Marshalltown Speedway
Neal capitalizes for victory at Marshalltown
From series reports
Terry Neal (inside) and Ray Guss Jr. (Barry Johnson)
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (June 10) – After running up front most of the way, Terry Neal found himself in the right place at the right time in the waning laps of the Deery Brothers Summer Series feature at Marshalltown Speedway. The Ely, Iowa, driver regained the point after Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill, broke with just three circuits remaining, then pulled away from hometown favorite Darrel DeFrance to earn a $2,000 payday. | Slideshow
The tour victory was Neal’s career 16th and also made him the seventh different driver to win a Deery feature in as many events this season. Justin Reed of Quincy, Ill., was third, Todd Cooney of Des Moines, Iowa, regained the series point lead with his fourth place finish and Andy Nezworski of Buffalo, Iowa, rounded out the top five. Tom Darbyshire of Morning Sun, Iowa, brought the point lead to town and started on the pole, but was sidelined with mechanical problems early in the 50-lapper and ended his night in 23rd.
Cooney started outside the front row and led the first five times around the track before Neal slipped underneath. Neal was still at the point on lap 14 when a brief rain shower resulted in a short delay. After the track was worked back in, the race was restarted and Neal stayed at the front of the field before Guss made his way past on the higher line on lap 40. Guss saw his luck change with a broken shock on lap 48, and Neal made the most of his good fortune after inheriting the front spot. He won by six lengths over DeFrance, who moved up 14 positions from his place in the original starting grid.
Notes: Neal's winning car is sponsored by Hawkeye Auto and Brothers Automotive. ... The 40 entrants matched the season average for the series. ... In upping his perfect series attendance record to 322 events, runner-up Darrel DeFrance matched his career-best finishes at his hometown track. He’d also finished second at Marshalltown in 1987 and 1991. ... Next up on the series schedule is a July 3 event at Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway.
Deery Brothers @ Marshalltown: (1) Terry Neal, (2) Darrel DeFrance, (3) Justin Reed, (4) Todd Cooney, (5) Andy Nezworski, (6) Boone McLaughlin, (7) Corey Zeitner, (8) Josh Most, (9) Mike Garland, (10) Matt Strassheim, (11) Mitch Current, (12) Ray Guss Jr., (13) Joe Zrostlik, (14) Mike Klinkkammer, (15) Rob Toland, (16) Charlie McKenna, (17) LaVern Carey, (18) Greg Kastli, (19) T.J. Criss, (20) Luke Merfeld, (21) Jason Frankel, (22) Dale Hackwell Jr., (23) Tom Darbyshire, (24) Sam Halstead. Heat race winners (among 40 cars): Cooney, Neal, Halstead, Guss, McLaughlin. Consolation winners: Zeitner, Hackwell.
