300 Raceway
Bruening repeats at Yankee Dirt Classic
FARLEY, Iowa (Sept. 15) – The biggest paycheck on the Deery Brothers Summer Series schedule went home with Tyler Bruening. Again.
The Decorah, Iowa, driver led the last 69 of 75 laps in repeating as the $7,500 winner of the IMCA Late Model tour main event Saturday, on night two of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic at Farley Speedway.
“It was a big win for us. We won two track championships (Farley and Independence) and a bunch of features this season. It’s always big to win on the Deery circuit,” Bruening said. “The who’s who of IMCA was there and we came out on top. It really sewed up our year.”
Denny Eckrich chased Bruening into lapped traffic late in the race but couldn’t catch up and had to settle for second. Mike Murphy Jr. was third after winning a consolation race and advancing 14 positions. Rounding out the top five were Justin Kay and Mark Burgtorf.
Joe Zrostlik led the first lap from the pole before giving way to outside front-row starter Luke Goedert.
Bruening took charge on lap seven. Burgtorf ran second before falling back near midway, when a succession of cautions came out.
Eckrich was the next challenger as the last 19 laps ran green. Bruening weaved his way through traffic to take his career second series and Yankee feature wins.
“There were a bunch of cautions and I tried to be consistent because I looked at the leaderboard and I knew Denny was coming,” Bruening said. “I was concerned about tire wear and lapped traffic at the end. I had trouble getting around a couple cars and I knew I’d have to keep pushing.”
Matt Strassheim was sixth and Friday night winner Nick Marolf finished seventh. Point leader Jeff Aikey ran eighth, one spot ahead of Andy Eckrich.
Aikey will take an eight point edge over Andy Eckrich into the series finale Sept. 22 at Davenport Speedway.
Darrel DeFrance was the $250 Sunoco Race Fuels feature qualifier drawing winner. Recipients of $99 Ideal Ready Mix Ironman Challenge perfect attendance cash bonuses were qualifiers Aikey, Callahan, DeFrance, Andy Eckrich, Ray Guss Jr., Jay Johnson, Kay and Murphy.
Yankee Dirt Track Classic: (1) Tyler Bruening, (2) Denny Eckrich, (3) Mike Murphy Jr., (4) Justin Kay, (5) Mark Burgtorf, (6) Matt Strassheim, (7) Nick Marolf, (8) Jeff Aikey, (9) Andy Eckrich, (10) Ray Guss Jr., (11) Darrel DeFrance, (12) Ryan Griffith, (13) Curt Martin, (14) Jay Johnson, (15) Dean Wagner, 916) Jeff Mitrisin, (17) Brian Beaudry, (18) Joe Zrostlik, (19) Larry Harris, (20) Colby Springsteen, (21) Dan Shelliam, (22) Randy Foote, (23) Joel Callahan, (24) Kurt Kile, (25) Luke Goedert, (26) Mike Garland. Heat race winners (among 50 cars): Guss, Bruening, Marolf, Zrostlik, Shelliam. Consolation winners: Aikey, Murphy, Griffith. Provisional starters: Callahan, Mitrisin, Wagner. Non-qualifiers’ race winner: Harris.
