Brown runs down Kile for IMCA Modified win in first trip to West Liberty

WEST LIBERTY — Kyle Brown just keeps winning races.

The State Center driver has started off 2016 as hot as any IMCA Modified driver out there, and certainly in Iowa, and added to that on Saturday night in his first trip to West Liberty Raceway.

In running down Nichols' Kurt Kile — a man who has thousands of laps on that ½-mile — from a straightaway behind, Brown got his fourth win in the last 21 days and 13th since September of 2015, and pocketed $1,000 for his trouble. Kile led the first 20 laps, but Brown searching for the fast line combined with lapped traffic made the final laps a dogfight Brown was able to win.

'Last fall, from Supernationals on, we won like nine of 12, and we won some good money stuff. There was good competition in there, but the Frostbuster stuff (this year) really showed that our program had potential,' Brown said. 'I think I found the way to get around the bottom better. He was getting in right above the hole and he was missing the moisture. I could catch that grip and really traction up hard to exit.

'I knew the car was good, and I knew Kurt starting where he did — he's got a ton of laps here — so I was thinking, 'I've got to get there.' You can't let a guy like that get out and expect to run him down. I don't know exactly where the speed came from or if he faded, and you can't expect to do that every time.'

While Brown was celebrating his win, Kile was disappointed but content with running second. Last year's Modified track champion at West Liberty — and a guy who's raced both Late Models and Modifieds there — knew starting up front was both a blessing and a curse.

Starting on the front row has advantages, but it also precludes a driver from learning where the fastest line might be as the race develops. Brown sympathized with what happened to Kile, who had a full straightaway lead before Brown was able to make up the gap. Brown said, 'I've had that happen, and it sucks. He was just a sitting duck. He didn't know what was coming in, and I was fighting my ass off just to get through fourth and fifth place. It just took me forever.'

Kile said carbuerator issues were a slight factor as well, but mostly lamented not knowing to change his line until it was too late.

'I knew that he was going to be coming, but I just had to do what I had to do. I'll take it, I'm happy,' Kile said. 'I wasn't real sure where he was coming, but he had the better car.

'I hate starting up front. I'd rather start third or fourth row every time. You go and get in the lead and don't try anything different because you don't know where the fast line is. You think you've got it and go from there. It's hard to make yourself go search when you're already up front.'

Brown had never raced at West Liberty before Saturday, but he felt at home on the dirt there — and fell in love with the track.

He's raced at tracks all over the Midwest, but Brown said he'd never experienced a track changing as much as West Liberty Raceway did from the beginning to the end of the night. Brown experienced what so many others — like Kile, for instance — have learned about West Liberty: the two ends may look the same from the stands, but they race completely different.

Between winning in his first trip and how 2016 has started, Brown has big ideas about this racing season.

'I was just saying, this might be my favorite half-mile. This place is a blast,' Brown said. 'I've never raced anywhere that's so different at both ends. Marshalltown is different, but here it's like you're on different dirt at both ends. It was fun. We might have to come here more.

'This run has been fun. If it goes like this all year, I don't know if I'll ever sell this car. It's going to be a good year for us.'

VAN DER WAL, PLUMMER DUKE IT OUT IN SPORT MOD

There was a time, several years ago, when the phrase 'Van Der Wal and Plummer are racing for the lead,' was uttered over and over. It was common to see that pair battling on the ½-mile at Hawkeye Downs Speedway

On Saturday night at West Liberty Raceway, it was a throwback to their pavement days, but on dirt. Oskaloosa's Curtis Van Der Wal edged out Norway's Tim Plummer for the win in IMCA Sport Mod. Van Der Wal led wire-to-wire, but not without Plummer showing his nose and giving the veteran racer something to think about.

'It brought back some memories,' Van Der Wal said. 'He's just so dang good, you hate to see his nose because it usually means he's going to blow by you. We were fortunate to be a little better and got to the right spot on the racetrack at the right time after seeing his nose.

'That was fun. Any time a racetrack is that racey and you've got a couple good lanes, it makes it really good.'

While neither said their days racing at Hawkeye Downs was a conscious thought while racing tonight, that experience racing one another did lead into Saturday night in one key way: trust.

Through five restarts, neither had to worry about the other pulling a move that would put them in a bad spot. Plummer said he's only on about race 10 of his dirt career after putting his No. 66 Sport Mod together, which makes it hard to trust most of the guys he races, simply because he doesn't know them well.

Plummer joked that 'the track was a lot like pavement though — it was nice and slick. Racing on the pavement helped us on a night like tonight, I think. Us pavement guys, going at it again. I feel like I can trust him. That's the hard part about the dirt thing, you know.'

Van Der Wal felt the same way, and said he was glad to learn something in that racing and take home the win.

'Tim's not going to run you over or anything like that. He's way, way too good for that,' Van Der Wal said. 'The biggest thing is you don't usually just see his nose. You see his nose, then his door, quarter panel and tail. We just got fortunate. He showed me how good the bottom was there. We were pretty committed to the top, but then we were able to get back down to the bottom and realize how much better it was there. That's one of those deals where it's really hard to be a leader.'

Both will be around Hawkeye Downs again this season, too, so the connection isn't finished. Neither will be in a car at present, but both plan on being around most Friday nights.

Van Der Wal will for sure be there, serving as Brody Willett's crew chief.

'We're going to do that on Friday nights here coming up at Hawkeye Downs,' Van Der Wal said. 'That'll be fun to get back to the old stamping grounds and help a kid that's got a ton of talent. I'm excited to get to do that. I'd love to be able to get to do that pavement deal too, but it's just way too hard to do.'

IMCA MODIFIED EXTRAVAGANZA

WEST LIBERTY RACEWAY RESULTS

IMCA Modified

1. 21k Kyle Brown; 2. 77 Kurt Kile; 3. 12 Ray Guss Jr.; 4. 9z Chris Zogg; 5. 33z Zack Vanderbeek; 6. 41 Jeremiah Hurst; 7. 1jr Dan Chapman; 8. 96 Larry Herring; 9. 61 Bruce Hanford; 10. 21d David Brown

IMCA Stock Car

1. 71 David Brandies; 2. 00 Johnny Spaw; 3. 28 Greg Gill; 4. 23b Adam Bell; 5. 44 Tad Payne

IMCA Sport Compact

1. 24 Steve Struck; 2. 53 Cody Van Dusen; 3. 0 Ryan Haue; 4. 9d Jason Klerkdereus 5. 9h Levi Heath

IMCA Sport Mod

1. 1v Curtis Van Der Wal; 2. 66 Tim Plummer; 3. 9 Logan Anderson; 4. 60 Dalton Simonsen; 5. 22 Austin Heacock

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