Harris eyes rebound at West Liberty, Davenport

In the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models season opener last Saturday at Crawford County Speedway in Denison, there were a few notable finishes from some drivers who have been fixtures as top finishers in the area in the last few years.

The finishes were notable because they were the opposite of what's come to be expected.

Last year's IMCA national and Summer Series champion Justin Kay, of Wheatland, finished 18th after overheating his engine. Seven-time Summer Series champion Jeff Aikey, of Cedar Falls, finished 20th with ignition problems. And 2013 Summer Series champion Brian Harris, of Davenport, finished 16th in a new car with a new power plant that was 'terrible” all night.

But as the Summer Series comes back to Eastern Iowa for its second race Saturday at West Liberty Raceway, the combination of a night on the new equipment, a week to fix the problems and familiar territory leaves all three drivers expecting to return to a place they've gotten used to - the front.

'You work real hard over the winter, and you think you're prepared to the best of your ability, but then you get under race conditions, and sometimes you get surprises. That's what we were dealt with,” said Harris, who co-owns the Summer Series record having won four straight A-mains in 2013. 'I'm pretty confident that we're going to have a different outcome this weekend. We found major things wrong with the car, and we got them all taken care of. We're excited to get back at it.”

For Harris, the season-opener was a bit of an extension of his 2014 campaign, in which he followed up a championship run with a winless season on the Summer Series tour.

He and his car-owner, Lynn Richard, were often left frustrated and searching after races last season. Harris chalked a lot of that up to things happening in his life off the racetrack. The loss of a family member, plus other personal matters kept his focus away from where it needed to be to have the success he'd become accustomed to in so many seasons previous.

Having rectified much of what he said led to that this offseason, Harris feels rejuvenated.

'I had distractions where I probably wasn't 100 percent in the racecar, and I spent all winter trying to eliminate those distractions. I think I did a good job of that,” Harris said. 'That's major for a driver. If you have something on your mind - either family stuff or work-related - it takes a toll on your race performance. I think I eliminated a lot of those distractions.

'At Denison it didn't really show, but we'll see how well I got rid of those distractions and how good we are this weekend.”

A return to the tracks the Eastern Iowa regulars frequent each week will certainly help if they didn't have the opener they'd hoped for, but coming home doesn't guarantee a thing.

In fact, Harris said, with all the competition sure to be at West Liberty, as well as Friday night for the inaugural Rebel 5K at Davenport Speedway, it's just going to get tougher. Many talented racers who have run up front and won races in the Summer Series didn't make the trip to Western Iowa last weekend, but will be around this weekend. Drivers like Terry Neal, Colby Springsteen, Nick Marolf, Denny Eckrich and Kevin Kile weren't in Denison, but are expected to be in West Liberty, Davenport or both.

Additionally, unlike Harris, Kay and Aikey, some of the Eastern Iowa drivers who did make the trip to Denison had solid runs - many of whom had their best finishes. Long Grove's Joe Zrostlik and Waterloo driver John Emerson finished fourth and fifth respectively last Saturday, each a career-best in the Summer Series. They'll carry that confidence boost back home with them, too.

'A lot of people call Davenport and West Liberty their home turf and a lot of tough cars, too. You've kind of got to throw (home track advantage) out the window,” Harris said. 'With IMCA as neutral as it is, it's going to come down to draw position and then how you tune your car accordingly. But you saw at Denison, there's a lot of tough cars and everyone works hard over the winter. Davenport has one of the best car counts and some of the toughest cars in IMCA. It should be an exciting weekend.”

The West Liberty Raceway grandstands open at 5 p.m. Saturday, with hot laps set for 6:30 and racing at 7.

ZEITNER'S TIRES CLEAR

Summer Series season-opening winner Corey Zeitner got some good news on Thursday. Samples were taken from his race-winning tires, and they came back clear from a chemical test at an independent lab.

As a result, Zeitner got his $3,000 winner's check and will head to West Liberty Raceway for the second race on Saturday as the Summer Series points leader.

'We received results today (Thursday) from the lab, which verified the tires were legal,” said Tour Director Kevin Yoder. 'Race results have been declared official and Corey has been paid the $3,000 for his win.”

The IMCA also said the same news release that random tire testing will continue throughout the season.

REBEL 5K OPENS DAVENPORT SEASON

Davenport Speedway opens its season Friday and will host the inaugural Rebel 5K. The event is highlighted by IMCA Late Models racing for a top prize of $5,000.

The Rebel 5K will be run on the quarter-mile dirt oval at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. Twenty-four drivers will qualify for the 40-lap feature event.

Also racing at the Rebel 5K will be IMCA Modifieds, Street Stocks, IMCA SportMods and 4-Stocks. All classes will be using a draw/re-draw format, according to a news release from the speedway. Gates open at 4:30 p.m., grandstands at 5, with hot laps starting at 6:30 and racing at 7.

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