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CHAD SIMPSON PULLS OFF THRILLING VICTORY IN MOBIL 1 40
Wins Fort Dodge, Iowa, race in backup car
By Rusty Daufeldt
WORLD Dirt Racing League
FORT DODGE, IA (July 14, 2009) - Round no. 9 of the WORLD Dirt Racing
League's 2009 schedule brought the Late Model dirt track touring series'
stars and cars here Monday for the first time to Mineral City Speedway, a
half-mile race track nestled deep inside a rock quarry just outside town.
Just about every Late Model driver in the field took his first laps on the
speedway as most had never set eyes on it before.
Iowa's Chad Simpson would be the happiest driver when the race night was
over.
Attending the night's events were representatives from Mobil 1 and Boyer
Petroleum, a welcome addition to WDRL. These companies were the primary
sponsors for the night’s event and were on hand with the Mobil 1 no. 77
Sprint Cup car driven by Sam Hornish Jr., the Mobil 1 product trailer and a
VIP tent. The folks from Mobil 1 gave away hats and T-shirts to almost all
of the fans in attendance. They also held a drawing for Sprint Cup race
tickets.
A field of 26 WDRL cars made the trip to Fort Dodge with the Flying 50 of
Denny Eckrich taking the fast time over the rather stout field. Second quick
on the evening was a notable name -- Brian Birkhofer -- in the pit area for
the first time with WDRL in 2009.
Qualifying heat race action saw series regulars taking center stage. A
first-lap spin, though, for Birkhofer's no. 15B forced him to make a start
deep in the field for the Mobil 1 40-lap feature. The pole dash saw Simpson
win the pole position, while John Anderson started on the outside of the
front row.
Simpson took off to lead the first few laps only to have Anderson catch him
a few laps later. The two drivers swapped positions for several laps until
Anderson was able to take over and open up about a four-car length lead.
Simpson changed his line just a little and, in lapped traffic, was able to
get back around Anderson. The caution-free race was plagued by lapped
traffic as the leaders continued swapping the lead for several laps.
As Simpson extended his lead, Birkhofer was on the move. With a handful of
laps to go, Birkhofer, who had started eleventh, was up to third and gaining
on the second-place Anderson every lap.
Birkhofer moved past Anderson but was not strong enough to catch the no. 25
car of Simpson, who picked up his third WORLD Dirt Racing League feature win
of 2009 and extended his series point lead over Al Purkey.
"After last (Sunday) night (in Albion, Neb.), we had to pull out our backup
car," Simpson commented in Victory Lane. "We haven't run this one much, but
it worked really well in lapped traffic." Simpson thanked both his crew and
Mobil 1 for sponsoring the evening's event.
"This race track was fun to race on," said Simpson. "It's wide and fast; we
really enjoyed racing here."
Next up for the WDRL drivers is a three-race Northern swing in two weeks
starting at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minn.
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.
RACE REPORT
MINERAL CITY SPEEDWAY
FORT DODGE, IOWA
MONDAY, JULY 13, 2009
Qualifying: 1. Denny Eckrich (16.913), 2. Brian Birkhofer (16.954), 3. Chad
Simpson (17.018), 4. Tim Isenberg (17.143), 5. Kyle Berck (17.164), 6. Chris
Simpson (17.283), 7. Bryant Goldsmith (17.328), 8. John Anderson (17.331),
9. Al Purkey (17.458), 10. Dave Eckrich (17.458), 11. Eric Pember (17.508),
12. Curt Martin (17.525), 13. Jason Utter (17.588), 14. Jason Rauen
(17.777), 15. Bill Koons (17.846), 16. Rob Moss (17.858), 17. Chad Mahder
(17.874), 18. Sam Harroun (17.912), 19. Skip Frey (18.076), 20. Alan Mondus
(18.376), 21. Ed Nelson (18.535), 22. Curt Schroeder (18.675), 23. Jason
Hahne (16.757), 24. Carey Umbarger (18.911). 25, Chris Schroeder (19.032),
26. Travis Mahaney (19.069)
First Qualifying Heat Race: 1. Al Purkey (33), 2. Chad Simpson (25), 3.
Chris Simpson (32), 4. Jason Utter (31), 5. Rob Moss (1M), 6. Skip Frey
(3X), 7. Curt Schroeder (15C), 8. Chris Schroeder (3C), 9. Curt Martin (45).
Second Qualifying Heat Race: 1. John Anderson (2), 2. Kyle Berck (14), 3.
Eric Pember (90X), 4. Brian Birkhofer (15B), 5. Chad Mahder (55c), 6. Jason
Rauen (98), 7. Alan Mondus (55M), 8. Jason Hahne (76), 9. Travis Mahaney
(99)
Third Qualifying Heat Race: 1. Dave Eckrich (58) , 2. Bryant Goldsmith (24),
3. Denny Eckrich (50), 4. Tim Isenberg (9T), 5. Bill Koons (29), 6. Sam
Harroun (16), 7. Ed Nelson (55). 8. Carey Umbarger
Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. Chad Simpson, 2. Anderson, 3.
Purkey, 4. Berck, 5. Chris Simpson, 6. Dave Eckrich, 7. Goldsmith, 8. Denny
Eckrich.
Mobil 1 40-Lap Feature: 1. Chad Simpson, 2. Birkhofer, 3. Anderson, 4. Berck,
5. Purkey, 6. Chris Simpson, 7. Goldsmith, 8. Mahder, 9. Utter, 10. Denny
Eckrich , 11. Dave Eckrich, 12. Moss, 13. Pember, 14. Frey, 15. Harroun, 16.
Rauen, 17. Isenberg, 18. Koons, 19. Nelson, 20. Martin, 21. Curt Schroeder,
22. Mahaney, 23. Mondus 24. Hahne.
INFORMATION OF INTEREST:
Entrants: 26
Lap Leaders: Simpson 1-8, 19-40; Anderson 8-18
Time of Race: n/a
Margin of Victory: n/a
Caution Flags: none
Red Flags: none
Chase Decals Rookie-of-the-Race: Chad Mahder
Hard Luck Driver: Curt Martin
Series Provisionals: n/a
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation: 1. Chad Simpson
QA1 Motorsports: n/a
The Brake Man: Al Purkey
Champ Pans: Chris Simpson
Performance Bodies: Bryant Goldsmith
Fast Shafts: Jason Utter
Hooker Harness: Denny Eckrich
BSB Manufacturing: Chad Mahder
Randy’s Racing Filters: 9th place finish: Rob Moss, 10th Place: Eric Pember
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