An untimely flat tire deflated Gus Dean’s hopes of reaching victory lane Saturday night at the Fans With Benefits 150 at Iowa Speedway.
Dean was running fifth with just over 30 laps to go when a flat right front tire sent him to the pit and took him off the lead lap. A caution in lap 138 helped Dean move up to 13th for the final restart, and he surged ahead of three cars in the span of four laps to secure his eight top-10 finish of the season.
The Bluffton native rolled off the line 11th after slipping on a wet track during qualifying, but he had the No. 32 GREE Cooling Products Toyota Camry running third early on and was in contention until the flat tire derailed his strategy late in the race.
Up next for Dean and the Win-Tron Racing Team is the ARCA 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway on July 21 in Indianapolis.