Car Owner Dale Beitler Hires Young Star Austin Hubbard To Drive No. 19 On 2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 19, 2009 - Car owner Dale Beitler will be back chasing the World of Outlaws Late Model Series schedule in 2010 with a fresh, young face behind the wheel of his familiar No. 19 machines.
Less than two weeks after his two-year relationship with former series champion Steve Francis ended following a close runner-up finish in the 2009 WoO LMS points standings, Beitler announced that he's hired 17-year-old sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., to campaign his equipment next season on the renowned national tour.
Saying that he enjoys racing “too much to stay at home,” Beitler, 52, decided to keep his team on the road with the Outlaws shortly after reaching a late-season agreement to part ways with Ashland, Ky.'s Francis, who is making a return to his own racing operation in 2010. He will forever relish his two successful years with Francis but feels the up-and-coming Hubbard, who aspires to win the 2010 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year award, is a perfect fit for Beitler Enterprises.
“With Austin, I think I'm going to be able to have a little more fun,” said Beitler, who has fielded dirt Late Models for more than 15 years. “Logistically everything will work well – he's only about an hour-and-a-half away from my shop (just outside Baltimore in West Friendship, Md.), so I can have that closeness with a driver that I'm looking for. I also feel it's going to be fun working with a younger driver with a real bright future ahead of him.
“I got to know Austin this year traveling to some (WoO LMS) shows with his team and I saw how hard he works and how much talent he has. He has a lot of energy, and I appreciate how much he loves the sport and has fun every time he's at the track.”
Hubbard joins Beitler's Reliable Painting team coming off a season in which he emerged as one of the country's top teenage talents. After spending the 2005-2008 campaigns running primarily at Virginia Motor Speedway – where he debuted in the Late Model division as a 13-year-old and won a championship in 2007 at the ripe age of 15 – he branched out in 2009 with his father Mike's Rocket cars, entering 28 WoO LMS events and more than two-dozen other regional and national specials. He turned heads in WoO competition by recording three top-five and eight top-10 finishes as well as a fast-time award, and he gained more attention when he became the second-youngest driver to qualify for the World 100 at Ohio's Eldora Speedway and registered the overall fastest lap for the Dirt Track World Championship at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.
“Obviously he has a lot of talent,” Beitler said of Hubbard, who scored his lone victory of 2009 in October at Ohio's Midway Speedway. “He's come a long way in a short time, and everyone is looking for big things from him. He's got a ton of potential.
“I think he can be as good as Josh (Richards, the 2009 WoO LMS champion who debuted on the tour in 2004 at the age of 16). He just might follow in Josh's footsteps.”
Beitler will provide his full arsenal to Hubbard, including one brand-new Rocket car and a pair of 2008 mounts. With four fresh Cornett engines also sitting ready to go, Beitler confidently said, “I'm probably more prepared to run next year than I've ever been.”
Making Beitler feel even more comfortable, his operation will be overseen by respected mechanic Robby Allen, who served as Hubbard's racing mentor this season. Allen will head out on the WoO LMS road fulltime in 2010 for the first time since he left Rick Eckert's side following the 2006 campaign.
“Robby worked real closely with Austin (in 2009) and brought him a long way,” said Beitler, who plans to attend as many of his team's events as his business commitments allow. “As any young driver does, Austin was making a lot of mistakes on the racetrack, but Robby talked to him and pointed things out and you could see the difference as the year went on. Austin listened to Robby and learned from him.”
Of course, Beitler isn't putting any pressure on Hubbard as the youngster embarks on his first national tour driving a well-known car that Francis piloted to 12 WoO LMS victories and points finishes of third and second over the past two years.
“There's no expectations,” said Beitler, whose resume as a car owner also includes many big triumphs with such drivers as Davey Johnson, Gary Stuhler and Steve Casebolt. “He has nothing to live up to. We're just gonna go out and do the best we can and have a good time doing it.”
Hubbard, meanwhile, is anxious to take advantage of the biggest break of his burgeoning career. After he completes two night classes in the next couple of weeks that will allow him to graduate early from Sussex Tech High School, the ‘Teenage Terror' will be free to focus on his new status as a fulltime driver.
“I really appreciate the opportunity that Dale Beitler has given me,” Hubbard said in a team press release announcing the deal. “It is an honor to be able to race with his team and crew chief Robby Allen. The team that we have is one of the best in the business and I am looking forward to being behind the wheel of the No. 19 for my first season following a national series.
“Robby and I were able to start learning one another's styles this year, so I think that will help us in 2010 and especially as I compete at many tracks for the first time.”
Hubbard understands the challenge facing him on the WoO LMS.
“I just love to race,” said Hubbard, who will also have cars owned by his father and Delaware's Charles Jarvis at his disposal for non-WoO LMS events that Beitler doesn't enter. “And in order to be the best, you have to be able to compete with them and learn from them. I haven't ever seen most of these tracks on the (WoO LMS) schedule, but I still will show up to each race with the intent to win. Rookie titles, championships and all are nice, but I want to be able to be competitive and be a better racer after every single event.”
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com
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Chub Frank Gets Good News About Injury That Sidelined Him For World of Outlaws World Finals
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 15, 2009 - After sitting out last weekend's World of Outlaws World Finals due to a painful facial injury, Chub Frank was certainly in need of some good news.
The veteran World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular got a dose of it – relatively speaking – on Wednesday afternoon.
Frank, 47, of Bear Lake, Pa., visited a specialist near his home and was informed that he would not need surgery for his injuries, which included fractures in his right cheek and orbital bone. He suffered the injuries during the first heat of the WoO LMS Hungry Man Showdown on Nov. 4 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway when an apparent clod of thick, hard-packed clay entered his car's cockpit and smashed into his helmet.
“It's definitely a relief to know I don't need surgery,” Frank said by phone from his race shop on Friday afternoon. “We have a lot of work to do to get ready for next year and I wasn't looking forward to taking time out for surgery.”
According to Frank, the specialist he consulted upon returning from North Carolina looked at his x-rays and determined that “all the bones are lined up and will heal on their own.” He had been told that an operation might be necessary after an initial examination by doctors at a Charlotte-area hospital, where he was transported following the incident.
Frank, who was back at The Dirt Track by midnight the evening of his incident, said the significant swelling he sported on the right side of his face for several days was virtually gone just over one week later. Some bruising and a bloodshot right eye remained as well as slight soreness, but he hasn't been deterred from diving into his off-season preparation.
“It was just a freak deal I guess,” said Frank, who didn't race for the rest of the weekend but was seen socializing in the pit area after each night's action and also attended the 2009 WoO LMS Awards Banquet on Nov. 8 in Concord, N.C. (wearing sunglasses to cover his bruised-and-bloodied eye). “There ain't nothing you can do about it now, so we'll just start thinking about next year. I'm just glad it's over with and I can look forward to getting my stuff ready for what I hope is going to be a better year.”
Frank finished a disappointing seventh in the 2009 WoO LMS points standings, earning a $24,000 points-fund check. He maintained that spot in the final rankings despite having to sit out both halves of the World Finals doubleheader; as a contracted WoO LMS driver unable to compete due to injury, he received 75 ‘hardship' (show-up) points for each program. (The Hungry Man Showdown offered only show-up points to all drivers.)
The injury did bring an inauspicious end to Frank's near-perfect record career starting record on the WoO LMS. When he failed to take the green flag in the Hungry Man Showdown, it marked the first time he did not participate in a tour A-Main since March 14, 2004, at Atomic Speedway in Oak Ridge, Tenn., snapping his consecutive-start streak at 227 races. Frank's single previous WoO LMS A-Main DNS prior to his three misses last weekend came in the sixth event of the tour's 2004 comeback season under the World Racing Group banner.
The only drivers with career WoO LMS starting records entering the World Finals that exceeded or matched Frank's were Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. – the lone racers who have started every series A-Main run since 2004 (a total of 237 races with the completion of the 2009 season) – and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who has missed just one Outlaw A-Main (on Feb. 19, 2006).
In an ironic sideline to Frank's injury, Smith and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. – two of Frank's closest friends on the WoO LMS – also absorbed blows to the helmet from apparent flying clods of clay during qualifying events for the Hungry Man Showdown at The Dirt Track. But they were more fortunate than Frank – Fuller was left with a cut above his nose and a welt on his cheek after taking a hit during the sixth heat, while Smith was momentarily stunned from a hard impact during a B-Main but escaped with little visible facial damage and a sore shoulder.
Neither Smith nor Fuller required a hospital visit, and both used provisional spots to start the postponed Hungry Man Showdown A-Main when it was run the next day and competed in the World Finals.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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Richards Collects $100,000 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Championship Check At Sunday's ‘Night of Champions' Awards Banquet
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 9, 2009 - Josh Richards didn't look – or sound – like ‘Kid Rocket' on Sunday night.
When the 21-year-old superstar from Shinnston, W.Va., stood behind the podium to accept his 2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship accolades during the tour's ‘Night of Champions' Awards Banquet at the Great Wolf Lodge, he struck the pose of a confident, mature man.
“This has been my goal ever since I started racing,” said Richards, who ran a partial WoO LMS schedule as a 16-year-old rookie in 2004 and has entered every event since 2005. “It's a dream come true.”
Richards received a $100,000 check as well as a custom-made championship ring and trophy for becoming the sixth different champion in as many years since the WoO LMS was reincarnated in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner. He clinched the prestigious title just 24 hours earlier one mile up the street at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway, where his seventh-place finish in the season-ending World Finals A-Main left him with a 14-point margin over 2007 WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.
Nearly $400,000 in points-fund cash was handed out during Sunday's sixth annual gala affair, which for the first time was held immediately after the World Finals in conjunction with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series awards banquet. Awards ceremonies for each series were conducted simultaneously in separate rooms and then the evening concluded with teams and sponsors from both tours mingling at a post-banquet party.
