Eckrich starts Deery Bros season off with a win

DAVENPORT – Opening night for the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model Summer Series got off to an inauspicious start for a few drivers Friday night at Davenport Speedway.

A tacky track made it hard to pass in preliminary races, forcing some heavy hitters in the series to transfer through last-chance qualifying B-main races and start the main event towards the back.

But key adjustments between the B- and A-mains gave Andy Eckrich what he needed to drive from 17th starting position to his first victory since August of 2012.

'Me and (brother) Denny flipped a quarter and Denny changed his left side bars one way, and I went the other way,” Eckrich said. 'It worked out, I guess.”

It worked out, indeed.

Using the bottom lane, Eckrich was able to knife through traffic better than anyone in the field, and had the lead before halfway of the 40-lap event. The Oxford native came up just short on several occasions last season, but wasn't going to be denied.

'We didn't think the bottom would be that good, we thought we'd have to race in the middle (of the track),” Eckrich said. 'The bottom fed me good on the way through. I just caught the right people at the right time. Everything clicked, everything worked.”

The Oxford native wasn't the only one who had to start from deep in the field.

Track conditions early in the night threw teams a curveball, and winning cars like defending series champion Brian Harris and Denny Eckrich joined Andy Eckrich in needing to transfer through the B-main just to qualify.

Justin Kay – who tied Harris' record of four straight Summer Series wins last year – didn't need a last-chance qualifier, but did have to start 13th. He made his way through traffic, too, and finished right on Eckrich's bumper for second.

By the time the Summer Series late models hit the track for their main event, conditions were prime for great racing.

'(Eckrich) was just too good on the top in (Turns) 1 and 2 (at the end); I don't think I'd have caught him (without lapped traffic),” Kay said. 'You could slide up, cut across; it was a very nice, racy track. Good and smooth.

'It was hard to pass in the heat races (when) the track was tacky and fast. I'll take the second after coming from the back.”

The traditionally fast drivers' starting positions, coupled with a long winter had racers eager and aggressive all night. That aggressiveness showed itself early in the night, with series officials handing out three rough driving penalties in the preliminary races alone.

Series director Kevin Yoder laughed when asked why racers were pushing so hard in the first event of the year.

'The Deery Brothers Summer Series is so competitive, you have to have good nights right out of the box, and you can tell guys have been off all winter,” Yoder said. 'They're anxious to get in the racecar, they really hadn't had practice or things like that. Sometimes it takes time to get back in the rhythm of driving a racecar again.

'Sometimes guys are pushing so hard, it's just a victim of circumstance.”

Yoder is also really excited to get the season rolling, and expects a more varied list of winners than the season saw last year.

Harris and Kay each notching four-straight wins at different points of the season was an outlier historically – the feat has only been accomplished three times overall – and Eckrich's win Friday night showed things should be more even as the year rolls on.

'I see every night being a dog fight,” Yoder said. 'I don't think we're going to have somebody dominate like we did last year. I think it's wide open this year.”

To that end, Eckrich himself said he didn't know if he'd be able to get back-to-back wins to start the season.

The Summer Series races Saturday night at West Liberty Raceway, and Eckrich figures brother Denny will be the man to beat.

'Denny will have our number there, he kicked our but last year there,” Eckrich said. 'It don't matter, though. If he beats me there, I beat him here. Denny will be the guy to beat, but we'll try to get him.”

FEATURE RESULTS

1. Andy Eckrich, Oxford; 2. Justin Kay, Wheatland; 3. Matt Ryan, Davenport; 4. Colby Springsteen, Wapello; 5. Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 6. Brian Harris, Davenport; 7. Joel Callahan, Dubuque; 8. Ryan Dolan, Lisbon; 9. Ray Guss Jr., Milan, Ill.; 10. Denny Eckrich, Tiffin; 11. Andy Nezworski, Buffalo; 12. Tommy Elston, Keokuk; 13. Terry Neal, Ely; 14. Jason Rauen, Farley; 15. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown; 16. Jeremy Grady, Story City; 17. Jon Poll, Delmar; 18. Todd Malmstrom, Silvis, Ill.;19. Milo Veloz, Colona, Ill.; 20. Joe Ross, Thomson, Ill.; 21. Mike Cothron, Moline, Ill.; 22. Mike Zemo Jr., Davenport; 23. Jon Merfeld, Dubuque; 24. Jay Johnson, West Burlington.

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