Dubuque Speedway
Dubuque gives Goedert first Deery Brothers victory
DUBUQUE, Iowa (July 15) – Luke Goedert of Holy Cross, Iowa, grew up watching and reading about the drivers of the Deery Brothers Summer Series. They’re reading about him now.
Goedert led all 35 laps in winning for the first time in his IMCA Late Model tour career Sunday at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway. He took the $2,000 checkers half a lap ahead of runner-up Jason Rauen of Farley, Iowa.
New points leader and six-time series champion Jeff Aikey of Waterloo, Iowa, was third; two-time defending series champion Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill., took a provisional, started 22nd and finished fourth. Mike Murphy Jr. of Colona, Ill., who entered the race leading the series points, was 14th.
“It’s definitely a special thing when you can beat those guys,” Goedert said. “I didn’t know until after the race that we had that big of a lead. The car was on a rail. It was definitely hooked up, probably the best it’s been all year.”
“I had a lot of family at the track, a lot more than usual,” said Goedert, a weekly regular at Dubuque who’s also won two straight Friday night features at Farley. “They all like the Deery Series and maybe they had a good feeling about tonight. I know they were hoping we would win and luckily we did.”
Goedert started outside Justin Kay on the front row, rocketed into the lead and had checked out on everybody by the time the first caution flew on lap 19 for a spinning Murphy. He was forced to the pits to make re�pairs to the nose of his car and restarted at the rear.
The race was red-flagged on lap 22 when Stephan Kammerer spun and collected Darrel De�France’s car, which caught fire.
The fire was extinguished, both Kammerer and DeFrance were done for the night, and Goedert drove away from everybody following the final restart. The real battle proved to be for second as Rauen and Aikey swapped the spot half a dozen times before Rauen made it stick.
The second-place finish was Rauen’s series career best. Guss used all of the track, picking off cars one at a time, in racing to fourth and Denny Eckrich rounded out the top five.
Notes: Goedert’s No. 44 is sponsored by Dew Superstore, Steel Mart, TNT Properties and Goedert Custom Cabinets. ... His previous best series finishes had been a pair of fifths, both at Boone (Iowa) Speedway on May 28, 2007 and May 28, 2012. ... Third-place finisher Jeff Aikey is recovering from recent knee surgery. ... Another $2,000 top prize is at stake when the Deery Series headlines the Hershel Roberts Memorial at Quad City Speedway on Wednesday. ... Pit gates open at 4:30 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5 p.m. at East Moline, Ill. Hot laps are at 6:30 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m.
Deery Brothers @ Dubuque: (1) Luke Goedert, (2) Jason Rauen, (3) Jeff Aikey, (4) Ray Guss Jr. (5) Denny Eckrich, (6) Joel Callahan, (7) Jason Utter, (8) Justin Kay, (9) Andy Eckrich, (10) Jon Merfeld, (11) Jay Johnson, (12) Tyler Bruening, (13) Jeff Mitrisin, (14) Mike Murphy Jr., (15) Greg Kastli, (16) Dean Wagner, (17) Doug Yates, (18) Todd Alexander, (19) Dan Shelliam, (20) Bobby Hansen, (21) Stephan Kammerer, (22) Darrel DeFrance, (23) Matt Ryan, Davenport, (24) Luke Merfeld. Heat race winners (among 28 cars): DeFrance, Rauen, Aikey, Murphy. Consolation winners: Johnson, Kammerer. Provisional starters: Ryan, Guss, Yates, Kastli.
