 4 (1) 2. Steve Breazeale 57 (4) 3. Donnie Steward 16s (2) 4. Tyson Hart 5H (6) / 5. John Schulz 2 (5) 6. Nick Eastin 25 (3) DNS - Jesse Wagler 93
This one didn't have the drama of heat three and was mostly single file, with Agan leading the duration. The two dash spots went to Knoxville natives.
B main (started): 1. Potter (3) 2. Sutton (8) 3. Newberry (1) 4. Shulz (4) / 5. Sylvester (5) 6. Edwards (6) 7. Boles (2) 8. Eastin (7) DNS - Peitz, Hull, Rogerson, Wagler
Newberry jumped out to the early advantage. Schulz was running a strong third on lap two when he banged the wall and lost a few spots. He would come back to grab fourth. Potter hunted down Newberry and made his pass on lap six. Eastin was running fifth and on Schulz's tail on lap eight went it appeared that something broke sending him into the wall. He tipped over easy, but was done for the night. Sutton completed a good run by grabbing second from his eighth starting spot.
Shake up Dash (started): 1. Jamison (2) 2. Agan (4) 3. Hetrick (5) 4. Gilpin (1) 5. Hawks (7) 6. Whiting (6) 7. Nehring (3) 8. Breazeale (8)
Breazeale spun before a lap could be completed. Jamison grabbed the lead at the start and never gave it up. Strong performances were turned in by Agan and Hetrick, while fifth through eighth were hotly contested. Jamison drew a three putting him in the second row of the A behind Hawks and Whiting.
A main (started): 1. Alley (11) 2. Jamison (3) 3. Hawks (1) 4. Steward (12) 5. Mincer (10) 6. Hetrick (5) 7. Hart (16) 8. Sutton (18) 9. Agan (4) 10. Nehring (7) 11. Breazeale (8) 12. Gilpin (6) 13. Newberry (19) 14. Schulz (20) 15. Davies (14) 16. Potter (17) 17. Vanderploeg (15) 18. Harms (13) 19. Whiting (2) 20. Hainline (9)
Hawks jumped out to a good lead, while plenty of passing was occuring behind him. Alley had passed six cars before fifth place Whiting spun on lap six bringing out caution. Hainline exited at this time, and Whiting and Harms were done shortly thereafter. On the restart, Hawks led Jamison, Agan, Alley and Hetrick. Alley continued his charge, picking through competitors until he got by Hawks on lap ten of the 25 lapper. Jamison would follow him by Hawks four circuits later. Vanderploeg was also on the move and was in the top five on lap 19 when he hit the turn four wall, bent up his machine and was done for the night. The restart saw Alley leading Jamison, Hawks, Agan and Hetrick. Agan would ram the wall while running fourth with two to go and lost several spots himself. Alley cruised once in front and performed a few 360 spins for the fans. It was the first time he had seen the Lee County Speedway. Steward, the former motocross racer was steady and finished an impressive fourth. Sutton passed four cars in the last two laps to earn hard-charger honors. The Sprint Invaders return to Lee County Friday, July 11.