THREE EVENTS ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEKEND FOR WORLD DIRT RACING LEAGUE
Back-to-back events at West Liberty Raceway followed by rescheduled Cornhusker Classic
By Tom Lathen
WORLD Dirt Racing League

GILMAN CITY, MO. (Oct. 3, 2006) - A busy weekend is on tap for the cars and stars of the WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Late Model Series.

Three nights of series action get underway on Friday night with the third annual Al Frieden Memorial at West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty, Iowa. The 25-lap, $2,500 to win event celebrates the contributions of the legendary eastern Iowa track operator, who promoted races for more than 25 years prior to his death in August of 2000.

Saturday night's Liberty Fall Classic at West Liberty Raceway will feature a 50-lap, $5,000 main event, as will Sunday night's rescheduled Cornhusker Classic at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Neb.

Saturday's Liberty Fall Classic and Sunday's Cornhusker Classic will both be televised for rebroadcast on the Vision Sports Entertainment Network (VSEN-TV).

"It will definitely be a busy weekend," commented WDRL founder and president Jim Wilson. "The Frieden Memorial and Liberty Fall Classic have attracted a great field of cars the last couple of years, and we are glad we were able to reschedule the second night of the Cornhusker Classic on the same weekend so drivers and fans could have three nights of racing within a reasonable driving distance."

Heading into this week's events at West Liberty and Nebraska Raceway Park, Denny Eckrich continues to hold a narrow lead over Brian Harris in the PolyDome Late Model Series driver's standings. In spite of a cast to protect a healing broken wrist, Eckrich turned in two solid performances last weekend in WDRL action at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. On Friday night, the Tiffin, Iowa, driver had to take a series provisional to get into the field, but came from a 24th-place start to finish fifth in night one of the annual Capitol Federal Savings Late Model Showdown. On Saturday, he raced to a strong fourth-place in the Late Model Showdown finale.

Harris, who has been shadowing Eckrich throughout much of the season, also turned a pair of consistent performances at Lakeside last weekend. On Friday night, the Davenport, Iowa, hotshoe finished fourth in the 30-lap main. On Saturday, he rolled to a third-place finish in the 50-lap feature event.

Dave Eckrich, Kyle Berck and Chris Simpson continue told hold down positions three, four, and five, respectively, in the series point standings. The elder of the Eckrich brothers struggled a bit this past weekend at Lakeside Speedway, finishing 14th and 19th on Friday and Saturday, respectively, while Berck, a two-time series champion, finished third and sixth. Simpson, meanwhile, led throughout the early stages of Saturday night's 50-lap main event before finishing second after a 17th-place run on Friday night.

Other series regulars expected to be in the field this weekend include WDRL Rookie-of-the-Year contenders Jason Utter of Columbus Junction, Iowa; Trent Follmer of Elk River, Minn.; and Rob Moss of Iowa City, Iowa.

Mount Vernon, Iowa's Chad Simpson, who picked up his first-ever WDRL feature race win on Sept. 23 at Nebraska Raceway Park, is also expected in the field, along with Pittsville, Wis., driver Eric Pember; Union, Nebraska's John Hampel; and Kirksville, Mo., veteran Sonny Findling. Also expected to participate is Darren "The Thriller" Miller, fresh off of a $12,000 win in the Illinois Fall Nationals in Springfield, Ill., on Sunday.

A number of local and area drivers are also expected to participate at both West Liberty Raceway and I-80 Speedway.

Action on Friday night at West Liberty Raceway is scheduled to get underway with hot laps at 6:30, followed by qualifying races at 7. Saturday's Liberty Fall Classic will get underway with hot laps at 5:30, followed by group qualifying at 6 and heat race action at 6:30. Sunday's Cornhusker Classic finale at I-80 Speedway will get underway with practice at 5 and qualifying race action at 5:30.

Included on the card with the WDRL Late Models at West Liberty Raceway are the Four-Cylinders, Stock Cars, Modifieds and Limited Late Models. At I-80 Speedway, Hobby Stocks, Pro Stocks and Modifieds will be included in the
race program.

For more information on WDRL or the latest PolyDome Late Model Series schedule, check out the WORLD Dirt Racing League's Web site, www.worldraceleague.com .