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Droste gets first Deery Bros Late Model win
Jul. 22, 2015 11:43 pm
EAST MOLINE, Ill. - There's nothing like the first one.
When Waterloo racer Tyler Droste changed his focus from IMCA Modified to IMCA Late Model before this season started, he and his team did so to chase down moments like Wednesday night at Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill.
The 19-year-old started on pole and led all 50 laps of the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series main event, grabbing his first career Summer Series checkered flag in dominant fashion.
'That works out pretty good,” Droste said through an ear-to-ear grin. 'It's nice to beat all those guys. It's amazing to be able to beat guys like (Justin) Kay and (Jeff) Aikey; track points leaders, national points leaders and champions. It's just awesome to beat those guys.
'This year we've got this new car and it's been a blast. It's just incredible.”
Droste drew the coveted No. 1 starting position in the customary redraw ceremony during intermission, and that ultimately was the catalyst for the victory because of how hard it was to pass throughout the field.
He also had to weather at least seven restarts with a plethora of caution flags for flat tires, wrecks and blown motors. But rather than being stressed out by the cautions and subsequent restarts with veterans like Andy Nezworski, Ray Guss Jr (before falling out himself) and Jeff Aikey putting on the pressure, Droste saw them as a relief.
With a tacky track and a lot of dirt collecting on the nose, his engine would get hot once he got to lapped cars. A restart allowed a clear track and a cool engine.
'On each one of those restarts, I was actually glad they came because I was just getting to lapped traffic and the motor - it was so tacky tonight - was starting to get a little warm. When the cautions came out, it was kind of nice because I could get it cooled back down,” Droste said. 'I could run it hard until the next caution. A couple times it started getting hot and I had to back down a little bit.
'I knew when the last caution came, it was kind of a longer caution and I got it cooled down quite a bit. I knew from there on out if it ran green we'd be good to go.”
Droste edged out current IMCA Late Model national points leader and the Quad City Speedway weekly points leader Matt Ryan on the final two restarts. Ryan drove from 12th starting spot to second, and finished ahead of Brunson Behning in third, Aikey in fourth and Kay in fifth (after starting last in 22nd).
The young driver was able to hold everyone off and eventually drive away because he was riding the 'cushion” - the buildup of excess dirt at the top of the track. To run that line requires precision and focus, because a missed mark would result in hitting the concrete outside wall that surrounds Quad City Speedway.
'I'd never been to a track with the Late Model or Modified where I had to be inches from the wall,” Droste said. 'During my lunch break today I was watching Eldora and the (NASCAR Camping World) Trucks, and I said, ‘Man, that looks fun.' Well, I guess I got that tonight. (Turn) 1 and 2 you had to be dead on every lap, otherwise something bad was going to happen.”
Droste's win was a popular one among his peers, who - with few exceptions - have enjoyed watching him grow his skills in a Late Model in the past two seasons.
Through running the Gheer'd Up Chassis, Droste has gotten to know drivers like Ryan, Kay and Aikey a lot better and learned quite a bit from them. And though none of them enjoy getting beat, they could at least concede the win went to someone who deserved it.
'I could get there, but he was just too much for me, man,” Ryan said. 'He was the better man tonight, that's for sure. I'd always admired for a young kid how patient and how smooth he was.
'There's nothing like getting your first Deery win. My first Deery win was magical, as I'm sure Tyler's was as well.”
IMCA DEERY BROTHERS SUMMER SERIES FOR LATE MODELS
QUAD CITY SPEEDWAY RESULTS
1. 31 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 2. 07 Matt Ryan, Davenport; 3. 37b Brunson Behning, Davenport; 4. 77 Jeff Aikey; 5. 15k Justin Kay, Wheatland; 6. 7 Andy Nezworski, Buffalo; 7. Z50 Joe Zrostlik, Long Grove; 8. 11 Thad Wilson, Rock Island, Ill.; 9. 87 John Emerson, Waterloo; 10. 56W Gary Webb, Blue Grass; 11. 1D Ryan Dolan, Lisbon; 12. 99d Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown; 13. 24 Scott Fitzpatrick, Wheatland; 14. 58 Ray Guss Jr, Milan, Ill.; 15. Z Mike Zemo Jr, Davenport; 16. 44 Nate Beuseling, Silvis, Ill.; 17. 75m Todd Malmstrom, Silvis, Ill.; 18. 22b Jonathan Brauns, Muscatine; 19. 48z Jon Poll, Delmar; 20. 6 Jay Chennoweth, Wapello; 21. G1 Mike Garland, Morrison, Ill.; 22. 70 Shawn Mulvany, Moline, Ill.
l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com
Waterloo driver Tyler Droste makes a pass of John Emerson during their heat race for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models event at Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill., on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. (Jeremiah Davis/The Gazette)