---

Donahue Brothers finish 1st and 2nd

Kevin Donahue Wins Two in a Row as Two New Winners Collect Trophies on Military Appreciation Night at I-44

Lebanon, Mo. / Some information contributed by Ronnie Williams. For Immediate Release 5/31/2016 -

Kevin Donahue took advantage of his front row pole spot and held back race long challenges from younger brother Kyle in capturing his 2nd consecutive O'Reilly Auto Parts NASCAR Whelen All American Series Pro Late Model feature win on Military Appreciation Night at the "High-Banks" of the Lebanon I-44 Speedway.

The draw put top 4 in total points in the inversion which meant the Wildwood, Missouri Donahue Brothers Racing team occupied the front row while point's runner-up Brian Brown and current point leader Jake Griffin started in row 2. On the start, Kevin shot to the opening lead as Kyle back in his primary car this week was glued to Kevin's inside quarter panel while Brown, Griffin and defending track champion JC Newell followed closely. On lap 3, Griffin made his way around Brown as Newell followed closely. Up front, the battle between the Brothers was close as Griffin and Newell were side by side and slowly closing on the lead duo. On lap 6, Kevin opened up a 4 car length lead as Newell was working on the inside of Griffin and Brown stayed a solid 5th. On lap 8, Newell made the pass around Griffin and began to reel-in the leaders as leader Kevin started to pick-up the race pace. The only caution waved on lap 17 for a single car spin bunching-up the pack as 2014 Champion Kaleb Allison had moved into the top 5. On the restart, Kyle shot again to older brother's inside as Newell had swung to the top groove while Allison and Griffin were now staging a tight battle. After a 5 lap side by side race for the lead, Kevin who had won the previous week was in position to go back to back as Newell was trying to close in on 2nd place runner Kyle Donahue. Brian Brown took advantage of the caution and moved back around Allison to claim 5th spot. Up front, Kevin Donahue opened the lead margin and never looked back in grabbing his 2nd win as younger brother Kyle took home the runner-up position with Newell, Griffin and Brown completing the top.

Donahue has been on a roll leading the last 60 laps of Pro Late Model features and gave the credit to Willie Allen of WAR and his father. "After some of the bad luck we have had the last couple of seasons this is great. We had Kyle's main car at Nashville being worked on after the wreck a couple of weeks ago. The entire team has worked hard keeping these 2 cars in race shape and winning on Military Appreciation Night is wonderful." said Kevin Donahue. Runner-up Kyle thought he had a car that maybe could have pulled into the winners circle." My car was really great early in a run and the restarts but with JC right behind us, I didn't feel the time was right. Kevin had a good car in longer runs. We will work this week to make this car stronger as we are in this Championship Chase.

---

Back to News