Quiet and shy when he won the 2005 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year, Richards showed how much he's grown up when he addressed the crowd of over 150 banquet attendees. He calmly expressed his emotions and thanked the supporters who helped facilitate his rapid rise to the top of the nation's premier dirt Late Model tour.
“I'm one of the luckiest guys in the business to be able to do what I love to do,” said Richards, who has made every start of his WoO LMS career behind the wheel of his father Mark's familiar Rocket Chassis house car. “My whole life has been racing – racing isn't just a hobby, it's a lifestyle. There's a lot of things you have to sacrifice to do this, but it's the life I've chosen and it's been an awesome ride.
“There's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears to do this, and Steve (Francis) put up a hard battle all year. To come out on top over a guy like Steve makes it that much more special.”
Richards, whose share of the points fund pushed his total 2009 earnings on the WoO LMS to over $286,000, showed appreciation to a long list of backers, including sponsors Seubert Calf Ranches, Cornett Racing Engines, ACE Metal Works, Ernie D's Enterprises, Petroff Towing, MCB Motorsports, Tony Stewart Racing, Ron Slavic, Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier Racing Tire and Integra Racing Shocks.
In addition, Richards singled out his parents Mark and Tina and younger sister Morgan; Rocket Chassis co-owner Steve Baker and his wife Sherri; crewmen Matt Barnes, Jimmy Frye and Joey Pinkleton and the staff at Rocket Chassis in Shinnston, W.Va.; and last, but certainly not least, several WoO LMS regulars who have provided guidance to Richards throughout his career.
“I wouldn't be here without a bunch of these guys in this room,” said Richards, who led the WoO LMS with eight victories this season and now ranks second on the tour's win list since 2004 with 20 triumphs. “Steve (Francis), Chub (Frank), Darrell (Lanigan), Tim (Fuller), Clint (Smith), Rick (Eckert) who's not here (because he left to attend his car owner Raye Vest's funeral) – everybody's been behind me from the start.”
Mark Richards accompanied his son to the stage to receive the champion car owner trophy. After saying, “To do this with your kid is unbelievable,” Mark directed heartfelt thanks to many of his boy's friendly rivals.
“There's a bunch of drivers in this room who have been a big part of this – especially Steve, Darrell and Chub,” said Mark Richards, who enjoyed his first points championship as a car owner since he partnered with driver Rodney Combs to win the 1983 NDRA Late Model tour title. “I don't know what to say to you guys, except, ‘Thanks for helping make Josh into a champion.'”
It was with some irony that the driver Richards outdueled for the WoO LMS title was the 42-year-old Francis, whom Mark Richards called “the biggest supporter and mentor throughout Josh's career.” Francis acknowledged his long-standing relationship with Richards after walking to the stage with car owner Dale Beitler to accept his runner-up trophy and $60,000 points-fund check.
“I always wanted to see Josh win this championship – but like I said on TV (during the World Finals broadcast), just not necessarily at my cost,” said Francis, who settled for his fourth career second-place in the WoO LMS points standings (1989, 2004, 2005). “It came out that way in the end.”
Francis, who recently revealed that his two-year stint as Beitler's driver has come to an end and he plans to return to the WoO LMS in 2010 with his own equipment and help from Kentucky car owner Tim Logan, hailed Richards's accomplishment.
“Congratulations Josh,” said Francis, nodding toward the driver he watched take his first laps in a dirt Late Model. “I know how it feels to be where you're at, and I know how hard you worked all year. We tried to keep you honest and make you earn it.”
Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., collected a $40,000 check for finishing third in the points standings after a late-season slump dropped him out of a three-way title battle with Richards and Francis. It marked the second straight season that the tour's defending champion settled for third place in the points race.
Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., received $35,000 for finishing a career-high fourth in the points standings, while Rick Eckert of York, Pa., pocketed $30,000 for placing fifth.
Eckert was the lone driver among the 14 with perfect attendance on the 40-race '09 WoO LMS who was not in attendance on Sunday night. He headed home after Saturday night's program to attend memorial services for his longtime car owner Raye Vest, who passed away last Wednesday and was remembered with prayers during the World Finals and Sunday's banquet.
Rounding out the top 10 in the '09 points standings was Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga. ($25,000); Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. ($24,000), who sported a badly bruised-and-bloodied right eye and cheekbone that was the product of being struck in his helmet by an apparent clod of clay during last Wednesday night's Hungry Man Showdown qualifying at The Dirt Track (he sat out the World Finals action due to the injury); Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis. ($23,000); Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga. ($22,000); and Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio ($21,000).
King, 20, added another $10,000 to his banquet take-home pay for winning the 2009 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year award. He also received a $2,500 credit toward the purchase of a Rocket Chassis in a surprise presentation made by Steve Baker, who announced that the manufacturer plans to offer the prize to the highest-finishing Rocket Chassis campaigner in future Rookie of the Year points races.
The fourth WoO LMS Rookie of the Year in six years with roots in the Northeast's DIRTcar big-block Modified ranks, King outdistanced Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif., in the rookie standings, which were determined using drivers' best 30 finishes on the tour.
King's fellow rookies were called to the stage for acknowledgement and each received a cash award.
“This is definitely a career moment,” said King, who was joined at the banquet by his parents/car owners Rex Sr. and Sis. “I have to thank Josh (Richards), Mark (Richards) and Steve (Baker) for helping me out as much as they could, along with guys like Fuller, ‘Smoke' (Fuller's chief mechanic Mike Countryman) and Chub. I don't know for what reason, but those guys kinda took me under their wing and it means a lot to me.”
Countryman made his own appearance on stage, receiving recognition as the 2009 Integra Racing Shocks Crew Chief of the Year. Integra rep Brian Daugherty presented a specially-designed wrench-shaped trophy and a $1,000 check to ‘Smoke,' who came out on top in balloting conducted among his fellow crew chiefs and WoO LMS officials.
Rocket Chassis of Shinnston, W.Va., was recognized as the winner of the 2009 WoO LMS Chassis Builders' Challenge – the sixth straight year that the company has earned the nod. Eleven drivers won WoO LMS A-Mains using Rocket cars this season, giving the manufacturer 31 victories in 40 events.
Cornett ‘Thunder & Lightning' Racing Engines in Somerset, Ky., was announced as the winner of the 2009 WoO LMS Engine Builders' Challenge. It was the second consecutive honor for company owner Jack Cornett, whose customers swept the top three spots in the points standings for the second year in a row.
Longtime Cornett engine user Lanigan accepted the award for Cornett, who was not able to attend Sunday's banquet.
WRG President Tom Deery presented the 2009 WoO LMS Promoter of the Year Award to the Queensland family of Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., and the Blooming Prairier (Minn.) Lions Club. The track and club members combined to promote the unique 30th annual ‘Gopher 50' Charity Race in July – an event from which Darrell Lanigan went home $20,000 richer because he claimed the 10-grand ‘past champions' bonus that was posted for the milestone running of the show.
VP Racing Fuels provided a pair of special awards, giving the 14-year-old Reddick a 54-gallon drum of Late Model Plus fuel for winning the most VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs' awards (a pair of fuel jugs to the fastest time-trialer who doesn't qualify for each event) and Richards $500 in cash for winning the most A-Mains in 2009.
VP's Executive Director of Marketing & Communications Steve Scheidker told the crowd that there was a certain idea to the award that went to Richards: “We want to start a World of Outlaws tradition with this award – the money is for the driver with the most wins to buy drinks at the bar for all his friends and family after the banquet.”
Among the WRG officials who addressed those in attendance were Deery, Chief Executive Officer Brian Carter and Chief Marketing Officer Ben Geisler. WoO LMS director Tim Christman also gave a review of the 2009 season, thanked the tour's hard-working road crew (race director Bret Emrick, announcer and banquet host Rick Eshelman, tech director Terry Watson, scorer Sandy Holt, pit steward Kris Underwood and P.R. director Kevin Kovac) and looked ahead to the upcoming 2010 campaign.
“I think we have a great 2010 in store,” Christman said after highlighting several major events that will be contested next season. “One thing I always say is that I think we're in the infant stages of where we're gonna end up. I think we'll continue to grow because this is the future of dirt track racing.”
Christman said Sunday's announcement that the rich $50,000-to-win USA Nationals on Aug. 6-7 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., will be part of the WoO LMS in 2010 is just the start of exciting news to come from the tour. He said the 2010 WoO LMS special-event dates will be released in the coming days with a complete schedule announcement to follow soon after.
The 2010 WoO LMS season will kick off with two programs (Feb. 11 and 13) during the 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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WORLD FINALS EXCITEMENT INCLUDES ANNOUNCEMENT OF MERRITTVILLE DATE IN 2010
For Release - Monday November 9, 2009 From Jim Irvine
Merrittville Speedway Public Relations
Thorold, Ontario (November 9) … You may have enjoyed the 2009 World of Outlaws World Finals live on the SPEED cable network in the comfort of your own home this past Saturday Night or perhaps you may have been trackside in the grandstands at the Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway amongst fellow race fans from all over North America.
On the heels of one of the closest WoO Late Model Points Races in series’ history comes the announcement that the Great Northern Tour will make a stop in 2010 at Merrittville Speedway – Thursday June 17th.
News of the one of the newest events was broken by Raceline Radio’s Erik Tomas during the November 8th show on CHML. Race fans can listen locally Monday November 9th starting at 9:06 PM on 105.1 The River.
“It’s so new … even to us,” prides (Merrittville GM) Erica Bicknell, “maybe it will sink in soon … we have the best racers week in and week out every Saturday Night … the addition of the World of Outlaw Late Model Series allows our fans to see the drivers up close and in person that they may have only seen on TV … until now!”
