DAVENPORT, Iowa – Andy Eckrich scored his second Haulin with Hoker Super Late Model Racing East Series victory at Davenport Speedway in as many years on Friday night.
Eckrich pulled away from Todd Cooney in the final laps to take the win and the $3,000 top prize.
Eckrich and Cooney started the 35-lap main, side by side in the front row. In a classic high groove / low groove battle, Eckrich was hugging the bottom, while Cooney was rim-riding the high side. The duo swapped the lead at least eight times until Eckrich took the lead for good.
Cooney finished a close second, with a charging Darin Duffy taking third. Local favorites Justin Kay and Matt Ryan rounded out the top five.
Matt Ryan set the pace in qualifying, with a lap of 14.858 seconds. Darin Duffy, Luke Goedert, and Kay won the late model heat races. Gary Webb won the B-Main.
Ryan Duhme paid a visit to victory lane in the Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Modified feature. Duhme started eighth and took the lead by the end of lap two. The top three finishers Duhme, second place Travis Denning, and Chris Zogg in third were all using the bottom of the racetrack. Mike Goben and Eric Barnes finished fourth and fifth respectively.
With 37 IMCA SportMods in the pits, everyone knew you would have to battle to get in the winner’s circle. Doug Burkhead used his pole position starting spot to grab the lead for the first nine laps. Brandon Jewell raced the high side to take the lead, but a restart with two laps to go allowed Ben Chapman to pass for the lead. Chapman led the last two laps for the win. Jewell would finish second. Kevin Goben had a strong run to take third. Perry Gellerstedt ran top five all race long, before finishing fourth. Logan Veloz was fifth.
Tony VonDresky put a hurtin’ on field of Koehler Electric Street Stocks. After Rick Schriner and Jesse Owen each had a shot at the lead, VonDresky put his car out in front. Tony would lead the rest of the way to the checkers, with Owen and Nick Hixson close behind. Jake Lund was fourth, followed by Jeff Struck Jr.
The QCjeeps.com Sport Compact feature saw a spirited battle for the win between Cyle Hawkins and Josh Starr. Once Hawkins got some separation, he slowly started to pull away for the victory. Starr would finish second, followed by Tim Sibley, Todd Sibley, and Brad McDermott, in that order.