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Bill Martin
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 8) - He wasn't in first for the most laps, just the most important ones.
Tommy Elston raced from third place to the front spot in the final circuits Wednesday, passing Jeff Aikey for the $2,000 Deery Brothers Summer Series victory on opening night of the Harris Clash special at Knoxville Raceway.
The IMCA Late Model tour win was the second of the season for Elston, who had worked his way into contention from outside row five. Aikey took runner-up points and pay after leading 28 of the 35 laps, padding his lead in the series point standings in the process. Pole starter Jason Frankel, Fred Remley and Rob Toland rounded out the top five.
The only cautions of the fast-paced feature preceded lead changes.
Frankel gave way to Aikey following a lap five caution, then kept up his pursuit through two and sometimes three-wide lapped traffic before closing in and regaining the point on the 32nd circuit.
Another yellow came out before the lap could be scored, however, putting Aikey back in front. That also opened the door for the opportunistic Elston, who quickly caught Frankel for second, briefly ran door handle to door handle with Aikey, then zipped by and took the win by four car lengths.
Frankel improved to second in the point standings, but Ray Guss Jr. kept his title hopes alive by advancing 14 spots to finish ninth. After engine problems in his heat race, Guss borrowed Rick Dralle's car and qualified for the feature by running fourth in his "B" race.
Wednesday's tour event was the first held at Knoxville in 12 years. A record-tying 30 Late Models took the green flag for the Deery feature, the seventh time in series history and the first time since 1998 that many cars were in the starting grid.
Matt Lettow won the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod feature after swapping the lead back and forth the last five laps with Kevin Sather.
He'd dueled with Austin Kaplan to halfway, then had his hands full with Sather before securing the $500 victory.
Sather, Kaplan, Nate Chodur and Brett Moffitt chased Lettow to the checkers.
Clash action continues Thursday at Knoxville, with the IMCA Modified program rescheduled from Tuesday. The winner of that Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying event earns $2,000.
The grandstand opens at 6 p.m., hot laps are at 6:30 p.m. and racing starts at 7:15 p.m.
Deery Series feature results -
1. Tommy Elston, Keokuk;
2. Jeff Aikey, Waterloo;
3. Jason Frankel, Quincy, Ill.;
4. Fred Remley, Davenport;
5. Rob Toland, Davenport;
6. Nate Beuseling, Silvis, Ill.;
7. Boone McLaughlin, Mediapolis;
8. Terry Neal, Ely;
9. Ray Guss Jr., Milan, Ill.;
10. Todd Cooney, Des Moines;
11. Josh Most, Red Oak;
12. Matt Strassheim, West Burlington;
13. Jason Hahne, Webster City;
14. Robby Warner, Quincy, Ill.;
15. Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake;
16. T.J. Criss, Oskaloosa;
17. Jay Johnson, West Burlington;
18. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown;
19. Colby Springsteen, Morning Sun;
20. Al Johnson, Story City;
21. Greg Kastli, Waterloo;
22. Adam Helmick, Fort Madison;
23. Frank Jorgensen, Carroll;
24. Bryan Klein, Cedar Rapids;
25. Matt Ryan, Davenport;
26. Jon Merfeld, Peosta;
27. Stephan Kammerer, Blue Grass;
28. Justin Kay, Wheatland;
29. Barry Sorenson, Avoca;
30. Tyler Bruening, Decorah.
1st heat (top three) - 1. Aikey; 2. Remley; 3. Kay.
2nd heat - 1. Frankel; 2. Hahne; 3. Springsteen.
3rd heat - 1. McKenna; 2. Kammerer; 3. McLaughlin.
4th heat - 1. Neal; 2. Toland; 3. Criss.
5th heat - 1. Elston; 2. Sorenson; 3. Beuseling.
1st "B" feature (top six) - 1. Strassheim; 2. DeFrance; 3. Bruening; 4. Warner; 5. Ryan; 6. Jorgensen.
2nd "B" feature - 1. Cooney; 2. Merfeld; 3. Jay Johnson; 4. Guss; 5. Al Johnson; 6. Most.
Northern SportMod feature results -
1. Matt Lettow, Roland;
2. Kevin Sather, Ankeny;
3. Austin Kaplan, Des Moines;
4. Nate Chodur, Lake Mills;
5. Brett Moffitt, Grimes;
6. Joel Bushore, Boone;
7. Jeremy Embrey, Granger;
8. Scott Davis, Madrid;
9. Brian Herrick, Curtis, Neb.;
10. Paul Underwood, Ottumwa;
11. Doug Smith, Lake City;
12. Tracy Wassenberg, Shawano, Wis.;
13. Tyler Gross, Bondurant;
14. David Schlicht, Des Moines;
15. Matt Pittman, Jefferson;
16. Bill Hildreth, Rhodes;
17. Greg Simmons, Clarion;
18. Tim Love, Kelly;
19. Rocky Caudle, Webster City;
20. Jared Timmerman, Norwalk;
21. Kevin Fee, Knoxville;
22. Jim Weigel, Oberlin, Kan.;
23. Bryan Miller, Grand Junction;
24. Scott Forbes, Fort Dodge.
1st heat (top three) - 1. Kaplan; 2. Hildreth; 3. Caudle.
2nd heat - 1. Embrey; 2. Underwood; 3. Love.
3rd heat - 1. Timmerman; 2. Schlicht; 3. Pittman.
4th heat - 1. Smith; 2. Chodur; 3. Wassenberg.
5th heat - 1. Sather; 2. Lettow; 3. Miller. 6th heat - 1. Moffitt; 2. Bushore; 3. Weigel.
1st "B" feature (top two) - 1. Davis; 2. Simmons.
2nd "B" feature - 1. Gross; 2. Forbes. 3rd "B" feature - 1. Herrick; 2. Fee.
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