Drivers such as Steve Francis, Josh Richards, Darrell Lanigan, Rick Eckert, Shane Clanton and Chub Frank and a host of others are expected to make their first ever visits to the d-shaped Thorold show place.
No strangers to Merrittville however are drivers like Billy Decker, Tim McCreadie, Tim Fuller and Russell King – all WoO LM competitors as well in 2009 who have had plenty of experience at the Thorold Track in DIRTcar Modifieds.
Fuller went into the World Finals fourth in WoO Late Model Points while King – from the BRP Modified Tour – is the leading contender for Rookie of the Year honors and both drivers remained in those positions after the two day show.
“The anticipation is building and the countdown has begun,” adds Bicknell, “will our DIRTcar Modified Drivers have the edge … or will it be a first timer that steals the show … whatever the outcome … it’s an exciting highlight of our 59th season and a thrilling start to the summer of 2010.”
The inaugural World of Outlaw Late Model Event at Merrittville Speedway will feature time trials, qualifying heats and B Mains as necessary – culminating with a blockbuster of a 50 lap Finale – June 17th.
Justin Haers set the standard this past August with a lap of 15.044 seconds. That mark is sure to fall this June.
Fans following the 2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series may wish to visit Merrittville Speedway and all that the surrounding Niagara Region has to offer.
Located in the heart of one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world – the track is minutes from the roar of Niagara Falls with its world class casinos and attractions. The Niagara Peninsula is also the most well-known and developed wine region in Canada and North America. Race fans may also wish to make it a doubleheader and enjoy all the action of Saturday June 19th’s Lucas Oil Weekly Racing Series Program.
Support divisions and ticket information will be made available in the very near future.
Several sponsorship opportunities are available around the historic event.
Interested businesses can contact Erica Bicknell at the Speedway’s Winter Office located at Bicknell Racing Products in St. Catharines by calling 905-685-7223 or via e mail at ebicknell@cogeco.net.
For further information on Merrittville Speedway’s 59th Consecutive Season – visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com for all the news.
For news on the World of Outlaw Late Models – visit www.worldofoutlaws.com/latemodel
Join us next season on a Saturday Night for A LUCAS OIL WEEKLY RACING SERIES EVENT featuring FIVE Weekly Racing Divisions featuring local heroes and up and coming new stars and special events including the inaugural June 17th WoO LMS Extravaganza.
Make your plans … call your friends and maybe even get a car pool together and enjoy a staycation at the speedway with plenty of free parking and camping spots – a night at the races is so much fun and so close to home!
You’re among friends at Boston Pizza and Merrittville Speedway and race fans are reminded that 2009 Merrittville Speedway Grandstand Ticket stubs have a special offer from the Niagara Street Welland Boston Pizza location.
Your Local Dirt Track is where it's at!! Merrittville Speedway "The Best Family Entertainment in Niagara"
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Cedar Lake Speedway's USA Nationals Returns To World of Outlaws Late Model Series Schedule In 2010
NEW RICHMOND, WI - Nov. 8, 2009 - A bit of history promises to add thrills and intrigue to the 2010 USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway.
Scheduled for Aug. 6-7, 2010, the 23rd annual USA Nationals will conjure memories of its inaugural running by returning as a highlighted stop on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
The prestigious $50,000-to-win, 100-lap event, which debuted in 1988 as part of the original incarnation of the WoO LMS, will be sanctioned by the renowned national tour for the first time since 2005.
“For 22 years the USA Nationals has been a wildly successful event for Cedar Lake Speedway whether it's been sanctioned or unsanctioned,” said Bob Kaufman, who co-owns the high-banked, three-eighths-mile oval with his brothers Chuck and Steve and Brad Both. “But we're always looking for ways to make the weekend more interesting for the fans, so we're excited about bringing a ‘Back to the Future' theme to a historic event with the return of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
“There's no doubt that the 2010 USA Nationals is going to be bigger and better than ever.”
All the factors that have made the USA Nationals so popular with dirt Late Model fans and teams will continue in 2010, including a format featuring a qualifying night (time trials and heats) on Fri., Aug. 6, and last-chance events preceding the 100-lap A-Main on Sat., Aug. 7; a gargantuan purse of nearly $250,000; and an array of entertaining off-track activities (golf scramble, Ladder Ball competition, Apple River Tubing expedition, driver autograph session, post-race parties under the Big White Tent in the pits) that give a more-than-just-a-race feeling to the event.
The weekend will also once again kick off with a full preliminary program on Thurs., Aug. 5, before the WoO LMS banner is unfurled for the Friday-Saturday action.
“The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is absolutely thrilled to be a part of the 2010 USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway,” said WoO LMS director Tim Christman. “It's an honor to be associated with an event of this magnitude. The USA Nationals is already well-established as a crown-jewel dirt Late Model race and we're looking forward to working with Cedar Lake's management to bring even more attention and excitement to a spectacular weekend.”
With the full roster of touring WoO LMS superstars joining a host of national and regional standouts in chasing the 2010 USA Nationals trophy, arguably the most talented field in Cedar Lake Speedway history will fill the track's pit area. All the entrants will compete for the richest purse on the 2010 WoO LMS – an impressive payoff that not only boasts a $50,000 check for first place, but also $20,000 for second, $15,000 for third and $2,000 to start.
“Considering Cedar Lake's northern location (about 30 minutes east of Minnesota's Twin Cities), it's always been a challenge getting the top guys from down south and the Northeast to come up here for the USA Nationals,” said Kaufman. “The ‘FansFund' (a unique program in which fans vote on drivers they'd most like to see at the Nationals and raise tow money to bring the racers to the event) has helped strengthen the field the last two years and will continue in 2010, and we feel that partnering with the World of Outlaws allows us the opportunity to bring in more talented drivers from across the country to give our fans the best show possible.”
The WoO LMS will actually be one of three entities owned by the Concord, N.C.-based World Racing Group that appear on the 2010 schedule at Cedar Lake Speedway. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series will continue to make a traditional visit to the Badger State facility, and the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals dirt Late Model tour will compete at Cedar Lake for the first time since 1996.
“We're not only excited about the USA Nationals, but also about expanding our relationship with the entire (World Racing Group) organization,” said Kaufman. “We've historically hosted a World of Outlaws Sprint Car event and we will have one again in 2010 (on July 11), and next season we also will present the opening weekend of the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals with two complete programs on June 18 and 19 to headline our 12th annual ‘Masters' events.”
Immediately preceding the start of the USA Nationals, the WoO LMS will bring more action to Wisconsin's fans with a visit to Shawano Speedway on Wed., Aug. 4. It will mark the tour's first-ever appearance at the half-mile oval outside Green Bay in eastern Wisconsin.
Additional info on the 2010 USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway is available by logging on to www.cedarlakespeedway.com or calling the track office at 866-4CLS-FUN.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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Owens Captures Saturday's World Finals Finale As Richards Clinches First World of Outlaws Late Model Series Championship
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 7, 2009 - Jimmy Owens earned plenty of adulation with a powerful drive to victory in Saturday night's 50-lap World of Outlaws World Finals A-Main at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
But the standout racer from Newport, Tenn., shared the post-race spotlight with Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who clinched his first career World of Outlaws Late Model Series points championship with a seventh-place finish in the season-ending event.
Richards, 21, entered the evening's action holding a narrow four-point edge over 2007 WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and extended it to a final margin of 14 points by making a smooth, steady advance from the 14th starting spot. Francis was never a factor, slipping backward from the 10th starting position and finishing 12th to leave him the tour's points runner-up for the fourth time in his career.
“This is just a dream come true,” said Richards, who overtook Francis for the points lead on Friday night and held on to secure the prestigious $100,000 crown. “I've always watched all these (WoO LMS) guys run and I know how good they are, so being a World of Outlaws champion is just awesome.”
A regular on the WoO LMS since winning the Rookie of the Year award in 2005, Richards became the sixth different series champion since the tour was reincarnated in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner. He has driven his father Mark's Rocket Chassis house car throughout his career.
Owens, 37, was certainly an interested observer of the championship showdown. He asked WoO LMS announcer Rick Eshelman who had won the title before beginning his post-race interview.
“Congratulations to Josh and his guys,” Owens said while standing on the winner's stage in front of a standing-room-only crowd and a national television audience on SPEED. “He had a great season and deserves the championship.”
Owens was the deserving winner of Saturday's headliner, roaring forward from the eighth starting spot to pass race-long pacesetter Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., for the lead on lap 34. The four-time UMP DIRTcar Modified national champion ran unchallenged for the remainder of the distance in his Mike Reece-owned Team Zero by Bloomquist car.
Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., overtook Babb on lap 45 and finished second, 2.599 seconds behind Owens at the checkered flag. Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., came alive following a lap-40 restart to finish third, 2008 WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., was fourth and Babb fell back to fifth.
Owens made a solid comeback from a forgettable outing on Friday night. He failed to qualify after contact with another car during a heat race broke his machine's right-rear axle tube.
“We got us a new rearend and got the car put back together,” said Owens, who registered his second career triumph on the WoO LMS. “We were able to pick up where we left off.”
A savvy Hoosier tire choice paid dividends for Owens, who had little trouble moving into contention. He overtook McCreadie for second on lap 23 and spent several circuits battling for the top spot with Babb before gaining control for good.
“As soon as we walked up and watched the consies we had it set in our minds what we were gonna do (with tires),” said Owens. “There were some different combinations out there and we were able to pick the right one I guess. As soon as we fired off it was going good.
“I'm real happy. Winning in front of all these people is a great way to end the weekend.”
McCreadie, 35, likely saw his chances for victory take a major hit when he opted for a different tire compound than Owens.
