Dubuque, IA (Saturday, April 2, 2011) - Finally after five months, the 2011 racing season in the midwest went into full swing. What started out to be a very poor forecast for the weekend, turned out to be a great weekend to kick off the racing season. On Saturday the Dubuque Speedway in Dubuque, Iowa played host to the season opener for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models.
Forty-three IMCA Late Models signed in, in hopes of taking home the $2,000 top prize. After five heat races (with the top three cars transferring into the A Main, with the top 2 redrawing), two B Mains (with the top three making into the A Main) and three provisionals the field was set for the 50 lap A Main.
But before that took place the 15 lap Stock Car feature took to the track first, with David Brandies and Joe Bonney drawing the front row for the event. On the drop of the green flag Duane Smith slowed coming off of four, with Jason Brimeyer running into the back of him to bring out the caution. Brandies jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Bonney, Mitch Schmitz and Timmy Current, who started 9th, battling it out three wide for second. But Jeremy Gustaf would spin in 4, with Austin Heacock spinning to avoid him to bring the caution back out. Once again Brandies jumped into the lead on the restart, only to be slowed on lap 2, for Heacock who spun off of turn 4. On the restart Terry Rittmer, who started 8th, slipped under Brandies to grab the top spot away. After the completion of lap 3, Kerry Dake spun in turn 2 to bring the caution back out. Rittmer again moved out into the lead on the restart, but was slowed one lap later as Bonney stopped in turn 4 with troubles.
On the restart, Rittmer grabbed the lead and then had to work to hold off Current, who started 9th. The battle up front would be slowed again on lap 5, as Gustaf spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. Once again Rittmer had to work to hold off Current on the restart. But another caution on lap 8 for Ethan Milder who spun in turn 2 would slow the field. One lap later Dake would spin in turn 2 for his second solo to end his night. On the restart Milder dropped a drive shaft down the front stretch to bring the yellow out for the final time. Rittmer again worked to hold off Current on the restart. Coming out of turn four for the checkered, Current was able to get under Rittmer. But Rittmer was able to hold back Current at the line by inches to pick up the win. Rob Henry came from 13th to finish in 3rd, Schmitz was 4th, with K.C. Ansel coming from 10th to round out the top 5.
Lenny Ollendick and Chris Powers led the field to the green in the 12 lap Sport Compact feature, with Ollendick grabbing the lead. His lead would only last for 1 lap, as Trevor Bookman slipped by to grab the top spot away on lap 2. John Flury, who started 6th, would slip past Bookman on lap 4 to grab the lead. But Bookman took the lead back on lap 5. The first caution would come out on lap 6, as Ollendick spun off of turn 4. On the restart, Flury tried to get under Bookman coming out of turn four. But made contact with the left rear of Bookman, causing the right front tire to be cut and giving Bookman a left rear flat. The yellow light would appear on the restart, as debris was left on the track in turn 4. Bryce Garnhardt inherited the lead over Gabe Schroeder and Steve Niedke on the restart. One final caution in the event would appear on lap 9, as Powers spun in turn 2. On the restart B. Garnhardt would hold off a last lap charge from Flury, who restarted in 12th on lap 6, to claim the win. But after going thru tech he was found to have an illegal aftermarket header and was disqualified, giving the win to Flury. Schroeder was moved to 2nd, after starting in 10th, Niedke was credited with 3rd, Jacob Ellithrope came from 8th to get 4th, with Derek McBee coming home in fifth.
The final feature of the night was the 50 lap IMCA Late Models, with Tom Darbyshire and Colby Springsteen drawing the front row for the event. Darbyshire would jump out into the lead on the drop of the green flag, as Darrel DeFrance and Brian Harris battled for the second spot. Harris slipped under Darbyshire on lap 3 to take over the top spot. Once out front, Harris set a fast pace and was pulling away from the field. He would approach lap traffic on lap 14, but that didn't slow him down. While Harris was lapping cars, Andy Eckrich, who started 15th, was working his way towards the front. Eckrich would slip into 2nd on lap 30 and then went to work on cutting into Harris' lead. The one and only caution of the race would appear on lap 42, as Ray Guss Jr. slowed in turn 3 with a left rear flat. On the restart, Harris moved back into the lead, with Eckrich close behind in second. Eckrich would try Harris on the bottom over the final 8 laps, but couldn't make the pass as Harris held on for the win. Darbydhire came home in 3rd, Tyler Bruening started 8th and came gome in 4th, with Terry Neal rounding out the top 5.
Notes from Dubuque: Mike Murphy Jr. came from 5th in heat 2 and raced his way to a 2nd place finish. But found to be illegal in tech and was disqualified, moving Mark Burgtorf into the redraw spot and Todd Mahlstrom into the A Main in 3rd....Heat race 5 had the defending series champion Ray Guss Jr. starting in 7th. He would hit the tire in turn two to bring out the caution. Alot of front end damage was done to the car. But the crew got it fixed to take a provisional and start the feature in 23rd....B Main 1 had Murphy Jr. starting from the rear, 14th. But he would jump to the top of the speedway to work his way to the final transfer spot by the checkers....Matt Ryan started B Main 2 in the third spot and was battling for the lead when he jumped a restart with 3 laps to go, penalizing him 2 spots. He never recovered to finish in 6th....B Main 2 had Billy Tuckwell in the 90x starting in 13th. He would pass 8 cars by the end of the race to finish in 5th. But he was giving the provisional to the driver who passes the most cars in the heat and B Mains combined....The other series provisional went to Jay Johnson....Rob Toland started the A Main in 11th and would come home in 7th....Jason Perry came from 16th to finish in 8th....Murphy Jr. passed 9 cars from his 20th place starting spot to finish in 11th....Ray Guss Jr. came from 23rd and a flat tire on lap 42 to finish in 14th....Matt Strassheim was the final car to get in by finishing 3rd in B Main 2. He would start 21st in the A Main and passed 6 cars to come in 15th.....Harris , who started lapping cars by lap 14, had put 13 cars a lap down by the lap 42 caution.... My only question on the night was if the support classes had a time limit on thier feature events, as the 15 lap Stock Car feature took about 35 minutes to run. The crowd kept yelling throw the checkered as, yellow, after yellow, after yellow kept coming out with 7 cars left on the track with only 9 laps down.
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