Phillips Wins Thriller In Donnellson
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Photos by Mike Ruefer
Donnellson, IA (June 13, 2014) – In a heavyweight slugfest Friday night at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA, Terry Phillips threw the haymaker just shy of the checkers en route to his Lucas Oil MLRA series leading 107th victory. Phillips hung around the top five for the duration of the main event and gradually worked forward. Early in the race he went toe to toe with Chad Simpson. Then when a lapped car slowed race leader Ryan Gustin’s pace, Phillips jumped all over the young driver and slid in front of him exiting turn two. He had the momentum and kept Gustin at bay to roll on to victory in a fantastic feature event.
“They done a heck of a job here,” stated Phillips in RACEceiver Victory Lane. “This is a race track here now. You can race all over it. Hats off to them. Thanks to all the fans for coming out. I haven’t seen this many fans in a long time. That’s quite a race there.”
Early in the evening the drivers all took two laps on the clock to align the heat races. The top three heat race finishers then redrew for feature starting positions. Friday’s winner, John Anderson, redrew the number one “Lucas Oil Super Coolant” bottle and set the pace. Andy Eckrich drew the outside pole for the 40 lap feature.
Anderson quickly assumed the lead and was holding his own, until Gustin came to life, inches from the wall. Once he carved out his line, the #19r began picking off front of the pack cars with ease. Anderson was committed to the bottom, but abruptly changed his line once Gustin rolled both the third and fourth place cars in one turn.
Anderson held on a little longer, but Gustin passed him several laps later in turns one and two. Ultimately Gustin held off all but Phillips to run a strong second. Chad Simpson still searching for his first Lucas Oil MLRA win of the season, scored his ninth top five finish in the series first 12 races. Those runs have him out front in the championship standings.
Friday’s race was the first ever appearance by the Lucas Oil MLRA at the Lee County Speedway. Saturday will wrap up the three day run, with an event at Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri.
Lee County Speedway Contingency Awards 6/13/14
AR Bodies $50 Certificate for non-qualifier – Bob Cullen
Casey’s General Stores Hard Charger – Jake Meier
Chix Gear $25 Certificate for 7th Place Finisher – Jason Utter
DirtOnDirt.com Pole Award – John Anderson
Fast Track Photos – Terry Phillips
GRT Heat Race Winners – Chad Simpson, Jason Utter, John Anderson, Andy Eckrich
Hooker Harness Gift Certificate for 11th Place Finish – Chris Simpson
Landrum Springs Product Certificate – Terry Phillips
Out Pace Certificate – Tommy Weder Jr.
Peformance Bodies Certificate – Terry Phillips
RacingJunk.com Hard Luck Award – Andy Eckrich
Lucas Cattle Company A Feature (40 Laps): 1. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 2. Ryan Gustin (Marshalltown, IA), 3. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 4. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 5. Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward, OK), 6. Travis Dickes (Madison, NE), 7. Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, IA), 8. Matt Furman (Columbus, OH), 9. Mark Burgtorf (Quincy, IL), 10. Dave Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 11. Chris Simpson (Oxford, IA), 12. Jeremy Payne (Springfield, MO), 13. Austin Siebert (Grandview, MO), 14. Justin Reed (Camp Point, IL), 15. Brian Harris (Davenport, IA), 16. Jason Bodenhamer (Centerview, MO), 17. Jake Meier (Tipton, IA), 18. Tommy Elston (Keokuk, IA), 19. Spencer Diercks (Davenport, IA), 20. Scott Lewis (Henderson, CO), 21. Jay Johnson (Burlington, IA), 22. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 23. Andy Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 24. Robert Cullen (Chilton, WI), 25. Ricky Frankel (Quincy, IL), 26. Skip Frey (Swisher, IA)
Hoosier Racing Tires B Feature (12 Laps): 1. Ricky Frankel (Quincy, IL), 2. Brian Harris (Davenport, IA), 3. Jason Bodenhamer (Centerview, MO), 4. Tommy Elston (Keokuk, IA), 5. Jay Johnson (Burlington, IA), 6. Spencer Diercks (Davenport, IA), 7. Scott Lewis (Henderson, CO), 8. Robert Cullen (Chilton, WI), 9. Jake Meier (Tipton, IA), 10. J.C. Wyman (Griswold, IA), 11. Denny Woodworth (Mendon, IL), 12. Jamie Wilson (Quincy, IL), 13. Jay Chenoweth (Wapello, IA), 14. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE), 15. Todd Frank (Seymour, WI)
Lucas Oil Products Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Chad Simpson (Mt Vernon, IA), 2. Ryan Gustin (Marshalltown, IA), 3. Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward, OK), 4. Chris Simpson (Oxford, IA), 5. Ricky Frankel (Quincy, IL), 6. Scott Lewis (Henderson, CO), 7. Robert Cullen (Chilton, WI), 8. Denny Woodworth (Mendon, IL)
ProtectTheHarvest.com Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, IA), 2. Travis Dickes (Madison, NE), 3. Matt Furman (Columbus, OH), 4. Skip Frey (Swisher, IA), 5. Tommy Elston (Keokuk, IA), 6. Jay Chenoweth (Wapello, IA), 7. Jamie Wilson (Quincy, IL), 8. Todd Frank (Seymour, WI)
MAV TV American Real Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 2. Dave Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 3. Mark Burgtorf (Quincy, IL), 4. Austin Siebert (Grandview, MO), 5. Jason Bodenhamer (Centerview, MO), 6. Jay Johnson (Burlington, IA), 7. J.C. Wyman (Griswold, IA), 8. Bill Koons (Omaha, NE)
Casey’s General Stores Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. Andy Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 2. Terry Phillips (Springfield, MO), 3. Jeremy Payne (Springfield, MO), 4. Justin Reed (Camp Point, IL), 5. Brian Harris (Davenport, IA), 6. Jake Meier (Tipton, IA), 7. Spencer Diercks (Davenport, IA)
Category: Iowa, Lee County Speedway
