5/19/06
Lee County Speedway
Donnellson, IA
Sprint Invaders
32 cars
Heat one (started): 1. Larry Ball Jr. 5J (4) 2. Brian Hetrick 35 (1) 3. Matt Sutton 3 (6) 4. Dustin Lindquist 55L (7) / 5. Matt Moro 2m (2) 6. Josh Schneiderman 49 (5) 7. Travis Porter 31P (3) DNS - Matt Krieger 56
The heats took the top two to the Shake-up Dash and the top four to the A. Ball snatched the lead from the front row starters at the outset of the 8 lapper. Track conditions were already dry as a result of a stiff easterly breeze. Lindquist skated around Schneiderman and Moro in a good tussle with two to go to gain the final transfer. Sutton worked over Hetrick to no avail at the checkers for a dash spot. After the checkers Schneiderman appeared to have his throttle stick and took evasive action into the backstretch tires surrounding the light pole. The damage done was enough for him to retire for the evening.
Heat two (started): 1. Korey Weyant 99w (1) 2. Bobby Mincer (8) 3. Curtis Boyer 72 (2) 4. Jimmy Davies 99 (7) / 5. Jake Peters 57x (5) 6. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (3) 7. Bart Andrews 9x (4) 8. Nick Eastin 25 (6)
Before a lap could be completed, Eastin caught the turn four wall hard and was done. When the yellow was thrown, Boyer slowed and did a 360, which collected Andrews who tipped over. He retired as well. Boyer was sent to the back for causing the incident. Mincer, who was to start on the last row, inherited a front row starting spot, but was bested by Weyant when the green fell again. Mitrisin tucked in behind the leader, but caught the turn two infield tire on the second go-around and was rendered helpless. Weyant led Mincer, Peters, Boyer and Davies as the only cars remaining on the track. Soon Peters, who totaled his car after breaking an axle while leading at Knoxville last Saturday, would be done with a sputtering powerplant on lap five after battling for second with Mincer. Slidejobs aplenty in this one, but Weyant held on.
Heat three (started): 1. Billy Alley 1m (5) 2. Dave Anderson 53 (6) 3. Randy Plath 14P (1) 4. Manny Rockhold 4B (2) / 5. Justin Newberry 36 (3) 6. Justin Giannetto 1 (7) 7. Seth Wilke 38 (8) 8. Matt Harms 53H (4)
Harms needed a second bump start and started at the tail for good reason as he exited after the first try at green. Wilke spun on the second attempt, while two other attempts were called back. Alley shot to the fore from his third row starting spot immediately and pulled away until Wilke spun a second time on lap two and was sent to the pits. Alley led Plath, Anderson, Rockhold and Newberry back to green flag racing. Rockhold slung around Anderson and Plath on a touchy and slick high side to grab second, but banged the turn two wall and came to a stop on lap four. He was able to recover and grab the final transfer from Newberry on the last go-around. Alley won by over a straightaway.
Heat four (started): 1. Rager Phillips 9 (2) 2. Ryan Jamison 51J (7) 3. John Schulz 2 (4) 4. Jayson Ditsworth 1x (6) / 5. Stevie Walsh 00 (3) 6. Tony Daniels 14 (1) 7. Nick Guernsey 0 (5) 8. Dan Avery 18A (8)
Phillips led flag to flag. Walsh was running second on lap three when he spun, bringing out the only caution. Jamison assumed the runner-up spot on the restart after charging from the rear. Phillips walked away impressively, and Walsh came up a spot short of making the show. Guernsey's motor belched flame that was quickly extinguished on the white flag lap.
Shake-up Dash (started): 1. Phillips (2) 2. Anderson (1) 3. Weyant (8) 4. Hetrick (3) 5. Mincer (4) 6. Alley (6) 7. Jamison (5) 8. Ball (7)
Phillips and Anderson led the duration, while Weyant, Hetrick, Mincer and Alley were putting on a show behind them in the six lapper, slicing and dicing, exchanging spots on the ice rink. Phillips drew a four, meaning he would start outside row two of the feature event.
B main (started): 1. Moro (1) 2. Mitrisin (5) 3. Newberry (3) 4. Giannetto (6) / 5. Porter (8) 6. Avery (12) 7. Daniels (7) 8. Walsh (4) 9. Eastin (10) 10. Krieger (9) 11. Peters (2) 12. Wilke (11) DNS - Guernsey, Harms, Schneiderman, Andrews
Peters grabbed the early advantage in the 12 lapper over Moro. Wilke performed a 360 bringing out a caution on lap three. Peters led Moro, Newberry, Walsh and Mitrisin back to green flag racing. Three laps later, Wilke slammed the backstretch wall and was taken off on the hook. While under caution, Peters retired while leading with mechanical ills. Now Moro led Mitrisin, Walsh, Newberry and Giannetto at the halfway point. Three laps later, Eastin and Krieger contacted, sending the latter careening into the turn four catchfence. The fence held its ground, but needed a lengthy delay for repairs. The two pilots were done, and Walsh visited the work area for repairs and went to the rear from third. Moro in his 1999 Twister, led Mitrisin, Newberry, Giannetto and Daniels back to racing. Daniels worked his way by Giannetto for the final transfer and commenced a side by side battle with Newberry. With Daniels on top and Newberry down low, Walsh seemed trapped in his quest for a transfer spot from the rear as the laps waned down. Approaching turn four on the final go-around, Walsh performed an ill-fated slidejob that took Daniels and himself out. The beneficiary was Giannetto, who coasted by with the final transfer.
A main (started): 1. Phillips (4) 2. Alley (3) 3. Weyant (6) 4. Mitrisin (18) 5. Hetrick (1) 6. Lindquist (13) 7. Mincer (2) 8. Ball (8) 9. Schulz (12) 10. Anderson (5) 11. Jamison (7) 12. Boyer (10) 13. Plath (11) 14. Moro (17) 15. Rockhold (15) 16. Ditsworth (16) 17. Newberry (19) 18. Davies (14) 19. Giannetto (20) 20. Sutton (9)
Phillips said it all in victory lane, "The track was crazy. We were all over the place. I assume everyone else was too." Despite the craziness, only one caution slowed the 25 lap event and that was on lap 22. An entertaining feature saw Hetrick slide into an early lead, riding the rails around the bottom with Mincer and Alley in tow. On lap five, Mincer and Alley tried their luck up top and both would get around the leader on lap seven. At the halfway point, Mincer still had the lead, but Phillips had found a middle groove (sort of) and managed to get by Alley. Mitrisin was up to sixth from 18th. On lap 14, Phillips made his winning move, getting by Mincer in heavy traffic. Three laps later, Alley would find his way around Mincer as well. Phillips was slicing through traffic with ease when Sutton contacted the wall on lap 22 bringing out the only yellow. Phillips led Alley, Weyant, Mitrisin, Mincer and Hetrick back to green flag racing. Despite Alley trying to run the wheels off Mark Burch's 1m, Phillips held on for a popular and well-deserved win. Mitrisin found himself in a familiar spot as the hard-charger.