FARLEY, Iowa -- Ray Guss Jr. is an old racing dog who used to hunt down wins like a bloodhound at Farley Speedway.

And Guss and his crew still know how to run a blistering fast feature race at Farley.

Guss drove like it was 1992 again Wednesday on opening night of the 32nd Yankee Dirt Track Classic. Making a rare appearance at the track where he won the '92 Yankee title, Guss captured the 35-lap IMCA Late Model feature over Marty Dierks, saving what appeared destined to be an also-ran night for the veteran Milan, Ill., driver.

Guss' No. 58 machine had as much traction as an oil slick in the heat race. Guss, a former Farley track champion, found he couldn't hook a groove out of turn 3, and riding the fast cushion was going to be a necessity if he was to have any chance of banking the $1,000 winner's check later in the night.

"I kept saying all night, 'I've got no drive off the corners," he said. "Earlier in the night, we were looking for traction. We definitely found some."

Guss' crew performed post-heat-race surgery and made

Pre-race inspectors find virtual parts store on track Farley Speedway's track maintence crew hasn't turned up Jimmy Hoffa during its pre-race debris checks for the Yankee Dirt Track Classic. But track maintence man Scott Nesteby had picked up a virtual car parts store during his safety expections. Brake pads, brake rotors, bolts, starters and iron are just some of the materials that turned up this season. Nesteby's job is to give drivers the safest, fastest and fairest race surface possible. "I think I found some parts I lost five years ago," the former Modified driver joked. "We never know what we're going to find." Clete Campbell

his car a magnet to the fast high side. He picked off leader Terry Neal -- the 2009 IMCA Series runner-up -- with a high-side pass on the back chute on lap 11 and repelled a series of challenges from Dierks down the stretch run to win by 1.3 seconds.

Neal settled for third. Doug Nigh placed fourth. Charlie McKenna was fifth. Dubuque's Jason Schueller posted the top finish by an area driver with a sixth-place run.

Guss -- who finished third behind series champ Kevin Blum and Neal in this year's IMCA points chase -- has only gotten faster with time. Scheduling conflicts will prevent Guss from chasing another Yankee Late Model title Saturday night. But on Wednesday, he turned back the clock at Farley.

"It's been a long time," he said. "I have a lot of old memories at this track."

* Limited Stock driver Zach Less celebrated his 15th birthday by putting himself in prime position to make a run at a Yankee feature crown tonight. Less was among the six fastest cars in qualifying for tonight's 15-lap big show.