It is still in its infancy, but the 3/8th-mile oval at the Farley Speedway came of age Tuesday night offering three-wide racing action as the Deery Brothers Summers Series IMCA Late Models came to town. Keith Simmons and his crew lived up to their reputation for providing a perfectly manicured surface and while Andy Eckrich pulled away from the pack for his first Series victory, the action behind him was intense.
Jeff Aikey and Kevin Blum started the fifty-lap main event on the front row with hometown driver Jason Rauen just behind them in row two. These three drivers went at it from the drop of the green racing three-wide for lap one with Aikey being credited as the leader and it was Aikey and Rauen side-by-side into turn one on lap number two. As Aikey slid up the track in turn two, Rauen tried to dive back below him and the two cars paused with contact. Blum saw the opening on the bottom and went for it just as Rauen came down the track and those two cars came together down the backstretch resulting in a flat tire for Rauen. After quick work by his crew Rauen restarted from the rear of the twenty-four-car field and by using the highest line around each set of turns he passed six cars in a lap before the caution waved again, this time for a flat tire on Kevin Blum’s ride. As Blum pulled to the pits, so did Todd Malmstrom and Darrell DeFrance as they also suffered from flat tires.
The race was searching for a rhythm as the caution waved again on lap six for a slowing Dan Shelliam, lap eight for a slowing Jeremiah Hurst and lap twelve for a flat tire on Tyler Bruening’s car. In between though Rauen’s entertaining run back to the front continued as he was up to fifth by lap seven and Andy Eckrich had driven past Aikey for the lead on lap eight. Brian Harris slowed and brought out a caution on lap eighteen and on the restart the field finally settled into some longer term racing. Eckrich opened up a straightaway advantage while Rauen clawed his way past Aikey for second on lap twenty. Aikey came back to regain the spot briefly the following lap before Rauen flew by again and began to eat into the lead being enjoyed by Eckrich. The distance between the top two was visibly shrinking each lap and it looked like we were setting up for a thrilling finish until the caution waved on lap thirty-six for debris. During the caution Rauen pulled off the track and to his pit area, finished for the night. “Hammer Down” definitely put on a show this evening only to never see the checkers.
Another caution for debris on lap thirty-eight slowed the field one last time and, with Rauen now on the shelf, Eckrich drove away over the final twelve laps to score his first career Deery Brothers Summer Series victory. Terry Neal drove another consistently solid fifty-laps to finish second after starting in row five. Series point leader Ray Guss Jr. made a big early move from row six to get into the top five and settled for third tonight. Aikey would finish in the fourth position while Mark Preston rounded out the top five.
Farley Deery Notes…..Three drivers who suffered serious accidents at last Wednesday’s race in Knoxville were in borrowed cars tonight. Charlie McKenna is very appreciative of the gesture from veteran driver Gary Crawford who has offered up his car to “Chargin’ Charlie” to use for the remainder of the season. McKenna pulled an old body from his garage to hang on Crawford’s car, so to the fans it looked like it was McKenna’s old #22, but Charlie wanted me to make sure that our readers knew just how much he appreciated what Gary Crawford has done for him. McKenna was scheduled to start the feature from row eight, but he dropped to the back before the start. From there he was getting faster each lap and completed the race with a solid sixth-place finish……The cars of T.J. Criss and Kevin Blum both suffered serious damage when they collided last week at Knoxville. On this night Blum was behind the wheel of the Christner #67 that has been wheeled lately by Tony VonDresky. As always “The Wildman” was fast contending for the lead before the flat tire on lap three, but he raced his way all the way back up from the back to finish seventh. Criss, who told me that his own car would have been repaired and ready to race if this event were on Wednesday, was very pleased that Todd Cooney provided one of his cars to drive here at Farley. Criss drove a cautious race in the borrowed ride and finished just outside of the top ten in 14th……Eighteen IMCA Modifieds and nine Farley Flyers were also in action. Vern Jackson dominated the twenty-lap Modified feature starting from the outside of row one and going the distance unchallenged. Jerry Luloff was the runner-up, Leon Wilson took third ahead of Mark Schulte and Jason Seegmiller. Raritan, Illinois, driver Brandon Rothzen was a surprise visitor in the Modifieds making a nearly three hour pull north to Farley. Rothzen started eleventh and was challenging for third with five laps remaining when he appeared to have rear end issues along with a flat tire that ended his night. Brannon Bechen held off Jeremy Campbell to win the Flyer feature while John Flury finished third…..The next event for the Deery series will be on Monday August 16th for the annual event during the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines…..Simmons Promotions will host another “Tornado Tuesday” event next week on August 10th as the Open Late Models will be at the West Liberty Raceway......The premier event for the Farley Speedway is just over a month away as the 33rd Annual Yankee Dirt Track Classic will be held here September 15th through the 18th.
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