Frankel powers his way to impressive win in Deery Brothers season opener

I had a great time at 34 Raceway Saturday night, watching the Deery Brothers Summer Season kick-off its 2009 edition. What I saw Saturday has me wanting to get to as many Deery shows as I can this season. The series has always been one of the most competitive out there, and 2009 looks to be shaping up to be no different. The range of drivers runs from veteran, familiar faces, to the younger, up-and-comers that will be around the sport for many years to come. You’ve got the tour regulars with a good mix of weekly drivers looking to take a shot at the series now and then. Deery counts have been solid the last few seasons, but this year looks like it could be exceptional.
34 Raceway was a great place to get started. The facility is one of the best in the Midwest and the track surface was smooth and ready to race. A sunny day with a constant breeze dried things out a bit, but the late models put on a show all night, through their heats, B-mains and the main event. The track was black from top to bottom and allowed for drivers to change positions and move through traffic, giving the fans a good show.

The winner is... Jason Frankel was the Deery Brothers Summer Series feature winner Saturday night at 34 Raceway. - BWJ photo

The Slocum 50 Memorial was the banner they raced under Saturday night. Brent Slocum lost his life in a pit accident at 34 Raceway in 2005 and it was in his memory that the 2009 Deery season kicked off. It is hard to believe that Slocum left us going on four years ago. It is one of those memories that unfortunately seems like it just happened yesterday. The race with his name and in his memory was a fitting tribute.
Sixty-six late models signed in for the show, and there was a lot of good looking metal on hand. Several drivers had seen some track time this year, but for many, this was opening night. That being said, there wasn’t really much of the opening night craziness you might have expected. Cautions were kept at a minimum, and fortunately, when it came to the late models, there wasn’t a lot of carnage on the night. The 50-lap feature went 32 laps before it saw its one and only caution. This allowed the drivers to race and sort things out amongst themselves rather than lining up for restart after restart. It was a fun one to watch.
Unfortunately for Joe Zrostlik, he was one of the people watching. Joe was breaking in his back-up car on Saturday, one he purchased from Mike Klinkkammer after the end of last season, that’s why it was red instead of Zrostlik’s traditional orange color. He told me the car had a great feel to it, but he wasn’t able to enjoy for very long as the engine gave out in hot laps, putting him on the trailer early. Next weekend he will roll out his new car in the traditional orange and looks forward to actually getting into a race.
Twelve other drivers had better luck than Zrostlik Saturday, and those were the 12 that qualified for the feature out of their heat races. Mark Burgtorf, Tom Darbyshire, Andy Nezworski, Hershel Roberts, Luke Merfeld, Stephan Kammerer, Mike Murphy, Jr., Jason Frankel, Boone McLaughlin, Jeff Aikey, Robby Warner and Ray Guss, Jr., all qualified out of their heat races.

A different look... Gary Webb was behind the wheel of the Z2 Saturday night. Mechanical problems kept him from making the call for his B-main. - BWJ photo

Heat race battle - Todd Malmstrom (75) races with Jason Frankel (0F) in the fourth heat race. - BWJ photo

B-main action - Terry Schlipman (69) races for position with Todd Cooney (30). - BWJ photo

Mc Laughlin and Aikey drew the front row for the fifth heat and for a formidable duo to get around. In heat six, Guss took advantage of a late caution to get around Matt Ryan for the final transfer spot. Heat four qualifiers Murphy and Frankel also drew the front row come feature time.
The B-mains were also entertaining on the night, with the second B having a little controversy thrown in. While racing for the third and final transfer spot, Justin Reed and Todd Cooney traded some bumps in successive laps. In turns three and four, Reed bumped his way by Cooney to take third. I don’t think it was anything intentional, but it was fairly aggressive. The next lap, Cooney returned the favor in the same corners, spinning Reed in the process while grabbing the final transfer spot for himself. The officials showed their displeasure with both drivers by giving neither one the spot and giving third to Tommy Elston. That meant the end of the night for Reed, but Cooney was able to use a provisional to tack on to the back row of the feature along with Terry Neal, who looked to be having a tough evening in both his heat and B.
Feature time saw Frankel take advantage of his front row starting spot to race out for the lead. It was clear he would be setting the pace on the night. Guss started fourth and gave Frankel a lot of heat early, even getting under him in the corners a couple of times, but he couldn’t make it stack as Frankel powered back out to the lead. Tenth starting Mark Burgtorf along with Jeff Aikey were also making steady progress to the front, and soon Burgtorf was putting pressure on Guss as they worked through traffic.

Rollin' - Tommy Elston (15) and Rob Toland (39) race for position during the feature. - BWJ photo

For second - Ray Guss, Jr., (12) holds second while Mark Burgtorf (7B)sticks his nose in on the highside trying to take the spot. - BWJ photo

With 32 laps complete, the caution flew for the slowing car of Keith Pratt on the backstretch. Several drivers had to take evasive action to clear Pratt, including the fourth-running Aikey who had a very close call.
The restart saw Frankel lead with Guss and Burgtorf in pursuit. Burgtorf would eventually get by Guss and head off after Frankel, but he would have to settle for second as it was Frankel’s night and he turned in an impressive win.
For me, the whole night was impressive, as are the prospects for the rest of the Deery season. Some drivers indicating that they will follow the series for the entire season include Ray Guss, Jr., Terry Neal, Rob Toland, Todd Cooney, Gary Webb, TJ Criss, Charlie McKenna, Bobby Hansen, Dan Shelliam, Luke Goedert, Ben Nading, Greg Kastli and of course Darrel DeFrance. That is a very solid nucleus, and I am sure there will be several more that fans will see at most, or all of the Deery shows. This will be a good ticket for the entire season.
The modifieds also put on a good show Saturday night. Brandon Rothzen took the win, and spent the entire race up front, but he had his hands full keeping some determined runners behind him. Josh Foster started ninth and made an impressive charge to the front. He spent several laps diving under second place Rich Smith in the corners, only to lose the spot on the straights and falling back to third. He finally got the pass to stick and set off after Rothzen, coming up with an impressive second in the process. It was an entertaining feature in throughout the top ten.

On the pole -Brandon Rothzen took advantage of his pole starting position to hang on for the modified feature win. - BWJ photo

A good race - Josh Foster (77) raced under Rich Smith (8) for several laps while trying to take second place in the modified feature. - BWJ photo

The long ride - Bill Roberts Jr. rides what is left of his modified back to the pits after a crunching feature race accident. - BWJ photo

Bill Roberts, Jr., and Jim Lynch came out on the short end of a race-stopping, red flag incident that saw Roberts sideways going into turn one and collecting a host of cars, including Lynch, whose car ended up on top of Roberts’. It took some time to get the vehicles pulled apart, and what was towed away is going to need a lot of work to say the least. It’s too early to have that kind of repair bill, that’s for sure. Fortunately there were no serious injuries with this accident.
Again, let me say I had a great night at 34 Raceway. It was a great kick-off for my racing season here in Iowa and I can’t wait to get back to the tracks this weekend. Hope to see you there!