Marolf, Eckrich claim Drive For 5 victories at Lee County

Nick Marolf claimed the Drive For 5 IMCA Sunoco Late Model feature at Lee County Speedway Friday night. He is pictured with his family and promoter Brian Gaylord to his right. (Photo by MF Photography)

By Brian Neal

DONNELLSON, Iowa (June 24, 2022) – Nick Marolf and Denny Eckrich were both $1,000 feature winners in round four of Drive For 5 Friday night at Lee County Speedway.

Ray Raker and Darin Weisinger Jr. led the field to green in the 25-lap IMCA Sunoco Late Model main, with Weisinger sliding past Raker on lap two to take over the top spot.

Coming off turn two to complete lap eight, Marolf went three-wide off the top of the track to emerge with the lead, with Chuck Hanna moving into the runner-up spot one lap later. Hanna’s run up front came to an end on lap 16, as he slowed and pulled into the pits with mechanical troubles. 

This handed the second spot to Dalton Simonsen. Without a caution to bunch the field there was no catching Marolf on this night, as he went on to score the $1,000 victory. Tommy Elston came from 10th to finish third.

Dennis LaVeine paced the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified field early on while the fifth starting Eckrich worked his way toward the front.

Eckrich motored past Bill Roberts Jr. for the runner-up spot then drove under LaVeine for the lead on lap 10. The event would caution-free, as Eckrich pulled away to claim his first win of the season at Lee County Speedway plus $1,000 and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility.

LaVeine was second and Austen Becerra came from 13th to third.

Logan Anderson led every lap in topping the Drive For 3 feature for Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods. Josh Foster was the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner and Barry Taft was the photo finish winner in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact main event.