Oxford, Iowa’s Chris Simpson hopes the bad breaks turn good as 2008 late model season begins

Written by: KYLE EALY

OXFORD, Iowa — In summing up the 2007 racing year, Chris Simpson of Oxford will tell you that despite a rough first-half, the year ended up pretty well. “We had a lot of great runs throughout the season, but it seemed that we had our share of bad breaks that didn’t give us the finishes we would’ve liked. We did manage to finish the 2007 racing year strong and I’m hoping that carries over as we start fresh this season.”

The year started out rough with a trip to Lucas Oil Speedway and an MLRA-sanctioned event paying $3,000-to-win. “We had a new car and a new motor and we wanted to test everything out. We traveled down there with Denny and Doug (Eckrich) and despite having a rough track we made the A main, eventually got to sixth place and then ended up rolling the car the first night out. We came back the very next week to Farley for the WDRL opener. We pretty much rebuilt the car in two days, got second in the feature and seemed to be back on track.” In addition to his runner-up showing at Farley, Chris had an impressive top-10 run at West Liberty the following night. Simpson headed to Knoxville where they ran into motor issues and finished 18th. “That really set us back in the series a little bit and we kind of struggled somewhat the first half of the season. I had destroyed a car at Lakeside (Speedway) at the end of the 2006 season, which I really liked a lot. With the brand new car I was driving, it seemed like I was constantly fighting the chassis set-up.” About halfway through the season, Simpson decided to make the switch to another car that had been sitting in his shop.

“We got to Bloomfield for a USRA late model show with the other car, won my heat and took home the feature win that night. We had some good runs with that car, but not great finishes, so about three-quarters through the season I made the decision to get another car like the one I had totaled in Kansas City. We got the car in and with the help of Doug (Eckrich), he and I got the car set up and we went out and got top-five finishes the rest of the year.” With a new car, Simpson made up for lost time and points. “We were eighth in WDRL points with five races to go and kind of lit it up. We ended up with great runs at both Kansas City and Davenport to end the year, including the feature at Davenport where I was running neck and neck with Darren (Miller) on the last lap when I broke coming out of turn four for the checker. Like I said, I had a lot of great runs this season, just not the finishes we would’ve like to have had.” Despite missing three races in the USRA late model series, Chris still managed to finish in the top-10 in points.

Chris got his competitive nature by racing go-karts as a teenager. He and his brother Chad also spent many a weekend at West Liberty Raceway cheering for Dave and Brian Birkhofer. “It’s kind of funny looking back now, but we didn’t cheer for any of the Eckrichs back then and now I’m married to one (Amanda),” laughed Chris. “It’s weird how things work out sometimes.”

After go-karts Chris started racing in the pro-stock (limited late model) division sharing the car with Chad. “The first year we bought just one car, with myself running at Farley and Chad at West Liberty. I’d tear the car up a little bit on Friday, so Chad was stuck working on it all day Saturday just so he could race. It became a little bit of hassle for both of us, so Chad got another car.” About two years later they both purchased a couple of Steve Boley’s old late model cars and success soon followed. “I think it was the first year that the rules stated you could run a late model chassis in the limited late model class. We ran West Liberty pretty much non-stop for the next couple of years. If I remember correctly we won 14 of 19 features in one year,” recalled Simpson. “At that point we felt like we accomplished all we could in that division, so we moved up to the late model ranks.

Chris points out that when he started his late model career, he took “baby steps” at first. “We didn’t go out and buy all new stuff for the car. For example, instead of going out and dropping in a brand-new $30,000 motor, we got a $10,000 motor. We took gradual steps that first couple of years and it worked out real well.” Chris gives a lot of credit to Steve Boley as well, having the veteran there to steer Chris in the right direction early in his career. “Anytime you get help from a successful driver such as Steve, it helps tremendously. There was about two-year span that I started building cars with him (Boley) and “Captain”

Kirk Loudy. They both taught me a lot of the basics of late model racing.

When I would race against Steve on the track, he would always come over and talk to me afterwards and we would discuss what I may of done wrong on the track or what needs to be done with the car,” added Chris. “They both went as far as to schedule practice sessions with me and go over the details with me such as chassis set-up, shocks and other stuff. They’ve both been huge assets to me in getting started.”

The first couple of years for Chris in the late models were trying times.

“I won a couple of features at weekly shows my rookie year, but I really struggled my sophomore year. I think I may of won only one feature that second year. After being so dominant in the pro stocks, it was really tough for me, adjustment wise. My brother-in-law Andy (Eckrich) had a great season driving with a Barry Wright Chassis, so at the end of the second season I made the chassis switch from MasterSbilt to Barry Wright and the pieces seemed to fall into place after that.” Since his sophomore struggles, Simpson, along with his brother Chad, has become one of the young, up and coming late model drivers in the Midwest.

The 24-year-old Simpson hopes to start off the 2008 season much like he ended the 2007 one. “We’re going to run the WDRL Late Model Series with the same car and same motors we used last year. We feel confident we’ll get a good start to the season and hopefully keep the bad breaks behind us. We’re going to hit some of the Lucas (Oil Dirt Late Model Series) shows in the Midwest as well. It’s even possible that we might run a couple of UMP “Summernationals” events just to get my name out there, but more importantly to see how I measure up to some of the drivers in that series.”

Eventually, Chris wants to make his living as a late model driver. “I think its every dirt racer’s goal, especially for me, to make a living racing full-time. To be able to run a series like the WDRL, where I can afford to stay home and work on the car in your shop on a weekly basis. I think what hurts some of us, is you look at some of the successful drivers in the WDRL and other series that have that big sponsor and can afford to spend the week working on their car. I think that’s what hurts the guy who works nine-to-five every week the most; being prepared.”

Sponsors of Chris Simpson’s No. 32 race team include Five-Star Shop Service, Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation, Genius Tools of Ontario, Calif., Masterbilt Concrete, Chase Decals, Simpson Farms, Penn Avenue Farms, Garage Mahaul, Fountain Transmissions, Vance Wickham Farm Bureau Financial Services, Herb ‘n Lou’s, Stockman Construction and Brown Brothers Enterprises. Chris would also like to thank his pit crew that help him throughout the season; Dylan Disteroft, Travis Curtin and his step-father and car owner Kevin Trca. He especially wants to thank his wife Amanda for all of her support during the race season.