7/8/05
Lee County Speedway
Donnellson, IA
Sprint Invaders
32 cars
Heat one (started): 1. Bobby Hawks 5H (2) 2. Randy Martin 14 (7) 3. Matt Harms 53H (6) 4. Bart Andrews 9x (4) / 5. Dave Anderson 53 (8) 6. Matt Sutton 3 (1) 7. Mike Houseman Y2 (5) 8. Jayson Ditsworth 1 (3)
Heats were eight laps in distance, taking the top two to the dash, and the top four to the A. Hawks led early ahead of Sutton, Ditsworth and Houseman. Martin worked his way up to fifth, but couldnt get by Houseman or Ditsworth and their battle for third. On lap seven of eight, Houseman tried an ill-fated slidejob that took both he and Ditsworth out of competition. Hawks led Sutton, Martin, Harms and Andrews back to green flag racing. Martin slid by Sutton for second on the restart, but the two made contact down the backstraight, breaking Suttons front-end and sending him to the B. Hawks held on with Martin in tow in a race of attrition.
Heat two (started): 1. Stevie Walsh 20 (1) 2. John Schulz 2 (2) 3. Tracy Nichols 19N (5) 4. Rager Phillips 9P (4) / 5. Josh Schneiderman 49 (7) 6. Justin Parrish 4G (3) 7. Tyson Hart 14P (6) 8. Mike Houseman Jr. Y5 (8)
Walsh slid up the track and contacted Schulz when the green fell. The contact sent Schulz sideways a bit and that slowed Phillips, who dropped back to sixth. All recovered, with Phillips coming back nicely into a transfer spot. Houseman Jr. tagged the wall on the white flag lap, and the Houseman family headed back to Des Moines.
Heat three (started): 1. Jesse Giannetto D1 (2) 2. Brent Antill 1A (6) 3. Matt Rogerson 45 (4) 4. Bobby Mincer 15 (3) / 5. Korey Weyant 99w (1) 6. Jimmy Davies 99 (5) 7. Nate Mosher 22N (8) 8. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (7)
Giannetto led in commanding fashion from flag to flag. On lap two Mitrisin slid by Rogerson for fourth. In turns three and four, Rogerson tried to return the pass in an ugly manner, flipping Mitrisin and ending his night. Giannetto led Weyant, Antill, Rogerson and Mincer back to green flag racing before Mosher spun on the next circuit. Antill would run a nice race to come home second, but Giannetto had checked out.
Heat four (started): 1. Manny Rockhold 4B (2) 2. Mike Trent 41 (4) 3. Jerrod Hull 50 (6) 4. Ryan Jamison 51J (1) / 5. Tim St. Arnold 7w (8) 6. Nick Eastin 25 (7) 7. Ryan Bunton 66 (3) 8. Justin Newberry 36 (5)
Rockhold led the distance. St. Arnold arrived late, tagged the tail, and came just short of passing Jamison for the final transfer. Newberry was celebrating a birthday in front of the packed grandstand, as the Lee Co. fair queen sold 50/50 tickets.
Dash (started): 1. Walsh (2) 2. Hawks (1) 3. Rockhold (4) 4. Giannetto (3) 5. Martin (5) 6. Schulz (6) 7. Trent (8) 8. Antill (7)
Walsh led flag to flag in a mostly single-file affair.
B main (started): 1. Schneiderman (2) 2. Weyant (3) 3. St. Arnold (4) 4. Eastin (8) / 5. Parrish (6) 6. Hart (10) 7. Davies (7) 8. Anderson (1) 9. Ditsworth (9) 10. Bunton (12) 11. Newberry (13) 12. Mosher (13) 13. Sutton (5) DNS Houseman, Houseman Jr., Mitrisin
Schneiderman led throughout, but he wasnt without company in the form of Weyant. Ditsworth spun on lap one of 12, and two laps later Mosher spun and collected Bunton in turn four. Meanwhile, Anderson spun while running second in turn three, but per Sprint Invaders rules was given his spot back for the restart. One more spin by Sutton, who was running fifth, on lap five slowed the event. St. Arnold did well in battling both Eastin and Parrish, who came up just short of running down Eastin.
A main (started): 1. Martin (3) 2. Giannetto (2) 3. Trent (7) 4. Rockhold (1) 5. Hull (12) 6. Walsh (5) 7. Schulz (4) 8. Hawks (6) 9. Nichols (10) 10. Antill (8) 11. Rogerson (11) 12. Mincer (15) 13. Weyant (18) 14. Harms (9) 15. Eastin (20) 16. St. Arnold (19) 17. Phillips (14) 18. Schneiderman (17) 19. Jamison (16) 20. Andrews (13)
This was a great one amongst two tough competitors. The race was a non-stop 25 lapper on the dry-slick 3/8 mile. Giannetto led early with Martin on his tail, awaiting lapped traffic. On lap seven, Martin briefly got under for the lead, but it was not to be. On lap nine, Martin took the point, but the Bulldogg took it back on the next circuit. On lap 12, Martin again got under Giannetto, only to be denied a lap later when the D1 got by. Finally, on lap 16, the veteran from California, MO took the lead for good and scored his first Sprint Invaders triumph. Trent ran a steady race in third, as did Rockhold in fourth. Hull earned hard-charger honors, moving up seven spots to fifth. The top ten cars finished on the lead lap.
Bill W was at a wedding (of all places) in Omaha, NE, so this is my best effort to fill in....