Streaking Kirchoff draws foes closer to home
By Kevin Kovac
DIRTcar Racing
Eddie Kirchoff
Eddie Kirchoff performed spectacularly 12 hours from home last weekend. This weekend he'll try to put together another perfect performance in his backyard.
Hot off a sweep of a doubleheader co-sanctioned by the Colorado Late Model Association DIRTcar Series and Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series at Dodge City (Kan.) Raceway Park, the Gillette, Wyo., river will defend his home turf when the CLMA tour visits Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D., and Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway on May 14-15.
And Kirchoff, 27, will also be chasing history this weekend. After doubling up at Dodge City he owns 13 career CLMA DIRTcar Series victories, moving him past Kelly Boen of Henderson, Colo., for second on the tour's all-time victories list and within striking distance of the record 16 triumphs held by Brett Hallmark of Grand Junction, Colo.
"I didn't even realize I was close to the record," Kirchoff said. "Hopefully we can move a little closer to it this weekend."
Kirchoff brings plenty of momentum into the Black Hills-Gillette doubleheader. He tore through the field twice last weekend at Dodge City, advancing from the eighth starting spot to win Friday's preliminary and charging from the 12th slot in Saturday's 30-lapper to complete his sweep of the Six Shooter Showdown.
"It was a long drive to Kansas but it was definitely worth it after the weekend we had," said Kirchoff, who pocketed a total of $2,700 for his triumphs in the first-ever CLMA and MDLMS events under the DIRTcar Racing banner. "The track was beautiful, and the shape and size (3/8-mile) kind of reminded me of my hometown track but with a wall around it."
Kirchoff, who won the CLMA DIRTcar Series championship in 2007, has won six CLMA events at Gillette and one at Black Hills Speedway over the past three years.
"It'll be nice to have two races within a two-hour drive of home," said Kirchoff, who currently works at his father Ed's K&K Import Repair after being laid off from his engineer's job at the Jacob Ranch coal mine in Wright, Wyo., following a change of ownership. "We're off to a good start and want to keep it going."
Kirchoff will face plenty of tough competition this weekend, including Colorado drivers Scott Lewis, Dean Moore and Dave Garmann and Casper, Wyo.'s Jason Schierkolk, who finished 12 points behind Eddie in the 2009 weekly Late Model points standings at Gillette. Both races will pay $1,200 to win and $200 to start.
