Back Stretch Archives: Darbyshire's First Deery Win from May 2005

(Just a quick note before we get to the Archives......I searched and searched through the PR.com photos trying to find one of Tom Darbyshire with no success. (Follow up, Tom's wife Sheila provided the victory lane photo that is now included) The conversation in the tech area between TD and Brent Slocum sticks in my memory like it happened yesterday. They are two of the great personalities in the sport. We miss you Brent! And of course when this appeared in print in Hawkeye Racing News there was no way to "link" the Sports Illustrated column, something that I can do today. Enjoy!)

What started out as a week that he and his family would like to forget changed for the better Wednesday night as Tom Darbyshire captured his first career Deery Brothers Summer Series IMCA Late Model feature victory at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. On Monday morning Darbyshire’s two daughters and his oldest son were involved in an accident on their way to school with the car rolling through a ditch. The boy’s head actually hit a telephone pole as rescue workers found blood and hair on the pole. Amazingly all three children escaped with relatively minor injuries considering the severity of the accident and were there to greet their jubilant father as he climbed from the car in victory lane.

Taken off the office wall of Sheila Darbyshire

The fact that he was even sent to victory lane was a bit of a surprise for Darbyshire. Brian Harris had started on the pole for the thirty-five-lap main event and took off like a rocket opening up a huge lead on the second place car of Brent Slocum. As the leader Harris began to work traffic on lap fifteen, a full straightaway behind him Darbyshire, who had started seventh, made his challenge on Slocum for second and picked up the spot on the inside. Harris continued to work traffic without issue and Darbyshire was far enough back that he could not see the leader. With no cautions the laps wound down quickly and as Harris clicked off lap number 31 on the Pepsi scoreboard I spied a chunk of rubber shooting straight up into the air on the frontstretch. It was from the leader’s left rear tire as it blew away his chances for a dominating victory and he quickly ducked into the pit entrance off the backstretch out of view of Darbyshire.

When the checkers flew four laps later it was a 42 that was on top of that scoreboard putting the Yarmouth driver in victory lane for his first Deery Series win. Slocum finished in the runner-up position with Kevin Blum third, Jeff Aikey fourth and Darrel DeFrance rounded out the top five. The winner needed a quick lesson on how to pop the cork from the victory champagne and we enjoyed being there when Brent Slocum offered his congratulations in the tech area and laughed “if I would have known that Harris was going to drop out I would have taken you out when you went by me!” In a three-day period that had started out as a father’s worst nightmare, it had ended as this race driver’s finest dream, a $2,000 victory over a solid field of competitors.

Jeff Aikey races under Ryan Dolan in 2014 Deery Series action at West Liberty - Barry Johnson photo

Donnellson Deery Notes…..You have to love the new Musco lights at Lee County…..Blum started eighth and finished third driving Ron Gustaf’s #90x…..DeFrance was solid coming from ninth to fifth……Tommy Elston won a B-Main, started seventeenth in the feature and finished sixth…..Series point leader Terry Neal started right next to Elston and followed him in for seventh……Darin Balk of Waucoma, a regular competitor in the Hobby Stock division at Cresco and Decorah, was working on the highway nearby and called his brother to tell him to bring the car down for the mid-week show. It was a good call as Balk passed John Oliver Jr. on lap five to win the feature in his first appearance at Lee County…..Another visitor, Joe Zrostlik, was the winner in the four cylinder “Wild Thing” feature…..Thanks to Terry and Jenni Hoenig, their entire staff and IMCA for putting on a great Wednesday night of racing, one of the first mid-week specials of the season that will now go in to full swing as we hit June.

If you get a chance to pick up last week’s Sports Illustrated make sure that you read Rick Reilly’s column about the NASCARwine venture of Richard Childress. Yes, it’s filled with a lot of stereotypical references that us race fans may not be real proud of, but it sure did crack up my wife! I thought it was pretty funny myself, especially the reference to how restrictor plates are ruining racing.

Mt. Pleasant girls track made it two state championships in a row last weekend and I am writing this before heading to Atlantic to watch our son Kyle play in the state golf meet. Then it’s graduation time when we return so no Memorial Day weekend racing for me. We hope to get to Farley for the World of Outlaw Late Models on Wednesday, June 1^st, and the Saturday night portion of the midget show at Knoxville. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!