West Liberty, IA (Friday, Sept. 24, 2010) - With the 2010 racing season starting to wind down, I decided to make the trip to the West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty, IA for night 1 of the Liberty 100. The air temperatures turned out to be cool, but the racing was hot enough to keep your blood flowing.
The night featured 2 Flyer heat races and a feature, 3 B-Modified heat races and a B-Main, 4 IMCA Late Model heat races and 2 B-Mains, 3 Modified heat races and a B-Main, 4 Open Late Model heat races and 2 B-Mains. Then the night ended with a "Race of Champions" race in both the Open Late Models and IMCA Late Models. The top 12 in passing points from the heat races, with the exception of the Flyers, were locked into Saturday nights A-Mains, with the rest having to run a B-Main.
First heat races of the night were the 5 lap Flyers, with Brad Chandler and Steve Miedke taking the wins.
Next up was the B-Modified 6 lap heats. The first heat saw Dan Hahn jump out into the lead on lap 1 and then pulled away to claim the win. He was followed by 32J (sorry didn't get the name), Tyler Madigan and Keith Feller, Curren Beckler, Scott Hill and #00 (sorry didn't get the name)....Jason Schueller grabbed the early lead in heat 2, only to slow to a stop with 2 laps to go with mechanical troubles. That gave the lead over to Jarrett Franzen, who held off Brad Tyler at the line by inches for the win. Scott Vanbuskik was 3rd, with Brant Hubler 4th, John Ryan 5th, Schueller 6th and Shelley Mizell (DNS)....Twelve year old Tanner Allen grabbed the lead on the drop of the green in heat race 3, with Jason Speers and Zack Less battling for second. Less would slip under Speers coming off of turn 4 on lap 2, with some contact being made and sending Less spinning to a stop to bring out the caution. Both drivers were sent to the back for the restart. On the restart Allen moved back out into the lead. Allen would hold the top spot until lap 4, when Less quickly moved to the front to grab the lead away. Less then pulled away to pick up the win over Allen, Speers would cross the line in 3rd, but when the B-Main came out he was in the back. The announcer said he was disqualified from the heat, but gave no reason why. That moved Jeff Nantz to 3rd and Dakota Hayden to 4th, Doug Pratt was 5th, with Nick Hixson 6th.
Four 10 lap IMCA Late Model heat races were up next. Sam Halstead and Colby Springsteen had a great side-by-side battle for the first 2 laps, before Andy Eckrich over took them both for the lead on lap 4. Eckrich then pulled away to claim the win. Halstead held off Springsteen for 3rd, with Jay Johnson coming home in 4th, Todd Hormel was 5th, Joel Callahan was 6th, Jonathan Brauns 7th and Aaron Luke 8th....Jeff Aikey took command on the drop of the green flag in the 2nd heat race and then pulled away to pick up the win. Boone McLaughlin was 2nd, Tommy Elston was 3rd, with Jason Bahrs coming home in 4th, Stephen Kammerer was 5th, Rick Dralle 6th and Jay Chenoweth 7th....The third heat race saw Ray Guss Jr. and Tyler Bruening battle early for the lead, until Guss Jr. took the lead for good on lap 2. Guss would pull away to pick up the win. Bruening held on for 2nd, Nate Beuseling was 3rd, with Rob Toland 4th, Terry Neal was 5th, Leroy Brenner 6th and Jon Merfeld 7th....Darren Miller took the lead on the drop of the green in heat 4 and pulled away to claim an easy win. Matt Ryan came home in 2nd, Jeremiah Hurst came from 6th to finish in 3rd, with Mike Garland coming from 7th to finish in 4th, Jim Brokus was 5th, Darrel DeFrance 6th and Doug Yates 7th.
Gus Hughes moved out front on lap 1 of the first of three 8 lap heats in the Modified division, with Scott Dickey close behind in 2nd. Hughes would spin in turn 3 on lap 2, while battling under Dickey for the lead to bring out the caution. Dickey would grab the lead on the restart and then held off Ryan Dolan, who started 5th, to claim the win. Noah Coppess came from 6th to finish in 3rd, with Todd Hansen 4th, Hughes was 5th, Larry Herring 6th and Shaun Lewis 7th....Johnny Spaw took the lead on the drop of the green in the 2nd heat race and started to pull away from the field, when a caution came out on lap 5. Rick Hixson, who was running 4th, slowed in turn 2 with a right rear flat. On the restart Spaw again grabbed the top spot, but now had Bruce Hanford, who started 7th, on his back bumper. Hanford would try to get under Spaw for the lead over the final 3 laps, but Spaw would hold him off to pick up the win. Nick Nevins came home in 3rd, with Justin Speers crossing the line in 4th, Ryan Buffington was 5th, Rick Hixson 6th and Clayton Jensen 7th....The third heat race saw Terry Walker grab the lead on lap 1 and then hold it until lap 3, when Brad Dierks slipped by for the lead. Dierks would then lead the final 5 laps to pick up the win. Jason Schueller came from 7th to finish in 2nd, Steve Stewart was 3rd, with Chris Zogg coming home in 4th, Dan Albright was 5th, Walker 6th and Tyler Cale 7th.
