During the last couple of seasons the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for late models have had a tradition of visiting the Southern Iowa Speedway during the fair. Wednesday night was another chapter in that short book as thirty-one late models checked into the back gate along with the normal classes of weekly competition.
The USRA b-mods were first to run their feature event. Mike Wanders took the early lead with Carter Vandenberg just behind in second, but Cayden Carter was on the move as he climbed to third before the first of three cautions came out on lap three. Two laps later Carter ducked to the inside of Wanders and took the lead away. Wanders would then give up the second slot as Vandenberg and Bill Gibson made their way by. The laps clicked off and a restart with three laps to go kept the field bunched up. Jason McDaniel took advantage of the opportunity as he motored by Gibson on the outside to snare the runner up spot away, but he couldn't catch Cayden Carter as the fourteen year old captured yet another win. Jason McDaniel was second, Bill Gibson third, Carter Vandenberg fourth, and Mike Wanders rounded out the top five.
Twenty USRA hobby stocks would then hit the track and outside front row starter Todd Reitzler wasted no time in taking command in this one. He wouldn't be alone for long, however, as Donovan Nunnikhoven and Derek Kirkland joined him and raced three-wide down the backstretch at one point for the race lead. Nunnikhoven would come out of that with the lead, but he and Kirkland swapped the lead a time or two before Nunnikhoven suffered a flat tire to end his night prematurely. From that point on Derek Kirkland would go on to take the win ahead of Todd Reitzler, Kris Walker, Steve Allen, and Craig Brown.
While the USRA stock cars only had nine cars on the track for the feature, they provided some thrilling action for the big fair crowd on hand. Pole sitter Mike VanGenderen jumped out front early with Shane Weller sitting comfortably in second and Nathan Wood in third. Those three would separate from the rest and began a fierce battle for the lead. Weller and Wood raced side by side for the runner up position as they both tried to find a way by VanGenderen. With four laps remaining Wood dove to the inside and made the pass for the lead. Weller would find a way by VanGenderen a lap later, but the night belonged to Nathan Wood as he found his way to victory lane. Shane Weller finished second, Mike VanGenderen third, Kyle Harwood was fourth, and Corey Stout finished fifth.
Steven Blattler paced the field of fourteen USRA modifieds as perennial contenders Zack VanderBeek and visiting Kelly Shryock were lurking behind. The field got strung out before the halfway point of the race, at which point Shryock took over the second position from VanderBeek. Shryock began to chase down Blattler and made up a lot of ground late in the race as the duo encountered lapped traffic. Shryock would come up short by about six carlengths as Steven Blattler took home the win. Shryock was second, VanderBeek third, Ryan Peckham fourth, and Josh Truman rounded out the top five.
The finale of the evening would be the thirty-five lap IMCA Deery Brothers late model feature. Mark Preston and Charlie McKenna paced the field to the green flag with McKenna getting the early nod up front. Andy Eckrich settled in behind in second while points leader Ray Guss Jr passed Preston for third. Despite a couple cautions within a few laps of each other in the early going, Guss Jr made his way by Eckrich on the cushion and set his sights on McKenna's lead. Guss Jr would get a good run on the inside of McKenna to take the lead away on lap eleven and looked to quickly put some space between he and the pack. After fading to fourth, Eckrich found his marks again and would pass Terry Neal and Charlie McKenna to move back into the second position.
Two more cautions allowed McKenna and Eckrich to continue their battle for the runner up slot. Eckrich would get it for good with five laps to go as he looked to reel in Guss Jr. McKenna's luck would run out as he slammed hard into the turn three guardrail with three laps to go to bring out the red flag. McKenna walked away from the accident, but his misfortunes would also damper Eckrich's attempt at running down Guss Jr for the lead. Ray Guss Jr would go on to take the win with Andy Eckrich settling for second. Jay Johnson found some speed on that final restart to climb to third with Terry Neal and Jeremiah Hurst completing the top five.
Ray Guss Jr would expand his points lead by a much wider margin as his nearest competitor, Mark Burgtorf, was unable to make the field after apparently blowing a motor in his heat race. Things kinda look dead in the water now for the rest of the competitors, but Guss Jr may suffer the same bad luck as Burgtorf did Wednesday night and make things a little more exciting.
For more information regarding the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series, log on to www.imca.com. For complete results from the other four classes of competition, check out www.rlpromotions.com/oskaloosa.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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