When the Deery Brothers IMCA late model series comes to town, most people instantly think of one driver: Jeff Aikey. Aikey leads the list of career wins and is also a five-time series champion. Wednesday night the Deery Brothers made an appearance at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa during the Southern Iowa Fair. Also racing that night was the weekly USRA program.
Out first for their fifteen lap feature would be the USRA stock cars. Nathan Wood used his outside front row start to take command early on, but Shane Weller quickly advanced forward from his fifth starting spot to snare the lead away on lap two using the bottom side of the track. After getting shuffled back early on in the race, Zach VanderBeek muscled his car back into the top five as he ducked under Matt Greiner on lap six. While VanderBeek was the only car utilizing the low groove, Shane Weller was out front and extending his lead. VanderBeek would get by Mike VanGenderen on the low side coming out of turn four as the field took the checkers to finish fourth. But it would be Shane Weller taking home the win followed by Nathan Wood, Brian Mitrisin, Zach VanderBeek, and Mike VanGenderen.
A full field of USRA bmods were next up as they prepared for their fifteen lap finale. Paul Underwood paced the field, but Mike Shelton took advantage of an early caution to work his way by on the bottom side to take the top spot away on lap three. Another caution quickly came out on lap five, and at this time Brett Moffitt had made his way to sixth after starting thirteenth. On the lap following the restart, Brian Edel powered his machine to the outside of Shelton to take the lead. Behind the two front runners, Tyler Groenedyk and Paul Underwood raced side by side for the third spot with Groenedyk prevailing a lap later. Last week's feature winner Andrew Schroeder made his way to fourth with five laps to go after he started tenth on the grid. Up front Edel pulled away to take home the win. Mike Shelton was second, Tyler Groenedyk third, Andrew Schroeder fourth, and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top five.
Bobby Greene led the first lap of the USRA hobby stock feature until Nathan Wood made the pass on the next lap to secure the top spot. Donavan Nunnikhoven tried to work his way under Greene for the third spot but couldn't make it stick and pulled back in line. While Wood distanced himself from the rest of the pack, second through seventh place were all single file nose to tail on the top side. Jason McDaniel decided he was tired of following and dove to the inside the last couple of laps. He advanced to fifth with three laps remaining as he got by Steve Allen. At one point McDaniel was even with the second place car of Kris Walker in the corner, but he couldn't carry his momentum off the corners and got shuffled back. Nathan Wood would take home the easy win followed by Kris Walker, Bobby Greene, Jason McDaniel, and Donavan Nunnikhoven.
USRA modifieds were up next and Scott Dickey would jump out early to the lead. Colt Mather and Steve Blattler waged a wheel to wheel battle for second before Mather would take the spot. Meanwhile Brad Pinkerton was on the move as he powered up his machine on the cushion to third by lap three. Pinkerton would not stop there, as he would later get by Mather to take over the runner up spot a lap later. Mather would then lose the third spot to Zach VanderBeek as Zach continued to use the bottom side of the speedway. While that going on, Pinkerton took over the lead from Dickey as he ducked low on lap eight. Two laps later VanderBeek made his way by Dickey to move into second. A late caution came out as Dickey's machine went up in smoke, ending his great run. Brad Pinkerton would hold on for the win with Zach VanderBeek second, Colt Mather third, Josh Truman fourth, and Ron VerBeek rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Deery Brothers late models made their way to the track for the final event of the night. Only twenty cars were on hand last night, definitely not what I'm accustomed to watching. Nonetheless, series point leader Jeff Aikey was the lucky recipient of the pole redraw and paced the field to the green. After an early caution, Aikey got a great jump and put several car lengths between him and the second place driver of Jay Johnson. Johnson would soon surrender the spot to Tommy Elston as Elston maneuvered on the low side around him. An unusual caution came out on lap four as Ray Guss Jr made contact with the outside guardrail. The caution would be for debris literally stuck in the railing.
Elston would challenge Aikey on the inside on the restart, but didn't have enough speed exiting the corner to complete the pass. Aikey's momentum off the cushion allowed him to extend his lead. As the leaders encountered lapped traffic, Aikey was able to position himself better then Elston as Aikey continued to extend his lead. Behind them Jason Frankel was marching forward as he motored by Rob Toland and TJ Criss to climb into the top five on lap twenty-four of the thirty-five lap event. With ten laps to go, Boone McLaughlin snuck under Jay Johnson to move up to third as Aikey's lead grew to a full straight away. Frankel continued to make up ground as he got by Johnson for fourth and would get by McLaughlin for third as they exited turn four for the checkers. But the night belonged to Jeff Aikey as he sailed to his first Deery Brothers win of the season. Tommy Elston, Jason Frankel, Boone McLaughlin, and Jay Johnson rounded out the top five. I may be wrong, but I believe the win was Aikey's 50th career Deery Brothers victory. If that is the case, he now has twice as many wins as the guy in second (Curt Martin, 25 wins).
The races were done at 10:30, a decent time considering there was an extra class of cars competing last night. During intermission fairboard members were shooting tshirts to the crowd that were donated by drivers.
The Southern Iowa Speedway will have a kids' night next Wednesday. A candy and nickel toss will be available for the kids while people with a valid driver's license from Ottumwa will be admitted free of charge.
Next up for the IMCA Deery Brothers series for late models will be a trip north to the I-35 Speedway next Tuesday, July 28th. That will be the first of three consecutive nights of racing for them as they will then travel to the Highway 3 Raceway in Allison on Wednesday before ending the midweek traveling at the Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa on Thursday.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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