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WDRL DRIVER MATT MILLER IS ON A WINNING STREAK
Takes the first two features of a three-night Northern Swing
By Rusty Daufeldt
WORLD Dirt Racing League
SUPERIOR, WIS (July 29) - Round 11 was on tap for the WORLD Dirt Racing
League Late Models, as they moved here Wednesday night to the beautiful
Superior Speedway. And it turned out to be a memorable night for driver Matt
Miller.
The second night of action in the series' three-night Northern Swing
attracted WDRL's largest field of cars so far in the 2009 season with 39 of
the sport's biggest names signed into the pit area. Great weather, a
beautifully prepared race track and a packed grandstand made for a perfect
night of racing at the fast half-mile speedway.
Of the drivers competing Wednesday, no one could get around the speedway
quite like Denny Eckrich. The Tiffin, Iowa, driver turned the oval in 16.181
seconds to capture fast time honors for the evening.
Miller, of Waterville, Ohio, who had nailed down the WDRL feature event on
Tuesday night in Brainerd, Minn., timed in second with Dave Eckrich third.
Just 0.40 of a second separated first from 17th in time, again setting the
stage for some intense heat race action.
Four competitive qualifying heat races along with two consolation events and
the Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash set the field for the 35-lap,
$3,500-to-win main event. In the dash, Miller was able to earn the pole for
the night's feature but not without pressure from track regular Darrell
Nelson. Nelson finished second, bettering Bill Frye and Chad Mahder.
Miller took off to lead early in the main event. But, as had been the case
in the Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash, he had strong challengers
for the entire race in the form of Frye, Nelson and Brady Smith.
With only nine laps down, the caution flew as the leaders were about to
enter lapped traffic. On the restart, Miller held the lead by only a couple
of car lengths, then Smith darted by Frye and Nelson to take second
position. The race continued under the green flag for its remainder,
allowing a great battle to ensue as the leaders encountered lapped cars.
Smith was able to pull alongside of Miller several times but could never
complete a pass, and Miller sailed to victory over Smith, Mahder, Nelson and
Al Purkey, in that order.
The big movers of the night were the No. 90X of Eric Pember and the 15F of
Justin Fegers. The two came from deep in the field to battle lap after lap
for sixth position with Fegers finally winning it.
The WORLD Dirt Racing League Late Models head to Cedar Lake Speedway in New
Richmond, Wis., tonight, Thursday, for the final race in the three-race
Northern Swing.
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
SUPERIOR SPEEDWAY
SUPERIOR, WIS.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2009
Group Qualifying: 1. Denny Eckrich (16.181), 2. Matt Miller (16.224), 3.
Dave Eckrich (16.280), 4. Rick Hanestad (16.323), 5. Chad Simpson (16.323),
6. Pat Doar (16.338), 7. Eric Pember (16.420), 8. Darrell Nelson (16.431),
9. Brady Smith (16.434), 10. John Kaanta (16.447), 11. Johnny Malcolm
(16.453), 12. Rob Moss (16.458), 13. Bill Frye (16.482), 14. Chad Mahder
(16.514), 15. Alan Mondus (16.520), 16. Travis Budisalovich (16.553), 17.
Justin Fegers (16.596), 18. Zach Foster (16.666), 19. Al Purkey (16.677),
20. Dewaine Hottinger (16.707), 21. Darren Mierotto (16.709), 22. Kerry
Hansen (16.711), 23. Jake Redetzke (16.724), 24. Greg Hill (16.739). 25. Don
Copp (16.744), 26. Pete Parker (16.760), 27. Terry Casey (16.767), 28. Mike
Johnson (16.791), 29. Chris Simpson (16.798), 30. Bill Koons (16.810), 31.
Adam Hensel (16.833), 32. Joel Cryderman (16.849), 33. Steve Laursen
(16.851), 34. Tyler Reddick (16.904), 35. Jon Kirby (16.991), 36. Tim
Isenberg (17.230), 37. Roger Paolo (17.358), 38. Mike Balcean (DNQ), 39.
Kevin Carlson (DNQ).
First Qualifying Heat Race: 1. Darrell Nelson (44N), 2. Rob Moss (1M), 3.
Travis Budisalovich (31), 4. Justin Fegers (F15), 5. Chad Simpson (25), 6.
Don Copp (22), 7. Steve Laursen (19), 8. Darren Mierotto (36). 9. Roger
Paolo (13)
Second Qualifying Heat Race: 1.Dave Eckrich (58), 2. Alan Mondus (55), 3.
Eric Pember (90X), 4. Kerry Hansen (25H), 5. Johnny Malcolm (3M), 6. Pete
Parker (10), 7. Kevin Carlson (79), 8. Bill Koons (29), 9. Zach Foster (1F),
10. Tyler Reddick (11)
Third Qualifying Heat Race: 1. Chad Mahder (55C), 2. Matt Miller (7), 3. Al
Purkey (33), 4. Pat Doar (11), 5. John Kaanta (85), 6. Jake Redetzke (27),
7. John Kirby (11) 8. Adam Hensel (44), 9. Mike Balcean, 10. Terry Casey
(42)
Fourth Qualifying Heat Race: 1. Bill Frye (66), 2. Brady Smith (2), 3. Denny
Eckrich (50), 4. Rick Hanestad (71H), 5. Tim Isenberg (9T), 6. Mike Johnson
(2J) 7. Joel Cryderman (51X), 8. Dewaine Hottinger, 9. Greg Hill.
First Consolation Race: 1. Doar, 2. Kaanta, 3. Parker, 4. Redetzke, 5.
Carlson , 6. Laursen, 7. Casey, 8. Koons, 9. Hottinger, 10. Paolo, 11.
Foster.
Second Consolation Race: 1. Chad Simpson, 2. Copp, 3. Mierotto, 4. Cryderman,
5. Mike Johnson, 6. Hensel, 7. Malcolm, 8. Kirby, 9. Balcean, 10. Reddick,
11. Hill.
Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. Miller, 2. Nelson, 3. Frye, 4.
Mahder, 5. Smith, 6. Purkey, 7. Moss, 8. Dave Eckrich
35-Lap Feature Event: 1. Miller, 2. Smith, 3. Mahder, 4. Nelson, 5. Purkey,
6. Fegers, 7. Pember, 8. Moss, 9. Frye, 10. Denny Eckrich , 11. Pat Doar,
12. Chad Simpson, 13. Tim Isenberg, 14. Kaanta, 15. Redetzke, 16. Parker,
17. Dave Eckrich, 18. Mierotto, 19. Hansen, 20. Copp, 21. Hanestad, 22.
Koons, 23. Mondus, 24. Budisalovich.
INFORMATION OF INTEREST:
Entrants: 39
Lap Leaders: Miller 1-35
Time of Race: n/a
Margin of Victory: n/a
Caution Flags: 1
Red Flags: none
Chase Decals Rookie-of-the-Race: Chad Mahder
Hard Luck Driver: Chris Simpson
Series Provisionals: Bill Koons
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation: 1. Chad Mahder
QA1 Motorsports: n/a
The Brake Man: Chad Mahder
Champ Pans: Al Purkey
Performance Bodies: Eric Pember
Fast Shafts: Rob Moss
Hooker Harness: Denny Eckrich
BSB Manufacturing: Justin Fegers
Randy’s Racing Filters 9th place finish: Tim Isenberg, 10th place: John
Kaanta
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