Birkhofer Adds “Yankee” Title to his
Dream Season
The 25th anniversary
“Yankee Dirt Track Classic” championship finals were run on Saturday night
September 14th. The Farley Speedway played host to the annual four
day event that saw 332 different drivers take their shot at the championship
trophies.
When the final checkered flag of the
night flew on Saturday night it was Brian Birkhofer standing in victory lane.
Birkhofer had earned the pole position start for the 100 lap “Yankee” by winning
the JE Pistons/Hollywood Graphics fast dash. The race had the makings for a
runaway win for the Muscatine, Iowa driver. That certainly was not the case as
the first yellow flag of the feature was for Birkhofer. It appeared that
Birkhofer was going to be out of the race after breaking his left rear axle. The
crew was able to replace the axle in a couple of minutes which is highly
unusual. Birkhofer came back out and realigned at the tail of the 30 car field.
Birkhofer steadily worked his way back to the front taking the lead on lap 57.
Birkhofer went on to lead the remainder of the race which had seen several
drivers take their turns at the point the first half of the race. Early leaders
included Terry Neal, Josh McGowan and Ray Guss Jr. Birkhofer’s win was his first
in the fall classic and continued what has been a terrific season for the 30
year old driver.
74 Budweiser Open Late Model drivers
took part in qualifying heats on Friday night.
The Auto Acres Non-Qualifiers race
for the open late Models was also held on Saturday night. The 25 lap feature win
went to Jeff Bair. Bair had the option of taking the $1,000 dollar payday or
moving into the 100 lap “Yankee”. Bair opted to take the Money and call it a
good night. Second place finisher Duane Coulson opted to give up his pay and
move into the big show. Bill Tuckwell and Dennis Erb rounded out the top four in
the Auto Acres race.
The Modifieds ran their championship
feature on Saturday night with 27 drivers qualifying out of the 62 entries.
Larry Herring scored his first “Yankee” title by leading the 25 lap race flag to
flag. Herring held off a very determined Kevin Pittman throughout the race.
Herring drove a perfect race and could not afford to make any mistakes as
Pittman was running a very close second. Scott Nesteby took third ahead of Ron
Barker and Bob Dominacki.
The Pro Stock feature was the last
race run on Friday night. Andy Eckrich added the “Yankee” title to his resume.
Andy Eckrich is planning on making the move into the Late Model division next
year, that makes the Pro Stock “Yankee” win much sweeter knowing that he is
moving out of the Pro Stock class as a “Yankee” champion. Eckrich scored the 20
lap win by beating Jeff Tharp to the checkers. John Maher ran a very strong
third ahead of Ty Kleiner.
Larry Benn took the Hobby Stock
“Yankee” championship title race win on Thursday night. Benn has sold his car
and will be campaigning a late model next year. The new owners allowed Benn to
race the car at the “Yankee” and Benn responded by leading the 15 lap
championship race flag to flag. Larry took the checkers ahead of his younger
brother Randy Benn.
Thursday nights action also included
the Deery Brothers Summer Series IMCA Late Models. The 50 lap feature took to
the track with 26 drivers taking the initial green flag. 54 drivers entered the
race looking to take the $2,000 win. Ray Guss Jr. took the win driving a car
owned by Brad Coin. Guss was able to make a late race move coming off of turn
four and passed Lavern Carey to score the win. Guss made the move on lap 45 of
the 50 lap feature. Carey crossed the line in second ahead of Rob Toland and
Todd Cooney.
The Farley Speedway will bring the
2002 season to a close on Saturday, October 5th with the running of
the second annual Fall Classic. The racing action will feature Pro Stocks, Hobby
Stocks and Flyers.
