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Mincer Lassos Lee County Fair Loot!

(Bill W) July 10, 2009 – Bobby Mincer emerged victorious in a torrid battle for the lead in the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invader feature Friday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. The 25-lap main event held in conjunction with the Lee County Fair provided plenty of thrills for the fans who packed the grandstand. The win was Mincer's first at the 3/8 mile oval, and paid him $1,200.

Though rain fell early in the day, the track crew, led by Terry Hoenig and the track staff, worked tirelessly to get the show in, and everyone in attendance was rewarded.

Unfortunately, five cars were eliminated with one lap in the books in the main event. When Aussie Brad Foster was turned sideways in turn four, he collected Donnie Steward, Matt Harms, Andy Huston and Mark Tischer, who turned over. No one was injured in the fracas.

Sprint Invaders Rookie of the Year candidate, CJ Houseman, set the pace in the early going from his pole starting spot. Josh Higday was in pursuit followed by Jimmy Davies, point leader, Matt Rogerson, and Matt Sutton.

With five laps in the books, Higday suffered motor problems and shut down the Steve Wares/Vern Harrison sprinter. Davies had moved into second and had been pressuring the leader, but Mincer was in third and ready to pounce ahead of JD Johnson, making his maiden voyage with the series.

The last 19 laps went non-stop. Former series champion Kaley Gharst was able to follow Mincer by Davies to move into the top three. As the laps waned on, and lap traffic became a factor, CJ Houseman and Mincer went at it for the lead in an epic battle. Mincer slid in from of the young driver to lead lap 16, but Houseman came back with a gutsy move on lap 18, causing Mincer to put on the binders and narrowly missing the fence. "It was a good battle…CJ was going good," said Mincer. "I was just trying to narrow the gap coming off the corners. We were even on the straights. I knew he was going to be coming there (lap 18) with a slide-job deal. I was hoping I was far enough to get around him, but I wasn't. Thank goodness I didn't get in the fence. The brakes worked."

Mincer's momentum was slowed, and Gharst got by him for second in Randy Plath's #14P. "The car was really good," said Kaley. "It was working well until a few laps to go. The left front tire went flat and eventually came off."

Houseman led again in an old chassis purchased from Lenard McCarl. Mincer was able to work back by Gharst, and made his winning move on lap 22. "I tried to stay patient (after the slider), and find a spot," said Mincer. "I even thought that when Kaley got by me. I just wanted to make up as much ground as I could."

Gharst would slip by Houseman for second. "I'm really just happy to be here (third)," said CJ. "We've torn up two cars this year at Knoxville, so we were lucky to run third here. I thought I had it for a while, but you can't think that until the checkers come out. It definitely slicked off where we were running up top, but we have no excuses. We'd sure like some names on this car to go with our duct tape numbers though."

Davies ended up a strong fourth, ahead of Russ Hall, who jumped a wheel and narrowly avoided disaster at the midway point. Ryan Jamison, Jordan Goldesberry, Sutton, Rogerson, who came from the rear after getting into an infield tire, and 16 year old Washingtonian Austen Wheatley rounded out the top ten.

Thanks to Design Homes of Burlington and Mark Peterson Construction, the Shake-Up Dash paid out $500, including $250 to the winner, Rogerson. Johnson was leading, until a right rear wheel hub broke. Heats were won by Higday, Johnson and Davies. Nick Guernsey tore his car up after getting hard into the turn four wall in the third heat race. The incident collected Jamison, who suffered heavy damage, and Wheatley.

Results

Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (8) 2. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (11) 3. 80x, CJ Houseman, Norwalk, IA (1) 4. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (3) 5. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (7) 6. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (16) 7. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (9) 8. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (4) 9. 29, Matt Rogerson, West Burlington, IA (6) 10. 44w, Austen Wheatley, Lake Stevens, WA (19) 11. Y2, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (18) 12. 36, Justin Newberry, West Burlington, IA (21) 13. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (13) 14. 98, JD Johnson, Goddard, KS (5) 15. 10, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (2) 16. 31P, Travis Porter, Rock Island, IL (15) 17. 00, Brad Foster, Melbourne, VIC, Aust. (10) 18. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (12) 19. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (14) 20. 4m, Mark Tischer, Hannibal, MO (17) 21. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (20) DNS – 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL, 0, Nick Guernsey, Burlington, IA. Lap Leaders: CJ Houseman 1-15, Mincer 16-17, CJ Houseman 18-21, Mincer 22-25. Hard Charger: Jamison.

Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #1 (started, Top Two to the Shake-Up Dash): 1. Josh Higday (3) 2. CJ Houseman (2) 3. Russ Hall (7) 4. Brad Foster (1) 5. Justin Parrish (6) 6. Matt Harms (8) 7. Mark Tischer (5) 8. Andy Huston (4)

Cole Implement Heat Race #2 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. JD Johnson (1) 2. Matt Rogerson (4) 3. Bobby Mincer (8) 4. Kaley Gharst (3) 5. Donnie Steward (6) 6. Travis Porter (2) 7. Mike Houseman Jr. (5) 8. Justin Newberry (7)

Huston Land Improvement Heat Race #3 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Jimmy Davies (2) 2. Matt Sutton (6) 3. Jordan Goldesberry (7) 4. Ben Wagoner (4) 5. Nick Guernsey (1) 6. Ryan Jamison (3) 7. Austen Wheatley (5)

Design Homes of Burlington/Mark Peterson Construction Shake-Up Dash: 1. Matt Rogerson (2) 2. CJ Houseman (3) 3. Josh Higday (5) 4. Jimmy Davies (4) 5. Matt Sutton (6) 6. JD Johnson (1)

Contingency Awards

Rod End Supply – Justin Parrish, Matt Harms
Saldana Racing Products – Justin Newberry

Diversified Machine, Inc. – Mike Houseman Jr.

Hepfner Racing Products – Brad Foster

Brake Man – Ryan Jamison

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That was a good run by CJ Houseman last night, fun watching him Gharst and Mincer battle it out. A great job done by the track crew and getting the track ready. As usual the sprint invaders put on another great show. Thank you to all involved.

Agree! Great job with track prep by Terry, his crew, and the Fair board and getting the pits ready to get the rigs in and out. That was another very good SIA feature at LC. One of my favourite tracks for sure. Congratulations to Bobby Mincer and his crew. Bobby drove a great a race, as did Kaley Gharst and CJ Houseman. Jimmy Davies is getting faster with age and looked awesome all night.Russ Hall finished strong in 5th and looked good in his new bright firesuit purchased by TMAC