WDRL West Liberty race results

Brian Birkhofer worked his way through lapped traffic to hold off Steve Francis for the World Dirt Racing League win at West Liberty Raceway on May 31, 2004. Francis would get underneath Birkhofer a few times, but had to settle for second.

Birkhofer started seventh for the fifty-lap WDRL A-Main. Thanks to a few yellow flags and the two-abreast restarts, Birkhofer was able to stay close to the front pack. Birkhofer drove his Daufeldt Transport/MasterSbilt Grand Prix around the high-side past Joe Kosiski and moved into second right behind Francis. On Lap fourteen, Birkhofer pulled even with Francis. The two battled door-to-door for a few laps until Birkhofer moved into the top spot.

A final yellow flag on lap seventeen would bunch the field one more time. Birkhofer and Francis took off from the rest of the field when the green returned to the track. The two worked through lapped traffic. Francis pulled even with Birkhofer a few times, but was not able to complete the pass. Birkhofer would take the win with Francis a close second.

"Brian (Birkhofer) seemed to get through lapped cars better than we could," Francis said after the race. "Then we could run him down when we got back to some open track. We'd get all the way beside him, but Brian would hit that rubber in two and beat us down the back shot and beat us into three. His guys did a good job tonight."

Kyle Berck started tenth, and he made a stead move to the front. With ten laps left in the A-Main, Berck would work past Steve "Ace" Ihm for third and ride that spot to the finish. Ace Ihm finished fourth, and Steve Kosiski rounded out the top 5.

"The track was 'rubbering' up, and I'm not good on the rubbers stuff," admitted Kyle Berck. "But actually, the car did good down in (turns) three and four where it was really 'rubbering' up. I think we made up more ground down there than anywhere else. We were really just hoping for a top five tonight, so this is like a win," Berck added about his third place finish.

PolyDome Qualifier Heat Race wins went to Darren Miller, Jay Johnson, Skip Frey, Ace Ihm, Brian Birkhofer, and Steve Francis. Francis won the Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash.

RaceRPM.com has post-race interviews with Steve Francis and Kyle Berck located at www.RaceRPM.com/Live.

WORLD DIRT RACING LEAGUE RACE RESULTS

PolyDome Qualifier 1:
1. Darren Miller, 2. Chris Spieker, 3. Mark Teske, 4. Rusty Zook, 5. Rob Moss.

PolyDome Qualifier 2:
1. Jay Johnson, 2. Joe Kosiski, 3. Kyle Berck, 4. Kurt Kile, 5. Nick Marolf.

PolyDome Qualifier 3:
1. Skip Frey, 2. Tommy Elston, 3. Alan Vaughn, 4. John Hampel, 5. Greg Peck.

PolyDome Qualifier 4:
1. Steve 'Ace' Ihm, 2. Denny Eckrich, 3. Ryan Dolan, 4. Chad Simpson, 5. Todd Davis.

PolyDome Qualifier 5:
1. Brian Birkhofer, 2. Andy Eckrich, 3. Ray Guss, Jr., 4. Matt Furman, 5. Mike Miller.

PolyDome Qualifier 6:
1. Steve Francis, 2. Keith Foss, 3. Steve Kosiski, 4. Johnny Johnson, 5. Dave Eckrich.

KSE Racing Products Consolation #1: (Top 2 Transfer)
1. John Hampel, 2. Dave Eckrich, 3. John Anderson, 4. Todd Davis, 5. Dana Wells.

KSE Racing Products Consolation #2:
1. Matt Furman, 2. Matt Gilchrist, 3. Rob Moss, 4. Mark Teske, 5. Brady Smith

KSE Racing Products Consolation #3:
1. Jimmy Mars, 2. Johnny Johnson, 3. Ray Guss Jr., 4. Steve Boley, 5. Greg Peck.

Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash:
1. Steve Francis, 2. Joe Kosiski, 3. Ace Ihm, 4. Darren Miller, 5. Skip Frey, 6. Jay Johnson.

WDRL 50-Lap Feature:
1. Brian Birkhofer,
2. Steve Francis,
3. Kyle Berck,
4. Ace Ihm,
5. Steve Kosiski,
6. Andy Eckrich,
7. John Anderson,
8. Matt Gilchrist,
9. Darren Miller,
10. Jay Johnson,
11. Ryan Dolan,
12. John Hampel,
13. Alan Vaughn,
14. Rusty Zook,
15. Keith Foss,
16. Mark Teske,
17. Brady Smith,
18. Denny Eckrich,
19. Chris Spieker,
20. Matt Furman,
21. Dave Eckrich,
22. Johnny Johnson,
23. Skip Frey,
24. Joe Kosiski,
25. Tommy Elston,
26. Jimmy Mars,
27. Chad Simpson.

-bucky doran-