“He had a harder tire on and that might have been the difference,” said McCreadie, who started third in the Sweeteners Plus Rocket. “I wanted to put that tire on, but I talked myself out of it.
“I was hoping we could get a yellow at the end (after grabbing second from Babb) to see what we could do with Owens, but I'm happy. We haven't run very good down here in a long time, so it's fun to run up front again.”
Pearson, 37, came on strong in the final laps, steering the Bobby Labonte Motorsports MasterSbilt around Lanigan and Babb on lap 47 to snare third place. He crossed the finish line more than four seconds behind Owens, however.
“We just picked too hard a tire,” said Pearson, who started sixth but lost several spots on the opening lap when he slid high in turn two. “The right-front (tire) was hard and just wouldn't steer until it got some heat in it, so it killed me at the start.
“At the end we had that restart (on lap 40) and I just said, ‘I'm going to the top to see what I can do.' It paid off for me down here in (turns) one and two, so we'll take third.”
Just two caution flags slowed the event, both for stopped cars in turn four. Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., slowed on lap three and Tommy Kerr of Maryville, Tenn., came to rest on lap 40.
Finishing in positions 6-10 was Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who started from the pole position after winning a heat race for the first time in 2009; Richards; Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who started fourth but was unable to move forward; Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga.; and Friday-night World Finals winner Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., who never recovered after being penalized one row when officials ruled that he did not fire correctly as the polesitter of the first heat.
Winners of the 10-lap heat races on Saturday night, which were aligned by the results of Thursday's second-round time trials, were McCreadie, Eckert, Clint Smith, Pearson, Lanigan and Babb. The B-Mains were captured by Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., and Brad Neat of Dunnville, Ky., who went on to finish 15th and earn the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks' cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn't won a series A-Main and isn't ranked among the top 12 in the tour points standings.
Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, entered the program having already clinched the 2009 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year award. The 20-year-old racer finished 20th in Saturday night's A-Main.
The 2009 WoO LMS campaign will be celebrated – and nearly $400,000 in points-fund cash will be distributed – on Sunday night (Nov. 8) during the tour's awards banquet at the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, N.C.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series World Finals Night 2 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (8) Jimmy Owens/50 $10,100
2. (3) Tim McCreadie/50 $5,100
3. (6) Earl Pearson Jr./50 $3,000
4. (5) Darrell Lanigan/50 $2,600
5. (2) Shannon Babb/50 $2,000
6. (1) Clint Smith/50 $1,700
7. (14) Josh Richards/50 $1,400
8. (4) Rick Eckert/50 $1,300
9. (11) Dale McDowell/50 $1,200
10. (13) Scott Bloomquist/50 $1,250
11. (7) Chris Madden/50 $1,050
12. (10) Steve Francis/50 $1,100
13. (17) Tim Fuller/50 $950
14. (9) Brady Smith/50 $900
15. (21) Brad Neat/50 $1,350
16. (12) Shane Clanton/50 $800
17. (22) John Blankenship/50 $770
18. (24) Mike Knight/49 $750
19. (15) Gregg Satterlee/49 $730
20. (25) Russell King/49 $950
21. (27) Dan Schlieper/49 $700
22. (28) Ken Schrader/49 $700
23. (20) Jason Feger/48 $700
24. (26) Brent Robinson/48 $700
25. (18) Tommy Kerr/48 $700
26. (19) Jordan Bland/47 $700
27. (23) Matt Lux/38 $700
28. (16) Chris Ferguson/2 $700
Time of Race: 22 Mins., 17.752 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 2.599 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 3, 40)
Lap Leaders: Babb (1-33); Owens (34-50)
Final 2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings
1. Josh Richards 5420
2. Steve Francis 5406
3. Darrell Lanigan 5340
4. Tim Fuller 5240
5. Rick Eckert 5220
6. Shane Clanton 5156
7. Chub Frank 5018
8. Brady Smith 4981
9. Clint Smith 4918
10. Russell King 4428
Bloomquist Opens World of Outlaws World Finals With Friday-Night Victory For Third Straight Year
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 6, 2009 - Scott Bloomquist has the Friday-night portion of the World of Outlaws World Finals down pat.
The 2004 World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion opened the tour's season-ending doubleheader at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway with a victory for the third consecutive year, capturing Friday's 50-lap A-Main in front of a packed grandstand.
Bloomquist, 45, of Mooresburg, Tenn., proved to be a survivor on a fast, challenging track surface. While contenders Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., and Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., were struck by misfortune just as they appeared to be in position to win, Bloomquist stayed steady and smooth to score his first WoO LMS triumph since last year's World Finals.
“It really is a fine art figuring out if you want to push it and risk tearing something up,” said Bloomquist, who recorded his 19th career WoO LMS triumph and pushed his alltime-best dirt Late Model win total at The Dirt Track to six. “The cushion in (turns) one and two was really tricky to mess with, but the car was really great and it allowed us to move all over on the racetrack.”
Pearson did take the lead on lap 23 after Bloomquist had raced off the outside pole to set the pace from the start, but the 2009 Circle K Colossal 100 winner's stint in front was short-lived. Terminal engine trouble sidelined Pearson on lap 28, handing the lead back to Bloomquist for good.
Feger, who clinched his first career UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national title one month ago, reached Bloomquist's rear bumper on lap 40 after electrifying the huge crowd with an outside charge from the 19th starting spot to second in his Pierce car. But moments later a flat left-rear tire forced Feger to slow and bring out a caution flag, leaving Bloomquist home free for the remainder of the distance.
“Earl got us in traffic there (for the lead), but I was pretty confident that we had plenty left,” said Bloomquist, whose victory was worth $10,200. “There were too many laps left for me to get too excited.
“If Jason was closing, I'm sure he was just wide open on the top,” he added when asked about Feger's challenge. “I don't think he cut a tire; I think he jerked it off the wheel. That's the kind of chances you take (running the cushion).”
Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C., who runs a Team Zero by Bloomquist car and is second on The Dirt Track's career win list with four victories, inherited second place from Feger and stayed there to the finish. He advanced from the 11th starting spot but never made a serious bid for the win, ending the race a distant 2.834 seconds behind Bloomquist.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., hustled forward from the 18th starting spot to finish third, securing a sweep of the top-three positions for Team Zero by Bloomquist cars. Defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who started 13th, and seventh-starter Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in Rocket machines.
Feger, meanwhile, came back from a pit stop to finish sixth. The 31-year-old talent impressed observers with his performance just two days after laying eyes on the four-tenths-mile oval for the first time, but an untimely flat tire robbed him of a shot at a popular upset victory.
“I was trying to be smooth – as smooth as you could be in that cushion,” said Feger, who won a B-Main after losing a transfer spot in a heat late in the distance. “But when it's choppy like that, it's hard for these tires to stay under you.
“We got right to (Bloomquist's) back bumper there in (turns) three and four (on lap 40), and then the next lap is when the tire just disintegrated. It just wasn't our night, but me and the guys are happy that we're up to speed. I think we showed what we have.”
Richards, 21, made a stirring late-race rally to salvage a top-five finish after slowing with a flat right-rear tire on lap 43 while in contention for third place. The save allowed Richards to turn a four-point deficit in the WoO LMS points standings into a four-point lead over Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who ran as high as third before power-steering problems that developed just before the halfway mark caused him to fade to ninth at the finish.
Richards and Francis will bring their dramatic battle for the $100,000 WoO LMS points title to an end in Saturday night's 50-lap World Finals A-Main, which will be part of a live broadcast on the SPEED cable network from 8-11 p.m. ET.
Bloomquist is hoping that he can repeat his success in front of the SPEED cameras and, in the process, become the first driver to sweep the two A-Mains that make up the three-year-old World Finals. But he's already quite satisfied with a visit to The Dirt Track that includes his World Finals victory, a second-place finish in Thursday night's postponed 50-lap Hungry Man Showdown – and, more generally, his role in helping create more dirt Late Model fans.
“One thing that's kind of nice about this (World Finals) deal is that every year we've had so many comments from people about how we kinda converted some Sprint Car fans (to dirt Late Model racing),” said Bloomquist. “Our racing is, I think, a little more competitive and a little bit better racing than these people who were Sprint fans realize.
“I think a lot of people saw enough of the Late Models the last couple years that they knew (Friday's A-Main) was gonna be a good show, and it obviously turned out to be one.”
Five caution flags slowed the event, but only one was for an accident. Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis., and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., were involved in a backstretch tangle on lap 30.
The race's first caution flag flew on lap 25 for 12th-starter Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., who ran as high as fourth before slowing with a flat left-rear tire. He did not return.
Finishing in positions 7-10 were Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.; Eric Jacobsen of Sea Cliff Beach, Calif., who earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks' cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn't won a tour A-Main and isn't in the top 12 of the points standings; Francis; and Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C., who is the 19-year-old grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress.
Winners of Friday night's heat race, which were aligned by the results of the first-round time trials on Thursday, were Francis, Bloomquist, Dillon, Ricky Weeks of Rutherfordton, N.C., Pearson and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who fell from fourth place to 11th on the final lap of the A-Main due to a broken axle. The B-Mains were captured by Feger, Booper Bare of Rockbridge Baths, Va., and Brady Smith.
