From Bill Wright
DONNELLSON, Iowa (August 17, 2018) — Veteran Randy Martin posted his third career Sprint Invaders victory at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa Friday night. The California, Missouri native passed Paul Nienhiser with three laps to go to secure his first win at the 3/8-mile oval and with the Sprint Invaders since 2011.
Martin, who started in row two of the 25-lap main event shot to the lead immediately, ahead of front row starters, Jon Agan and Dustin Clark. On the second lap, Nienhiser moved into third before Damian Getchell went up in smoke down the backstretch. Agan’s nose wing was knocked loose, and Nienhiser cruised by into second on the restart.
Cody Wehrle also moved by Agan into third on the fifth lap, and McKenna Haase was attempting a pass of her own, when the two cars made contact, sending Agan spinning. The restart six laps in, saw Martin leading Nienhiser, Wehrle, Haase and Jarrod Schneiderman. Haase continued her charge into third, but bicycled in turn four on lap eight, and appeared to lose something in her handling.
With Wehrle back in third chasing Martin and Nienhiser, the leaders entered traffic on the twelfth circuit. Nienhiser reeled in the leader and took the point in lapped traffic on lap 13. Haase would slow after tagging the wall 14 laps in.
Martin made a move on Nienhiser on the restart, but didn’t have enough to get by. A final caution for a tangled Bailey Goldesberry and Dugan Thye set up a six lap Dash to the finish. Martin made a bid for the lead on the restart, but Nienhiser cruised back by on the backstretch. Martin was on the leader’s bumper and slid by with three laps to go.
Martin would pull away to win over Nienhiser, Wehrle, Schneiderman and Clark. Brayden Gaylord, hard-charger Ben Wagoner, Justin Buchholz, Rob Weuve and Brady Barker would round out the top ten. Damian Getchell, Wehrle and Agan won heats. Agan also won the Dash. Buchholz claimed the B main. A few drivers had their nights end early. Dave Keperling got upside down in hot laps. Colten Fisher tipped over in his heat. Both were o.k. Tanner Gebhardt and Matt Krieger were both sidelined by mechanical issues.
“Man, we’ve had a good car tonight, all night long,” said Martin in Victory Lane. “I got shoved up in lapped traffic there, and I didn’t realize it was as loose as it was up there. I about screwed up. I knew Paul was going to be about impossible to pass back. We lucked out and got ‘er done. I wasn’t on him enough on that second to last restart. The last one worked pretty well and we got a good run on him. There are just some tracks that you like better than others. I’ve always like this place, and it fits my driving style. I want to give a shout out to the Whitworth family. Junior Whitworth, and ‘Breezy’…this is for them.”
“I think this is the third time I’ve run for Scotty (Bonar) in the #50 car, and this is the third time we’ve run second,” said Nienhiser. “This time, we got to lead some laps. I’m a little disappointed, but I’m looking forward to Burlington tomorrow. That’s always been a good track for me. I just couldn’t get going on the restarts. We were running a little warm. I tried doing everything I could, but in clean air, (Martin) definitely had us covered. We were lucky to get him in traffic when we did. I knew we had a good car, but on the restarts, I was kind of crossing my fingers. He was just the better car tonight, and we’ll go on to tomorrow.”
“It’s good to be rolling like we are and to be consistent,” said Wehrle, who leads the Sprint Invaders points. “That’s the thing with the Sprint Invaders. If you can stay consistent, it puts you where you need to be. It was a tough track tonight. It was technical, and you had to think about where you were going and what you are doing. It’s nice to get one of those every once in a while. It keeps you in shape, and keeps your mind sharp. The car was very good, but the driver was a little out of shape! Taking two weeks off really wasn’t what I needed. Some of my mistakes towards the end were due to fatigue, but we’re really happy to bring it home third.”
The Sprint Invaders will be at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa for the $2,000 to win Brian Hetrick Memorial Saturday night, August 18. For more information on the Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Sprint Invaders A main (started), 30 laps: 1. 14, Randy Martin, California, MO (3) 2. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (9) 3. 40c, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (4) 4. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (11) 5. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (1) 6. 13, Brayden Gaylord, Wever, IA (13) 7. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (16) 8. 69, Justin Buchholz, Davenport, IA (17) 9. 19, Rob Weuve, Oakland Acres, IA (7) 10. 007, Brady Barker, New Berlin, IL (12) 11. 9, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (19) 12. 78, Dugan Thye, Burlington, IA (18) 13. 50P, Harold Pohren, Lowell, IA (14) 14. 4*, Bailey Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (8) 15. 55, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (6) 16. 99, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (10) 17. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (2) 18. 83, Dave Getchell, Sperry, IA (15) 19. 1, Damian Getchell, Sperry, IA (5) 20. 4m, Evan Martin, Lohman, MO (20). Lap Leaders: R. Martin 1-12, Nienhiser 13-21, R. Martin 22-35. KSE Hard-charger: Wagoner.
Randall’s Performance Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Damian Getchell (2*) 2. Randy Martin (8*) 3. Bailey Goldesberry (1*) 4. John Schulz (4*) 5. Brady Barker (6*) 6. Harold Pohren (5*) 7. Ben Wagoner (7) 8. 1st, John Greenwood, Woodward, IA (3) DNS – 2D, Dave Keperling, Hannibal, MO
CenPeCo Lubricants Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Cody Wehrle (1*) 2. McKenna Haase (3*) 3. Dustin Clark (6*) 4. Rob Weuve (8*) 5. Dave Getchell (5*) 6. Justin Buchholz (4) 7. 17J, Joey Laue, Morning Sun, IA (7) 8. 12, Doug Sylvester, Ottumwa, IA (9) 9. 11, Colten Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (2)
Mohrfeld Electric Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Jon Agan (2*) 2. Evan Martin (5*) 3. Paul Nienhiser (6*) 4. Brayden Gaylord (3*) 5. Jarrod Schneiderman (7*) 6. Daniel Bergquist (4) 7. Dugan Thye (8) 8. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (1) DNS – 51J, Matt Krieger, Burlington, IA
B main (started), 8 laps: 1. Justin Buchholz (2) 2. Ben Wagoner (4) 3. Daniel Bergquist (1) 4. Dugan Thye (7) / 5. Joey Laue (3) 6. John Greenwood (5) 7. Doug Sylvester (5) DNS – Tanner Gebhardt, Dave Keperling, Colten Fisher, Matt Krieger
Budweiser King of Beers – Golden Eagle Distributors Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Jon Agan (4) 2. Randy Martin (1) 3. Cody Wehrle (6) 4. Damian Getchell (3) 5. Dustin Clark (5) DNS – Evan Martin
Contingencies
Pyrotec – Bailey Goldesberry
Saldana Racing Products – McKenna Haase
Kreitz Oval Track Products – Damian Getchell