Deery Brothers Summer Series
Hamilton County Speedway
April 16, 2016
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Great Scott! Deery Series win at Hamilton County is first for Fitzpatrick

by Bill Martin
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (April 16) – Losing position helped make Scott Fitzpatrick a first-time Deery Brothers Summer Series feature winner.

Fitzpatrick checked out on the rest of the IMCA Late Model field Saturday at Hamilton County Speedway. He’d started outside Chad Holladay on the front row, fell behind Darrel DeFrance and Todd Cooney, then put himself in back in position to take charge after Holladay suffered mechanical issues.

“This was awesome,” Fitzpatrick said. “(Getting) this win was haunting me and I finally got it done in true fashion. There were some of the best IMCA drivers here. This win is very humbling.”

The $2,000 victory came in Fitzpatrick’s 34th career Deery start and just his second at Webster City. He’d been a tour runner-up twice, at Des Moines in 2014 and at West Liberty last year.

Jeff Aikey, Richie Gustin, Tyler Bruening and DeFrance completed the top five. Sixth was Cooney and seventh was hard charger John Emerson, who had started last in the field of 25.

Making his first visit to Webster City, Holladay impressed in winning his heat, drew the pole and led the first 14 of 40 laps.

Fitzpatrick drove by as Holladay slowed with a broken fan blade. He tried to get to the infield but was spun to bring out the yellow. Another caution, for debris, came out on lap 17. Fitzpatrick made the most of the ensuing long green flag run to win handily over Aikey.

“After I fell back to fourth, I watched Darrel and Todd. They’re legends at Hamilton County. Darrel was low and Todd was high and I saw how they attacked the track,” said Fitzpatrick, quick to call Gheer’d Up co-owner Tyson Gheer after taking the checkers. “I knew the car was going to come to me and that if I got a good restart, I could win.”

“I just had to stay patient,” he added, citing a lesson learned from Justin Kay. “The restart came when I was running third and had Chad and Darrel ahead of me. I timed it perfectly and got to the bottom.”

The fourth installment of the 30th annual Deery Brothers Summer Series is Sunday, May 1 at Quad City Speedway in East Moline.

Pit gates open at 3 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 3:30 p.m. for the $2,000 to win event. Hot laps are at 5 p.m. with racing to follow.

Box seating is $18. Other spectator admission is $15 for adults, $8 for kids ages 6-12 and free for five and under. Pit passes are $30.


A-Main
1 2 24 Scott Fitzpatrick Wheatland , IA
2 6 77 Jeff Aikey Waterloo, IA
3 8 19G Richie Gustin Gillman, IA
4 11 16 Tyler Bruening, Iowa
5 5 99D Darrell Defrance Marshalltown, IA
6 3 30 Todd Cooney Des Moines, IA
7 25 87 John Emerson Waterloo, IA
8 7 8 Al Johnson Story City, IA
9 10 1D Ryan Dolan Lisbon, IA
10 23 98 Jason Raven Farley, IA
11 4 3Z Randy Havlik Madrid, IA
12 18 40 Joel Callah Dubuque, IA
13 16 10C Cayden Carter Oskaloosa, IA
14 15 76 Jason Hahne Webster City, IA
15 12 15C Curt Schroeder Ames, IA
16 22 43 Jeremy Grady Story City, IA
17 13 8D Daulton Massen Avoca, IA
18 17 15X Ryan Griffith Webster City, IA
19 9 Z50 Joe Zrostlik Long Grove, IA
20 24 W56 Gary Webb Blue Grass, IA
21 1 32C Chad Holladay Muscatine, IA
22 14 7 Andy Nexworski Buffalo, IA
23 20 7 Terry Ryan Davenport, IA
24 19 OH5 Rusty Patterson Mason City, IA
25 21 P7 Eric Pollard Peosta, IA

Heat #1
1 24 Scott Fitzpatrick
2 99D Darrell Defrance
3 30 Todd Cooney
4 87 John Emerson
5 1D Ryan Dolan
6 8D Daulton Massen
7 10C Cayden Carter
8 OH5 Rusty Patterson
9 43 Jeremy Grady

Heat #2
1 77 Jeff Aikey
2 Z50 Joe Zrostlik
3 8 Al Johnson
4 98 Jason Raven
5 16 Tyler Bruening
6 7 Andy Nexworski
7 15X Ryan Griffith
8 7 Terry Ryan

Heat #3
1 32C Chad Holladay
2 19G Richie Gustin
3 3Z Randy Havlik
4 15C Curt Schroeder
5 W56 Gary Webb
6 76 Jason Hahne
7 40 Joel Callah
8 P7 Eric Pollard