Qualifying was marred by a wild crash involving Jerry Rice of Verona, Ky., whose car bicycled into a series of snap rolls between turns three and four on lap one of the fourth heat. The 42-year-old Rice climbed out of the destroyed machine under his own power, but he was later transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
The World Finals continue on Saturday (Nov. 7) with the second and final night of WoO Late Model and Sprint Car activity. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. with racing getting the green flag at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com or www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series World Finals Night 1 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Scott Bloomquist/50 $10,200
2. (11) Chris Madden/50 $5,000
3. (18) Rick Eckert/50 $3,500
4. (13) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,150
5. (7) Josh Richards/50 $2,500
6. (19) Jason Feger/50 $1,700
7. (15) Jeep VanWormer/50 $1,400
8. (10) Eric Jacobsen/50 $1,800
9. (4) Steve Francis/50 $1,800
10. (6) Austin Dillon/50 $1,200
11. (1) Shane Clanton/50 $1,550
12. (5) Ricky Weeks/49 $1,000
13. (25) Clint Smith/49 $1,450
14. (8) Gregg Satterlee/49 $900
15. (23) Brad Neat/48 $850
16. (14) Adam Hensel/42 $800
17. (22) Tim Fuller/34 $1,270
18. (26) Russell King/34 $1,500
19. (9) Dan Schlieper/30 $730
20. (21) Brady Smith/30 $1,200
21. (3) Earl Pearson Jr./28 $700
22. (16) Tim Dohm/28 $700
23. (24) Vic Coffey/27 $700
24. (12) Dale McDowell/25 $700
25. (28) Ken Schrader/15 $700
26. (20) Booper Bare/13 $700
27. (17) Tim McCreadie/11 $800
28. (27) Eric Wells/9 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 30 Mins., 10.282 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 2.834 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 5 (Laps 25, 28, 30, 40, 43)
Lap Leaders: Bloomquist (1-22); Pearson (23-28); Bloomquist (29-50)
2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Nov. 6 – 39 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 5284 (-0)
2. Steve Francis 5280 (-4)
3. Darrell Lanigan 5198
4. Tim Fuller 5116
5. Rick Eckert 5086
6. Shane Clanton 5038
7. Chub Frank 4943
8. Brady Smith 4859
9. Clint Smith 4780
10. Russell King 4318
11. Jordan Bland 4131
12. Brent Robinson 3907
13. Dustin Hapka 3572
14. Tyler Reddick 3392
15. Vic Coffey 3271
16. Austin Hubbard 3023
17. Gregg Satterlee 1903
18. Matt Lux 1892
19. Dan Stone 1676
20. Tim McCreadie 1642
-end-
Richards Repels Bloomquist For $12,750 Score In Thursday Night's Postponed Hungry Man Showdown At Lowe's Motor Speedway
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 5, 2009 - Josh Richards is ready to battle for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship.
The 21-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., tuned up for his World Finals showdown with Steve Francis in fine fashion on Thursday night, repelling a late restart challenge from Scott Bloomquist to capture the postponed 50-lap Hungry Man Showdown at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Richards remained four points behind Francis in the WoO LMS standings because the special event, which was rescheduled to the end of the World Finals qualifying night due to difficult track conditions and the late hour on Wednesday, offered only show-up points. But with a powerful performance, Richards picked up plenty of momentum in his pursuit of a first career tour title.
“This is definitely a big confidence booster,” said Richards, who registered his series-leading eighth victory of the 2009 season. “We're still second in the points and I know it's gonna be tight for the rest of the weekend, but this gets the whole crew pumped up.”
The triumph was Richards's first since July 16 at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D., and was worth a cool $12,750, including a $2,000 ‘passing bonus' for winning from the second starting spot. It was his 20th career WoO LMS victory, moving him out of a tie with Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and into sole possession of second place on the tour's win list since 2004.
In an A-Main that was run with conventionally-bodied cars after officials decided to scrap the planned ‘topless' format following the postponement, Richards raced off the outside pole to grab the lead from Francis on lap 12. He built more than a straightaway lead before caution flags on laps 47 and 48 – the only slowdowns of the event – allowed Mooresburg, Tenn.'s Bloomquist to mount a last-ditch bid.
Bloomquist, who turns 46 on Nov. 14, appeared primed to overtake Richards one circuit after the lap-47 restart, but another caution flag on lap 48 stopped the challenge. Richards then dominated the ensuing restart, steering his Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket car away from Bloomquist's Team Zero machine to beat the 2004 WoO LMS champion by 0.844 of a second.
Francis, who led laps 1-11 after starting from the pole position, settled for third place in Dale Beitler's Reliable Painting Rocket. He lost the runner-up position to Bloomquist on the lap-47 restart that followed a caution flag for the stopped car driven by Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del.
Defending Showdown winner Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C., finished fourth and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., placed fifth after his advance from the 11th starting spot stalled over the final 22 laps.
Richards was both hindered and helped by the late caution flags. The first nearly cost him the race, and the second likely saved it for him.
“My right-rear tire gave up with about seven (laps) to go,” said Richards, who recorded his second career WoO LMS win at The Dirt Track. “I was leaning on it pretty hard trying to get by lapped cars because I didn't know how much of a lead I had. Then all of a sudden it just died – like instantly. I was just skating around. It felt like I fell off a half-second.”
After Richards saw his huge lead wiped out by the caution flag on lap 47, Bloomquist charged around Francis on the restart and had his car outside of Richards's machine heading down the backstretch on lap 48. But the circuit wasn't completed because Eric Jacobsen of Sea Cliff Beach, Calif., spun on the homestretch to bring out another caution flag, and Richards powered away when the green flag returned.
“I just ran it harder and wider after the last restart,” said Richards. “I figured I was either gonna win or just kill the tires. I gave it all I had and it worked out.”
Richards credited his successful run to his crew members, who scrambled to get his No. 1 machine ready for the A-Main after he ran into trouble during his World Finals second-round qualifying laps a short time before the Hungry Man Showdown.
“I let off the gas at the end of my second (time trial) lap and about knocked the whole front end off the car,” said Richards. “All the guys at the trailer worked hard to fix what I did. We barely got it ready for the feature.”
Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C. – the 19-year-old grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress – scored a WoO LMS career-best finish of sixth. The run earned him the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks' cash for being the highest-finishing driver who had never won a tour A-Main and wasn't ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.
Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., slipped backward from the fourth starting spot, finishing seventh. Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., finished eighth, followed by Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., and Randle Chupp of Troutman, N.C.
Missing from the Hungry Man Showdown starting field was WoO LMS regular Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who was sidelined for the weekend after suffering a facial injury in what he called “a freak deal” during the event's first heat race on Wednesday night. A blow to Frank's helmet from a flying clod of clay left him with a badly swollen and bruised right eye and cheekbone.
After being treated and released from a local hospital, Frank was back at the track on Wednesday night before the A-Main was postponed. He said doctors found some cracks and fractures in the bones under his eye and in his cheek; he plans to see a specialist for further evaluation when he returns home.
Frank's absence from Thursday's Showdown lineup marked just the second WoO LMS A-Main since 2004 that he has not started. The only previous A-Main he did not start was on March 14, 2004, at Atomic Speedway in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Jeff Cooke of Spartanburg, S.C., who suffered facial injuries in a separate incident during Wednesday night's first heat, remained at a North Carolina hospital on Thursday undergoing treatment.
The World Finals continue on Friday and Saturday at The Dirt Track, with hot laps scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. and racing set to take the green flag at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com or www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Hungry Man Showdown' (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Josh Richards/50 $12,750
2. (3) Scott Bloomquist/50 $5,000
3. (1) Steve Francis/50 $3,600
4. (5) Chris Madden/50 $2,500
5. (11) Earl Pearson Jr./50 $2,000
6. (9) Austin Dillon/50 $2,200
7. (4) Brady Smith/50 $1,900
8. (8) Jonathan Davenport/50 $1,300
9. (6) Jeep VanWormer/50 $1,200
10. (12) Randle Chupp/50 $1,200
11. (16) Rick Eckert/50 $1,550
12. (15) Ray Cook/50 $1,000
13. (22) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,550
14. (7) Jeremy Miller/50 $900
15. (10) Dennis Erb Jr./50 $850
16. (21) Chris Ferguson/50 $800
17. (18) Eddie Carrier Jr./50 $770
18. (17) Eric Jacobsen/50 $750
19. (13) Gregg Satterlee/50 $730
20. (19) Dennis Franklin/49 $700
21. (20) Tyler Reddick/49 $950
22. (23) Jimmy Owens/49 $700
23. (28) Russell King/49 $1,200
24. (24) Dan Schlieper/46 $700
25. (14) Austin Hubbard/45 $700
26. (27) Clint Smith/20 $1,200
27. (26) Shane Clanton/14 $1,200
28. (25) Tim Fuller/14 $1,200
Time of Race: 22 Mins., 53.100 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.844 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 47, 48)
Lap Leaders: Francis (1-11); Richards (12-50)
2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Nov. 5 – 38 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Steve Francis 5148 (-0)
2. Josh Richards 5144 (-4)
3. Darrell Lanigan 5056 (-92)
4. Tim Fuller 5000 (-148)
5. Rick Eckert 4942 (-206)
6. Shane Clanton 4910 (-238)
7. Chub Frank 4868 (-280)
8. Brady Smith 4749 (-399)
9. Clint Smith 4656 (-492)
10. Russell King 4204 (-944)
11. Jordan Bland 4056 (-1092)
12. Brent Robinson 3832 (-1316)
13. Dustin Hapka 3497 (-1651)
14. Tyler Reddick 3317 (-1831)
15. Vic Coffey 3167 (-1981)
16. Austin Hubbard 2948 (-2200)
17. Matt Lux 1817 (-3331)
18. Gregg Satterlee 1781 (-3367)
19. Dan Stone 1601 (-3547)
20. Tim McCreadie 1546 (-3602)
-end-
Lanigan & Bloomquist Share Fast-Time Honors As Third Annual World Finals Opens Thursday Night With 80-Car Dirt Late Model Turnout
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 5, 2009 - Former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champions Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., shined on Thursday night, sharing fast-time honors in the two rounds of time trials that kicked off the third annual World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
A massive field of 80 dirt Late Models jammed the pit area for the blockbuster doubleheader, which also attracted 57 machines for the companion World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series meet. It was a record two-division total for the fall event.
