WEST LIBERTY, Iowa — Mid-Summer Madness at West Liberty Raceway brought some high speed excitement to the big half-mile Saturday night.
No race was as exciting as the late model main. Though the car count was low the battle for the race lead went on for the entire 25 laps. Brian Harris and Andy Eckrich dueled lap after lap. While Harris was leading, Eckrich made two serious attempts at the lead, one in the first six laps and another with five laps to go. The last side by side tussle between the leaders helped bring Tyler Bruening into the mix. Buening had started in the fifth row and had worked his way up to third.
Harris was up to every challenge and took the checkers just ahead of Eckrich, with Bruening another car length back. Dave Eckrich and Jonathn Brauns rounded out the top five.
In modified action, Derrick Stewart took home the trophy. The early race lead went to Terry Rentfro, who started on the pole. A few laps later, Rentfro turned the lead over to Chris Zogg. Zogg’s lead would also be short-lived. Just before midway in the 20 lapper, Stewart stormed to the front. Stewart’s car seemed to get faster as the race went on. He needed to be, as Spencer Diercks was coming up fast. Diercks drove to within three lengths of the lead, when his progress stalled out.
Stewart was the winner. Diercks settled for second, with Zogg third. Dakota Simmons finished fourth, ahead of Denny Eckrich. The modified feature went caution free.
The SportMod feature saw only one leader, as Tim Plummer led all fifteen laps. Brayton Carter and Logan Anderson started midpack and would finish second and third respectively. Matt Fulton and Wisconsin’s Jason Roth completed the first five. The red flag flew during the SportMod feature when Ryan Walker put his car on its lid in turn two. Ryan was able to walk away from the crash.
Johnny Spaw led all 15 laps of the Street stock feature. Nick Hixson finished second with Jeff Struck Jr. holding off Rob Henry for third.
The Nostalgic Stock Car Racing Club rounded out the program. Ray Guss Jr. stormed his way to the lead and the checkered flag. Jeff Walker took second, followed by Ben Hamburg, Andrew Hamburg, and Kurt Zimmerman.