300 Raceway
Murphy wins at Farley for first Deery victory
Mike Murphy Jr. was all smiles after his first series victory. (Barry Johnson)
FARLEY, Iowa (June 7) — A first-time winner and a new point leader came out of Tuesday’s Deery Brothers Summer Series feature at Farley Speedway. Mike Murphy Jr. of Colona, Ill., led all 40 laps of the IMCA Late Model main event to earn $2,000, snapping Andy Eckrich's two-race win streak. | Slideshow
Although Eckrich, of Iowa City, Iowa, finished a distant second, he took over the top spot in the standings, five points better than Tyler Bruening.
After starting outside Ray Guss Jr. on the front row, Murphy went side-by-side with the defending Deery champion for the first two circuits before pulling ahead.
The only caution of the race came on lap 13 and the fourth starting Eckrich passed Guss on the restart for second.
Eckrich did his best to reel in Murphy but couldn’t keep up the pace in lapped traffic. Murphy pulled ahead to win by a straightaway over Eckrich with Guss, Joel Callahan and Bruening rounding out the top five.
Tom Darbyshire was the point leader going into the night and finished 12th. He and Terry Neal are now tied for third, six points off Eckrich’s pace.
Notes: Murphy is sponsored by Steve's Nursery and Riverbend Pizza Place. ...The 2006 tour rookie of the year, Murphy’s previous best Deery finish had been a runner-up showing at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway in 2007. ... Matt Strassheim won the $250 Sunoco Race Fuels feature qualifier drawing. ... The seventh of 18 dates in the silver anniversary series is the inaugural Red Dralle Memorial at Independence Motor Speedway on June 29. ... In conjunction with that event, the first of five Partnering For A Purpose cookouts will be held from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. that day at Dan Deery Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Waterloo. Driver Charlie McKenna will have his grill car on site and Fareway will provide the complimentary pork loins, hot dogs, potato chips and bottled water. ... The tour's Karsyn’s Krusaders Kickin’ Cancer’s Butt One Lap At A Time T-shirts will be sold during the cookouts. All profits from the sales of Deery T-shirts will be donated to Karsyn’s Krusaders, an organization that series is sponsoring this race season.
Deery Brothers @ Farley: (1) Mike Murphy Jr., (2) Andy Eckrich, (3) Ray Guss Jr., (4) Joel Callahan, (5) Tyler Bruening, (6) Brian Harris, (7) Nate Beuseling, (8) Dan Shelliam, (9) Terry Neal, (10) Todd Cooney, (11) Darrel DeFrance, (12) Tom Darbyshire, (13) Justin Reed, (14) Jay Johnson, (15) Boone McLaughlin, (16) Matt Strassheim, (17) Colby Springsteen, (18) Charlie McKenna, (19) Sam Halstead, (20) Jeff Aikey, (21) Mike Garland, (22) Travis Smock, (23) Joe Zrostlik, (24) Jason Rauen. Heat race winners (among 39 cars): DeFrance, Murphy, Bruening, Guss. Consolation winners: Zrostlik, Aikey. Provisional starters: Shelliam, Halstread, Springsteen, Strassheim.
