Lem Blankenship
Davenport, Iowa (August 8, 1975) – Lem Blankenship, many times a bridesmaid but never a bride, took his final vows in what he hopes will be a long, happy marriage with the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds.
The veteran Keokuk driver, second so often he was starting to get a complex, simply outran one of the classiest field of the year before 8,000 screaming fans in Friday night’s late model modified feature.
Blankenship’s win, couple with Davenport’s Dave Wheeler’s victory in the sportsman feature, came before the largest crowd of the year, thanks in part to the Great Valley Fair which concludes a 10-day stand on Saturday.
While the two Iowa drivers were rolling in all the marbles, they certainly went in opposite directions to get there.
Blankenship, starting on the front row, got a great jump when the green flag was dropped, moved in front coming out of the second turn, and led a five-car chase that was never interrupted.
Wheeler, meanwhile, began his adventure in the middle of the pack, used two red flags and three yellow flags to cap an uphill climb that resulted in his first feature win of the season as well.
In the late model windup, Blankenship and point leader Ed Sanger ran 1-2 the entire 25 laps. Cedar Rapids’ Darrell Dake, after flirting with third and fourth, finished a strong third with Lisbon’s Roger Dolan following in fourth. Mike Niffenegger of Kalona rounded out the top-five finishers.
“All I had to do was drive the car,” an elated Blankenship said in victory lane. “Its pretty hard not to win when your crew has the car running so well.”
Dake and Blankenship were heat winners while Dolan won the semi-feature.
The sportsman feature was the wildest of the night with a three-car pileup on lap 2 setting the stage for a 45-minute, 16-lap slugfest.
It all started when point leader Gary Kerres of Edgington, Darrell Bidwell of Davenport, and Rapid City’s Gary Henry got tangled up one lap into the race.
All were sidelined at that point, leaving John Simenec of Rock Island in perfect position not only to take the win but overhaul Kerres for the point lead as well.
And it looked like a certainty as Simenec opened up a quarter=lap lead on the rest of the field. But a simple case of over-steering took Simenec off the beaten path in turn three, giving the lead to Phil Larsen of Iowa City.
Larsen held the top spot for the next eight circuits but gave up his lead to the hard-charging Wheeler on lap 13. They crossed the finish line that way a couple of laps later with Ted Claeys taking third.
Results –
Heat #1 – Darrell Dake, Cedar Rapids
Heat #2 – Lem Blankenship, Keokuk
Semi-main – Roger Dolan, Lisbon
Feature –
1. Lem Blankenship
2. Ed Sanger, Waterloo
3. Darrell Dake
4. Roger Dolan
5. Mike Niffenegger, Kalona
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