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Findling & Ward Score First Ever Feature Wins At West Liberty On Craftsman Night
The West Liberty Raceway hosted the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge on Craftsman night at the races on Saturday, June 15th. Twin 25 lap Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation Late Model features headlined the card.
The first Late Model feature took the green with 28 cars of the 32 in attendance on the track. Mike Klinkhammer quickly took the lead and led the first 8 laps before a caution flew and bunched up the field. On the restart Sonny Findling continued his march to the front, Findling secured the top spot with Tom the (Dog) Christensen enjoying a great run in second. Findling built a comfortable lead as the laps wound down with a hotly contested battle going on for second. Ray Guss started the race in the sixth row and was able to move by Christensen on the white flag lap to take second. Steve Boley and Klinkhammer rounded out the top five in the first Feature. The in was Findling’s first ever feature win on the West Liberty ½ mile dirt track.
The second Late Model feature capped off a great night of racing which saw the final checkered fly at 10:07 p.m. Mark Ward took the lead and the dropping of the initial green flag and went on to lead the entire 25 laps. Point leader Denny Eckrich hounded Ward but was not able to find a way around the smooth running Ward. The win was Ward’s first ever in the NASCAR Late Model division at his home track. Bobby Sexton ran a strong third in the night cap over Matt Furman.
The Miller Time Modifieds provided the fans with a real thriller on Saturday night. It appeared that Ryan Dolan was going to pick up his first feature victory of the season at West Liberty but Darrell Brick had other plans. Brick caught Dolan on the final lap and the two Mod aces came off turn four to the checkers side by side. Brick was able to out race Dolan to the checkers by ½ a car length. Matt Ruess ran in the lead pack the entire feature taking a very strong third over Gerry Brick.
The DADCO Corp/Parker Stores Pro Stocks feature event was another outstanding race with plenty of three and four wide battles throughout. Norman Bean led the majority of the race before Chad Simpson was able to secure the top spot. A late race caution set up a dash to the finish. Andy Eckrich came on strong to take a close second to Simpson, Bean crossed the stripe in third.
Mat Fulton loved the smooth track on Saturday night, the Muscatine driver scored his second consecutive NASCAR Hobby Stock feature win. Fulton advanced from the sixth row to take the lead near the midway point of the feature event. Bill Butteris also came from deep in the pack to take second at the checkers.
Saturday, June 22nd will be Hollywood Graphics night at the races with the NASCAR Modifieds taking part in their double dip night meaning they will run for twice their normal purse. All four classes will be in action with race time slated for 7 p.m. a the West Liberty Raceway.
Race results 6/15/02
Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation Late Models
Heat 1 1. 23 D Dana Wells-Moscow 2. 58 Dave Eckrich-Oxford 3. 8M Mark Ward-Muscatine
Heat 2 1. 57 Tom Christensen-West Liberty 2. 26 Steve Boley-West Liberty 3. 12 Ray Guss Jr.-Milan, IL
