Mike Murphy Jr. powered past Jay Johnson on lap seven and never looked back as he captured the 4th Annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway near Burlington Saturday night. Stop number two on this year's Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models, the race pays tribute to the late Brent Slocum who lost his life in a pit area accident here several years ago.
Johnson raced to the lead from the pole position and started to open an advantage before the race's only caution waved on lap three for Sam Halstead who had spun in turn three. Murphy, who started eighth was on the charge and he moved to second soon after the green flag returned. The Quad City area driver got a nice run off of turn four as the lead duo clicked off lap six and he then threw it hard into the low groove in turn one. Finding a bite on the tacky surface, Murphy drove by Johnson for the lead and then seemed to be on a mission to put everybody else a lap down.
Tyler Bruening soon moved by Johnson for second and Joel Callahan was on the fly from row six to take over the third spot mid-race. The battle to watch at that time was back in fifth as sixth cars including Tom Bowling Jr., Charlie McKenna, Ray Guss Jr., Andy Eckrich, Mark Burgtorf and Justin Kay were racing two-by-two-by-two swapping positions nearly every lap until first Bowling and then Guss emerged from that pack.
Coming from the eighth row it appeared that Guss may have been the fastest car on the track after passing Bowling and then Johnson for fourth, but he was not catching Murphy who was more than half a lap ahead of him. Even slower traffic could not slow him much as Murphy lapped all the way up to the sixth-place car just as he cruised under the checkers for the $3,000 win. Bruening was more than a straightaway back in second with Callahan closing on him in third. Guss Jr. recovered from a tough night at Farley the night before to take fourth while last night's winner of the Deery Series opener, Andy Eckrich came home fifth. Andy had started next to Ray in row nine.
Slocum Memorial Notes......Thirty-seven Late Models were in attendance with the long distance traveler being Karl Getzschman who made the trip over from Council Bluffs. Getzschman has returned to racing after about a ten year hiatus as he raced the old Limited Late Model division in eastern Nebraska......Jeff Aikey was the last car on the lead lap finishing sixth after starting on the outside of row ten.....Ray Guss Jr. suffered motor problems the night before at Farley, but was loaned the spare motor from Nate Beuseling's team to compete tonight.....Murphy collected an extra $100 on lap 38 in memory of Jeremy "Honus" Wagner, a crew member for Colby Springsteen who lost his life in an automobile accident a month or two ago.....The Deery Series decided to not have any provisional starters at the first two events on the 2012 schedule, where in the past they used the previous year's points to set provisionals in the opener and then the points after night one for the second race. The regular provisional system will be back in play at next Saturday's race in Webster City......A big thanks to Brad Stevens and his entire crew who work with sponsors and donors to put extra money on the line for the drivers in honor of High Five Racing Team driver Brent Slocum. Their goal is to raise enough to make the 5th Annual event pay $5,000-to-win and $500 to start in 2013.....A steady mist during hot laps and some of the early heats, plus the cool temperatures made for a very fast racetrack with little or no dust all evening.
That tacky racing surface was exactly the kind of track that Jayson Dittwsorth likes and he proved it again with a win in the 305 Sprint Car feature. Josh Schneiderman was putting the heat on Dittsworth for the lead before a caution waved for Shane Quam who had socked the wall in turn four on lap nine. On the restart Donnie Steward was able to push Schneiderman back to third, but Steward was unable to mount a challenge on Dittsworth who put the Olson Brothers Custom Shop Special back in victory lane. Steward and Schneiderman were next in line with Alan Ambers and Daniel Bergquist completing the top five.
Nick Wilkerson and Adam Gates were side by-side for the lead with two laps to go in the Four Cylinder feature, but when Gates slammed the door on the low groove into turn one, Wilkerson had to stand on the breaks and he killed the motor bringing out the caution. From there Gates ran the final two laps without challenge as he took the win followed by John Whalen, Bradley Stevenson, Daytona Fenton and Casey Mehaffey.
The Mod Lite feature had a tough time getting started with a rollover on the start followed by two more early cautions for the twenty-six-car field. Once they settled down though it was all Mike Morrill as the Altoona driver took the win over Josh May, while Randy Bryan came from 15th to finish third. Greg Rossell and Evan Epperson filled out the top five.
A big thanks to track announcer Rich Adams for sharing some mic time with yours truly tonight and to new Lee County Speedway promoter Dewain Hulett who also entertained the crowd. Donations are now being accepted for Dewain's zip line that will run from the judges stand to the start-finish pole.
The Sprint Invaders 360 c.i. Sprint Car series will headline the racing action next Saturday night April 14th at 34 Raceway.
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