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Bill Martin
DECORAH, Iowa (July 15) - The first-ever winner of a Deery Brothers Summer Series event was the winner of the first-ever IMCA Late Model tour feature at Upper Iowa Speedway.
Jay Johnson led all 40 laps Wednesday at Decorah, taking the $2,000 top prize ahead of Terry Neal and Jason Frankel. Boone McLaughlin, the defending series champion, repeated his fourth place performance from the previous night at Fayette County Speedway and Matt Strassheim was fifth.
Locked in the preferred lower line, Johnson ran in front of McLaughlin for a handful of laps before the fifth starting Neal took over the second spot. The race was slowed by just two cautions but the lead cars never caught up with the back of the field.
Stephan Kammerer was on the move and into fourth place when a shock broke and sent him into the wall, bringing out an early yellow. Mechanical problems soon after forced Ray Guss Jr., from the field, relegating him to 19th place on the night and dropping him from second to third in the series point standings.
The other caution came on lap 18.
Frankel's top three finish put him back in second in the points race. Point leader Jeff Aikey was seventh.
Johnson had won the inaugural series event at 34 Raceway, back on April 11 of 1987. His 11th and most recent victory on the tour had been Sept. 14, 1991, also at West Burlington.
Upper Iowa Speedway became the 40th different track to host one of the 341 Deery events in 22-plus seasons.
Pit gates open at 5 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5:30 p.m. for the next series show, at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa on Wednesday, July 22. Hot laps are at 7 p.m. and racing starts at 7:30 p.m.
Feature results -
1. Jay Johnson, West Burlington;
2. Terry Neal, Ely;
3. Jason Frankel, Quincy, Ill.;
4. Boone McLaughlin, Mediapolis;
5. Matt Strassheim, Burlington;
6. Rob Toland, Davenport;
7. Jeff Aikey, Waterloo;
8. Ryan Giles, West Des Moines;
9. T.J. Criss, Oskaloosa;
10. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown;
11. Tom Darbyshire, Morning Sun;
12. Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake;
13. Matt Ryan, Davenport;
14. Bryan Klein, Cedar Rapids;
15. Justin Kay, Wheatland;
16. Tyler Bruening, Decorah;
17. Bobby Hansen, Center Point;
18. Joe Zrostlik, Long Grove;
19. Ray Guss Jr., Milan, Ill.;
20. Stephan Kammerer, Blue Grass;
21. Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn;
22. Luke Merfeld, Peosta;
23. Greg Kastli, Waterloo.
1st heat (top four) - 1. Strassheim; 2. Aikey; 3. Neal; 4. McLaughlin.
2nd heat - 1. Guss; 2. Giles; 3. Toland; 4. Kammerer.
3rd heat - 1. Frankel; 2. Kastli; 3. Johnson; 4. Criss.
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