Lanigan, 39, earned the pole position for the first heat race on Friday night by registering the fastest lap in the first round of Ohlins Shocks Time Trials. His clocking of 16.185 seconds just nipped Bloomquist, who led a group of his Team Zero by Bloomquist chassis mates in taking four of the top-five spots in the opening round of qualifying.
The fast-time award was Lanigan's fifth of the 2009 WoO LMS season behind the wheel of his Rocket car.
Bloomquist, who turns 46 on Nov. 14, roared back in the second round of time trials, touring the four-tenths-mile oval in 15.912 seconds to register the fastest overall lap of the evening. The 2004 WoO LMS titlist's performance earned him the pole starting spot in Saturday night's first heat race as he seeks to win a World Finals A-Main for the third consecutive year.
Thursday's first round of time trials set the lineups for Friday night's heats, while the second round of qualifying was used to align Saturday night's heats.
Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va. – the main combatants in this weekend's battle for the $100,000 WoO LMS championship – were separated by less than a tenth of a second in both qualifying rounds. Francis timed seventh and 22nd, while Richards was 13th and 20th on the time-trial charts.
Francis enters the pair of 50-lap World Finals A-Mains holding a narrow four-point lead over Richards. Lanigan is 92 points behind Francis in third place and remains mathematically alive in the title hunt, but he will need Francis and Richards to experience bad luck in both races to repeat as champion.
Ironically, the top-three drivers in the WoO LMS points standings will start from the first three starting spots in Friday night's first heat race. Lanigan and Francis will share the front row with Richards starting third.
The World Finals continue on Friday and Saturday, with hot laps scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. and racing set to take the green flag at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday night's World Finals program will be televised live by the SPEED cable network from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.
For more information, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com or www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.
Round 1 Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results For Fri., Nov. 6 Heat Races (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.185
2. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 16.214
3. s9-Dan Schlieper/Sullivan, WI 16.309
4. 20-Jimmy Owens/Newport, TN 16.340
5. 44M-Chris Madden/Gaffney, SC 16.344
6. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 16.358
7. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.359
8. 44H-Adam Hensel/Barron, WI 16.369
9. 3d-Austin Dillon/Welcome, NC 16.380
10. 18W-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 16.398
11. 44p-Earl Pearson Jr./Jacksonville, FL 16.399
12. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 16.407
13. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.417
14. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 16.466
15. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 16.480
16. 18b-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 16.482
17. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.488
18. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.497
19. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 16.504
20. 9k-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 16.507
21. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.508
22. 17T-Tim Dohm/Cross Lanes, WV 16.541
23. 30-Steve Shaver/Vienna, WV 16.542
24. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 16.556
25. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.577
26. 4T-Tommy Kerr/Maryville, TN 16.582
27. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 16.594
28. 41-Brad Neat/Dunnville, KY 16.597
29. 11H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 16.604
30. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 16.618
31. 15B-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 16.624
32. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 16.633
33. 00K-Randy Korte/Highland, IL 16.634
34. 1W-Ricky Weeks/Rutherfordton, NC 16.636
35. 49R-Brian Ruhlman/Clarklake, MI 16.637
36. 22F-Chris Ferguson/Mount Holly, NC 16.644
37. 6-Randle Chupp/Troutman, NC 16.649
38. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 16.679
39. 17-Mike Gault/Gaffney, SC 16.691
40. 5-Eric Jacobsen/Sea Cliff Beach, CA 16.697
41. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 16.717
42. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 16.728
43. 88-Ricky Elliott/Seaford, DE 16.766
44. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 16.772
45. 777-Jared Landers/Batesville, AR 16.782
46. 11J-Jerry Rice/Verona, KY 16.784
47. 12F-Devin Friese/St. Thomas, PA 16.786
48. 1V-Will Vaught/Crane, MO 16.796
49. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 16.799
50. 09-Johnny Pursley/Clover, SC 16.804
51. 2J-Jeff Rine/Danville, PA 16.815
52. 00F-Bo Feathers/Winchester, VA 16.819
53. 53-Ray Cook/Brasstown, NC 16.820
54. 3-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 16.828
55. 9s-Ken Schrader/Concord, NC 16.835
56. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 16.838
57. 11-Tyler Reddick/Corning, CA 16.843
58. 00b-Booper Bare/Rock Bridge Baths, VA 16.871
59. 2F-Dennis Franklin/Gaffney, SC 16.889
60. 87-Walker Arthur/Forest, VA 16.909
61. 20R-Chad Ruhlman/Bemus Point, NY 16.916
62. 75-Cruz Pedregon/Brownsburg, IN 16.926
63. 32-Larry Blankenship/Mooresville, NC 16.965
64. 4-Jeremy Faircloth/Swainsboro, GA 17.037
65. 27-Jim Yoder/Selinsgrove, PA 17.041
66. 75H-Petey Ivey/Shelby, NC 17.072
67. 99B-Rick ‘Boom' Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 17.137
68. 27-Ben Faircloth/Swainsboro, GA 17.159
69. 31-Bob Gordon/Keyser, WV 17.254
70. d8-Dustin Mitchell/Princeton, NC 17.262
71. 1G-Doug Horton/Bruceton Mills, WV 17.272
72. 1M-Trey Martin/Charleston, WV 17.320
73. 44L-Justin Labonte/Trinity, NC 17.369
74. 00H-Chuck Harper/Beverly, WV 17.402
75. 11W-D.J. Wells/Wooton, KY 17.588
76. 18L-Spencer Liggon/Lexington, NC 17.707
77. 4ds-Chad Hollenbeck/Kingsley, PA 17.887
78. 215-Al Shawver Jr./Hampstead, MD 18.038
79. 17J-John Winge/Ringgold, GA 18.068
80. 18H-Dustin Hapka/Grand Forks, ND N/T
NOTE: 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA – N/T (WoO LMS regular – injured, unable to compete; receives 75 hardship points for Friday event)
Round 2 Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results For Sat., Nov. 7 Heat Races (Position/No./Driver//Best Lap):
1. Scott Bloomquist 15.912
2. Rick Eckert 16.185
3. Gregg Satterlee 16.231
4. Chris Ferguson 16.317
5. Darrell Lanigan 16.335
6. Shane Clanton 16.363
7. Tim McCreadie 16.365
8. Jimmy Owens 16.368
9. Clint Smith 16.385
10. Earl Pearson Jr. 16.398
11. Dan Schlieper 16.423
12. Shannon Babb 16.470
13. Chris Madden 16.478
14. Eric Wells 16.479
15. Jeremy Faircloth 16.483
16. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr. 16.493
17. Dale McDowell 16.498
18. Tommy Kerr 16.500
19. Eric Jacobsen 16.501
20. Josh Richards 16.502
21. Brady Smith 16.519
22. Steve Francis 16.525
23. Tim Fuller 16.537
24. Steve Shaver 16.562
25. Tyler Reddick 16.577
26. Jordan Bland 16.578
27. John Blankenship 16.610
28. Rick ‘Boom' Briggs 16.638
29. Johnny Pursley 16.647
30. Mike Knight 16.660
31. Dennis Franklin 16.676
32. Vic Coffey 16.678
33. Jeep VanWormer 16.700
34. Matt Lux 16.715
35. Russell King 16.718
36. Brad Neat 16.725
37. Austin Dillon 16.727
38. Jeremy Miller 16.754
39. Dan Stone 16.760
40. Petey Ivey 16.783
41. Brian Birkhofer 16.803
42. Jason Feger 16.815
43. Randle Chupp 16.816
44. Mike Gault 16.818
45. Austin Hubbard 16.833
46. Ricky Weeks 16.841
47. Randy Korte 16.860
48. Will Vaught 16.869
49. Tim Dohm 16.889
50. Ken Schrader 16.895
51. D.J. Wells 16.895
52. Booper Bare 16.903
53. Ray Cook 16.917
54. Jared Landers 16.917
55. Jerry Rice 16.921
56. Larry Blankenship 16.941
57. Donnie Moran 16.957
58. Brent Robinson 16.960
59. Devin Friese 16.989
60. Chad Ruhlman 17.036
61. Justin Labonte 17.048
62. Ben Faircloth 17.055
63. Ricky Elliott 17.062
64. Brian Ruhlman 17.080
65. Jeff Rine 17.086
66. Adam Hensel 17.090
67. Bo Feathers 17.168
68. Doug Horton 17.266
69. Chuck Harper 17.272
70. Jim Yoder 17.308
71. Bob Gordon 17.312
72. Walker Arthur 17.349
73. Al Shawver Jr. 17.422
74. Spencer Liggon 17.571
75. Dustin Mitchell 17.657
76. Cruz Pedregon 17.792
77. Trey Martin 17.876
78. Chad Hollenbeck 17.991
79. John Winge 18.284
80. 18H-Dustin Hapka N/T
NOTE: 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA – N/T (WoO LMS regular – injured, unable to compete; receives 75 hardship points for Saturday event)
-end-
Track Conditions Force Postponement Of Topless Showdown A-Main To Thursday Night (Nov. 5) At The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 4, 2009 - Difficult track conditions and the late hour prompted the postponement of Wednesday night's World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Topless Showdown by Hungry Man' A-Main at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
As the midnight hour approached with track crews still working to get the four-tenths-mile oval's surface ready for feature action, LMS and WoO LMS officials decided to reschedule the evening's 50-lap headliner to Thursday night (Nov. 5). The event will be run following the completion of Late Model and Sprint Car time trials for the World of Outlaws World Finals.
“In the interests of the fans and competitors, we decided that the best course of action was to postpone the Topless Showdown feature event to Thursday night,” said Seamus Curley, the short-track racing manager at Lowe's Motor Speedway. “We battled the track conditions all night, and with curfew being an issue we just didn't have enough time to get the surface right.
