Harris holds off Kay to get ‘needed’ Deery Bros win

WEST LIBERTY - Brian Harris very nearly didn't even finish the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models main event Tuesday night at West Liberty Raceway.

Roughly 10 laps into the 40-lap main event, he felt something go wrong in the engine. It was a feeling he's had before, and it never ended well. But after the first three months of this racing season in which he and his No. 15r team have struggled and searched, he decided to hold on.

Engine smoking and hurting, he was rewarded for that choice by beating Justin Kay to the line by about three feet to take the win.

'I was going to come into the pits,” Harris said in Victory Lane. 'I've felt that feeling before and I think it's a bent valve. The car was great, but as (the engine) got worse, I couldn't use the throttle to make the car do what I wanted it to do. But that just shows how good this car is.

'This is one of my favorite tracks. Everything worked out. I really don't know what to say. I'm happy to be back in Victory Lane.”

Harris' win snapped a Summer Series drought dating back to his championship season of 2013 - a year in which he tied the all-time Summer Series record with four main event wins in a row.

After starting this season on a new car manufacturer that his team could never quite get their hands around, car owner Lynn Richards went back to the well and put Harris in a Mach 1 Race Cars again. The frustration of the start to the year - DNFs and poor finishes became all-too-common - left Harris on the edge of his emotions when talking about the win.

As much as anyone wants a win, Harris said he needed this one.

'I needed this one, bad,” Harris said. 'I knew it was just something little. We tried so hard with that other car. We had big ideas over the winter and it just didn't work out. That happens - happens a lot.

'I look for better results the rest of this season for us.”

The joy of Victory Lane was mirrored about twenty yards away, where Kay stood next to his car as well-wishers gave him words of encouragement after his second-place finish.

One more lap, and it's likely Kay would've been able to complete the pass - especially with Harris' engine hurting. Harris knew he was coming, and said his crew's hand signals told him Kay was coming fast.

But the defending Summer Series and national Late Model champion waited just a little too long to change his line in an effort to catch the No. 15 in front of him. It left him frustrated and hungry for more.

'Maybe one more lap, who knows. (Harris) would've slid across my nose anyway, I guarantee you that,” Kay said. 'We didn't have the car quite right, and could've drove a little different a little sooner.

'I didn't do what I needed to. I should've changed my line a little sooner. I was running the bottom and should've moved up to the middle. Once I tried it, it was good. Just took me too long to run him back down.”

Kay battled for several laps for second place with Buffalo driver Andy Nezworski, who came into Tuesday night's race one point ahead of Kay for the Summer Series points lead. Nezworski finished third behind Harris and Kay, and will now trail Kay in the standings when the tour stops at Independence Motor Speedway on Wednesday.

A DNF at the season-opening race at Crawford County Speedway in Denison dug Kay a hole he's finally out of - and wants to keep that way.

'Second's not all bad. At least we got Andy (Nezworski) so he didn't gain any more points on us,” Kay said. 'I haven't really raced against him that much. He's been a nice guy as long as I've known him. It's fun to race someone like that.

'That first bad night (in Denison) really set us back. Now we're back in front and we have to stay there.”

As Kay and Nezworski carry their battle to Independence, it's unclear if Harris will be able to go for back-to-back wins.

He and his team do have a new Mopar engine they just picked up, but it remains to be seen if his team will have time to swap the hurt engine from Tuesday out for the new one in time to make the race on Wednesday.

'I haven't heard yet if we're going. I don't know how hard the guys are going to work tonight,” Harris said. 'I just don't know. It sets us back a little bit, but (the win) also gives us the motivation to go back and thrash because they know what the car's capable of. And when you get on a high like that, you tend to do a little more.”

IMCA DEERY BROTHERS SUMMER SERIES FOR LATE MODELS

WEST LIBERTY RACEWAY RESULTS

1. 15r Brian Harris, Davenport; 2. 15k Justin Kay, Wheatland; 3. 7 Andy Nezworski, Buffalo; 4. 1m Rob Moss, Iowa City; 5. 31 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 6. 24 Scott Fitzpatrick, Wheatland; 7. 32c Chad Holladay, Muscatine; 8. 50 Denny Eckrich, Tiffin; 9. 56 Andy Eckrich, Oxford; 10. 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls; 11. 10c Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa; 12. 46 Nate Beuseling, Silvis, Ill.; 13. 1d Ryan Dolan, Lisbon; 14. 75m Todd Malmstrom, Silvis, Ill.; 15. 15 Kyle Hinrichs, Swisher; 16. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 17. 74 Ron Boyse, Kalona; 18. 87 John Emerson, Waterloo; 19. Z50 Joe Zrostlik, Long Grove; 20. 88 Kevin Kile, West Liberty; 21. 43 Jeremy Grady, Story City; 22. 33 Nick Marolf, Moscow; 23. 19g Richie Gustin, Gilman; 24. 58. Ray Guss Jr., Milan, Ill.

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