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Birkhofer Blasts to Race Of Champions Win On Opening Night Of “Liberty 100”
The 6th annual “Liberty 100’ got underway on Friday, September 20th with an excellent field of 53 Budweiser open Late Models looking to qualify for the big show on Saturday night. Rain left the West Liberty Raceway very soft and made for a hard pulling surface on Friday night. Qualifying heats were run in all four divisions along with consolations setting the program for Saturday night. Saturday’s program will include fast dashes in all four classes which will set the lineups for the first three rows of the features and a last chance race will be held in the Modifieds and Late Model classes. The features will be a 12 lap Hobby Stock, 20 lap Pro Stock, 25 lap Modified and the “Liberty 100” for the Late Models.
The final race run on Friday night was the Race of Champions for the open Late Models. Ten drivers took to the speedway for the race that is patterned after the Winston Open. The field was comprised of drivers who had won Bud Shootouts in 2001 and 2002 plus the top four in points earned through the qualifying heats not already qualified earlier in the evening. The drivers drew for starting positions and ran ten laps then stopped for a competition yellow allowing the crews ten minutes to make any changes that they wanted to on their machines. Then a number was drawn for invert and 15 laps more were run with the winner taking home a $2,000 paycheck. The first ten lap segment was led by Kevin Kile with Brian Birkhofer running a close second. All crews made changes during the ten minute break and when the race resumed the number 8 was drawn for the invert sending the leaders to the tail. Brian Birkhofer quickly worked through the field taking the lead from Dave Eckrich with approximately 15 laps to go. Birkhofer went on to score another impressive win establishing himself as a favorite to repeat as “Liberty 100” champion all though he will have to come from a start outside of the first three rows. Dave Eckrich earned $1,000 for his second place finish, Jeff Aikey took third ahead of Denny Eckrich and Rob Toland.
Saturday’ action will get underway at 6:30 p.m. with hot laps and racing will follow at 7 p.m. Saturday nights program will bring the season to a close a the West Liberty Raceway for 2002.
Race Results 9-20-02 West Liberty Raceway 6th annual “Liberty 100”
Budweiser Open Late Model Shootout Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation Late Models
Heat 1 1. 26 Steve Boley-West Liberty 2. 50 Denny Eckrich-Tiffin 3. 58 Dave Eckrich-Oxford
Heat 2 1. 8 Sonny Findling-Kirksville, MO 2. 74 Ron Boyse-Kalona 3. 12 Ray Guss Jr.-Milan, IL
Heat 3 1. 15 Brian Birkhofer-Muscatine 2. 32D Darren Miller-Chadwick, IL 3. 88 Kevin Kile-West Liberty
Heat 4 1. 28 Jeff Bair-Solon 2. 45 Michael Klinkhammer-West Branch 3. 3 Josh McGowan-Vinton
Heat 5 1. 37 Mike Smith-Jewell 2. 39 Rob Toland-Hillsdale, IL 3. M32 Marty Beckler-Hills
Consolation 1 1. 3T Todd Davis-Iowa City 2. 5 Jay Johnson-W. Burlington
Consolation 2 1. 33 Nick Marolf-Moscow 2. 2h John Hampel-Nodaway
25 lap Race of Champions 1. 15 Birkhofer 2.. 58 Eckrich 3. 77 Jeff Aikey-Cedar Falls 4. 50 Eckrich 5. 39 Toland 6. 12 GussJr. 7. 88 Kile 8. 8 Findling 9. 74 Ron Boyse 10. 26 Boley
Miller Time Modifieds Heat 1 1. 2 Jim Vest-Wellman 2. 22 Darrell Brick-West Branch 3. 96 Larry Herring-Lone Tree
Heat 2 1. 37 Todd Stoolman-West Branch 2. M50 Jim Sandusky-Moline, IL 3. 7 Mike Thomas- West Branch
Heat 3 1. 12 Terry Walker-Riverside 2. 19Terry Lawson-New Liberty 3. 42 John Brumley-Riverside
Consolation 1. 36 Leroy Brenner-Aledo, IL 2. 23 Marty Leik-Iowa City 3. 45 Steve Kohli-Iowa City 4. 44 Wade Lee-Muscatine
DADCO Corp./Parker Stores Pro Stocks
Heat 1 1. 29 Jason Gingerich-West Liberty 2. 12 Jeff Tharp-Dubuque 3. 69 John Maher-West Branch
Heat 2 1. 56 Andy Eckrich-Cosgrove 2. 25 Chad Simpson-Marion 3. 1 Matt Gichrist-Grandview
Heat 3 1. 32 Chris Simpson-Marion 2. 26 Paul Hallett-Muscatine 3. 36 Justin Gingerich-West Liberty
NASCAR Hobby Stocks Heat 1 1. 57 Jeff Wellington-Columbus Junction 2. 57J JeremieThompson-Ainsworth 3. 59 Mike Hughes-Galena, IL
Heat 2 1. S9 Ron Schreurs-Fruitland 2. 20 Dan Albright-Hiawatha 3. 15 Jared Collins-West Liberty
West Liberty Raceway 9-21-02 By: Jerry Mackey |
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