The final heat races of the night were the four 10 lap Open Late Models. Denny Eckrich took advantage of his outside front row draw to grab the lead on the start of heat one. Denny then pulled away from the field to claim the win. Kevin Kile came home in 2nd, Jeremiah Hurst was 3rd, with Brian Harris coming home in 4th, Jake Meier was 5th, Jason Utter 6th, Mike Klinkkammer was 7th and Boone McLaughlin 8th....Chad Simpson drew the pole for heat 2 and took advantage of that by grabbing the lead on the start. Just like Eckrich in heat one, he would pull away to claim an easy win. The battle for second between Nick Marolf and Chris Simpson would go to Marolf at the line. Jay Johnson would come home in 4th, Mike Fryer was 5th, Ron Boyse 6th and Ron Klein 7th....Andy Eckrich started the third heat race on the outside front row and would move out front on the drop of the green flag. Andy would pull away from the field in a caution free race to claim the win. Brian Birkhofer started 7th and by the time he got to 2nd Eckrich was to far out front to catch. So Birkhofer had to settle for 2nd, Kevin Kile was 3rd, with Steve Boley coming home in 4th, Skip Frey was 5th, Chad Patch was 6th and Jill George 7th....Just like the first three heat races, Darren Miller took advantage of his pole position to take the lead on lap 1. He then pulled away to claim an easy win. Jeff Guengerich would finish in 2nd, Rob Moss was third, with Richie Bell 4th, Justin Mitchell was 5th, Joel Callahan 6th and Chad Holliday 7th.
The 6 lap B-Modified B-Main was up next, with the top 6 cars moving into Saturday nights A-Main. Dakota Hayden jumped out front on lap 1, with Jason Schueller close behind in second. Schuller would slip past Hayden for the lead on lap 2 and then went on to lead the final 4 laps to take the win. Hayden held on for 2nd, Jason Speers came from 9th to finish in 3rd, #00 (sorry didn't catch the drivers name) was 4th, Nick Hixson was 5th, with Shelley Mizell rounding out the top 6. Doug Pratt would finish in 7th, John Ryan was 8th and Scott Hill was 9th.
Jay Johnson moved out front on lap 1 of the first of two 10 lap IMCA Late Model B-Mains, with the top 3 moving into Saturday nights A-Main. Johnson would hold off Terry Neal in the 10 lap race to claim the win, with Nate Bueseling holding on for the final transfer spot. Joel Callahan was 4th, Stephen Kammerer 5th, Jon Merfeld 6th, Jonathan Brauns 7th, Leroy Brenner 8th and Aaron Luke 9th....Rob Toland took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 of the second 10 lap B-Main. Toland would battle with Jason Bahrs early, before pulling away to pick up the win. Bahrs would come home in 2nd, with Jim Brokus holding on for the final transfer spot. Darrel DeFrance finished in 4th, Jay Chenoweth was 5th, Rick Dralle was 6th, Doug Yates 7th and Todd Hormel 8th.
The 8 lap Modified B-Main was next, with the top 6 cars moving into Saturday nights A-Main. Larry Herring came from 4th to grab the lead on the drop of the green flag and then went on to lead all 8 laps to claim the win. Gus Hughes was 2nd, Dan Albright was 3rd, Shaun Lewis was 4th, Rick Hixson was 5th, with Alex Buffington holding on to take the final transfer spot. Clayton Jensen was 7th, Terry Walker was 8th and Tyler Cale was 9th (DNS).
Steve Boley took the lead on the drop of the green in the first of two 10 lap Open Late Model B-Mains, with the top 3 moving into Saturday nights A-Main. Boley would lead all 10 laps to claim the win. Mike Fryer came home in 2nd, with Skip Frey holding off a closing Jason Utter to take the final transfer spot. Jay Johnson was 5th, Mike Kinkkammer was 6th, Jill George 7th, Boone McLaughlin 8th and Chad Patch 9th....Brian Harris and Richie Bell would battle early for the lead in the second B-Main, until Harris took command on lap 3. Harris then went on to lead the final 7 laps to claim the win. Bell settled for 2nd, with Jake Meier taking the final transfer spot. Joel Callahan came home in 4th, Justin Mitchell was 5th, Ron Boyse 6th, Ron Klein 7th and Chad Holliday was 8th.