Yankee Dirt Track Classic Feature
Results
IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series
Late Models
50 Lap Feature Thursday, September
12
-
28C Ray Guss Jr.-Milan, IL
-
85X Lavern Carey-Ionia
-
20M Rob Toland-Hillsdale, IL
-
30 Todd Cooney-Des Moines
-
72 Steve Boley-West Liberty
-
42 Tom Darbyshire-Yarmouth
-
63 Dennis Erb-Carperntersville, IL
-
77 Jeff Aikey-Cedar Falls
-
85 Kelly Tapper-Boone
-
42S Terry Schlipman-Mendon, IL
-
7 Mark Burgtorf-Quincy, IL
-
87 Dave Stanton-Marshalltown
-
145 Dale Hackwell-Washburn
-
4K Mike Karoff-Quincy, IL
-
7H Greg Hunter-Independence
-
78 Dale Stolte-Springville
-
25S Chris Smyser-Lancaster, MO
-
11 Steve Ihm-Kieler, WI
-
10X Ryan Griffith-Webster City
-
15x Clint Morehouse-Rock Island, IL
-
20 Gary Russell-Biggsville, IL
-
8m Chuck Mayerhofer-Dixon
-
14m Dan McGlaughlin-Mediapolis
-
99d Darrell DeFrance-Marshalltown
-
5 Brent Slocum-West Burlington
-
41j Jeremiah Hurst-Dubuque
Hobby Stocks Thursday,
September 12
Feature
1.
13 Larry Benn-Dyersville
2.
7B Randy Benn-Dyersville
3.
7 Chad Hallahan-Dubuque
4.
33 Jim Turpin-Shullsburg, WI
5.
98 Jason Rauen-Farley
6.
61 Scott Reichers-Belmont, WI
7.
59 Mike Hughes-Galena, IL
8.
28 Ed McIntyre-Delhi
9.
97 Steve Dunkel-Worthington
10.
44S B.J. Schmidt-Dubuque
11.
6 Jed Frieberger-Dubuque
12.
80 Rick Runde-Platteville, WI
13.
81 K.C. Ansel-Dubuque
14.
3b Doug Alt-Benton, WI
15.
44 Kory Haverly-Anamosa
16.
33j Joe Huenfeld-Freeport, IL
17.
73l Jason Laue-Freeport, IL
18.
5 Norb Ahlers-Earlville
19.
72 Doug Yates-Monticello
20.
20 Dan Albright-Hiawatha
21.
08 Rod Staats-Columbus Junction
22.
0 Stan O’Brien-Muscatine
23.
98x Duane Ahmann-Epworth
24.
23 Dennis Etten-Wyoming
Pro Stocks Friday, September 13
Feature
1.
56 Andy Eckrich-Cosgrove
2.
12 Jeff Tharp-Dubuque
3.
69 John Maher-West Branch
4.
20 Ty Kleiner-Potosi, WI
5.
37 Roger Ciesielski-Waterloo
6.
7 Larry Johnson-Shannon, IL
7.
91 Rich Picha-Prairie Du Chein, WI
8.
32 Chris Simpson-Marion
9.
25S Chad Simpson-Marion
10.
16 Dan Shelliam-Hazel Green, WI
11.
0B Matt Bodman-Muscatine
12.
80 Jerry Dedrick-Vinton
13.
3D Dan Lange-Rochester
14.
25 Bob Moyer-Dubuque
15.
77 Darren Plett-Donahue
16.
2k Jeff Kennedy-Dubuque
17.
S1 Steve Hunter-Hopkinton
18.
71 Kevin Schroeder-Low Moor
19.
29 Matt Rodebaugh-Orangeville, IL
20.
74 Tony Meyer-Guttenberg
21.
17 Jim Rymerz-Praire Du Chein, WI
22.
35 Jim Brokus-Dubuque
23.
97 Jeff Reinert-Dyersville
24.
22 Jeff Valentine-Dubuque
Quarter Master Modifieds
Heat Winners
Heat
1-3 Jason Schueller-Dubuque
Heat 2-5D Bob Dominacki-Bettendorf
Heat 3-37 B Ron Barker-Dubuque
Heat 4-26P Kevin
Pittman-Waterloo
Heat 5- 74 Scott Nesteby-Dubuque
Heat 6-96 Larry Herring-Lone
Tree
Fast Dash-96 Larry Herring
Consolation #1-2h Rick
Hixson-Orion, IL
Consolation #2-27 Mark
Schulte-Delhi
Consolation #3-64 Vern
Jackson-Waterloo
Last Chance #1-M50 Jim
Sandusky-Coal Valley, IL
Last Chance #2- D55 Scott
Lemke-Davis Junction, IL
Feature Saturday, September 14
1.
