DAVENPORT, Iowa (Sept. 11) – Snow, then rain were to blame for postponing the first two at­tempts at getting in the Deery Brothers Summer Series event at Davenport Speedway.

There was nothing to keep Ray Guss Jr. from winning the twice-rescheduled IMCA Late Model tour feature on Sunday night, however.

Guss sped to the lead when front-running Colby Springsteen and Denny Eckrich got together on the 16^th of 40 laps. He pulled away from the rest of the pack from that point, beating Eckrich to the fin­ish line by half a straightaway.

Along with a $3,000 check, Guss upped his advantage in the silver anniversary series point race by four over fifth-finishing Andy Eckrich. Guss will have to hold off his challenger for two more events, the Sept. 16-17 Yankee Dirt Track Classic at Farley Speedway and the Sept. 24-25 finale at Quad City Speedway, before he can claim a second straight Deery crown.

Nate Beuseling was third and Mike Klinkhammer fourth in the All-Star Classic headliner.

Springsteen, fresh from his Labor Day win at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Cenex, looked like a strong contender after drawing the pole.

He opened a big lead and was into lapped traffic before the caution flag came out. After the re­start, the fifth-starting Denny Eckrich applied heavy pressure from the outside. The front pair came together, giving Guss the opportunity to drive by.

The win was his second this season and career 23^rd. He’s now alone in fourth place on the all-time list for the tour, behind Jeff Aikey with 55, Mark Burgtorf with 26 and Curt Martin with 25. Gary Webb, who was 13^th at Davenport, owns 22 Deery checkers.

Andy Eckrich won the $250 Sunoco Race Fuels feature qualifier drawing.

Winter hadn’t quite given up its grip on the Davenport area when the original Deery date was post­poned from April 15. Rain right about the time hot laps were to begin kiboshed the first resched­uled date of Sept. 9.

Feature results –

1. Ray Gus Jr., Milan, Ill.;

2. Denny Eckrich, Tiffin;

3. Nate Beuseling, Silvis, Ill.;

4. Mike Klinkhammer, West Branch;

5. Andy Eckrich, Iowa City;

6. Brian Harris, Davenport;

7. Justin Reed, Quincy, Ill.;

8. Tommy Elston, Keokuk;

9. Terry Neal, Ely;

10. Colby Springsteen, Morning Sun;

11. Stephan Kammerer, Blue Grass;

12. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown;

13. Gary Webb, Blue Grass;

14. Mike Garland, Morrison, Ill.;

15. Spencer Diercks, Bettendorf;

16. Joe Ross, Thomson, Ill.;

17. Todd Malmstrom, Silvis, Ill.;

18. Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake;

19. Chad Patch, Davenport;

20. Marty Diercks, Bettendorf;

21. Justin Kay, Wheatland;

22. Travis Denning, Sterling, Ill.;

23. Eric Sanders, Moline, Ill.;

24. Doug Nigh, Maquoketa.

1^st heat – 1. Andy Eckrich; 2. Reed; 3. Springsteen; 4. DeFrance; 5. Garland; 6. Denning; 7. Nigh. 8. Sanders.

2^nd heat – 1. Neal; 2. Marty Diercks; 3. Beuseling; 4. Elston; 5. Kay; 6. Webb; 7. McKenna; 8. Patch.

3^rd heat – 1. Harris; 2. Guss; 3. Denny Eckrich; 4. Klinkhammer; 5. Ross; 6. Malmstrom; 7. Kam­merer; 8. Spencer Diercks.