Promoter Toby Kruse has established the tradition of hosting the first mid-week special of the season each May when he brings in the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models to Marshalltown on a Tuesday night. It is a tradition that, as a race fan, you should mark on your calendar as it is also your one and only opportunity each year to watch the Late Models attack the wide high-banked quarter-mile oval. I made it to the track just in time for the Late Model hot laps and it was awesome to watch the drivers "back it in" to turns one and three on the freshly prepped tacky surface and the great thing about Marshalltown is that you get a similar thrill as you watch the drivers search out the fastest line around the speedway when the track goes hard and slick come feature time.
Twenty-seven Late Models made the trip tonight with the final arrival Bryan Klein drawing the pole position for the fifty-lap main event. Andy Eckrich started next to Klein and snared the lead at the drop of the green with his older brother Denny taking up the chase in second and the brothers Eckrich pulled away as Klein tried to fight off the challenges from others. Once Jeff Aikey made his way into third, the leaders had more than a straightaway advantage over him and were already working traffic. Denny studied his brother's line as he passed the first two lappers and on lap fifteen he entered turn one on the cushion and then drove off turn two low to pull even with Andy down the backstretch. Both brothers went for the bottom groove in turn three and they ran wheel-to-wheel and door-to-door with Denny taking the lead off of turn four.
Andy stayed close to Denny as they continued to negotiate through the slower traffic while the racing for position waged on well behind them. I sensed that many in the nearly full bleachers were more interested in watching two of their local favorites rather than the lead duo as Modified ace Richie Gustin and his uncle Darrel DeFrance battled for the seventh position. Gustin had thrilled the crowd earlier in the evening when he fought off Andy Eckrich to win the third heat by half of a car length and he was holding his own nicely here in the feature as well.
Aikey was making up ground on the leaders and it looked like the first caution might wave on lap thirty-six when Todd Cooney spun sideways in turn one. The Des Moines driver recovered though and drove down into the infield to keep the race green. On the following lap Ryan Giles, who had been racing with Cooney for position mid-pack, drove off the top-side of turn three and appeared to slide sideways before disappearing from view, but he must have kept the car moving and then headed to the pit area.
With eight laps remaining current series point leader Mike Murphy Jr. slipped under two-time defending champ Ray Guss Jr. for the fifth spot and two laps later the night would come to an end for Guss. Racing through traffic Murphy drifted up the track exiting turn four causing Sam Halstead to stand on the brakes leaving Guss with no place to go and no time to react as he collided with Halstead. Both drivers limped off the track on the back stretch and my attention was drawn back to the front as Andy had closed back in on Denny for the lead.
With Aikey again several car-lengths back it was obvious that this one would be settled within the family and when the white flag waved, little brother made his move. Using a line similar to the one that Denny used earlier to take the lead, Andy was able to put his nose even with Denny's door down the backstretch, but he could not make it stick in turn three as Denny captured his first series win at Marshalltown. Andy would settle for second on this night with Aikey running a consistent race in third. Tyler Bruening finished where he started in fourth while Murphy likely maintained his point lead with a strong run from twelfth to fifth. Nate Beuseling would take the sixth spot, Kurt Kile moved from the ninth row to seventh, DeFrance was eighth, Gustin finished ninth and Jay Johnson completed the top ten.
M-town Deery Notes........Bryan Klein arrived after hot laps, started ninth in his heat and raced his way up to fourth in order to even have the opportunity to draw the pole position.....Colby Springsteen had mechanical issues while running third in the third heat and even though he returned later in the evening it looked as if he was short on speed......The B-Main saw two spectacular crashes that had one driver in common. As the field came off turn four to score lap one, Curt Martin was spun sideways and broad-sided by Jeff Mitrisin. Martin's car rolled over onto its top and Mitrisin's car drove up and over Martin's upside down mount. After a few anxious moments word came that Martin was okay and the veteran driver was cheered when he finally crawled out of the still upside down #45. During the cleanup process Mitrisin went to the pits to make repairs and he returned for the restart. On lap four though it looked like something broke on the right rear as Mitrisin pounded the cushion in turn one and he was launched into a series of barrel-rolls that took him off the topside of the speedway in turn two. It was a hard wreck even for the former sprint car driver who had some bad ones in that division as well and we were all relieved when announcer Jerry VanSickel reported that the driver was out of the car and okay......IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder did another great job with the re-draw process on the frontstretch and the crowd loved the opportunity to see the personalities that wheel these machines.....the Deery Series returns to action on Memorial Day Monday at the Boone Speedway.
Mike Morrill raced his way to the front for the win in a ten-car Mod Lite Main event with Andy Hennigar and Dusty Masolini next in line. Early leader Josh May coasted across the line in fourth. Twenty-one Sport Mods put on a good show with Jenae Gustin taking the lead from Andy Tiernan on the second lap of twenty. Racer Hulin had started twelfth and was picking his way through the field before the caution waved for debris with five laps remaining. Set to restart third, Hulin pulled alongside Gustin during the caution and gave her a wave to let Jenae know that he was there. Jenae waved right back to him and then tried to pull away when the green flag returned. On the final lap Hulin had a run off turn two and pulled even with Gustin entering turn three, but Gustin kept her composure and held off Hulin for the victory. Austin Kaplan started tenth and finished third with Eric Elliott and recent Grundy Center High graduate Joel Rust next in line.
You can always count on Kruse and his crew to run an efficient program and the final checkers flew at 9:21 p.m. tonight. I also want to thank announcer Jeremy Fox for his kind words about the crew at Positively Racing and the site was well represented this evening. Make sure that you check in with Ryan Clark and Joyce Eisele for their report as well as Barry Johnson who may have some photos up soon. Kevin Trittien was also on hand, but his computer is still giving him fits. Look for a summary of a lot of events from TapFan's Tours once he is back in action.
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