96 Herring
2.
26P Pittman
3.
74 Nesteby
4.
37b Barker
5.
5D Dominacki
6.
3 Schueller
7.
2h Hixson
8.
10 Jed Hurst-Hazel Green, WI
9.
60 Rob Verbeck-Anawan, IL
10.
M50 Sandusky
11.
14W Jason Walrack-Mineral Point, Wi
12.
16 Ryan Dolan-Lisbon
13.
64 Jackson
14.
G1 Mike Garland-Morrison, IL
15.
66 Dan Bohr-Decorah
16.
01M Mitch Way-Davenport
17.
15 Sean Rupp-Dubuque
18.
69 Roger Donahue-Dubuque
19.
B3 Russ Olson-Cedar Rapids
20.
27 Schulte
21.
08 Mike Miller-Leaf River, IL
22.
D55 Lemke
23.
51 Harry Wethington-Tipton
24.
11 Mike Burbridge-Delhi
25.
86 David Mclean-Potosi, WI
26.
111 Scott Holbert-Freeport, IL
27.
24 Randy Less-Hopkinton
Budweiser Open Late Model Shootout
Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation
Late Models
Heat Winners
Heat 1-15b Brian Birkhofer-Muscatine
Heat 2-56 Gary Webb-Blue Grass
Heat 3-39 Rob Toland-Hillsdale, IL
Heat 4-12n Terry Neal-Ely
Heat 5-50 Denny Eckrich-Tiffin
Heat 6-18Z Rusty Zook-Riverside
Heat 7-12 Ray Guss Jr.-Milan, IL
Consolation #1-S9 Dan Schlieper-Pewaukee,
WI
Consolation #2-3T Todd Davis-Iowa
City
Consolation #3-77 Jeff Aikey-Cedar
Falls
Fast Dash- 15b Birkhofer
Last Chance-45 Jeff Laue-Burlington
Auto Acres 25 Lap Feature Saturday,
September 14
-
28 Jeff Bair-Solon
-
44 Duane Coulson-East Dubuque, Il
-
75 Billy Tuckwell-Moline, IL
-
28X Dennis Erb-Carperntersville, IL
-
41j Jeremiah Hurst-Dubuque
-
14 Kyle Berck-Marquette, NE
-
72 Terry Huizel-Freeport, IL
-
78 Rick Wendling-Hazelton
-
21j Craig Jacobs-Freeport
-
32 Tom Cannon-Iowa City
100 Lap “Yankee Dirt Track Classic”
-
15 B Birkhofer
-
3t Todd Davis-Iowa City
-
50 Eckrich
-
77 Aikey
-
7 Mark Burgtorf-Quincy, IL
-
12n Terry Neal-Ely
-
2 Monte Ohrt-West Branch
-
32D Darren Miller-Chadwick, IL
-
56 Webb
-
98.1 Bobby Hansen-Center Point
-
37b Troy Bruder-Freeport, IL
-
79 Darren Mish-Cassville, WI
-
95 Ed Sanger-Postville
-
12 Ray Guss Jr.-Milan, IL
-
3 Josh McGowan-Vinton
-
45 Curt Martin-Independence
-
44 Duane Coulson-East Dubuque, IL
-
90 Dan Galant-Clinton
-
18Z Rusty Zook-Riverside
-
26 Steve Boley-West Liberty
-
73 Greg Kastli-Waterloo
-
39 Rob Toland-Hillsdale
-
1k John Anderson-Omaha, NE
-
07 Scott Heeren-Forreston, IL
-
11 Steve Ihm-Kieler, WI
-
S9 Schlieper
-
77J Steve Johnson-Camanche
-
99 Johnny Johnson-West Burlington
-
53 Joe Kosiski-Omaha, NE
Farley Speedway
9-15-02
By: Jerry Mackey