Callahan makes late pass to take Deery Bros win at Quad City Speedway

EAST MOLINE, Ill. — For 35 of the 40 laps in the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models main event at Quad City Speedway on Sunday night, it looked like the 1/4-mile bullring had become a place where rookies went to get their first win.

In this event last year, Tyler Droste did just that. Rookie of the Year contender Cayden Carter came within five laps of repeating the feat, but this time around, experience won the day.

Veteran Dubuque driver Joel Callahan got his fourth career Summer Series win by running Carter down and patiently working past him in a race that went the last 39 laps without a caution.

'That was really good racing,' Callahan said through a big grin in Victory Lane. 'We knew we were good on the bottom, it was just a matter of time until I could get him. That traffic helped a lot. It was great racing with a lot of really good cars.'

Carter had established his lead riding the high lane next to the wall, and through the first 25 to 30 laps, negotiated traffic well.

But as can happen when one driver leads so many laps in a row, Callahan had the benefit of seeing how the track was changing quicker than Carter could. Callahan never left the bottom lane, and finally cleared Carter for good with three to go. He's long seen Quad City Speedway as one of his strongest tracks, and he felt vindicated in that belief with how he won the race.

'I wasn't committed to the bottom, but once I got into lapped traffic I could see a lot of guys couldn't hold the bottom as well as I did,' Callahan said. 'It takes a lot of patience. I knew if I could stay tight to them, we could get by and make passes.'

For Carter, it's one of those age-old 'coulda-woulda-shoulda' races to which countless racers can relate.

The Oskaloosa driver was disappointed but not dejected after the race, and said while there might have been a few things he could've done differently to change the outcome, what he learned Sunday night will be of great benefit down the line. He races IMCA Modified weekly and Stock Car almost every week, in addition to the Summer Series races in his Late Model, and said it's all about getting laps so that he can be comfortable in anything at any track.

'I thought we were going to pick up our first (Deery Bros) win here,' Carter said. 'I should've maybe protected the bottom more and been more aggressive in the lapped cars, but overall I'm still happy with second. The top side went away, everyone went to the bottom and they started blowing the crumbs up to the top. I was just a sitting duck out front. Joel stuck to the bottom and he beat us.

'We'll learn from this one and come back stronger. We're learning every race.'

Callahan sympathized with Carter, with a nod to a leader's often-sitting-duck status with long green runs.

But make no mistake, the $2,000 payday was one Callahan had earned. He started seventh on what was a dry-slick track, and had to pass the likes of Jeff Aikey, who ended up fifth, and Ray Guss Jr, who ended up fourth. Winning a Summer Series race is a difficult task, Callahan said, and getting one by running down and passing the leader over the course of a (nearly) caution-free race is something he can take a lot of pride in.

'Whenever you're the leader, you can't know where everyone else is at. And obviously I can't follow him to pass him,' Callahan said. 'I knew in the past we've been good down here, so we're really happy with this. It's so difficult against these guys.'

IMCA DEERY BROTHERS SUMMER SERIES LATE MODELS

QUAD CITY SPEEDWAY TOP 5

1. 40 Joel Callahan, Dubuque; 2. 10c Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa; 3. 31 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 4. Ray Guss Jr., Silvis, Ill.; 5. Jeff Aikey, Waterloo.

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