Brian Birkhofer turned a Thursday night warm-up session into a $5,000 payday as the Muscatine, Iowa, driver won the Dart Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series presented by Cen-Pe-Co Lubricants feature at Cedar Lake Speedway. The event kicked off the 24th annual USA Nationals on the famed 3/8-mile oval in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and guaranteed Birkhofer a starting spot in the $50,000-to-win 100-lapper on Saturday.
Birkhofer, who won the first of five heats, started on the pole of the 10-lap fast dash. His win in the dash resulted in an outside second row starting spot for the 50-lap feature when he drew the #2 during the invert draw.
From his outside front row start, Birkhofer used the high side to drive to the lead. From there, he held off the early challenges of Jimmy Mars, Rick Eckert and then Mars once again following a pair of early restarts to drive to his first-ever series win.
Mars and Eckert swapped the runner-up spot during the early stages before Mars pulled ahead for good following the second stoppage. Clint Smith and Chris Simpson completed the top five.
FEATURE (50 laps / with starting positions)
1. (2) 15B Brian Birkhofer (Muscatine, Iowa)
2. (1) 28M Jimmy Mars (Menomonie)
3. (5) 24 Rick Eckert (York, Pennsylvania)
4. (4) 44 Clint Smith (Senoia, Georgia)
5. (7) 32 Chris Simpson (Oxford, Iowa)
6. (10) 25 Chad Simpson (Mt. Vernon, Iowa)
7. (3) 11 Pat Doar (New Richmond)
8. (18) 1R Josh Richards (Shinnston, West Virginia)
9. (15) 58X A.J. Diemel (Nichols)
10. (20) 777 Jared Landers (Batesville, Arkansas)
11. (6) 39 Tim McCreadie (Watertown, New York)
12. (8) 2 Brady Smith (Solon Springs)
13. (23) 9T Tim Isenberg (Marshfield)
14. (11) 1 Brian Shirley (Chatham, Illinois)
15. (13) 98 Jason Rauen (Farley, Iowa)
16. (19) 18H Ronny Lee Hollingsworth (Northport, Alabama)
17. (24) 1* Chub Frank (Bear Lake, Pennsylvania)
18. (12) 32C Vic Coffey (Caledonia, New York)
19. (9) 31 Jason Utter (Columbus Junction, Iowa)
20. (14) 71 Andrew McKay (Eden Prairie, Minnesota)
21. (17) 93 Ray Moore (Haughton, Louisiana)
22. (25) 22 Jill George (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
23. (26) 18 Dustin Hapka (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
24. (16) 89S Mike Spatola (Manhattan, Illinois)
25. (21) 21 Billy Moyer (Batesville, Arkansas)
26. (22) 15 Steve Francis (Ashland, Kentucky)
While working in the Corn Belt registration trailer, the biggest topic of discussion on the night was the draw/redraw format used by the series. Many of the touring Late Model drivers are not only used to time trial qualifying, they weren't overly excited at the "chance" involved in drawing random numbers to determine qualifying heat race lineups. In fact, of the 49 drivers signed in to compete at Cedar Lake, four didn't even make an attempt to qualify after they realized why they had drawn a number.
As I explained the procedure for the evening's events to a number of drivers and crews, the reactions I witnessed weren't exactly pleasant. One driver explained to me that a draw/redraw format might be good for a weekly show or for a regular CBC series race, however it wasn't a good idea when racers of this "caliber" were competing against each other. This driver indicated that even the best of the best would struggle to qualify if starting at the back of a heat with similar drivers.
My reaction to this was what my reaction always has been to those who prefer time trial qualifying and/or a passing points system. The show is for the fans and the drivers are there to entertain. In short, time trials are boring and generally result in lackluster heat races anyway when they are lined up based on fast times. As for passing points, they take the enjoyment out of the show. No race fan wants to decipher who qualified based on where a driver started versus where that driver finished compared to the other competitors.
I think our conversation went south when I made a simple comment - "You did come here to race, right?"
I did a little number crunching on last night's draws, lineups and finishes. The most glaring thing that jumped out at me to "defend" the draw/redraw format was the driver who drew the worst number of the night. While there were 49 drivers in attendance, 48 drivers drew for their starting spot. (One driver forgot to draw and started at the back of a heat.) Of the 48 who drew, however, Josh Richards drew the worst number of the field, putting him in the final starting spot of the 10-car third heat (which turned into a nine-car heat when one driver opted not to start).
The top four finishers in each heat qualified for the feature, with the top two qualifying for the fast dash. Richards drove from a last place starting spot to a fourth place finish, which landed him 18th on the starting grid for the feature. From there, Richards drove to an eighth place finish. I'd say going from a 48th place draw to an eighth place feature finish makes it possible to out-race your draw.
Also, for those who didn't make it out of their heats, there were two last-chance races. The top two finishers from each of the last chance races tagged the tail of the heat race qualifiers for the feature. The rank of the original draw numbers of the four B feature transfers to the feature were 28, 30, 34 and 36... out of 48. None of those qualifiers came from the top half of the draw and, yes, there were plenty of the top-half draw cars in the field.
When not counting the two provisional starters for the feature, who qualified based on CBC points, there were 24 "qualified" cars in the main event. Of those 24 cars, 11 were in the bottom half of the original draw pool. That's one car shy of half the feature field coming from the bottom half of the draw. You can split hairs over it not being an even 50-50 split from top to bottom, if you insist.
While the draw did seem to bring with it some unnecessary attention last night, I want to thank the entire CLS crew for their hospitality. Special thanks goes out to track announcer Chris Stepan for taking care of the announcing duties for the Late Models while I worked on results, lineups and payout.
After a night off tonight, it's back to Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday for the rescheduled Dick Frye Memorial. Then, on Sunday, I'll be back at Benton County Speedway in Vinton prior to a return trip to Independence on Monday for the rescheduled World of Outlaws Late Model Series. It should be a great three days of racing!
Thanks for reading.
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