The 12 lap Flyer feature was next up, with Brannon Bechen and Steve Miedke leading the field to the green. Miedke would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on the drop of the green flag. The first of 2 cautions would come on after the completion of lap 1, as debris in turn one would bring the yellow light on. On the restart Brad Chandler would slip under Miedke to take the top spot on lap 2. Chandler then worked to hold off Miedke and Bechen, when the second and final caution came out on lap 3. The R22 (sorry didn't get the drivers name) spun to a stop in turn one to bring caution to the speedway. Chandler again moved out front on the restart, with Bechen and Jarrod McMichael, who started 12th, battling for second. McMichael would grab the top spot away from Chandler on lap 5, leaving Chandler to battle Bechen for the second spot. McMichael looked to be heading for the checkered flag when he slowed coming out of turn four for the white flag, allowing Bechen to get by for the lead. Chandler would slip under Bechen going into turn 3 and then came out of turn 4 with the lead. Chandler then edged out Bechen at the line to pick up the win. James Roose came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Wayne Noble was 4th, with Nathan Chandler coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
Andy Eckrich and Jeremiah Hurst made up the front row for the 20 lap Open Late Model "Race of Champions", with Andy Eckrich grabbing the lead on the drop of the green flag. Brian Birkhofer, who started 6th, would make it up to 2nd on lap 4 but would spin in turn 2 on the next lap to bring out the caution. On the restart Andy Eckrich again moved out front, with Hurst and Steve Boley battling for second. While Andy Eckrich was pulling away from the field, the battle for second would heat up between Hurst and Denny Eckrich. Hurst, was running the top of the speedway, while Denny Eckrich, was working the bottom. Those two would swap second several time over the final 8 laps. Andy Eckrich would pull away to claim the $1,000 prize, with Denny Eckrich coming off of turn four on the last lap to get 2nd, Hurst settled for 3rd, Darren Miller came from 10th to finish in 4th, with Birkhofer recovering from his spin to finish in 5th. Nick Marlof would take 6th, Chad Simpson was 7th, Ray Guss Jr. (driving the #21H) was 8th, Jeff Guengerich was 9th, with Steve Boley 10th.
The final event of the night was the 20 lap IMCA Late Model "Race of Champions", with Mike Garland and Tyler Bruening on the front row for the event. Bruening took advantage of his starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Garland, Rob Toland and Andy Eckrich. While Bruening continued to pace the field, Darren Miller, who started 11th, was working his way to the front. Miller would over take Toland for the second spot on lap 17 and then set his sights on Bruening for the lead. Bruening would take the 2 to go signal from the flagman, with Miller right on his back bumper. Miller would go into turn 1 on the bottom, while Bruening took to the top side. Miller then came out of turn 2 with the lead and then went to to claim the win and the $1,000 top prize. Toland would slip under Bruening on the final lap coming out of 4 to get 2nd, Bruening settled for 3rd, Andy Eckrich was 4th, with Garland holding on for 5th. Ray Guss Jr. came from 10th to finish in 6th, Terry Neal was 7th, Jeff Aikey was 8th, Darrel DeFrance was 9th, Jim Brokus was 10th, with Matt Ryan 11th.
Notes from WL: 29 Open Late Models, 29 IMCA Late Models, 21 Modifieds, 21 B-Modifieds and 20 Flyers made up the 120 cars singed in for action......Rob Axom started the Flyer feature in 11th and passed 3 cars to finish in 8th....Jordan Walker passed 6 cars from his 16th place starting spot to finish in 10th....Jeffrey Vislisel came from 18th to finish in 12th....The number 58 started 19th and passed 5 cars to finish in 15th....Jarrod McMichael led from lap 6 until lap 10, when he slowed on the white flag lap with troubles. He would finish in 16th....Steve Miedke led the feature on lap 1, but would slow on the lap 3 restart with troubles to end his night in 16th....Pat Quinn was running 4th after lap 1, but would pull in on the yellow with front end damage to end his night in 19th......I thought the format they used to determine the "Race of Champions" races was pretty clever. They put numbers in one bag and the drivers name in another bag. They then had a driver pull a number out, and then a drivers name. That driver would start in the position they drew. Then the driver who's name was drawn came up and repeated the process until the line-up was set....It was ironic that Darren Miller got the last starting spot in both "Race of Champions", thanks to the luck of the draw, lol....Six drivers, Jeremiah Hurst, Boone McLaughlin, Jay Johnson, Andy Eckrich, Darren Miller and Joel Callahan competed in both the IMCA and Open Late Model classes. If any of those drivers would happen to win both features, they would collect a $1,000 bonus.......Thanks to mother nature all 3 events in this area for tonight have been rained out. The Sprint Invaders Season Championship at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA has been moved to October 2nd. The Hawkeye Dirt Tour at 34 Raceway has been cancelled and can't be rescheduled. The final night of the Liberty 100 has been rained out and will be rain on October 16th.
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