Two More Nights in the Books

Boosted by the unseasonably warm temps. I was able to add a pair of race nights to my 2017 book over the weekend. Saturday, Darryl and I headed north to the West Liberty Raceway for night number two of the Liberty 100, featuring the Derry Brothers IMCA late model season ending 100 lap main event. A total of 30 late models attempted to qualify on Friday night, with a dozen securing spots for the Saturday headliner. Only Jay Johnson did not return on Saturday, but Justin Kay checked in to tag the tail of one of the B-mains, keeping the count at 30. Kay also brought along his IMCA modified. The other four regular IMCA classes were also in action, running features only, as they did not have enough entries to necessitate further qualifying races. Nick Marolf picked up the win in the first B main after starting on the pole position, while Andy Eckrich came from row three to top the final qualifier. Kay started ninth in the second twelve lapper, and finished second to Eckrich. In addition to the top five in each B main, a pair of provisional starters made up the 24 car starting grid. The 14 car IMCA sport mod 20 lapper ran first, a six caution 35 minute marathon that saw Tim Plummer lead from flag to flag for the win. Tyler Soppe, who was in Davenport, Iowa on Friday night along with Kay, came from the back to finish second. In contrast, the 13 IMCA stock cars ran 20 laps non stop. Polesitter Johnny Spaw, who also competed in a second late model from the Marolf stable, led from flag to flag for the win. David Brandies challenged Spaw early on before giving way to Matt Gilchrist. Gilchrist picked up the runner up finish, with Brandies in third. Kay started on the 17th and final spot for the IMCA modified 25 lapper, while track champion Chris Zogg sat on the pole. A major pile up on the opening lap took out contenders Brad Diercks and Bill Roberts. Back under way, Zogg shot to the lead. With the 9Z in command, Kay moved into the top ten on lap three, and was sixth by lap nine. With only one more caution slowing the race, Kay continued to pick his way forward, fifth on lap 16, fourth on lap 20, and third on the 23rd circuit. That was as far as he would go, as Zogg picked up the win ahead of Jerad Brown. Kay was third followed by Joel Callahan and Dakota Hayden. Jason Klerk deReus survived one caution period to pick up a flag to flag win in the eight car IMCA spoer compact finale. It was n ow time for the late model finale. Polesitter Kyle Hinrichspaced the opening lap, with row two starter Tyler Bruening moving to second on lap two. With the front duo putting distance on the pack, Bruening took the lead on lap ten.. Back in the pack, the Eckrich brothers, Denny and Andy, battled side by side for sixth. The first caution came on lap 25, as Luke Merfeld tagged the turn one wall. At this point, 16th starting Kay was in the top ten. A multi car crash on the restart damaged the car of series point leader Jesse Sobbing, as well as Callahan and Kay, who changed ties during the caution, restarting on the tail. Cayden Carter rebounded to second on the restart. with another caution for Rob Moss on lap 30. Hinrich retook second on the restart, and now it was Denny Eckrich and 23rd starting Matt Ryan on the move. Eckrich took third on lap 32, while Ryan moved to sixth two laps later. During a lap 39 caution, Hinrichs retired to the pits. Back under green, Bruening opened a big lead, and Jake Neal advanced to third, and Ryan began to fade. with Neal within striking distance of the points title, Sobbing went to the work area at each opportunity to work on his damaged car. Following a lap 47 yellow, Neal took second. Andy Eckrich moved to fourth, and Kay was back in the top ten. five laps later, Eckrich took third, and Kay moved to eighth. Bruening held a straightaway leads as Kay picked his way to fifth on lap 63. With Eckrich and Carter battling side by side, Kay used a high to low move out of turn two to pass both cars going down the back chute. Ten laps later he used the same move to overtake Neal for second. But he was a full straightawy behind the leader with 20 laps to go. The race stayed green, and nine laps later, he had caught Bruening. As the leaders encountered slower traffice on lap 92, Bruening tried a high line out of turn four, while Kay took the low road to the lead. Although there were two more cautions, there was no catching Kay, who picked up the $5,000 top prize. A lap 94 caution knocked several cars out of top ten runs, while Neal and Bruening swapped the runner up spot. At the checkers, it was Kay, Bruening, Neal, Andy Eckrich, and Marolf. Kevin Kile ran sixth, ahead of Ryan Dolan, Carter, Ron Boyse, and Chris Horn. Sobbing stayed on the track, finishing 15th, and securing the series title. On Sunday, I hooked a ride to the Bill Waite Memorial at the LaSalle,Il Speedway for a night of open late model, 410 sprint, and midget racing. Jeff Broeg has a detailed write up on the open wheel classes with his " Backstretch " column, and I admit, I put my pen away and just watched the action. But irt seems I cannot watch a late model race without taking notes, so... 28 late models joined the 31 sprints and 26 midgets, and the lates went 40 laps around the quick quarter mile for a $4,000 first place prize. Iowa drivers Jeremiah Hurst and Chris Simpson sat on row one. Hurst led the opening circuit, with Simpson taking over the next trip around. Fifth starting Dennis Erb Jr took the runner up spot on lap five, as Simpson built a commanding lead. Third starting Jason Feger rebounded to third on lap eight, then used his trademark high line to take second . By lap twelve, Feger had closed the gap to the leader, and they hit heavy trafiic on lap 19. Simpson and Feger crossed the line side by side as lap 30 was scored, and Jason muscled to the front on the next lap. But the caution came out before lap 31 was scored, and Simpson was deemed the leader for the restart. Anothe caution came on lap 33, and back under green, Erb took over second on the Delaware restart. Simpson pounded the cushion, while Erb searched the inside line. Coming to the white flag, Chris missed his mark slightly up high, bobbling just enough for Dennis to take the lead. And as the checkers waved, it was Erb Jr. taking the win. Simpson held second, followed by Feger, Paul Parker, and Hurst. Very unofficially, I had the second five as Jay Sparks, Mike Spatola, Brad Stewart, Scott Schmitt, and Rob Toland. With the weather still looking good for next weekend, there are several great options for racing, and I hope to put several more nights in the book. Check the specials calender at Positively Racing, and keep in mind the Quincy Raceways is hosting Sunday night racing through October 22, as well. So get out and enjoy some racing!