Rainchecks and pit bands from the Topless Showdown by Hungry Man will be accepted for entry on Thursday.
A massive 82-car field signed in for the Wednesday night's program, which was moved to the eve of the World Finals after rain washed out the event on its original Oct. 14 date.
Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., was the Topless Showdown fast qualifier for the second consecutive year, logging a lap of 14.674 seconds during single-lap time trials that was just two-thousandths of a second off the dirt Late Model track record held by Billy Moyer.
Heat winners were Richards, WoO LMS points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., and Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C. The B-Mains were captured by Dennis Franklin of Gaffney, S.C., 14-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif., and Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C.
Francis drew the pole position for the A-Main. Richards, who sits second in the WoO LMS points standings, will start alongside his championship rival on the front row of the Topless Showdown.
Separate incidents during the evening's first heat sent WoO LMS regular Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and former Carolina Clash champion Jeff Cooke of Spartanburg, S.C., to a local hospital for evaluation. Frank was back at the speedway when the postponement announcement was made after receiving treatment for a facial injury, while Cooke remained at a hospital under observation.
Thursday's World Finals program features two rounds of time trials for both divisions – one to set the heat lineups for Friday's action, one to align Saturday's heats. Complete programs of heats, B-Mains and A-Mains will highlight the cards on Fri., Nov. 6, and Sat., Nov. 7, with the WoO LMS standouts chasing a first-place prize of $10,000 in each evening's 50-lap A-Main.
Saturday's competition will be aired live on the SPEED cable network starting at 8 p.m. ET.
World Finals ticket information is available by calling 1-800-455- 3267 or visiting www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 14.674
2. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 14.676
3. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 14.694
4. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 14.712
5. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 14.725
6. 44M-Chris Madden/Gaffney, SC 14.742
7. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 14.771
8. 18b-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 14.772
9. 3d-Austin Dillon/Welcome, NC 14.776
10. 28e-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 14.812
11. 6-Randle Chupp/Troutman, NC 14.873
12. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 14.874
13. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 14.912
14. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 14.922
15. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 14.925
16. 53-Ray Cook/Brasstown, NC 14.933
17. 22F-Chris Ferguson/Mount Holly, NC 14.934
18. 44p-Earl Pearson Jr./Jacksonville, FL 14.945
19. 9k-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 14.984
20. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 15.011
21. 11-Tyler Reddick/Corning, CA 15.025
22. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 15.025
23. 4T-Tommy Kerr/Maryville, TN 15.059
24. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 15.083
25. 32-Larry Blankenship/Mooresville, NC 15.090
26. 41-Brad Neat/Dunnville, KY 15.144
27. 20-Jimmy Owens/Newport, TN 15.152
28. 75x-Petey Ivey/Shelby, NC 15.153
29. 49-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 15.156
30. 5J-Eric Jacobsen/Sea Cliff Beach, CA 15.169
31. 12F-Devin Friese/St. Thomas, PA 15.177
32. 101-Casey Roberts/Toccoa, GA 15.182
33. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 15.194
34. 4-Jeremy Faircloth/Swainsboro, GA 15.231
35. 33-Chris Meadows/Crab Orchard, WV 15.236
36. 9s-Ken Schrader/Concord, NC 15.248
37. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.287
38. 30-Steve Shaver/Vienna, WV 15.290
39. 15B-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 15.294
40. 1G-Doug Horton/Bruceton Mills, WV 15.327
41. 27-Ben Faircloth/Swainsboro, GA 15.329
42. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA15.351
43. 2J-Jeff Rine/Danville, PA 15.374
44. 99M-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 15.377
45. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 15.394
46. 00K-Randy Korte/Highland, IL 15.459
47. 87-Walker Arthur/Forest, VA 15.504
48. 18-Dustin Hapka/Grand Forks, ND 15.517
49. 11J-Jerry Rice/Verona, KY 15.544
50. 2F-Dennis Franklin/Gaffney, SC 15.556
51. 00b-Booper Bare/Rock Bridge Baths, VA 15.601
52. 99B-Rick ‘Boom' Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 15.623
53. 44H-Adam Hensel/Barron, WI 15.624
54. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 15.641
55. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 15.643
56. 27-Jim Yoder/Selinsgrove, PA 15.668
57. 49R-Brian Ruhlman/Clarklake, MI 15.692
58. 00F-Bo Feathers/Winchester, VA 15.759
59. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 15.837
60. 98G-David Gilliland/Mooresville, NC 15.921
61. 18W-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 16.024
62. 45-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 16.053
63. D8-Dustin Mitchell/Princeton, NC 16.313
64. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 16.357
65. 3-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 16.403
66. 17g-Mike Gault/Gaffney, SC 16.429
67. 00H-Chuck Harper/Beverly, WV 16.568
68. 777-Jared Landers/Batesville, AR 16.575
69. 17J-John Winge/Ringgold, GA 16.734
70. 44L-Justin Labonte/Trinity, NC 17.060
71. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 18.205
72. 84-Randy Smith/Fort Mill, SC 18.438
73. 99c-Jeff Cooke/Spartanburg, SC N/T
74. 1w-Ricky Weeks/Rutherfordton, NC N/T
75. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR N/T
76. 17T-Tim Dohm/Cross Lanes, WV N/T
77. 9s-Dan Schlieper/Sullivan, WI N/T
78. 10*-Dane Burns/New London, NC N/T
79. 25M-Brett Miller/Greenville, TN 15.733 (DQ)
80. 1M-Trey Martin/Charleston, WV 16.199 (DQ)
81. 75-Cruz Pedregon/Brownsburg, IN 16.297 (DQ)
82. 4ds-Chad Hollenbeck/Kingsley, PA N/T (DQ)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Richards, J. Miller, Satterlee, Knight, Lanigan, Friese, Rine, Rice, Martin, L. Blankenship, Cooke, Frank, Harper (DNS) Wells
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Francis, McDowell, VanWormer, Hubbard, Neat, Franklin, Moran, Pedregon, Yoder, Roberts, Babb, Shaver (DNS) Landers, Weeks
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): B. Smith, Dillon, Eckert, Reddick, Owens, Birkhofer, King, Coffey, Bare, Ruhlman, Hollenbeck, Winge, Mitchell (DNS) Moyer
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Bloomquist, Erb, Cook, Ivey, Horton, Korte, Feathers, Briggs, Burns, Labonte, McCreadie, J. Faircloth, Feger, Dohm
Heat No. 5 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Davenport, Chupp, Carrier, Ferguson, Stone, Hensel, Arthur, Kerr, B. Faircloth, J. Blankenship, Robinson (DNS) Meadows, Schlieper
Heat No. 6 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Madden, Pearson, Jacobsen, C. Smith, Bland, Gilliland, B. Miller, Gault, Hapka, R. Smith, Clanton, Schrader, Fuller
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 2 Transfer): Franklin, Lanigan, Friese, Rine, Moran, Rice, Pedregon, Harper, L. Blankenship, Knight, Martin (DNS) Neat, Yoder, Roberts, Babb, Cooke, Shaver, Frank, Landers, Weeks, Wells, McDowell
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 2 Transfer): Reddick, Owens, Birkhofer, Horton, Ivey, Ruhlman, Hollenbeck, King, Winge (DNS) Korte, Feathers, Coffey, Briggs, Bare, Burns, Labonte, McCreadie, J. Faircloth, Mitchell, Feger, Moyer, Dohm
B-Main No. 3 (12 laps – Top 2 Transfer): Ferguson, Schlieper, Hensel, Gilliland, Gault, B. Miller, Robinson, Bland, C. Smith, Stone, Arthur (DNS) Neat, Kerr, B. Faircloth, Hapka, Blankenship, R. Smith, Clanton, Meadows, Schrader, Fuller
Topless Showdown A-Main Lineup:
Row 1: Steve Francis/Josh Richards
Row 2: Scott Bloomquist/Brady Smith
Row 3: Chris Madden/Jeep VanWormer
Row 4: Jeremy Miller/Jonathan Davenport
Row 5: Austin Dillon/Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 6: Earl Pearson Jr./Randle Chupp
Row 7: Gregg Satterlee/Austin Hubbard
Row 8: Ray Cook/Rick Eckert
Row 9: Eric Jacobsen/Eddie Carrier Jr.
Row 10: Dennis Franklin/Tyler Reddick
Row 11: Chris Ferguson/Darrell Lanigan
Row 12: Jimmy Owens/Dan Schlieper
Row 13: Tim Fuller/Shane Clanton
Row 14: Clint Smith/Russell King
FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can now keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via the Twitter, the internet's fast-growing social-networking and micro-blogging website. Updates are provided to Twitter ‘followers' of the WoO LMS throughout each race night, and fans also receive breaking news and interesting notes from the tour.
To sign-up as a WoO LMS ‘follower' on Twitter to receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.
-end-
World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Previewing The Topless Showdown (Nov. 4) & World Finals (Nov. 5-7)
CONCORD, NC - Nov. 3, 2009 -
GRAND FINALE: The 2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series season concludes with a blockbuster four-day meet at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway, beginning on Wednesday night (Nov. 4) with the postponed ‘Topless Showdown by Hungry Man' and continuing with the third annual World of Outlaws World Finals on Nov. 5-7.
With the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series also part of the World Finals, the four-tenths-mile oval is the only track where fans can see the two WoO tours race together on the same program in 2009.
THE FORMAT: Thanks to Mother Nature washing out the Topless Showdown on its original Oct. 14 date, the World Finals has a thrilling dirt Late Model lead-in for the second consecutive year.
