Denny Eckrich Holds On To Win Wdrl Liberty Fall Classic

jdearing

Administrator
Staff member
Brady Smith Takes Over Series Points Lead with Ninth Place Finish
By Tom Lathen

(West Liberty, IA) Denny Eckrich survived a flurry of caution flags and a strong challenge from Steve Boley Saturday night to win the Liberty Fall Classic, a WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Super Series event at West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty, Iowa.

The win avenged a disappointment the night before when a broken rear end forced the Tiffin, Iowa driver from the field after leading the first six laps of the first annual Al Frieden Memorial at West Liberty Raceway.

“We had a real good car last night, but we just had an equipment failure,” commented Eckrich following the win.

“We were kind of down on ourselves, but I told the guys, ‘we had a good car, lets just go back home and get this thing ready for tomorrow night.’ We came back tonight and held off Boley again so we’re happy.”

Coming from an inside second row starting position, Eckrich powered underneath Kyle Berck to move into the runner-up position, behind pole setter Matt Gilchrist, the first trip in front of the grandstands.

Gilchrist raced to a nearly half straightaway advantage over Ekcrich by lap 10, but saw his lead evaporate quickly as the leaders began to run up on slower traffic over the next couple of circuits.

Eckrich’s Precision Performance/Mac Tools Pontiac Grand Prix dove underneath Gilchrist heading into turn one on lap 13, and darted into the lead as the two front-runners raced out of turn two and down the back straightaway.

“Lapped traffic was tight and the bottom groove was where it was,” noted Eckrich. “The track was getting wide going into (turn) three so I could get on the outside of him, but I had to get back down in the center and coming off.”

“I was able to get around him thank God, because I was starting to get worried with those lapped cars.”

The first of what would be numerous caution flags flew on lap 18 when Kalona, Iowa’s Ron Boyse got upside down in turn two, with debris on the race track causing a second caution period before another lap was completed.

Eckrich gave up a sizeable advantage on lap 22, when the night’s third caution flag appeared, with a pair of additional caution periods and lapped traffic of laps keeping Boley, Berck, Brian Birkhofer and Darren Miller all within striking distance.

Berck’s night was cut short on lap 42 when he and Miller tangled heading into turn one, sending the two-time defending series champion’s car careening sideways and to a sliding stop halfway through the corner. The central Nebraska driver had been fighting a crippled car because of front suspension damage suffered nearly a dozen laps prior to the late race tangle.

Following the final caution flag, Eckrich was able to hold off a late charge by Boley to secure the win, with Brian Birkhofer finishing third.

“I was beginning to think I was going to go winless here this year because every time we came down here we had bad luck,” commented Eckrich, a three-time track champion at West Liberty.

“I’m glad we were able to get it together here at the end of the year.”

Berck’s misfortune allowed Wisconsin driver Brady Smith to take over the series points lead with three races remaining on the 2004 schedule. Smith needed a provisional to make the field but battled his way to a ninth place finish, moving him eight points ahead of Berck in the current WDRLdriver’s standings.

RESULTS:

First PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Keith Foss (Winona, MN), 2. Skip Frey (Ely, IA), 3. Ron Boyse (Kalona, IA), 4. Dave Eckrich (Cosgrove, IA), 5. Brian Harris (Davenport, IA).

Second PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Steve Boley (West Liberty, IA), 2. Mark Teske (Spring Valley, MN), 3. Kyle Berck (Marquette, NE), 4. Andy Eckrich (Oxford, IA), 5. Matt Furman (Iowa City, IA).

Third PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Gary Webb (Blue Grass, IA), 2. Denny Eckrich (Tiffin, IA), 3. Jay Johnson (West Burlington, IA), 4. Ryan Dolan (Lisbon, IA), 5. Mike Klinkhammer (West Branch, IA).

Fourth PolyDome Qualifier: 1. John Hampel (Nodaway, IA), 2. Brian Birkhofer (Muscatine, IA), 3. Jeremiah Hurst (Dubuque, IA), 4. Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, IA), 5. Nick Marolf (Moscow, IA).

Fifth PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Matt Gilchrist (Grandview, IA), 2. Darren Miller (Chadwick, IL), 3. Eric Pember (Pittsville, WI), 4. Rob Moss (Iowa City, IA), 5. Joe Kosiski (Omaha, NE).

First KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Klinkhammer, 2. Andy Eckrich, 3. Chad Simpson (Mount Vernon, IA), 4. Steve Kosiski (Papillion, NE), 5. Furman.

Second KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Dave Eckrich, 2. Ray Guss, Jr. (Milan, IL), 3. Marolf, 4. Rusty Zook (Riverside, IA), 5. Kurt Kile (Nichols, IA).

Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. Gilchrist, 2. Berck, 3. Denny Eckrich, 4. Boley, 5. Hampel, 6. Birkhofer.

Liberty Fall Classic: 1. Denny Eckrich, 2. Boley, 3. Birkhofer, 4. Utter, 5. Miller, 6. Foss, 7. Simpson, 8. Moss, 9. Brady Smith (Solon Springs, WI), 10. Marolf, 11. Teske, 12. Hampel, 13. Pember, 14. Gilchrist, 15. Joe Kosiski, 16. Andy Eckrich, 17. Berck, 18. Dave Eckrich, 19. Johnson, 20. Klinkhammer, 21. Guss, 22. Frey, 23. Harris, 24. Webb, 25. Boyse, 26. Hurst.

QA1 Shocks Passing Points: Denny Eckrich (63.8)
Billet Proof Lap Leaders: Gilchrist (1-12), Denny Eckrich (13-50)
Seubert Calf Ranches Rookie-of-the-Race: Foss
Chase Race Decals Hard Luck Driver: Berck

Contingency Award Winners:

Oval Craft Racing Aluminum Designs: Denny Eckrich, Boley, Miller
MSD Ignition: Foss
Performance Bodies: Moss
Peterson Fluid Systems: Smith
Fast Shafts by Axle Exchange: Teske
Hooker Harness: Hampel
Weld Wheels: Pember
Diamond Oil/Sunoco Race Fuels: Joe Kosiski
Hoosier Tire: Moss, Harris
 




Back
Top