Liberman finishes strong year

Doug Liberman ran another good season in Late Models at Old Dominion Speedway.  The 44-year-old Delaware driver finished sixth in points despite missing four races. He also racked up seven top fives, including a second and two thirds.

“It was a pretty good season,” Liberman said.  “We won two poles, ran a couple of good races, with a second in one and a fifth in the ‘Big One.’ We also had a lot of good guys helping us out on the car.”

Liberman started off good, with three top fives in his first six races, including a second and two thirds.  It looked like he was going to have a strong year.  But he encountered big frustrations in May when he blew up his motor when he was running well in another race.

“We ran stronger in the first half of the season,” he said.  “That was with the good engine that we won a race with in 2008.  We started struggling after blowing that engine up.”

He also blew another motor in mid-August and got 13th place finishes in twin races. 

“Motor problems were a downfall throughout our year,” Liberman said.  “At the beginning of the year, it really felt like we were getting ready to start a good roll on the year and then the motor blew.”

Liberman’s best race was a twin 50 on July 11th.  He snagged a second in the first one, coming from ninth to second, and in the second race, led until lap 46 before another car got into him. 

“He didn’t meant to do it,” Liberman said.  “It just happened.  I don’t know if we would’ve won anyway because we were out of tires.” 

Liberman also had a good run in the ‘Big One,’ notching a fifth.  He’d been hoping for more since he was second in the ‘Big One’ in 2008.  He rode for most of this year’s race but still didn’t have enough tires left when it counted.Lieberman was frustrated at not getting a win this year.  Last season, he took home his first in the division.  He’d been racing for seven years, hoping to get to victory lane and finally did it.  His biggest satisfaction in that race was beating Willard Lawrence and Michael Hardin.

“That was a pretty big deal, winning,” Liberman said.  “Coming from fourth and beating two track champions was satisfying.  They didn’t drop out and we didn’t luck into it.  We won outright and beat good cars.”

Liberman had come close to winning before, but bad luck had always kept him out of victory lane.  His mind is already set on getting another win in 2010. 

Liberman also accepts the fact that his limited schedule has kept him from finishing high in points.  This season, he would’ve likely gotten third if he had run all the races. 

“I don’t like missing baseball and soccer games for my kids,” he said.  “I’d get in trouble for that.  So I always take some races out of the mix in the spring.  And it’s for a good reason.”

Liberman is already working on his engines for next season.  He wants to be primed and ready. 

“I’m looking forward to being back next year,” he said.  “We had a good car count and some good drivers this season.”