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 15^th. 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 22^nd 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

1. 8M Ward

2. 50 Eckrich

3. 4 Sexton

4. 51 Furman

5. 3T Davis

6. 18Z Zook

7. 21h Harris

8. 12 Guss

9. 77 Kile

10. 3X Frey

11. 66 Remley

12. 26 Boley

13. 8 Findling

14. 28 Bair

15. 45 Klinkhammer

16. 13k Petersen

17. 58 Eckrich

18. 88 Kile

19. 43 Stewart

20. 32 Cannon

21. 23D Wells

22. M32 Beckler

23. 33 Marolf

24. 1m Moss

25. 74 Boyse

26. 7 Nezworski

27. 26b Brau

28. 57 Christensen

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