Mid-Summer Madness Comes to West Liberty

 Saturday night we made our second visit of 2020 to the storied West Liberty Raceway on the Muscatine County Fairgrounds for the third edition of Mid-Summer Madness hosted by the Drt Trak Racing group.With points racing still in full force ,the car count was a bit lower than the strong purse offered would indicate, but the racing was top notch in front of a large but socially distanced crowd. Also, the big half mile was well prepared, permitting the high speed competition that loyal West Liberty fans crave.                                    Five classes of cars were in competition, including the nostalgic stock car group, and they ran the first main event. Ten cars lined up, and while most of these are replicas of well known race cars of days gone by, the outside pole machine was a restored 1968 Mercury Cougar #81 raced forty plus years ago by legendary Jim Gerber. Jeff Walker was behind the wheel, and he led lap one ahead of the only caution flag of the twelve lapper. On the restart, it was Ray Guss Jr. in the Keith Simmons #38 John Connelly tribute car powering to the front. Guss had no trouble keeping his 454 cubic inch hot rod out front for a popular victory.                                                             Sport mods were up next, with twenty cars signed in to challenge for the $1,000 top prize. Sixteen laps would be the distance, and outside row one driver Tim Plummer would vault to the lead as the green flag waved. With Curtis Vanderwall in pursuit, the front duo began to distance themselves from the pack. Keeping with a familiar theme, the first caution came at lap five. Back to racing, sixth starting Brayton Carter charged into contention in third ahead of a lap ten yellow for a Shaun Slaughter spin, pausing an entertaining battle for fourth between Matt Fulton, Logan Anderson, and Jason Roth. Two times more the caution waved before another lap was scored, with Vanderwall suffering a flat tire after the field was stacked up on the Delaware restart. Anderson then took over the runner up spot ahead of a red flag situation on lap thirteen when Ryan Walker rolled in turn two. He was uninjured, and after a lengthy delay it was back to action. Carter now took up the chase, but Plummer was not to be denied as he posted a flag to flag win. Meanwhile Carter nosed out Anderson for third, followed by Fulton and Roth.                            Modifieds were next, with twenty laps the distance. Front row starters Terry Rentfro and Chris Zogg quickly broke away from the pack. Derrick Stewart and Spencer Diercks came from rows three and four to take up the challenge, and a four car scrum developed as Zogg grabbed the lead on lap seven. Two circuits later Stewart moved to second, then snatched the top spot at the halfway mark. Diercks followed him in second on lap eleven, and now those two broke loose from the field. Diercks took over the point with a perfect slider in turn one on lap sixteen, but Stewart executed the crossover move to lead once again coming out of turn two. He then held the point to the checkers in the non stop event. The win was worth a $1,000 to Stewart, who was followed by Diercks, Zogg, Dakota Simmons, and Denny Eckrich .                                                           Outlaw street stocks raced fifteen laps for a $500 check. Veteran Johnny Spaw and his front row mate Nick Hixson paced the field in another two car breakaway before Spaw began to stretch his advantage. Meanwhile, Jeff Struck and Rob Henry were locked in a tight battle for third. This was another non stop feature race, with Spaw cruising to the win. Hixson held on for second, besting Struck, Henry, and Jake Lund for top five honors.                                          The headliner of the night featured the late models racing twenty five laps for $2,000 to win. The draw, redraw format put Brian Harris in a Lynn Richard #15R, and Jonathon Brauns in the Claeys Racing #35C on row one. But it was Harris and fourth starting Andy Eckrich pulling away at the drop of the green. By the time row five starter Tyler Bruening entered the top five on lap five, Harris and Eckrich  were out front by a sizable margin. Bruening continued to move forward, fourth on lap eight and third one circuit later, still a full straightaway behind the front pair. As the crossed  flags signaled thirteen laps down, Eckrich was applying pressure to the leader and Bruening was closing quickly. But this would be the third feature of the night with zero cautions, and Harris made no mistakes as he picked up the win. In the closing laps Eckrich was forced to hold off Bruening, giving Harris a bit of breathing room. Dave Eckrich was announced as the pole sitter, but he lined up in tenth, then advanced to fourth at the checkers. Brauns completed the top five. Gary Webb led the second five, topping Nick Marolf, Dave Wada, Ron Boyse, and Kyle Krampe.                                                                             Random notes on the night: It was a big night for Lynn Richard Racing, as he sent his other #15R to 34 Raceway in Burlington, where Mark Burgtorf posted a third place finish. Marolf hauled a pair of #33's to the track, electing to do R&D on the car with fewer laps on it. The cars on this night raced under " Davenport Speedway rules, " which meant non sanctioned IMCA legal for the late models, mods, and sport mods. Harris raced with an IMCA spec engine, while Webb, for one, was using a crate power plant.                          Thanks go out to Robert, Carrie, and the Drt Trak team for their hospitality, and to announcer Shane Davis for keeping me informed on more than a few drivers with whom I was unfamiliar. We hope to return to West Liberty in two weeks as Joe Kosiskis' SLMR series invades the big half mile. In the meantime, another trip to Davenport Speedway is on our schedule to kick off next weekend as those same SLMR late models will hit the quarter mile fairgrounds oval for back to back shows, followed by a Sunday night foray at the Bullring at RICO in East Moline, Illinois. If you see me along the way, stop by and say " Hi" like Warren Busse did on Saturday!