West Liberty, IA (Saturday, May 5, 2019) - Saturday's Lucas Oil MLRA stop at the West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty, Iowa was suppose to be the third of the four night swing thru the area. But heavy rains all week forced the cancellation of Friday's events at the Davenport Speedway in Davenport, Iowa, thus this event ended up being the second stop.
With all the rain the grounds received during the week the infield was still saturated, forcing many of the teams to pit in the outer pit area. Some even had to pit in the grassy area just south of the pit entrance. As far as the track was concerned, I walked across it in turns 1 and 2 to get into the infield and it was packed in hard. But unfortunately as the night went along the air temperatures got cooler, which brought the moisture back up thru the track. Turns 1 and 2 held up rather well, while turns 3 and 4 was where the driver's got challenged. All in all the driver's did the best they could to give the fans that packed the grandstands a show.
The 12 lap Stock Car feature was up first, with David Brandies and Jeff Struck Jr. drawing the front row for the event. Brandies took advantage of his staring spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Struck Jr. and John Oliver Jr., who started 5th. By the time Oliver Jr. got by Struck Jr. for the runner up spot on lap 2, Brandies had already built up a straight-away lead. On lap 8 Oliver Jr. cut Brandies lead down to two car lengths, and then coming off turn 4 Oliver Jr. used the bottom of the track to edge Brandies out at the line to lead the lap. Brandies would come back on the top of the track to take the lead back on lap 11, as the white flag was displayed. Despite Oliver Jr.'s best efforts of getting under Brandies coming off turn 4, Brandies would hold him off by half a car length to pick up the win. Michael Peterson started 6th and finished 3rd, Johnny Spaw, who started 9th, went thru the middle of Jared Miller, and Jason See to claim the 4th spot.
Up next was the scheduled 40 lap MLRA Late Model feature, but due to the track conditions the driver's and staff agreed to cut the feature down to 25 laps. Chad Simpson, by virtue of starting 8th in heat race 3 and then driving to the front to pick up the win, earned the pole, with Bobby Pierce to his outside. Pierce used his starting spot to his advantage to jumping out into the lead on lap 1 over Chad Simpson and Will Vaught. While Pierce set the fast pace out front, Hudson O'Neal, who started 8th, was slowing trying to work his way towards the front. By lap 6 Pierce had already started to enter lapped traffic, but just after the lap was scored complete the first caution of the race waved. As Jeremy Grady slowed down the front stretch to bring out the yellow, and slowed Pierce's pace down. On the restart Pierce moved back out front, with Chad Simpson and Vaught close behind. One lap later, lap 8, Jordan Yaggy got sideways down the front stretch in front of Dave Wada, who had nowhere to go, and then got into the side of Yaggy. The contact sent Yaggy flipping from the flagstand to the beginning of turn 1 to bring out the red. Yaggy would climb from his mangled #77 okay!
Pierce once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Chad Simpson and now O'Neal following. While Pierce started to pull away, O'Neal was working on Chad Simpson for the runner up spot. O'Neal would use the momentum off the top of turn 4 on lap 17 to finally clear Chad Simpson for second. Then just after the lap was scored complete, Dave Eckrich blew a left rear tire down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. On the restart O'Neal slowed down the backstretch with a right rear tire going down, to bring the yellow light back on. On the following restart Pierce jumped back out front, with Vaught and Jake Neal, who started 9th, both getting by Chad Simpson for second and third. Vaught would stay on Pierce's back bumper until lap 20, when he drifted high coming off turn 4 and had to get out of the gas to keep from getting into the wall. This would allow Pierce to pull away over the final 5 laps to score his second MLRA win on the weekend. Vaught finished 2nd, Chad Simpson was 3rd, Jason Rauen was 4th, with Neal coming home in 5th.
The 10 lap American Iron Racing Series (A.I.R.S.) feature took to the track next, with Dan Kessler and Bruce Yoerger leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Yoerger would grab the lead on lap 1 over Kessler and Ron Barker, who started in 6th in Keith Simmons #38 machine. The lead for Yoerger only lasted for 2 laps, as Barker powered by to grab the top spot on lap 3. While Barker started to pull away, Kessler, Matt Hudspeth, Yoerger, and RJ Lank raced two wide for positions two thru fifth. That was until lap 7, when Lank, Yoerger, Brian Gade, and Justin Stock piled up in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Barker moved back out front and then cruised to an easy win. Hudspeth was 2nd, Kessler was 3rd, Bart Miller was 4th, with Dennis Etten finishing in 5th.
Levi Laymon and Brandon Dale drew the front row for the 15 lap SportMod feature, but it was sixth place starter Dan Brockert who shot out into the lead on lap 1 over Logan Anderson, who started 9th, and Matt Fulton. Anderson would slip past Brockert on lap 2, and then after the lap was scored complete the caution appeared. Kevin Goben slowed in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Anderson moved back out front, with Dale and Shane Paris, who started 8th, close behind. The pace Anderson was setting put him into lapped traffic on lap 9, and then he was slowed for the final time of the race on lap 10. As Andrew Swailes slowed down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. Once again Anderson jumped back out front on the restart, with Paris and Austin Heacock, who started 10th, trying to keep pace with Anderson. But on this night there was no keeping up with Anderson, as he cruised to an easy win. Paris settled for 2nd, Fulton was 3rd, Dale was 4th, with Heacock holding on for 5th.
The final feature to take to the track was the 20 lap Modifieds, with Terry Rentfro and Chris Zogg on the front row. Zogg took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Chad Holladay, who started 7th, and Kurt Kile. Just after the lap was scored complete the caution light came on, as Jordan Walker slowed in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Zogg jumped back out front, with Kile over taking Holladay for the runner up spot. The action up front was slowed for the final time on lap 5, when Brandon Banks slowed in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Zogg once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Kile and Justin Kay, who started 6th, following. On lap 8 Kay would slip past Kile to take over the runner up spot, and then went to work on chasing down Zogg. Kay could only get to about three car lengths of Zogg, as Zogg went on to claim the win. Kay settled for 2nd, Kile was 3rd, Dakota Hayden started 11th and finished 4th, with Jarrett Brown finished 5th after starting in 8th.
I would like to thank Bob Wagoner, Carrie Rouse and their entire staff for bringing some races back to the West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty, Iowa on a limited schedule in 2019. The next event scheduled is on Saturday, May 18th, as the Modified Madness takes to the big 1/2 mile.
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