Chris Simpson rebounds to dominant win at West Liberty

WEST LIBERTY — In 2016, Chris Simpson swept the pair of Open Late Model races at Farley Speedway and West Liberty Raceway, capped by a Tornado Tuesday victory.

His attempt at a repeat of the sweep ended on the first lap of Monday night's Corn Belt Clash main event at Farley, getting into the crumbs of the cushion and then the wall, ruining his race.

The Oxford driver went to bed Monday night, but it took him forever to get to sleep. He knew what kind of car he had, and knew it wasn't really anyone's fault but his own why he didn't have a shot at matching the feat of 2016.

But Tuesday was what he had envisioned for the Iowa swing in the first place. He never had to pass a car for position all night, thoroughly dominating the $10,000-to-win main event and more than making up for Monday.

'It's amazing what a night can do,' Simpson said. 'I went home and laid in bed for an hour and a half just thinking about the mistake I made. Obviously we're all human and we make mistakes. It was a big bummer. We woke up at 5:45 this morning, got it fixed and I couldn't tell this thing was ever hurt. I can't thank my guys enough for that.

'It's been a long couple weeks, and it's great to end them on a good note.'

Simpson had to weather a few cautions and restarts to get the job done, but unlike some other situations, those didn't much bother him Tuesday night.

Even with Late Model legend Scott Bloomquist riding second throughout the race and on every restart, Simpson wasn't stressed out because he was so confident in his car. All the work he and his crew did over the course of the day clearly was worth it.

Simpson said they changed the right front lower A-frame, spindle and ball joint, all of which were bent after hitting the wall at Farley. From the first turn of the main event Tuesday night, he knew he was in for something special.

'It was phenomenal,' Simpson said. 'I'm going to be honest, anyone could've driven this thing tonight. In the feature, once I hit the first corner, then went to 3 and 4 and hit that corner the way I did, I knew it was going to be a good night.

'I saw Bloomer dive on me a couple times, but I knew the bottom wasn't good enough. That momentum line through the middle and up really rolled.'

Simpson won ahead of Bloomquist, his brother Chad Simpson, Rodney Sanders, and Monday night's winner, Spencer Diercks. Legendary Late Model racer Brian Birkhofer, who was making a brief return from retirement to race the two-night show, finished sixth.

Bloomquist finished ninth on Monday after racing for the win with Mike Marlar and Diercks, but a flat right rear tire relegated him to the back half of the top 10. He never seriously challenged Simpson — nor did anyone else all night — but was satisfied with the result on Tuesday night given how unique West Liberty is.

Even a guy with as much experience and as many laps as Bloomquist admitted knowing West Liberty's quirks like Simpsons does is a tremendous advantage.

'(Simpson) is from here, has a lot of laps here, and we just haven't been here for so long, we just weren't really sure what to do,' Bloomquist said. 'We were fast, we were just learning a little bit.

'There's nowhere like (West Liberty). To have a lot of experience here is everything. There's so much real estate out here to find where's the fastest.'

Like Monday night at Farley, the crowd was an impressive one at West Liberty on Tuesday night, with the grandstands nearly at capacity according to track officials. Both nights' attendance was owed in large part to the appearance of Birkhofer and Bloomquist, and came despite car counts of 19 on Monday and 16 on Tuesday for the Late Models.

While those counts were low, Simpson, Bloomquist and every other driver present were quick to correct anyone who was disappointed with a caveat: those 16 cars that showed up were as good as anyone in the region, and in a few cases, the country, they said.

Simpson, to that end, was no less proud of Tuesday's win than any other he's had. Beating Bloomquist is a feat no matter how many cars are in the race, he said.

Making up for Monday's mistake was just made all the sweeter because of that.

'Any time you out run Scott, it doesn't matter who's there,' Simpson said. 'It could've been just me and Scott and if I outrun him, (the count) doesn't matter because he's the best in the business. He's still kicking ass at the age he is. It's cool to beat him, for sure.'

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