BIRKHOFER STORMS FROM CONSI TO WIN WDRL RUMBLE BY THE RIVER
Muscatine, Iowa driver outruns Darren Miller eight laps from checkers to grab win
By Tom Lathen
WORLD Dirt Racing League

DUBUQUE, IA (May 28) - After a sub-par qualifying performance on Sunday, Brian Birkhofer stormed out of the consolation race Monday night to score an impressive win in the annual “Rumble By The River 100,” a WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Late Model Series sanctioned event here at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway.

The full-time racer from Muscatine, Iowa started 19th in the $7,000-to-win event, and roared past Darren “The Thriller” Miller eight laps from the finish to grab the win.

“I really don’t know what to say,” commented the victorious Birkhofer in AMSOIL Victory Lane. “Last night I was terrible. I knew if it got slick I’d be better tonight, but I didn’t know if I’d win the race, obviously.”

“Everything has got to fall your way to win a race like this,” he added. “We didn’t have the best car, we just had the best luck.”

The race was interrupted three times by caution flags over the first 21 circuits, but went the remainder of the 100-lap distance flag-free.

The first of the three race stoppages occurred on lap-five when Miller got turned around in turn three after light contact with local favorite Dan Shelliam. A four-car tangle, involving Brian Harris, Russ Scheffler, Ace Ihm and Jeremiah Hurst brought the race to a halt a pair of laps later, with the final caution period occurring on lap 21 when Darren Mish lost a coil wire and coasted to a stop down the back straightaway, while running second.

Mish, of Hazel Green, Wisconsin grabbed the lead from pole-setter and early race leader Chris Simpson on lap seven, only to lose the point a lap later to the 23-year old Oxford, Iowa driver’s older brother Chad, who had started fourth in the 24-car field.

Mish powered back into the lead on lap nine, but again surrendered the top spot seven laps later, when the younger Simpson powered to the advantage as the lead cars raced wheel-to-wheel out of turn four and in front of the grandstands. The pair swapped the lead on laps 17 and 18, before Mish’s untimely electrical problems on lap 21.
Birkhofer, who had started 19th, before wheeling into the top-ten on lap 15, started sixth on the lap 21 restart, and with Chris Simpson fighting to hold off a hard-charging Darren Miller, moved into fifth on lap 40. Nine laps later, the driver of the Daufeldt Transport/Rocket/Pro Power Chevrolet Monte Carlo roared around Chad Simpson and into fourth, within striking distance of Simpson, Miller, and Chris Smyser, who were running 1-2-and-3 at the front of the field.

On the 51st circuit, Miller snuck underneath Simpson heading into turn one and outran the race leader as the pair streaked out of turn two and down the back straightaway to grab the advantage.

By lap 70, Miller had opened up a ten car-length advantage over Simpson and Birkhofer, with Birkhofer moving to second on lap 71, as the leaders raced through heavy traffic.

As the laps wore on, the popular eastern Iowa driver began to close the gap on Miller, and with just 15 laps remaining had pulled to within a pair of car lengths of the race leader.

With Birkhofer powering off the banking and Miller clinging to the bottom, the two front-runners ran nose-to-tail for the next half dozen circuits, before Birkhofer surprised the Illinois hot-shoe as the pair entered turn one on lap 92 to grab the advantage.

“If Darren would have moved to the top, I was done,” noted Birkhofer. “I just had to run that little line and he was trying to run the bottom of the race track.”
“He probably thought maybe that was where he needed to be, and it just gave me the opportunity to get by him.”

Birkhofer, the WDRL’s all-time winningest driver, was able to win the race to the checkers, with Miller holding off a fast-finishing Denny Eckrich for third.
“They did an awesome job with this race track tonight,” commented the winner. “I thought it might rubber up, but it just got racey and it got two nice grooves.”
Added Birkhofer, “I thought maybe the inside would slow down. I just kept the momentum around there a little bit and tried to attack traffic and not let them dictate what I was going to do.

“I didn’t know we were even going to make the race through the consi, but here we are standing here (in Victory Lane).”

Chris Simpson finished in the number-four position, with Brian Harris coming back from his lap seven tangle to finish a respectable fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Chad Simpson, Chris Smyser, Curt Martin, Jeremiah Hurst, and Justin Fegers.


RACE REPORT:

KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Brian Birkhofer (Muscatine, IA) 2. Dan Shelliam (Hazel Green, WI), 3. Darin Duffy (Hazelton, IA), 4. Andrew McKay (Edina, MN), 5. Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, IA), 6. Tim Isenberg (Marshfield, WI), 7. Brian Lillie (Independence, IA), 8. Matt Furman (Iowa City, IA), 9. Bobby Moyer (Dubuque, IA), 10. Jill George (Cedar Falls, IA), 11. Justin Fegers (Mound, MN), 12. Jeff Larson (Freeport, IL), 13. Jeff Tharp (Sherrill, IA), 14. Ray Guss, Jr. (Milan, IL), John Kaanta (Elk Mound, WI).

Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. Chris Simpson (Oxford, IA), 2. Brian Harris (Davenport, IA), 3. Darren Mish (Hazel Green, WI), 4. Chad Simpson (Mount Vernon, IA), 5. Dave Eckrich (Cosgrove, IA), 6. Rob Moss (Iowa City, IA), 7. Russ Scheffler (Pewaukee, WI), 8. Denny Eckrich (Tiffin, IA).

Rumble By The River 100: 1. Birkhofer, 2. Darren Miller (Milledgeville, IL), 3. Denny Eckrich, 4. Chris Simpson, 5. Harris, 6. Chad Simpson, 7. Chris Smyser (Lancaster, MO), 8. Curt Martin (Independence, IA), 9. Jeremiah Hurst (Dubuque, IA), 10. Fegers, 11. Dave Eckrich, 12. Andy Eckrich (Iowa City, IA), 13. Rick Scheffler (Waukeshau, WI), 14. Mish, 15. Shelliam, 16. Jason Rauen (Farley, IA), 17. Eric Pember (Pittsville, WI), 18. Ace Ihm (Hazel Green, WI), 19. Russ Scheffler, 20. Craig Jacobs (Freeport, IL), 21. Duffy, 22. Moss, 23. McKay, 24. Kaanta.

INFORMATION OF INTEREST:

Entrants: 39
Lap Leaders: Chris Simpson (1-6), Mish (7), Chad Simpson (8), Mish (9-15), Chris Simpson (16), Mish (17), Chris Simpson (18-50), Miller (51-91), Birkhofer (92-100).
Time of Race: 47:35.908




Margin of Victory: 0.886
Caution Flags: 3 (Laps 5, 7, 21)
Red Flags: none
Rookie-of-the-Race: McKay
Hard Luck Driver: Kaanta
Series Provisionals: Fegers, Kaanta

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