I became disenchanted with one hundred lap races more than ten years ago and I honestly cannot remember the last time that I went to one with out digging through the archives of the Back Stretch. In my opinion the national touring series had turned the distance race into a joke allowing drivers to slow on the track to pull a caution and then duck into the pits to make adjustments that might even include a tire change or two. How would a driver have that much time in the work area? Well it would either simply be allowed by the series officials so that their "stars" could return to the race, or it would be because the line at the "body shop", where the official in turn four would check and pull out the fenders under caution of all the drivers that would think that they might need some attention, would take so long that the driver who caused the stoppage in the first place could have unloaded a backup car and return to the race.
I may not remember the year of the last hundred lapper that I attended, but I can tell you that one of the legends of our sport, who unfortunately is no longer with us, stopped the race FOUR TIMES in an attempt to make his car fast enough to reach the top ten and he did so with no penalty of any kind. Under the series rules this could have happened a fifth, sixth or seventh time, long enough for the "body shop" official to pull out all four fenders on every starter and nothing would have been done about it. That was it for me, no more one hundred lappers!
Then along comes yesterday, an absolutely gorgeous day in Iowa for October 24th and with my good friend Jack and his lovely assistant Suzanne tempting us with one of their pre-race feasts that we normally only get to enjoy prior to a Sprint Car race, I made the decision to break my boycott of one hundred lap races and return to the track of my youth for the rebirth of the Liberty 100 at the West Liberty Raceway.
With a regional sanction from the MLRA, and a set of rules and procedures that sounded like they would eliminate the scenarios that drove me away from this type of race, we settled in for one hundred laps of action with a twenty-five car starting field all in search of the $20,000 top prize. With $1,000 just to start, and the series only bringing three or four cars in the points chase, my first concern was that we would see a lot of cars doing a start-and-park, but with the purse having a nice stagger all the way to the back and the format calling for some strategic thinking by the drivers and the crews, it seemed to make them all feel that they had a chance and the early attrition was minimal.
Dallon Murty would set the early pace opening up a nice lead on pole sitter Chris Simpson until the first caution of the race waved on lap fourteen. The consensus was that fuel could be an issue so I thought that we might see some of the back markers duck into the hot pit even this early, but that did not happen and once back to green Simpson would now keep pace with Murty. Chris would find that a low exit off turn four would give him more speed down the front stretch and on lap twenty-one they would cross the stripe wheel to wheel before Simpson used that same line to take lead one lap later. Lapped traffic would now come into play and that would allow Murty to use the high line to regain the lead on lap twenty-four only to have Chris come charging back to the front on lap twenty-nine.
As these two slugged it out at the front, both Chad Simpson and Mike Spatola were keeping pace as well and by mid-race I had already seen more uninterrupted action than I could recall from my most recent one hundred lap experiences.
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| Early race action with all three contenders - Mike Ruefer photo |
Chris was now driving away and just sounded more powerful than the competition as his #32 thundered down the front straightaway in front of a solid and enthusiastic West Liberty crowd. By the time the second caution of the race waved on lap sixty, Chris had lapped all the way up to the sixth place car of Matt Furman and now the much anticipated strategy portion of this event would take shape. With just five cars on the lead lap, third fourth and fifth, Chad Simpson, Mike Spatola and Daniel Hilsabeck would head for the work area to take on fuel and change a tire or two while both Simpson and Murty stayed on the track. Of course most of the lapped cars came in as well and I'm not sure what happened at this point, but the number of caution laps that it took to get everybody back on the track and aligned n the proper starting position seemed unfair to the two drivers who stayed out and circled the track way too many times when fuel might be an issue. Hopefully the officials can review how this played out and make improvements for the next time?
With Furman as the "lucky dog", the six cars on the lead lap were up front for the restart and it was thought that with a full tank of fuel (no more having to be conservative) and a fresh right rear tire that the leaders would be quickly swallowed up. Yes, Chad did go to second on the restart, but Chris was again quickly driving away for five laps until the caution waved for Furman who had stopped on the front stretch. This caution went quickly with only Furman going to the work area and was luckily nearly a full lap behind after returning to the track as the green flag came out because this would be "the big one".
