Thursday was the opening night of the SLMR east division three night mini tour presented by Drt Trak Racing Inc. The three eighths mile oval at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway was the venue. Six classes would be in action, with the late model headliner offering a $3,000 top prize to the winner of the thirty lap feature.
Thirty late models topped a contingent of ninety four cars as a good sized September week night crowd filed in on a cool evening.
Hot laps were completed in good time, then the late models quickly moved through time trials, three and four cars at a time. Andy Eckrich was the fastest in group one, but World of Outlaw regular Tyler Bruening set the overall mark in group two with a lap of 15.133 seconds.
We were then on to heat race action. Kodey Miles and Jimmy Doescher topped the thirteen hobby stockers, while Mark Schulte and Chris Zogg grab modified wins.
The late models split into four eight lap heats with the a top six invert by time in each one. The highest sixteen in passing points would move on to the main event. Matt Ryan came from row two to grab the first heat over row three starters Jason Rauen and Andy Eckrich, while Ron Klein came across the line in fifth but gained enough points to make the transfer. Heat two went to fifth starter Jake Neal, topping third starting Charlie McKenna, then Dave Eckrich and Justin Kay, who lined up sixth and fourth, respectively. Spencer Diercks came from fourth to capture heat three, besting sixth starting Bruening and his row three mate Chad Holladay as the only transfers. The final qualifier sent five to the feature, with Chad Simpson leading flag to flag in David Websters #44W. Jeff Tharp, Luke Goedert, Jason Hahne, and Nick Marolf followed.
Troy Bauer and Ryan Schilling were sport mod victors, the Midwest Jalopies heat went to Kile Vohringer, and Ray Guss Jr. topped the Nostalgia heat. Guss Jr. did double duty on this night, also wheeling the Rick Dralle late model normally driven by Jeff Aikey.
The briefest of breaks was followed by a pair of seven car, seven lap B mains taking the top two late models from each one to the feature. Gary Webb drove past his front row mate Bobby Hansen in the first "B", then pole sitter Joel Callahan held off Darrel Defrance in the second last chance race. Provisional starters Curt Schroeder and Luke Pestka would complete the twenty two car starting lineup. A total, I believe, of only three yellow flags slowed the preliminary races on the smooth, well prepared track!
Hobby Stocks would run a twelve lap feature, with a pair of Wisconsinites, Matt Bennett and Corey Cullen on row one. But it would be Hollandale, Wisconsin driver Jimmy Doescher coming quickly from row three to battle with Kodey Miles for the early lead. Eventually, Doescher would open a comfortable lead, as he easily worked through slower traffic in the non stop event. Meanwhile, Miles had his hands full of Scott Wetter in the closing laps, narrowly holding him off for second, as three Wisconsin pilots, Wetter, Bennett, and Mark Neis recorded top five finishes.
Sixteen modifieds lined up for twenty laps. Tyler Madigan lead the opening laps ahead of a lap three caution. Following the restart, sixth starting Matt Gansen charged from the second row of the Delaware style restart to the lead. From then on, the racing would occur back in the pack, as Gansen opened a straightaway plus lead cruising in the low groove. Meanwhile Madigan ran up against the outside wall, temporarily putting distance on the rest of the field. With no more stops, Gansen picked up a dominant win. Madigan took second ahead of an entertaining four car battle for third. In the closing laps, Mike Burbridge broke away from the race for third and moved in to challenge Madigan, but could not make the pass. Bill Roberts Jr. and Schulte rounded out the first five.
The late models would be up next, with Andy Eckrich and Goedert on the front row. Andy powered to the front, with Bruening coming from fourth to set up a two car duel. Eckrich hugged the low line while Bruening set up shop on the high line. Five laps in, Tyler grabbed the lead. Soon, the front duo found the back of the pack, and Eckrich regained the point in traffic on about lap twelve. One circuit after the halfway mark, Bruening was back in front and pulling away, but the first caution for a spinning Hahne brought him back to the pack. At this point, all twenty two starters were still on the track! Rauen came charging through the field on the restart, all the way to third as the second and final caution came with eleven laps to go. Simpson, who was running with the leaders, spun low in turn two. Rauen briefly moved to second on this final restart, but two laps later in was again Eckrich in the runner up spot. As the laps wound down, eighth starting Diercks was able to drive to third, even as Bruening pulled away to a relatively easy win. The Decorah, Iowa pilot would collect the checkers in his first SLMR start of the year. Rauen settled into fourth, followed by Goedert. Tharp lead the second five, ahead of Dave Eckrich, Neal, Ryan, and McKenna.
At this point we headed for the car, with three features still to run. Congrats to Tony Olson, who took sport mod honors over Tyler Soppe. Austin Honts topped the Jalopies, and Guss Jr. was the Nostalgia winner.
Special thanks to Bob and Carrie, as always, for their hospitality and a good night of racing. Regular readers know that I am a fan of passing points, and last night was a perfect example of why I feel this way, as only one of the four late model heat winners came from the front row. I will always choose "racing" over "follow the leader."
Drt Trak and the SLMR will head to the big half mile at West Liberty tonight, Friday, and I hope to catch back up on Saturday as they move to the Davenport Speedway for the Governors Cup event with both of these shows paying the late model winner a cool $5,000!
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