Heat 3 1. 33 Nick Marolf-Moscow 2. 45 Mike Klinkhammer-West Branch 3. 28 Jeff Bair-Solon
Heat 4 1. 32 Tom Cannon-Iowa City 2. 8 Sonny Findling-Kirksville, MO 3. M32 Marty Beckler-Hills
Consolation 1. 50 Denny Eckrich-Tiffin 2. 13K Denny Petersen-Tipton 3. 21h BrianHarris-Davenport
Feature #1 1. 8 Sonny Findling-Kirksville, MO 2. 12 Ray Guss Jr.-Milan, IL 3. 57 TomChristensen-West Liberty 4. 26 Boley 5. 45 Klinkhammer 6. 3t Todd Davis-Iowa City 7. 21h Harris 8. 77 Kurt Kile-West Liberty 9. 3X Skip Frey-Ely 10. 50 Denny Eckrich-Tiffin 11. 4 Bobby Sexton-West Branch 12. 8M Ward 13. 66 Fred Remley-Blue Grass 14. 51 Matt Furman-Iowa City 15. 58 Dave Eckrich-Oxford 16. 18Z Rusty Zook-Riverside 17. 26b Wayne Brau-Annawan, IL 18. 28 Jeff Bair-Solon 19. 88 Kevin Kile-West Liberty 20. 23D Wells 21. 43 Kurt Stewart-Ainsworth 22. 7 Andy Nezworski-Buffalo 23. 1M Rob Moss- Iowa City 24. 33 Marolf 25. 32 Cannon 26. 13K Denny Petersen-Tipton 27. M32 Beckler 28. 74 Ron Boyse-Kalona
Feature # 2
Miller Time Modifieds
Heat 1 1. 36 Gerry Brick-West Branch 2. 37 Todd Stoolman-West Branch 3. 44 Wade Lee-Muscatine
Heat 2 1. 55 Scott Stecher-Muscatine 2. 22 Darrell Brick-West Branch 3. 18 Matt Ruess-West Liberty
Heat 3 1. 16 Ryan Dolan-Lisbon 2. 96 Larry Herring-Lone Tree 3. 2 Jim Vest-Wellman
Feature 1. 22 Brick 2. 16 Dolan 3. 18 Ruess 4. 36 Gerry Brick-West Branch 5. 9Z Mike Zogg-New Liberty 6. 55 Stecher 7. 96 Larry Herring-Lone Tree 8. 60 Robbie Verbeck-Annawan, IL 9. 42 John Brumley-Riverside 10. 12 Terry Walker-Riverside 11. 34 Dave Hemsted-Lone Tree 12. 9 Dick Steadman-Hiawatha 13. 2 Vest 14. 19Terry Lawson-New Liberty 15. 37 Stoolman 16. 17 Steve Stewart-Washington 17. 71Z Raymond Partida-West Liberty 18. 5 D56 Mike Dains-Mechanicsville 19. 20 John Fellman-Blue Grass 20. 01M Mitch Way-Davenport 21. 38 Rob Hilyer-Nichols 22. 44 Lee 23. 5 Denny Poulson-West Liberty 24. 7 Mike Thomas-West Branch 25. 92 Z Tim Zeman-Fruitland 26. 25 Dustin Lovell-Rochester 27. 45 Steve Kohli-Iowa City
DADCO Corp./Parker Stores Pro Stocks
Heat 1 1. 38 Skeet Smith-Wilton 2. 77 Darren Plett-Donahue 3. 25 Chad Simpson-Marion
Heat 2 1. 0 Matt Bodman-Muscatine 2. 2R Rusty Daufeldt-Blue Grass 3. 11 Troy Philpott-Muscatine
Feature 1. 25 Simpson 2. 56 Andy Eckrich-Cosgrove 3. 62 Norman Bean-Muscatine 4. 0 Bodman 5. 2R Daufeldt 6. 32 Chris Simpson-Marion 7. 77 Plett 8. 7 Dale Franklin-Marion 9. 29 Bruce Miller-West Liberty 10. 11 Philpott 11. 21 Brian VanDusen-Atalissa 12. 24 Monte Hayden-Wilton 13. 17 Gary Beuter-Tipton 14. 31 Jeremy Honts-Muscatine 15. 75 Mike Welsh-Davenport 16. 60 Matt Brockert-Muscatine 17. 38 Smith 18. 5m Larry McCall-Mechanicsville 19. 36 Jason Gingerich-West Liberty
NASCAR Hobby Stocks
Heat 1 1. 15 Jared Collins-West Liberty 2. 57J JeremieThompson-Ainsworth 3. 2B Bill Butteris-Lisbon
Heat 2 1. 94 Jason Lange-Mt Vernon 2. 25 Jim Schrier-Washington 3. 66 Jason Erwin-Muscatine
Feature 1. D1 Matt Fulton-Muscatine 2. 2 Butteris 3. 21 Todd Hansen-Muscatine 4. 25 Schrier 5. 15 Collins 6. 0 Stan O’Brien-Muscatine 7. 100 David Schrier-Muscatine 8. 57j Thompson 9. 66 Erwin 10. 40 Jake Purdy-West Liberty 11. 20 Dan Albright-Hiawatha 12. 94 Lange 13. 9 Davey Elliott-Moscow 14. 99 Jason Speers-Oxford 15. S9 Ron Schreurs-Fruitland 16. J7 Jake Weikert-Muscatine 17. 72 Doug Yates-Monticello
West Liberty Raceway 6/15/02 By: Jerry Mackey |
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