Spatola would get turned sideways coming out of turn four and as the rest of the field tried to avoid him at least six cars stacked up against the outside wall while those who escaped suffered some kind of damage. The crash would eliminate contenders such as Spatola and Nick Marolf who had climbed from twenty-fifth up into the top ten before this fiasco. The red flag was needed to clear the carnage and once the caution reappeared both Simpson and Murty headed to the pits for their refill and tire change along with drivers who need attention from their crew in order to pull out body parts so that they could continue.
Important point there, the "body shop" process was performed by the crews requiring a trip to the work area and a restart behind those who did not got to the work area. Lucas Oil, WoO, are you listening?
With Dillon McCowan getting the lucky dog from the original lap sixty-five caution, he would restart third behind Chad Simpson and Hilsabeck, with Murty, Chris Simpson and Furman now the only six on the lead lap as the race would go green for just two laps before a caution for Tyler Smith. That would elevate MLRA point leader Tony Jackson Jr. to the lead lap as the "lucky dog" in a race that would now complete the remaining distance under green.
It was expected that Chris Simpson would come charging back to the front, but for whatever reason his dominance was longer as brother Chad paced the field for several laps before Murty reeled him in with twenty to go. The top two would then put on quite a show as they swapped the lead back and forth crossing the stripe in a near dead heat on lap eighty-one. Simpson would have the advantage exiting turn two, but with a big run down the back stretch Murty would muscle his way under the leader in turns three and four and then hit that magic low line exit off four to propel him to the front with eighteen laps remaining.
It was all over but the shouting from there as the young driver built up a near half lap advantage to score his richest payout in a Late Model so far. Dallon was rightfully exuberant in victory lane as he thanked his car owner, sponsors and family, but when the microphone moved to the runner-up Chad Simpson he stated that he had been run over by the same car now twice at this his favorite race track. The reaction of the crowd seemed to suggest that they disagreed with that sentiment.
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| Mike Ruefer photo |
Hilsabeck was impressive taking third with Chris Simpson wondering what might have been in fourth as Dillon McCowan filled out the top five.
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| Mike Ruefer photo |
With the long red flag period included, yes this was a marathon, but it was an intriguing race peppered with a couple of great battles for the lead and even a little controversy at the end. As long as they are to be run under this format and set of rules, my boycott of one hundred lap races has officially been lifted, bring on the 2027 version of the Liberty 100!
The three support classes were the perfect addition to the program with the Sport Mods leading things off for fifteen laps of feature racing. A multi-car mix up in turn two after the first lap was scored eliminated Curtis Van Der Wal and once back to green Jason Roth swiped the lead from Jarrett Franzen. Roth appeared to have this one well in hand until the final set of turns when suddenly a thick cloud of white smoke billowed from his car and as he tried to nurse it home to the checkers both Bryson Eckrich and Tim Plummer were able to drive by to finish first and second respectively. Roth was able to get to the stripe ahead of Franzen and Lee Kinsella who filled out the top five.
The eighteen lap IMCA Modified main event was slowed three times by cautions, but with each restart young Jace Eckrich would leave the field in his wake as he posted a dominant victory. It was a proud night for grandpa Larry Eckrich who was there to join both of his grandsons in their front stretch celebrations. Eric Barnes started sixth and finished second, Mark Burgtorf backed up a heat race victory with a third place run, Brandon Durbin came from tenth to fourth and Kurt Kile rallied from fourteenth to fifth.
I can understand why at least half of the crowd left after the Late Models, but they missed a barn burner in the Stock Cars who closed out the night with fifteen laps of racing. David Brandies would set the pace with Andrew Schroeder in hot pursuit as the lead duo pulled away from the pack. Brandies was running a line where he would enter high in turn one, then aim for a low exit off turn two making the back stretch even longer and faster. However, as Schroeder challenged from a lower line with four laps remaining, that high to low trajectory would create contact sending both cars spinning in turn two bringing out the caution.
Johnny Spaw and Keegan Wells would be on the front row for the restart and after Wells established himself as the leader, Spaw battled back pulling even with the leader on the final lap. It would be a drag race off of turn four with Wells nipping Spaw at the checkers by a nose for the victory. Greg Gill would finish in the third spot, Aaron Martin was fourth and Cody Staley took fifth.
It was a full night of racing that was wrapped up at a decent time and, other than the Hawks giving one away, it was a pretty darn nice evening!
Hopefully this weather hangs on for another week as the 27th scheduling of Shiverfest will be at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson this Saturday, October 31st. Hope to see you there!
