Silver anniversary Deery Brothers season sees Brian Harris win opener at Dubuque

After the Deery Brothers Summer Series show at the Dubuque Fairgrounds in 2010, I was more than fired up to see the 2011 Deery season would be starting off at that same track. The April 2 date had me a little leery as Dubuque is one of the last spots in Iowa to shed winter. In the past, the track had scheduled some early, season-openers involving the IRA sprints, only to get weathered out. I packed about 72 layers as I headed to the track Saturday night, but fortunately, I didn't need anything out of the ordinary down in the infield. The winds died down, we were done racing by 10 p.m., and Brian Harris had staked a claim as an early favorite in the 2011 Deery title chase.

Deery winner - Brian Harris won the main event at Dubuque on April 2. - BWJ photo

Last chance -Andy Eckrich (56) had a few shots in the final laps for the win, but Brian Harris (21H) was too strong up top. - BWJ photo

Forty-three late models signed in for the opener. Many I talked to thought that number seemed a little low, but it was about what I was looking for. Dubuque is in the upper corner of the 2011 tour, a big tow for drivers on the fringes if they aren't following the entire schedule for this year. The weather was iffy, and, if you aren't a regular at Dubuque, or haven't raced there at all, it has a reputation as being a challenging place to make a stand. Put all of these factors together, and I was fine with 43 cars. As a fan, I wish the Deery Series would make 2 or 3 stops a year at Dubuque. The track is challenging, but by the end of the night, it offers a choice of driving lines, and provides fans with some good action. It was good to be back racing for the season. The Simmons Promotions staff had been hard at work, and the track was race-ready, and they were fired-up to get the show in. Only two classes joined the late models on the card, ensuring that we would get out of there at a decent hour. Not a lot of surprises when it came to the late model crowd - the Deery "regulars" were there in force, as were the new faces from the last couple of seasons. A few faces were in new places, with Jason Frankel behind the wheel of the 72, and Joe Zrostlik behind the wheel of the 21G.

Stock winner - Terry Rittmer was the stock car feature winner. - BWJ photo

Flurry wins - John Flurry powers into turn three on his way to a win in the sport compact feature. - BWJ photo

The heat races saw a mix of up-and-comers and veterans taking wins with Terry Neal, Tom Darbyshire, Tyler Breuning, Colby Springsteen and Brian Harris winning the ten-lappers. The two biggest pieces of news coming out of the heats Mark Murphy, Jr. being disqualified from his second-place spot in heat two, and, Ray Guss, Jr. tearing the front off of his car after hitting the inside guardrail in turns one and two in heat five. Murphy's DQ was a technical infraction, and what it did was put him at the back of the first B-main, which would give the crowd a show as he powered toward the front and into a feature spot with a third place finish. Guss' car would stay under the wrench, not appearing again until the feature where he started at the back with a provisional.

Feature time saw Darbyshire and Springsteen on the front row to take the green. One lap complete saw Harris in the lead, where he would stay for all 50 laps. Brian put on a show, working traffic with great skill, and grinding out the laps in the top groove. Where I shot pics in turns three and four, I never saw a bobble the whole race from the 21H. A cast of characters would run in and around the top five all night. Darbyshire would stay in second for many laps before settling for third. Tyler Breuning started eighth and would finish fourth, while Terry Neal started sixth and finished fifth. Rob Toland would spend several laps in the top five, but would fade to seventh at the checkered flag. Toland had a close call with the turn three guardrail ,wrinkling his front left corner, but he motored on for the remainder of the race. Defending champ Guss saw his luck stay about the same come feature time as he brought out the race's only caution with 41 laps complete. Starting on the back row, Guss had made steady progress until a flat left rear tire sent him into the pits and to the back of the pack again. He would finish 14th. What that sole caution did was put the field on Harris' bumper with one last shot in the final nine laps. Making the most serious challenge was Andy Eckrich, who started the feature 15th and made steady progress into second using the bottom groove. On the restart, Harris went high, Eckrich went low, and the battle was on. For four or five of those final laps, Eckrich would draw even, or ahead in the corners, but Harris would carry the lead and momentum down the straights. He made a race of it, but it was Harris' night to win, and make a statement as to where the power might lie in 2011. It was a good race to start the season with. Also on the card were stock cars (15 of them) and sport compacts (13 of those), and though they were a little yellow-happy at times, each of those features had some entertaining action. The front few cars in the stock car feature were trying their best to put on a good show, but the back of the field was having a hard-enough time just trying to stay straight. It was too bad, because the fans lost out on a good, continuous battle. Terry Rittmer would hold off Tim Current for the win. I thought the sport compacts were fun to watch on the night. There was some contact and pretty wild recoveries going down the backstretch throughout the race. Bryce Garnhart held off John Flurry for the win - only to lose it in the tech area in post-race inspection. Flurry had a flat during the feature, restarted at the back and charged back to race for the win in the end. All together, I picked a good night to start my 2011 season. It was good to get back to the track, see some good friends, breathe in a little dirt, and racing fuel. Spring is here!~ I've included some pics with this blog, but over 200 of them can be found on our positivelyracing.com Facebook page!