Marshalltown Speedway
Guss capitalizes on Aikey's slip at Marshalltown
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Sept. 1) — After dominating the first half of the race, Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill., was in position to capitalize on a rare mistake by point leader Jeff Aikey of Waterloo, Iowa, and eke out the Tuesday night Deery Brothers Summer Series victory at Marshalltown Speedway.
Aikey looked to nail down his fifth IMCA Late Model tour victory of the season before jumping the cushion with three circuits left in the 50-lapper. Guss made the most of the opportunity, speeding back into the front spot and taking the $2,000 checkers less than two lengths ahead of Aikey.
Todd Cooney and Terry Neal both passed nine cars to finish third and fourth, respectively. Consolation race transferee Jason Frankel moved up 13 spots to round out the top five. Joe Zrostlik started last in the field of 24 and ended in 11th.
Guss drew the pole start and led by a straightaway when the 10th lap was scored. Cautions kept the field close, however, and the seventh starting Aikey followed a higher line to challenge Guss at the front.
The lead pair ran side by side before Aikey was able to pull ahead. A caution with 10 laps to go negated a Guss pass and put the five-time series champion back at the front for the restart. Aikey’s luck ran out six laps later when he got too high on the track, opening the door for Guss.
The win was the fourth of the season for Guss and 15th of his career.
Three series events are scheduled for the Labor Day weekend: at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, on Saturday; at Quincy (Ill.) Raceway on Sunday; and at Boone (Iowa) Speedway on Monday, during opening night of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals.
The tour sees its final checkered flag with the $10,000 to win Pepsi USA Nationals at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Sept. 18-19.
Deery Brothers @ Marshalltown: (1) Ray Guss Jr., (2) Jeff Aikey, (3) Todd Cooney, (4) Terry Neal, (5) Jason Frankel, (6) Jason Hahne, (7) Charlie McKenna, (8) Jon Merfeld, (9) Tyler Bruening, (10) Darrel DeFrance, (11) Joe Zrostlik, (12) Greg Kastli, (13) Jon Passick, (14) Rob Toland, (15) Craig Jacobs, (16) Corey Zeitner, (17) Al Johnson, (18) Bobby Hansen, (19) Craig Roberts, (20) Jeff French, (21) Justin Kay, (22) Luke Goedert, (23) Fred Remley, (24) T.J. Criss. Heat race winners: McKenna, Cooney, Hahne, Remley. Consolation winners: Neal, Roberts.
