4/21/06
Lee County Speedway
Donnellson, IA
Sprint Invaders
31 cars
Heat one (started): 1. Jayson Ditsworth 1x (1) 2. Curtis Boyer 72 (3) 3. Billy Alley 1m (7) 4. Rager Phillips 9 (5) / 5. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (6) 6. Matt Harms 53H (4) 7. Justin Giannetto 1 (2) 8. Matt Krieger 56 (8)
A healthy crowd witnessed a fine show with mild temperatures and a well prepared 3/8 mile surface. The familiar 8 lap heats took the top two finishers to the dash, and the top four to the A main. Krieger drew a "1" pill, but a new rule this year involving a coin flip at the drivers' meeting (the coin came up tails) put him at the tail. I'd like to give a special word of condolences to the Schneiderman family. Bart lost his father last week of a stroke. We're all thinking of you.
Ditsworth led flag to flag in this stout heat, which saw Mitrisin on the outside looking in at the finish. Alley's charge from row four was impressive. He mounted a challenge on Boyer at the finish for a spot in the dash, but came up a half a car length short.
Heat two (started): 1. Jake Peters 57x (3) 2. John Schulz 2 (2) 3. Bobby Mincer 15 (5) 4. Justin Newberry 36 (1) / 5. Ryan Jamison 51J (4) 6. Nick Guernsey 0 (6) DNS - Manny Rockhold 4B, Dan Avery 18A
Peters jumped to the point immediately from row two and coasted to victory. Mincer and Newberry bumped for position on lap six, with Mincer sneaking by for third. Newberry and Jamison traded sliders late for the final transfer, but "Newbs" barely held on to the final transfer. Avery suffered problems in hot laps and retired for the night.
Heat three (started): 1. Matt Sutton 3 (4) 2. Chuck Swenson X (2) 3. Randy Plath 14P (1) 4. Stevie Walsh 00 (7) / 5. Dave Anderson 53 (6) 6. Seth Wilke 38 (8) 7. Bart Andrews 9x (5) 8. Robert Bell 71 (3)
Swenson took the early lead, but it was clear Sutton was hooked up from row two. He chased down the X machine and made a rim riding pass in turns one and two on the final circuit to take an impressive win. Walsh garnered the final transfer from Anderson with two to go. Bell, who has some new sponsorship, blew his motor all over turns one and two on the final go-around.
Heat four (started): 1. Dustin Lindquist 55L (2) 2. Korey Weyant 99w (4) 3. Brian Hetrick 35 (3) 4. Josh Schneiderman 49 (5) / 5. Nick Eastin 25 (6) 6. Jimmy Davies 99 (1) 7. Tony Daniels 14 (7)
Lindquist simply dominated, winning by a large margin. The best battle was for the final circuit between West Burlington youngsters Schneiderman and Eastin. The entertaining duel went to Schneiderman in the end.
Shake-up Dash (started): 1. Sutton (3) 2. Weyant (1) 3. Schulz (2) 4. Swenson (7) 5. Lindquist (5) 6. Peters (4) 7. Ditsworth (6) 8. Boyer (8)
Sutton shot under the front row immediately and set sail on an impressive win. His draw "shook up" nothing, as he drew a "1", putting him on the pole of the main event. Schulz and Swenson put on a great show for third.
B main (started): 1. Mitrisin (1) 2. Jamison (2) 3. Eastin (4) 4. Anderson (3) / 5. Andrews (10) 6. Krieger (12) 7. Harms (5) 8. Daniels (11) 9. Guernsey (6) 10. Giannetto (9) 11. Avery (13) 12. Wilke (7) 13. Davies (8) DNS - Rockhold, Bell
On the first try at green in teh 12 lapper, Eastin rode over the back of Anderson. The contact brought Eastin to a halt and collected Davies and Wilke, who were done. Eastin rejoined at the tail. The next restart saw Iraq veteran and Purple Heart Award winner, Guernsey get sideways on the backstretch, collecting a hapless Giannetto who turned his machine over. Both were done. Avery also exited. Once underway, Mitrisin took command, winning by 3/4 of a lap over Jamison and lapping up to third place. Jamison and Eastin battled back and forth for second, before the veteran took the spot for good. Daniels exited on lap seven. Harms exited on lap nine while running in the final transfer spot.
A main (started): 1. Sutton (1) 2. Lindquist (5) 3. Schulz (3) 4. Alley (9) 5. Mitrisin (17) 6. Peters (6) 7. Mincer (10) 8. Eastin (19) 9. Jamison (18) 10. Phillips (13) 11. Weyant (2) 12. Anderson (20) 13. Swenson (4) 14. Walsh (15) 15. Boyer (8) 16. Hetrick (12) 17. Newberry (14) 18. Plath (11) 19. Ditsworth (7) 20. Schneiderman (16)
Sutton jumped out to a lead early as Lindquist tucked in behind in the 25 lapper. A caution for debris from Swenson's machine as the lead pack approached lapped traffic slowed things. Swenson had to restart at the rear while running eighth. Three more laps were in the books before Ditsworth slowed after contacting the turn four fence. Sutton led Lindquist, Schulz, Peters and Alley back to green flag racing. Alley began to make his move forward, as did Lindquist who ducked low to show his nose in a bid for the lead several times. With the leaders in heavy lapped traffic, Walsh spun on lap 17 bringing out another yellow. Now Sutton and Lindquist's battle was ahead of Schulz, Alley, Peters and Mitrisin from the rear. Weyant surrendered a top ten run when a top wing bracket failed him and he had to go to the work area for repairs. Plath was sent pitside with failing brakes. The final eight laps saw Sutton hold off all charges by Lindquist, and a great battle for third between Schulz and Alley. Mitrisin completed his hard-charger run with a top five finish. The Mocomb, IL native was impressive in his clean sweep of the evening's affairs.