For the second time this month I was fortunate to attend a revived 100 lap feature race for Late Models. This time it was the iconic Liberty 100 at the legendary West Liberty Raceway. It would be the Super Lates racing under the MLRA sanction waging a non stop 100 laps on the lightning fast half mile. Saturday night would be the culmination of the two night extravaganza for the Late Models after time trials and double heat races were contested on Friday to set the opening rows for the main event. Saturday would also include a B Main to fill out the remainder of the field for the whopping $20,000 top prize.
Both nights also featured full shows with healthy payoffs for three other classes, Modifieds, Sport Mods, and Stock Cars. SR Promotions under the leadership of Jeff Struck handled the event, concluding their limited schedule this season at West Liberty along with a full docket of racing in Davenport. Yours truly would attend only the Saturday finale.
Tony Jackson Jr. came into the weekend with a nearly insurmountable lead in the quest for the MLRA championship, as only this weekend and one at Pevely, Missouri in early November remain on the schedule.
Twenty six Late Models signed in on night #1, perhaps a bit fewer than hoped for, but enough for three quality heats times two, with the second round lined up in reverse finishing order from the first. The same cars would race against each other both times. A point system that I assume involved time trials and heat race success would determine who would be locked in to their starting spot on Saturday and who would line up in the B Main on Saturday. With the number of cars entered combined with any attrition, I would also assume the B Main would function as a "position dash." Fourteen cars were locked in to the first seven rows of the main event.
As it turned out, with Zach Zeitner not returning after a hard crash on Friday, the B Main was scratched and all twenty five cars started the headline event.
Before that took place, IMCA Sport Mods opened the show, fifteen cars racing for fifteen laps on the big half mile. Front row starters Tim Plummer and Jarett Franzen raced side by side on the opening circuit, but a yellow flag resulted in a complete restart. Once more the caution flag waved, and when racing finally began, third starting Jason Roth (pronounced rOth) powered to the lead. Row three starter Bryson Eckrich moved quickly to battle Plummer for second, with young Eckrich taking over the runner up spot on lap eight. The race stayed green and Roth remained in control until the final turns of lap fifteen when he suddenly slowed with mechanical issues. Eckrich would charge by to take the checkered flag first with Plummer in hot pursuit. Roth would limp across the line in third followed by Franzen and ninth starting Lee Kinsella.
Track officials then took considerable time to rework the surface ahead of the IMCA Modified feature. All nineteen entries would then line up for eighteen laps. Row one starters Jace Eckrich and Charlie Mohr would cross the line in that order before a yellow flag once again negated the start. On the second attempt, Eckrich pulled quickly ahead while fifth starting veteran Mark Burgtorf moved up to challenge Mohr. Burgtorf took the spot on lap three, chasing the leader, who caught the back of the pack on lap seven. Working smoothly through the traffic, Eckrich had pulled away to a straightaway lead when the caution flag waved with eleven laps scored. Back under green, Jace again drove off, while Eric Barnes used the outside line on the Delaware restart to power past Burgtorf in turn two for second. Mohr was shuffled out of the top five, with Mitch Way moving up to fourth. A final stoppage came three laps from the finish, and this time it was Way who lost positions as racing resumed. Eckrich would cruise to the win, matching his cousin with the win. Barnes and Burgtorf would follow while tenth starting Brandon Durbin and fourteenth starting West Liberty veteran Kurt Kile completed the top five.
In a rather curious move, the 100 lap headliner would come next, ahead of the IMCA Stock Cars. All twenty five drivers lined up, with top point earners Chris Simpson and Dallon Murty pacing the field. The "Game Changer" Murty would charge to the lead and on lap five Chad Simpson would slip around brother Chris for second. Slower traffic came into play on lap seven as the top three ran in close formation. The first caution came at lap fourteen for Chad Walter, and twenty fifth starting Nick Marolf received the "lucky dog," to move to seventh position on the lead lap. Back to racing, Chris moved to second, and by lap twenty he was hounding Murty for the lead. He would drive around Murty in traffic on lap twenty two, and that duo would battle before Chris began to stretch his lead around lap thirty. The race would stay green with the leaders once again in heavy traffic all the way until sixty laps were scored. Mike Mataragas would bring out a yellow flag, and by this point only five cars remained on the lead lap. Several drivers would then roll to the hot pit for tires and or fuel, including the third, fourth, and fifth place cars. The "lucky dog" would move Matt Furman back to the lead lap in sixth. Chad Simpson would clear Murty for second on the restart, and only five more laps were completed before the yellow came again for Furman. Dillon McCowan was this time the "lucky dog." As the green flag waved again, a huge nine car pile up off turn four eliminated several cars, and when the red flag turned to yellow Chris Simpson and Murty made their pit stops. Chad would inherit the lead, with Murty holding second and Chris dropping to fourth behind Daniel Hilsabeck. A final caution came two laps later for Tyler Smith. As the leaders again took off, Chad seemed in control, but as the laps clicked to eighty Murty began to close the gap. Murty took the lead once more as the pair made contact exiting turn four on lap eighty two. The correct pit strategy paid off as Murty then stretched out to a commanding lead all the way to the checkers and the $20,000 payday. Chad Simpson held the runner up spot over the steady run by Hilsabeck. Chris Simpson restarted and finished in fourth and McCowan rounded out the top five. Jackson Jr. finished where he started in sixth followed by Furman, third and second place MLRA points men Aaron Marrant and Jeff Herzog, with Tim Simpson completing the top ten.
With the considerable hoopla concluded and much of the large crowd sticking around, sixteen IMCA Stock Cars came to the oval for fifteen laps. Veterans Johnny Spaw and David Brandies paced the field, Brandies grabbing the lead as row two starter Andrew Schroeder cleared Spaw for second. Brandies and Schroeder were staging a tight battle when they appeared to get together in turn two on lap eleven. With both sent to the tail of the lead lap cars, Keegen Wells and Spaw would take the green flag side by side. Wells would get the jump, but on the final lap Spaw made his move on the inside. The pair exited turn four in a dead heat with Wells winning the drag race to the checkers. Greg Gill gained five spots to take third in front of Aaron Martin and Cody Staley.
The entertaining show concluded somewhere around 10:30. The sizable crowd was a positive sign and I hope the Liberty 100 will once again be a staple of late season racing at the storied half mile.
Hoping the great fall weather holds, as next Saturday is one of my "can't miss" events, year twenty eight of the race known every season following year one as "Shiverfest" at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Hope to see you there!
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