FEGERS SCORES HARD-FOUGHT WDRL VICTORY AT KNOXVILLE RACEWAY
Minnesota driver grabs lead on lap 28 to pick up fourth career series win
By Tom Lathen
WORLD Dirt Racing League

KNOXVILLE, IA (April 27) -  Justin “The Jet” Fegers regained the lead from Brian Harris 12 laps from the finish Friday night and went on to win the Budweiser Shootout 40, a WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Late Model Series event here at Knoxville Raceway.

Fegers, who started ninth in a strong 26-car field, led for two laps earlier in the race before overtaking Harris on lap 28 to pick up his fourth career WDRL victory.

“Winning here at Knoxville is huge,” commented an elated Fegers in AMSOIL Victory Lane. “We’ve had this race circled ever since the schedule came out this spring.”

“I could feel something in the way the car was hooking up when I was warming up the tires before the feature,” he added. “I knew we had a hot rod. Man, it was great!”

Pole setter Chad Simpson grabbed the lead on the opening circuit, powering off the banking out of turn four to outrun outside front row starter Jimmy Mars the first trip in front of the grandstands.

The first of five caution flags was waved on lap three when Henderson, Colorado hot-shoe Kelly Boen got turned around in turn two, with a second caution flag appearing three laps later when Nick Marolf coasted to a halt midway down the back straightaway. While the race was under caution, Mars, who had won the PolyDome Late Model Series event at Knoxville a year ago, limped his Deppe Enterprises-sponsored entry to the infield with engine problems, ending the Menomonie, Wisconsin driver’s chances for back-to-back series victories on the prestigious Marion County Fairgrounds half-mile.

When racing resumed, Simpson again darted to the advantage, with two-time defending series champion Denny Eckrich in hot pursuit, followed by the race leader’s younger brother Chris, and the eventual race winner Fegers, who was now running fourth. With Simpson racing to a sizeable advantage, Fegers stormed around the younger Simpson to grab third on lap 10, with Darren “The Thriller” Miller, who had started 20th, also wheeling past the 23-year old Marion, Iowa driver to grab fourth.

Eckrich’s night ended abruptly on lap 12, when the engine in his Precision Performance/Barry Wright/Grove Automotive Chevrolet expired, and when green flag racing resumed, Chad Simpson again bolted into the lead with Miller now running second, a short distance ahead of Fegers, who was running just ahead of Brian Harris in third.

On lap 14, the two race leaders tangled briefly in turn three, shuffling Miller back to fourth, with Fegers and Kelly Boen charging through to grab second and third place, respectively, behind the front-running Simpson.

With Miller pulling to the infield with apparent rear suspension damage, Fegers began applying the pressure to Simpson, with the duo racing side-by-side in front of the grandstand on lap 22. A lap later, Fegers stormed off the bottom out of turn two to grab the point, only to lose the top spot a pair of laps later, following a lap 24 restart when Harris motored off the banking out of turn four to steal the advantage.

“I kind of felt vulnerable out there on the restarts,” noted the winner. “The line I was running made me really susceptible to a slide-job down in (turns) one and two.”
“I thought I had a good first lap there, but when he (Harris) shot by me I thought its time to get back up on the wheel. The tires came back to the car and I could drive anywhere I wanted to.”

On lap 28, as Harris sailed high in turn four, Fegers came off the bottom out of turn four to retake the lead, with Cosgrove, Iowa’s Dave Eckrich getting underneath Harris to grab second.
Fegers was never challenged from there to the checkers, and won the race to the stripe over Dave Eckrich, who finished second.

“The last few years when we’ve come here in the spring, its been a lot tackier and a lot wetter than it was tonight,” commented Fegers on the racing surface. “As soon as we went out for hot laps, I could tell we were going to have a really good race track for the feature.”

Kelly Boen came back from his lap three spin-out to finish third, with Marquette, Nebraska’s Kyle Berck finishing fourth. Chad Simpson wrestled his car number-25 home for a fifth place finish, followed by Harris, Jason Utter, Ray Guss, Jr., and Omaha, Nebraska’s John Anderson.

RACE REPORT:

