Monday, July 13, 2009

Simpson Takes Inaugural WDRL Checkers @ Mineral City Speedway

The World Dirt Racing League (WDRL) made their first appearance ever at the Mineral City Speedway in Fort Dodge Monday night in conjunction with topless bmods. The event was sponsored by Mobil 1, which had quite a display unit on hand as well as the #77 Sam Hornish Jr Mobil 1 Dodge Charger. As part of the sponsorship package, Mobil 1 gave out free tshirts and caps to the first 1,000 fans to make their way through the gates as well as being registered for a chance to win tickets to the NASCAR race at the Kansas Speedway the first weekend in October.

WDRL conducted their group qualifying to start the evening after hot laps were run. Groups of five cars ran two laps to determine the fastest speeds, with the fastest time going to Denny Eckrich as he paced the half-mile track at a blistering 16.913 seconds.

Perhaps one of the surprises of the night was hearing a familiar name back behind the wheel of a racecar. Known to many in the area as the "Randall Rocket", Bob Hill strapped in to drive Brandon Leeman's #64 bmod Monday night. Hill is currently an employee at Michael Waltrip Racing and residing in Denver, North Carolina. He piloted his car to a fourth place finish in his heat race, started sixth in the feature, and finished with a respectable eighth place finish.

The Topless 25, as billed by promoter Kit Hovey, would be the first feature to hit the track. Bmod drivers were able to take their roofs off for tonight's event, a rarity for this class. Twenty-five laps would be the distance for the seventeen drivers that took the green flag. Geoff Olson used his outside front row start to his advantage as he quickly grabbed the lead using the high line of the track. On lap four, Bob Sutherland completed the pass on Brandon Toftee for the third spot. Behind those drivers, Matt Lettow was working his way towards the front as he found himself in fourth before the only caution of the race came out. Olson's car pushed up the track in turn two, allowing Brian Miller to scoot by on the low side to take the lead away.

Just behind Miller, Sutherland continued to run the low side while Lettow motored around on the cushion as they battled it out for the runner up spot. Kevin Sather made his way to fourth as he quickly set his sights on the two drivers ahead of him. Lettow had other ideas though, as he used the momentum from the top side to power his way to the lead. Sather, meanwhile, would duck under Sutherland for the third spot just before the halfway point in the race.

Sather's quest to get to the front continued as he got under Brian Miller to take the second spot away. Sather began to close the gap between he and the leader Lettow, and with five laps to go made the winning pass on the low side. Lettow tried to keep pace on the high side, but Kevin Sather had too much tonight as he went on to take the win. Matt Lettow finished second, Brian Miller third, Bob Sutherland fourth, and Geoff Olson rounded out the top five.

The finale of the night would be the Mobil 1 40 WDRL late model feature. By virtue of winning the Iowa/Illinois Insulation Pole Dash, series point leader Chad Simpson earned the right to start the race from the pole position. He would pace the field to the green flag while Omaha, Nebraska driver John Anderson sat to his outside. Anderson jumped out front to lead the first lap, but Simpson came right back at him on the low side to take the spot away on the next circuit.

After uncharacteristically spinning out in his heat race, Brian Birkhofer resorted to starting on the inside of row five. He methodically began to pass a car at a time using every bit of the track. Back up front, Anderson would regain the top spot as he snuck under Simpson. Simpson would not give it up easily as the two raced side by side for a couple laps before Simpson again got the advantage as the crossed flags were shown to the drivers.

By that time, Birkhofer had made his way to fourth and swiftly began to catch Kyle Berck. Birkhofer powered his machine to third using the top side of the track and quickly focused on catching the top two cars. Birkhofer's car appeared to get stronger as the laps clicked off as he closed the gap quickly before getting by Anderson on the low side for the runner up spot.

With just a handful of laps remaining, Birkhofer had a clear shot at chasing down Simpson. He was closing the gap, but Chad Simpson had just enough of a lead to take home the $6,800 top prize at the end of the night. Brian Birkhofer finished his great run in second place followed by John Anderson, Kyle Berck, and Al Purkey. Simpson's win should help extend his point lead in the series as the WDRL heads to Brainerd, Minnesota on July 28th. The series then heads east to Wisconsin for two more shows that weekend.

What a great night of racing tonight! Sixty-five laps of feature racing with only the one caution in the bmod class. Lots of passing in both races. The final checkers waved at around 9:45 or so, perfect for a Monday night special to get the crowd home at a decent time. This was my second trip to the Mineral City Speedway this year, but tonight's track was by far the best I've seen at the facility. Kudos to Kit Hovey and his staff! After witnessing the action tonight, I can't wait to make a return trip for the USMTS race on Monday, August 3rd.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!

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