Birkhofer Impressive In Wdrl Win At Davenport Speedway

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Muscatine, Iowa Driver Scores Fourth Career Series Win at Davenport
By Tom Lathen

(Davenport, IA) Brian Birkhofer ran away from the field over the final dozen circuits Friday night to win the Davenport 40, a WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Late Model Series sanctioned event here at Davenport Speedway.

After dispatching of Denny Eckrich, who had led for the opening 20 laps, the Muscatine, Iowa driver extended his lead to nearly a full straightaway over runner-up driver Brian Harris at the finish.

“I know there are people up there who are probably tired of seeing me win here,” commented Birkhofer, the winner of four of the six WDRL events held at Davenport Speedway since the series’ inception in 2002.
“It’s been a great ride here at Davenport,” he added. “But it doesn’t get any easier, I know that.”

At the drop of the green flag, Denny Eckrich, who started on the inside pole, won the drag race into the first turn and led the opening circuit, with Brian Harris running a close second just ahead of Birkhofer.

Following a lap five caution flag, brought out when Darren Miller collided with a tire along the inside edge of the race track in turn two, Birkhofer darted past Harris to snag the runner-up position, with Eckrich still holding a narrow advantage.

The two eastern Iowa drivers staged a spirited wheel-to-wheel battle over the next fifteen circuits, with Birkhofer’s Daufeldt Transport/MasterSbilt/Grand Prix moving to the high side to pull alongside the front-runner on lap 14. The next five trips in front of the grandstand, the duo raced door to door, before Birkhofer dived to the bottom down the back straightaway on lap 21 and outran Eckrich’s “Flyin’ 50” out of turn four to grab the point.

From there to the finish, Birkhofer was slowed only by a lap 22 caution flag and took the checkers nearly a full straightaway ahead of Harris, who took advantage of the final restart to grab second.

“I got underneath him on that one lap and he turned left,” noted Birkhofer of his lap-after-lap battle with Eckrich. “It was just him racing, trying to get back to the bottom, but we hit so I kind of had to regroup a bit.”

Added Birkhofer, “I kept pressuring him, thinking maybe I could make him over drive a little bit and I could get underneath him.”

“I kept telling myself, ‘you’ve got to be patient, you’ve got to be patient,’ because the way this race track gets you’ve got to run those tires as close as you can. I got awful close to them a couple of times but finally we were able to get in there underneath him.”

Following Birkhofer and Harris at the line was Eckrich, with John Anderson holding of veteran Kansas driver Al Purkey for fifth.

The night’s action was marred by two roll-overs during qualifying race action. In the First qualifier, Hazel Green, Wisconsin driver Ace Ihm got upside down in turn two, and in final qualifying race, John Henkemeyer of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota rolled hard coming out of turn four and in front of the grandstand. Neither driver was hurt.

RESULTS:

First PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Al Purkey (Coffeyville, KS), 2. Jeff Larson (Freeport, IL), 3. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 4. Joe Kosiski (Omaha, NE),5. Andy Eckrich (Oxford, IA).
Second PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Darren Miller (Chadwick, IL), 2. Denny Eckrich (Tiffin, IA), 3. Mark Teske (Spring Valley, MN), 4. Dave Eckrich (Cosgrove, IA), 5. Todd Davis (Iowa City, IA).
Third PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Brian Birkhofer (Muscatine, IA), 2. Tommy Elston (Keokuk, IA), 3. Al Humphrey (Giltner, NE), 4. Eric Pember (Pittsville, WI), 5. Caley Emerson (Grand Rapids, MN).
Fourth PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Johnny Johnson (West Burlington, IA), 2. Steve Kosiski (Papillion, NE), 3. Dan Shellium (Hazel Green, WI), 4. Chris Simpson (Marion, IA), 5. Sonny Findling (Kirksville, MO).
Fifth PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Mark Wyman (Papillion, NE), 2. Matt Furman (Iowa City, IA), 3. Brian Harris (Davenport, IA), 4. Keith Foss (Winona, MN), 5. Justin Fegers (Mound, MN).
First KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Foss, 2. Fegers, 3. Emerson, 4. Gary Webb (Blue Grass, IA), 5. Ron Barker (Dubuque, IA).
Second KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Andy Eckrich, 2. Chris Simpson, 3. Steve Boley (West Liberty, IA), 4. Findling, 5. Chad Simpson (Mount Vernon, IA).

Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. Denny Eckrich, 2. Harris, 3. Anderson, 4. Birkhofer, 5. Wyman, 6. Purkey, 7. Johnson, 8. Miller.

Davenport Speedway 40: 1. Birkhofer, 2. Harris, 3. Denny Eckrich, 4. Anderson, 5. Purkey, 6. Wyman, 7. Dave Eckrich, 8. Steve Kosiski, 9. Teske, 10. Boley, 11. Brady Smith (Solon Springs, WI), 12. Elston, 13. Joe Kosiski, 14. Kyle Berck (Marquette, NE), 15. Emerson, 16. Furman, 17. Humphrey, 18. Foss, 19. Pember, 20. Andy Eckrich, 21. Shellium, 22. Larson, 23. Fegers, 24. Johnson, 25. Chris Simpson, 26. Miller.

Information of Interest:

Lap Leaders: Denny Eckrich (1-20), Brian Birkhofer (21-40)
QA1 Motorsports Passing Points: Birkhofer (69.56)
Chase Race Decals Hard Luck: John Henkemeyer
Rookie of the Race: Wyman

Contingency Awards:

Oval Craft Racing Aluminum Designs: Birkhofer, Harris, Denny Eckrich
Champ Pans: Anderson
Design 500: Wyman
Performance Bodies: Dave Eckrich
Fast Shafts: Steve Kosiski
Hooker Harness: Teske
Weld Racing: Boley
Sunoco Race Fuels/Diamond Oil: Smith
The Brake Man: Elston
Design 500 Non-Qualifier: Findling

For more information go to www.worldraceleague.com.
 




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