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ANDERSON PULLS OFF THRILLING ALPHABET SOUP WIN
Rain delays the start but makes for a fast track
By Rusty Daufeldt
WORLD Dirt Racing League
GREENWOOD, NE (May 24) - The near-capacity crowd here at the annual Alphabet
Soup race at I-80 Speedway was treated to some of the best races in WORLD
Dirt Racing League series history. A final six-lap shootout was all it took
for Omaha, Nebraska's John Anderson to pull off a thrilling victory.
Late Models drivers from WDRL, MLRA, and NCRA were on hand for the event,
which got off to a wet start. After the first session of hot laps took the
green flag, the skies opened up and rain began to fall on the wicked-fast,
high-banked race track. But thanks to relentless drying efforts, racing
officials were able to get the track ready for competition.
Sixty-three Late Models made up the night's seven heat races and, as the
night wore on, the track -- and the race -- got better and better.
Three action-packed consolation races, with only the top two drivers
transferring to the feature event were next with third- through fifth-place
finishers fighting for the final transfer spot in each of the B-mains.
The Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole dash ended with Mike Collins and
Kyle Berck claiming the front row for the 50-lap, $5,000-to-win main event.
Collins took off to lead the first several laps and looked to be the one to
beat. Then the no. 25 of Chad Simpson took the lead in lapped traffic only
to have the lead taken away by one of just a couple caution flags.
On the restart, Simpson took the lead and was looking to be on his way to
victory. Then during a long green flag run, amidst heavy lap traffic, he
found himself in the middle of a sometimes four-car battle.
Anderson, Berck and Collins swapped positions in many cases multiple times
per lap, with Berck, Anderson and Simpson swapping the lead over and over
again. This went on for what seemed like forever with Simpson able to hang
on to the lead after losing it many times. Then, with six laps to go,
disaster struck.
Simpson, getting relentless pressure, jumped the cushion in turns three and
four, destroying his right rear tire. After coming to a rest in turn four
and bringing out the caution, Simpson darted to the infield to replace his
right rear.
Anderson was showing the lead at this point with Berck, Al Purkey and Alan
Vaughn in hot pursuit. Denny Eckrich was sitting fifth after coming from his
provisional starting spot.
The final six-lap shootout was anyone's race as all the front runners were
poised on the restart. With four laps to go, Simpson and Eckrich would get
together coming out of turn four, sending Simpson spinning down the front
stretch. With nowhere to go, the no. 85 of John Kaanta slammed head-on into
Simpson, ending his night of racing.
On the restart, Anderson was able to hold on despite a last-lap, last-corner
charge from Berck. Purkey turned in a strong third-place performance with
Vaughn fourth and Denny Eckrich fifth.
RACE REPORT
I-80 SPEEDWAY
GREENWOOD, NEB.
SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009
First Qualifying Heat Race: 1.(2J) Anderson, 2.Aaron Seabaugh, 3.(53) Joe
Kosiski, 4.(45) Curt Martin, 5. (80) Scott Koskovich.
Second Qualifying Heat Race: 1.(22V) Alan Vaughn, 2.(33) Al Purkey, 3. (25S)
Chris Smyser, 4.Steve Kempt, 5.Al Zeitner.
Third Qualifying Heat Race: 1.Jerry Warner, 2.(3) Mike Collins, 3.(88L)
Larry Clausen, 4.Jay Stewart, 5.Brett Wood.
Fourth Qualifying Heat Race: 1.Ronnie Wallace, 2. (14) Kyle Berck, 3.(55C)
Chad Mahder 4.Josh Most, 5.Travis Dickes.
Fifth Qualifying Heat Race: 1. (25) Chad Simpson, 2. (15T) David Turner, 3.
(1M) Rob Moss, 4. (2H) John Hampel, 5. (2B) Jason Bodenhamer.
Sixth Qualifying Heat Race: 1.(43) Jeremy Grady, 2. Jason O’Brien, 3. Shawn
Harker, 4. (4S) Gordie Seegert, 5. (85) John Kaanta.
Seventh Qualifying Heat Race: 1.(22) Craig Preble, 2. Mike Wiarda, 3. (45DW)
Denny Woodworth, 4. (24) Bryant Goldsmith, 5. (29) Bill Koons.
First Consolation Race : 1.Josh Most, 2.Travis Dickes , 3.(56) Chris Spieker
, 4.(1M) Rob Moss, 5. (71) Andrew McKay.
Second Consolation Race: 1.(85) John Kaanta, 2.Shawn Harker, 3.Kempt, 4.
(58) Dave Eckrich, 5.(2H) Hampel.
Third Consolation Race: 1. Kosiski, 2. Goldsmith, 3. Seegert, 4. Jay
Stewart, 5. Cory Zeitner.
Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1.Collins, 2.Berck, 3.David
Turner 4. Mike Wiarda, 5.Craig Preble, 6. Simpson , 7. Jeremy Grady. 8.
Ronnie Wallace.
50-Lap Feature: 1. John Anderson, 2. Kyle Berck, 3.Al Purkey , 4.Alan
Vaughn, 5 Denny Eckrich, 6.Denny Woodworth , 7.Mike Wiarda., 8.O’brien,
9.Joe Kosiski, 10.Seabaugh, 11. Dave Eckrich, 12. David Turner, 13.Jason
Friesen, 14. Dickes, 15.Curt Martin, 16.Shawn Harker, 17.Bill Koons, 18.Chad
Simpson, 19.John Kaanta , 20. Jeremy Grady, 21. Chris Smyser, 22. Mike
Collins, 23. Josh Most, 24. Goldsmith, 25. Larry Clausen, 26. Ronnie
Wallace, 27. Preble, 28. Rylan Long, 29. Warner, 30. Kelley Boen.
INFORMATION OF INTEREST:
Entrants: 63
Lap Leaders: N/A
Time of Race: N/A
Margin of Victory: N/A
Caution Flags: Four
Red Flags: None
Chase Decals Rookie-of-the-Race: Seegert
Hard Luck Driver: Kaanta
Series Provisionals: Denny Eckrich, Dave Eckrich
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation: 1. Chad Simpson 2. Jeremy Grady
QA1 Motorsports: Chad Simpson, Jeremy Grady, Al Purkey, Curt Martin, Chad
Mahder, Rob Moss, John Kaanta, Gordie Seegert
The Brake Man: N/A
Champ Pans: Denny Eckrich
Performance Bodies: Dave Eckrich
Fast Shafts: Bill Koons
Hooker Harness: Chad Simpson
BSB Manufacturing: Curt Martin
Randy’s Racing Filters 9th place finish: Jeremy Grady; 10th place finish:
Gordie Seegert
For more information on the WORLD Dirt Racing League or the latest WDRL Late
Model Series schedule, check out the WORLD Dirt Racing League's Web site,
www.worldraceleague.com.
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