Iowa State Fair Speedway
Darbyshire grabs victory at Iowa State Fairgrounds
DES MOINES, Iowa (Aug. 15) — Tom Darbyshire was in victory lane while Ray Guss Jr. was back in the driver’s seat following Monday’s Deery Brothers Summer Series feature at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway.
Darbyshire, of Morning Sun, Iowa, took advantage when pole-starting Brian Harris of Davenport, Iowa, got too high and found the wall, taking over the lead on the 11th circuit and running in front to the finish of the 35-lapper on the Des Moines half-mile.
Hometown driver Todd Cooney gave chase but couldn’t catch Darbyshire in the race to the checkers. Harris, Jeff Aikey of Waterloo, Iowa, and Colby Springsteen of Morning Sun completed the state fair show top five. The $2,000 win was Darbyshire’s Deery career third and his first on the tour since May of 2008.
Guss, meanwhile, took over the top spot in the point standings with his ninth-place finish. Andy Eckrich was the leader at the start of the night but was saddled by motor problems in both his heat race and the feature.
After borrowing Ryan Griffith’s car and starting last in the field of 24, Eckrich was the cause of a lap-31 caution and was scored 20th. With 13 events in the record book, defending series champion Guss has a seven-point advantage over Eckrich and Terry Neal, who ran sixth at Des Moines.
Notes: Darbyshire's MasterSbilt Race Car is sponsored by Darbyshire Trucking and Ideal Ready Mix. ... Nate Beuseling had streak of two straight series victories and finished 15th in his Des Moines debut. ... He also pocketed the $250 Sunoco Race Fuels feature qualifier drawing prize. ... Fifteen drivers have perfect attendance through 13 tour events. ... Next on the silver anniversary series schedule is the $10,000-to-win Pepsi USA Nationals on Sept. 2-3 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa.
Deery Brothers @ Iowa State Fairgrounds: (1) Tom Darbyshire, (2) Todd Cooney, (3) Brian Harris, (4) Jeff Aikey, (5) Colby Springsteen, (6) Terry Neal, (7) Tommy Elston, (8) Ryan Giles, (9) Ray Guss Jr., (10) T.J. Criss, (11) Jay Johnson, (12) Paul Glendenning, (13) Craig Jacobs, (14) Ben Nading, (15) Nate Bueseling, (16) Justin Reed, (17) Sam Halstead, (18) Tyler Bruening, (19) Marty Diercks, (20) Andy Eckrich, (21) Mike Garland, (22) Charlie McKenna, (23) Joel Callahan, (24) Eric Sanders. Heat race winners (among 35 cars): Aikey, Guss, Neal, Diercks. Consolation winners: Bueseling, Nading. Provisional starters: McKenna, Reed, Garland, Sanders.