Group Qualifying: 1. Brian Harris; Davenport, IA (18.257), 2. Jimmy Mars; Menomonie WI (18.413), 3. Kerry Hansen; Spencer, WI (18.586), 4. Chris Smyser; Lancaster, MO (18.615), 5. Matt Furman; Iowa City, IA (18.664), 6. Dave Eckrich; Cosgrove, IA (18.732), 7. Kyle Berck; Marquette, NE (18.853), 8. John Kaanta; Elk Mound, WI (18.916), 9. Nick Marolf; Moscow, IA (18.962), 10. Terry Phillips; Springfield, MO (19.070), 11. Kelly Boen; Henderson, CO (19.074), 12. Darren Miller; Chadwick, IL (19.127), 13.Curt Martin; Independence, IA (19.137), 14. Jeremy Payne; Springfield, MO (19.173), 15. Pat Doar; New Richmond, WI (19.193), 16. Chad Simpson; Mount Vernon, IA (19.243), 17. Eric Pember; Pittsville, WI (19.248), 18. Denny Eckrich; Tiffin, IA (19.277), 19. Chris Simpson; Marion, IA (19.277), 20. Larry Clawson; North Kansas City, Missouri (19.303), 21. Jay Johnson; West Burlington, IA (19.342), 22. Ray Guss, Jr.; Milan, IL (19.438), 23. Sonny Findling; Kirksville, MO (19.447), 24. Mike Collins; Council Bluffs, IA (19.491), 25. Justin Fegers; Mound, MN (19.500), 26. Andy Eckrich; Iowa City, IA (19.592), 27. Jason Utter; Columbus Junction, IA (19.641), 28. Denny Woodworth; Mendon, IL (19.717), 29. Johnny Johnson; West Burlington, IA (19.780), 30. Brian Kenkel; Elkhorn, NE (19.818), 31. Paul Glendenning; Mount Ayr, IA (19.844), 32. John Anderson; Omaha, NE (19.920), 33. Jeff Aikey; Cedar Falls, IA (19.932), 34. Tim Isenberg; Marshfield, WI (20.050), 35. Alonzo Grosse; Council Bluffs, IA (20.064), 36. Jason Bodenhamer; Centerview, MO (20.095), 37. Rob Moss; Iowa City, IA (20.115), 38. Ed Nelson; Van Meter, IA (20.379), 39. Darren Duffy; Hazelton, IA (20.493), 40. Billy Koons; Omaha, NE (20.504), 41. Scott Rhoades; Westminster, CO (20.682), 42. Jill George; Cedar Falls, IA (20.744), 43. Jason Schobinger; Wiggins, CO (21.671), Todd Schute; Des Moines (no time), Jacob Murray; Hartford, IA (no time), Andrew McKay; Edina, MN (no time), Curt Schroeder; Des Moines, IA (no time).
 

First PolyDome Qualifier; 1. Fegers, 2. Phillips, 3. Clawson, 4. Utter, 5. Furman, 6. Doar, 7. Anderson, 8. Moss, 9. George, 10. Murray.

Second PolyDome Qualifier; 1. Denny Eckrich; 2. Marolf, 3. Collins, 4. Woodworth, 5. Smyser, 6. Aikey, 7. Nelson, 8. Schobinger, 9. Payne.

Third PolyDome Qualifier; 1. Chris Simpson, 2. Kaanta, 3. Findling, 4. Martin, 5. isenberg, 6. McKay, 7. Duffy, 8. Johnny Johnson, 9. Hansen.

Fourth PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Mars, 2. Pember, 3. Dave Eckrich, 4. Guss, Jr., 5. Grosse, 6. Koons, 7. Miller, 8. Kenkel, 9. Schroeder (scratch).

Fifth PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Chad Simpson, 2. Berck, 3. Boen, 4. Harris, 5. Jay Johnson, 6. Glendenning, 7. Rhoades, 8. Schute, 9. Bodenhamer.

First KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Isenberg, 2. Anderson, 3. Glendenning, 4. Bodenhamer, 5. Martin, 6. McKay, 7. Duffy, 8. Smyser, 9. Schute, 10. Nelson.

Second KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Miller, 2. Guss, Jr., 3. Furman, 4. Doar, 5. Payne, 6. Aikey, 7. Rhoades, 8. Koons, 9. Grosse, 10. Moss, 11. George.

Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. Chad Simpson, 2. Mars, 3. Denny Eckrich, 4. Chris Simpson, 5. Phillips, 6. Berck, 7. Kaanta, 8. Marolf.

Budweiser Shootout 40: 1. Fegers, 2. Dave Eckrich, 3. Boen, 4. Berck, 5. Chad Simpson, 6. Harris, 7. Kaanta, 8. Utter, 9. Guss, Jr., 10. Anderson, 11. Pember, 12. Findling, 13. Glendenning, 14. Isenberg, 15. Collins, 16. Phillips, 17. Koons, 18. Chris Simpson, 19. Furman, 20. Moss, 21. Miller, 22. Denny Eckrich, 23. Woodworth, 24. Mars, 25. Marolf, 26. Clawson.
 

INFORMATION OF INTEREST:

Entrants: 47
Lap Leaders: Chad Simpson (1-22), Fegers (23-24), Harris (25-27), Fegers (28-40)
Time of Race: 335:35.234
Margin of Victory: 1.713
Caution Flags: 5 (Laps 3, 6, 6, 12, and 24)
Red Flags: none
Rookie-of-the-Race: Kaanta
Hard Luck Driver: Denny Eckrich
Series Provisionals: Moss, Koons

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation: Mars, Denny Eckrich, Chris Simpson
QA1 Motorsports: Denny Eckrich
AMSOIL: Fegers
KSE Racing Products: Isenberg, Miller
The Brake Man: Dave Eckrich
Champ Pans: Chad Simpson
Performance Bodies: Harris
Design 500 Racewear: Kaanta, McKay
V-Performance Batteries: Utter
Fast Shafts: Guss
Hooker Harness: Anderson
Joie of Seating: Pember
Weld Wheels: Isenberg
BSB Manufacturing: Harris