Ryan Claims Deery Dollars

  Sunday night I made my first 2019 visit to the Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Illinois. With the threat of rain throughout the mid west, there was still a full pit area of just shy of one hundred cars at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds 1/4 mile as well as a nice crowd in the grandstands. The featured attraction was the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series late models, with IMCA modifieds and sport mods, along with street stocks, four cylinders, and mod lites on the card.
 Upon our arrival, it was obvious that the track had received quite a bit of rain, and the prep crew was hard at work trying to get the surface race ready. In fact, the Dralle - Aikey late model team elected to load up and head down the road even as the drivers meeting was taking place. While the infield was a treacherous place, the track was ready to go just minutes after the scheduled start time.
  The racing surface had a lot of  " character " during heat race action, but even then the track crew kept trying to improve conditions. They then used the intermission to rework the dirt even as the late model Caseys pizza box redraw was going on, and there was multi groove racing in the main events.
  The first feature on the card was a fifteen lapper for the dozen street stocks on hand. After a false start, Roger Rickets used his pole start to jump to the lead, opening about a six car length advantage. Just before the half way mark, sixth starting Cary Brown took over the second spot, quickly running down the leader as they raced side by side as lap eight was scored. Brown took over the top spot on lap ten, with Rick Schriner tagging along in second. As flag man Doug Haack prepared to show the " two to go " sign, he instead had to flip on the yellow light for a spinning car. The field was realigned in Delaware formation with three laps still to go. One more lap was scored before a final caution period. Brown was not to be deterred however, taking the win over Schriner, Jesse Owen, Rickets, and Jeffery Peterson.
  Next it was fifteen laps for the sport mods, with all but one making the call. Heat one winner Josh Marth shot to the early lead from his pole position with third starting Steven Spiker trailing. The first caution came for a multi car spin on lap three. As the field was reset, eleventh starting Jason Bahrs had been running sixth but was now in fourth. Bahrs, who has driven just about every class at the track, moved briefly to third, then fell back to fourth ahead of another quick yellow. Back to green, row four starter Joe Grant powered to second while ninth starting Keith Blum entered the top five. Bahrs again took third at mid race as the leaders all searched the inside line around the track. With five circuits to go, Marth began to fade out of contention, with Grant and Bahrs gaining separation on the field. Three laps remained, and the yellow waved again, as a jam up on the restart eliminated Spiker, who was apparently displeased with Bahrs. On the final Delaware restart, Chane Houston charged to second, but Grant held on for the victory. Bahrs rolled home in third in front of C J Durbin and Blum.
   The late models had been scheduled last in the running order all night long. After some conversation it was announced that they would run third in heat race action, but would still be the last feature. Sometime after I left the pit area, an agreement was apparently reached that would also move their feature up, while the scheduled forty laps would also be cut by ten. So all twenty two heat race starters came to the grid. When Justin Kay wound up with the number one pizza box he had to be considered the favorite, especially if he could use the preferred inside line to out run his front row mate Andy Nezworski to turn one. But as they say, that is why we race 'em!
  Justin did indeed win the drag race to turn one, even as sixth starting Tommy Elston decided to take a look up top. With Elston moving to third in turns three and four of lap two, eighth starting Brian Harris also moved to the high side, jumping to fourth. Following a lap three yellow for a Tegan Evans spin, Elston took over the runner up spot. Seven laps in, Elston had fallen to fourth, but  as the leaders exited turn four, the now second running Nezworski suddenly slowed and tried to pull to the infield. Trapped behind, Elston attempted to drive under the #7 , but contact sent Elstons ride into the air, slamming down hard and spinning sideways. As the yellow waved, both Nezworski and Elston were done for the night. It was now Harris taking up the chase, staying with the top groove while Kay remained glued to the bottom. Meanwhile, row seven starter Andy Eckrich found himself in third, while Lake Knutti and eleventh starting Curt Martin filled out the top five. The high line around the oval continued to come in, and Harris grabbed the lead about lap ten while Martin charged to third. Kay headed to the infield at lap eleven, his night over. With Martin now in second, he continued to close on Harris, running the short way around the track. As the crossed flags signaled the halfway mark, the caution came out again for Evans. Fourteen cars remained on the track as a debris caution came at lap eighteen. Harris had been a rocket off turn two, but Martin was quicker down low coming off turn four, so following the restart, Harris dropped to the inside line in three and four. With ten circuits left, Martin grabbed the lead,and Harris slowed, possibly with a tire down. A mix up on the restart jammed up the field, with Jeremiah Hurst winding up behind the wrecker as he showed unhappiness with Martin. Eleven cars remained, and series rookie Brandt Cole put the #35C in second on the restart. Martin now found himself with a flat rear tire, and he began to fall back in the top five, while Cole, Eckrich, and twelfth starting Matt Ryan drove around him. After a couple of laps, the black flag was shown to Martin, but he continued on the track. Then as the flag man was reaching for the white flag, Martin stopped in turn one with the yellow flying one last time. As the field formed for a green, white, checkers finish, Martin quickly changed tires and rejoined the field. Ryan now knew it was time to go, and he jumped to the outside line, blowing past the leader to lead the lap that counted! Cole was a dark horse who parlayed a heat race win into an unlikely runner up finish. Eckrich settled for third, while Knutti ran a strong fourth. Joel Callahan gained eleven spots to complete the top five. Late model rookie Dalton Simonsen ran sixth in front of twenty second starter Mike Guldenpfennig, and Eric Sanders. David Norton was credited with ninth while Martin was scored tenth even though he lead Norton across the stripe.
   With the four cylinders lining up for twelve laps and the clock ticking past 9:30, we headed for the car. Reports this morning show Nick Proehl bested Travis Hawkins for the win, while Michael Dominquez topped Mike Morrow in the mod lite main. The IMCA modified finale was pushed to next week, possibly due to time constraints.
  Thanks to the QCS staff for their hospitality and as always to Summer Series front man Kevin Yoder for his help.
   The IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series will be in my back yard next Sunday with a long awaited return to Quincy Raceways. While I have an outside commitment on Friday, there are several good choices for Saturday night, so maybe we will see each other Racin' Down the Road!