Birkhofer captures night one of Late Model Nationals
Friday, September 28, 2007
By Bob Wilson
Birkhofer captures night one of Late Model Nationals
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Sept. 27) Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa came on late in the 25-lap preliminary feature to capture the first night of the 4th annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals.
Front row starter Steve Francis won the drag to turn one to take the point and the opening lap. He was followed by pole sitter and quick qualifier Josh Richards with Billy Moyer in third. In the beginning the top five cars ran the bottom but soon Darren Miller and Shannon Babb (fourth and fifth) took to the top of this over-sized half-mile oval.
Lap five saw the first of only two yellows to be displayed on this event for Darin Duffy who rode the wrecker hook back to the pits.
The restart was solid gold for Birkhofer who had started tenth. When the green waved on the restart Birkhofer passed two cars in turns one and two and came under the flagstand in third. Now, Francis, Richards and Birkhofer held the bottom while third running Miller stayed on top.
Lap 10 was yet another crucial step in Burkhofer’s march to the front as he got by Richards with a low move out of turn two on that lap. At this time, leader Francis had a nearly a full chute advantage over the second place car.
Lap 12 saw the final yellow of the race as Chris Spieker came to a halt at the fence at the exit of turn two. On the following restart Birkhofer was unable to make a pass of the leader but the man who did find a line was defending event champion, Brian Shirley. He chose a high route through turns one and two and raced into fourth behind Miller sending Richards to fifth, Darrell Lanigan to sixth and Moyer to seventh.
And that’s the way it would stay for nearly ten laps. It was evident that Birkhofer was making a dent in the Francis lead as the Iowan ran the top and the man from Kentucky stayed on the bottom.
On lap 20 Birkhofer made his move as he dove to the bottom of the track in turns one and two and exited with the lead. Once at the point, he stayed there. Once lap later Miller also moved past Francis to take over second. When the checkered flag flew at the end of 25-laps, Birkhofer could count only a two car-length win on this night. He received $6,000 for his efforts on this preliminary night.
Miller settled for the second place check and Francis came across the stripe in third. Babb took fourth and Richards held for fifth. Round the top ten on this first night of competition were Jimmy Mars, Scott Bloomquist, Moyer, Lanigan and Brady Smith.
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