Paul Nienhiser picked up the $3,000 MOWA win at Lee County Speedway Friday
6/7/19
Lee County Speedway
Donnellson, IA
MOWA
20 Cars
Heat one (started): 1. Mason Daniel 33m (3) 2. Josh Schneiderman 49 (4) 3. Brayton Lynch 29 (1) 4. Dustin Adams 0 (7) 5. Kyle Schuett 9K (5) 6. George Crawford 57 (6) 7. Dustin Barks 22 (7)
Barks led early in the 10-lapper over Lynch, Schneiderman and Daniel. Daniel worked the low side well to take third on lap two, and then passed Lynch for second with three to go. The move was negated when Barks, who had checked out, lost a motor. Lynch assumed the lead, but Daniel quickly over took him and pulled away to the win. Schneiderman took second coming for the white flag.
Heat two (started): 1. Austin McCarl 2KS (1) 2. Paul Nienhiser 9x (4) 3. Bill Balog 50 (5) 4. Jordan Goldesberry 65 (3) 5. Jacob Patton 79J (7) 6. Jeremy Standridge 10s (6) 7. Brayden Gaylord 13 (2)
McCarl led the distance and won in commanding fashion with Nienshiser in tow. Balog was up from row three to take third on the second lap on a very dry track that wasn’t yielding a cushion all night.
Heat three (started): 1. Lynton Jeffrey 83 (2) 2. Jamie Ball 5J (6) 3. Cory Bruns 44 (1) 4. Colton Fisher 11 (3) 5. Brinton Marvel 21 (4) 6. Harold Pohren 50P (5)
Jeffrey pulled away early, ahead of Bruns and Fisher. Seven laps in, an infield cone was hit. At the time, the finish looked inevitable. Ball was stuck back in fifth. The restart revived him. He grabbed fourth at the drop of the green, third from Fisher on the white flag lap, and second from Bruns in the last corner. It made him the high point driver in the heats, earning him $100 from OpenWheel101.com.
A main (started): 1. Nienhiser (1) 2. Daniel (3) 3. Jeffrey (4) 4. Balog (2) 5. Ball (5) 6. McCarl (6) 7. Goldesberry (12) 8. Bruns (10) 9. Schuett (14) 10. Marvel (15) 11. Patton (11) 12. Adams (7) 13. Gaylord (18) 14. Standridge (17) 15. Fisher (13) 16. Lynch (9) 17. Crawford (19) 18. Pohren (16) 19. Schneiderman (8) DNS – Barks
Prospects for the 25-lapper were worrisome with the lack of moisture in the track, but the race turned out to be solid. Balog led early from outside row one in Scott Bonar’s #50, ahead of Nienhiser and Jeffrey. Cones were set around the infield, and hitting them caused a pair of cautions two laps in a row. A wise decision was made to remove them, and racing continued. Daniel used the bottom to pass Jeffrey on the restart. Crawford spun, negating a Daniel pass for second. Nienhiser rebounded to briefly pass Balog for the lead when the green flew again. Meanwhile, Ball took fifth from McCarl. Ball would then get by Jeffrey for fourth on lap seven. Daniel and Nienhiser were battling for the second spot before Daniel took the spot on lap eight. He found rubber coming off the bottom of turn two, and gained on Balog. He passed him for the lead on lap ten and entered traffic on lap 11. Balog wasn’t going away, however, and found something in the middle to get back by to the point in traffic on lap 14. Pohren spun at that point. The restart saw Balog leading Daniel, Nienhiser, Jeffrey and Ball. In two more laps, Nienhiser would find Balog’s middle groove to get by Daniel for second. When Balog went low in turn four, Nienhiser would use the same line to take the lead (the sixth lead change). Crawford spun again with eight to go. Nienhiser led Daniel, Balog, Jeffrey and Ball back to green. The rubber was down hard now, and Nienhiser pulled away to the $3,000 win. Balog missed his line in turn one on lap 19, and Jeffrey got by him to complete the podium. Goldesberry was the hard-charger.