Wednesday night's Topless Showdown – the only WoO LMS event this season in which teams will remove their cars' fiberglass roofs to give fans a clear view of the drivers working the steering wheel – will include a normal tour program of time trials, heat races, B-Mains and a 50-lap A-Main. But there's a wrinkle thrown in that makes this show stand out from the crowd.
The Topless Showdown features a unique bonus program and starting-position draw. It offers a base purse of $10,000 for first place in the A-Main, but if the winning driver submitted an official entry form prior to deadline they will also receive a ‘passing' bonus in an amount equal to $1,000 multiplied by their starting position – a perk that could push the winner's take-home pay to as much as $30,000.
In addition, the heat-race qualifiers will participate in the ‘Southern Fried Scramble' draw that gives them a chance to play it safe or roll the dice in pursuit of the maximum $20,000 bonus prize. The draw will consist of five buckets holding four starting-spot pills each – positions 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16 and 17-20. When the drivers are called up to draw in the order of their heat finishes (winners first, etc.), they'll have the option of selecting a pill from any of the buckets. Essentially they can guarantee themselves a starting spot in the first two rows of the A-Main by staying conservative and sticking their hand in the first bucket – or they can go for a position further back in the field that would set them up to claim a huge paycheck if they win the Showdown.
After Wednesday's action gets fans heated up, the World Finals kicks off on Thursday night with time trials for both the WoO LMS and Sprint Car Series. Both tours will contest two separate rounds of qualifying – the first to line up Friday night's heat races, the second to align Saturday night's heats.
The Friday and Saturday cards will feature a full series of qualifying events and A-Mains for both divisions. The WoO LMS A-Main is scheduled to run last on Friday night and the WoO Sprint Car headliner is set to close out Saturday night's competition.
THE DRAMA: After 37 WoO LMS A-Mains this season, Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., holds a mere four-point lead over Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., in the battle for the $100,000 tour championship.
Wednesday night's Topless Showdown offers only WoO LMS show-up points, so the title will be determined in the pair of 50-lap, $10,000-to-win headliners on Friday and Saturday nights.
Defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., is third in the standings and still has flickering hopes of repeating. But with a 92-point deficit to Francis, Lanigan can only make a miraculous comeback if both drivers in front of him experience major problems in each A-Main.
That leaves Francis, 43, and Richards, 21, in a one-on-one face-off for the points crown. A win is worth 150 points, second place is 146 and then each remaining position drops two points, so every spot will be critical.
Does one of the championship combatants have an edge at The Dirt Track? Not really. Both drivers have one career win at the speedway – Francis the 2008 Colossal 100, Richards last year's World Finals finale.
What's more, both drivers have performed well in the two previous World Finals. Richards preceded his victory last year with a 10th-place finish, and in 2007 he finished fifth and 11th in the two A-Mains. Francis, meanwhile, didn't take the green flag in last year's Friday-night A-Main due to a busted transmission during the pace laps, but that's the only time he's placed outside the top five in the World Finals – he was fifth in last year's Saturday-night 50-lapper, and in '07 he was fourth (from the 18th starting spot) on Friday and second on Saturday.
Earlier this year, in the Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track, Richards finished third and Francis took fourth.
HOW THEY'VE FARED: Of the 14 WoO LMS regulars who have entered every tour event in 2009, Richards is the only driver who has won a World Finals A-Main over the past two years and Francis is the lone Outlaw with a runner-up finish in a Finals feature.
Here's the career-best World Finals finishes for '09 WoO LMS regulars: Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (third – from the 22nd starting spot – on Saturday in 2007); Lanigan (fifth on Saturday in ‘07); Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (sixth on Friday in ‘07); Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (sixth on Saturday in '08); Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga. (ninth on Saturday in ‘07); and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga. (17th on Saturday in '08).
Rookie of the Year contender Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., entered the 2007 and 2008 World Finals but did not qualify for an A-Main, while Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif., will be making their first-ever World Finals appearances.
The 20-year-old King, who qualified for the Colossal 100 in his first start at The Dirt Track earlier this season, enters the weekend on the verge of clinching the 2009 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year crown. With King holding a 148-point edge over Bland in a points race determined using the rookies' best 30 finishes, the only way King can lose the crown is if he fails to finish 20th or better in at least one of the 50-lap A-Mains and Bland wins the two headline races in an unprecedented sweep.
HOW MANY CARS?: Big fields of dirt Late Models have been the rule for the World Finals and this year's edition figures to continue the tradition.
With more than 50 drivers pre-entered for the Topless Showdown and World Finals and many more with the events on their schedules, it's expected that the car count will approach, if not exceed, the turnout of the past two years. There were 82 cars signed in for qualifying in 2007 and 78 in 2008, and last year's Topless Showdown on the eve of the Finals drew a sterling 81-car field.
ROYAL FIELD: All five former WoO LMS champions are entered in this week's action – Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark. (1988-89, 2005), Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn. (2004), Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (2006), Francis (2007) and Lanigan (2008).
Bloomquist is the only two-time winner in World Finals action after capturing the Friday-night A-Main in each of the past two seasons. McCreadie, meanwhile, scored a top finish of fourth in his lone Finals appearance in 2008, and Moyer is planning to run the event for the first time.
ROUND 2: The two drivers who produced one of the most dramatic finishes of the 2008 WoO LMS season – and have won the last two Topless Showdowns – will be back at The Dirt Track to reprise their battle.
Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C., won last year's Topless Showdown over a charging Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., by a mere 0.077 of a second. It was Madden's fourth career triumph at The Dirt Track and he pocketed a cool $16,150, including a $6,000 ‘passing' bonus.
Babb won the 2007 Showdown, which was run three weeks before the World Finals and with roofs on the cars. He earned $18,225, including an $8,000 ‘passing' bonus.
PREPPING FOR '10: Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., and Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa. – two rising young talents who have expressed interest in applying for Rookie of the Year status on the 2010 WoO LMS – have filed entries for this week's race-fest.
Hubbard, 17, has entered more than half of this year's WoO LMS events and owns three top-five finishes. He recently turned heads by qualifying for the World 100 and Dirt Track World Championship in his first crack at both events.
The 24-year-old Satterlee, meanwhile, has one top-five finish in his 14 WoO LMS starts this season. He won 12 features in 2009 on the western Pennsylvania circuit.
TALENT GALORE: Other standout drivers expected to compete this week include 2009 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill.; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa; Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., who scored finishes of second and third in last year's World Finals; Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.; Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., who set fast time in both rounds of qualifying during the '07 Finals; 2009 Colossal 100 winner Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla.; Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, who won the Saturday-night Finals A-Main in 2007; and Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.
STRAIGHT-LINE STAR POWER: An intriguing addition to this week's dirt Late Model field is two-time and reigning NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon, who will transition from flying down the drag strip at speeds of more than 300 mph to maneuvering a full-fender machine around The Dirt Track.
Pedregon purchased a dirt Late Model this season to run in selected events around his NHRA schedule and has quickly become a contender. He won his first career dirt Late Model feature on Aug. 8 at Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Ind.
GET YOUR AUTOGRAPHS: A special autograph session featuring several WoO LMS stars and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman will be held under The Dirt Track's grandstand at 5 p.m. on Wednesday prior to the start of the Topless Showdown.
Newman competed in last year's Topless Showdown, but after surviving a wild flip in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway he will stay out of the cockpit and instead sign autographs alongside his Steve Francis-prepared dirt Late Model.
OFF-TRACK ENTERTAINMENT: The Souvenir Village located just outside the front grandstand gate of The Dirt Track will be bustling with activity throughout the week.
In addition to the Late Model and Sprint Car merchandise trailers that will be open for business, a stage erected in the middle of the area will be a focal point for fans. A special free concert and party will be held there beginning at 9 p.m. on Thursday night, and a pre-race show hosted by Virginia Motor Speedway announcer Dave Seay and reporter Ashlee Sieveke will put star drivers and noted track promoters in front of the crowd from 3-5 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
And on Saturday night, the national anthem will be sung by Broken Bow Records country music recording artist Ash Bowers.
TRAVEL ADVISORY: All fans and participants planning to travel to The Dirt Track through western North Carolina on I-40 should be aware that a portion of the highway is closed indefinitely due to a rockslide that occurred on Oct. 25.
The rockslide, which covered the highway at mile marker 2.6 in North Carolina, near the Tennessee state line, has closed I-40 from mile marker 451 in Tennessee to mile marker 20 in North Carolina.
An alternate route has been outlined for those travelling to Lowe's Motor Speedway from the Tennessee area. Travelers should take I-40 to I-81 North to Asheville. Take exit 57A to I-26 East. Exit to I-240 East, then take a left exit to I-40 East toward Statesville.
SCHEDULE: For the Topless Showdown on Wednesday, grandstand gates are scheduled to open at 5 p.m. and qualifying is set to commence at 6:45.
Spectator gates open at 4 p.m. for all three days of the World Finals. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday and 6:20 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
NATIONAL AUDIENCE: The finale of the World Finals on Sat., Nov. 8, will air live on the SPEED cable network beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Shane Andrews and former Lowe's Motor Speedway short-track manager Roger Slack will provide the commentary from the booth on the WoO LMS portion of the program.
Fans who can't make it to the track can also watch all the action leading up to Saturday's SPEED telecast on DIRTVision. Live video coverage of the Topless Showdown and first two nights of the World Finals through www.DIRTVision.com for a special World Finals subscription price of $12.99.
GET YOUR TICKETS: Tickets for Wednesday's World of Outlaws Topless Showdown are $25 for adults and $5 for children 12-and-under. Three-day passes for the World of Outlaws World Finals are just $59 for adults and $19 for children 12-and-under, and single-day tickets are also available.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings – 37 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Steve Francis 5073 (-0)
2. Josh Richards 5069 (-4)
3. Darrell Lanigan 4981 (-92)
4. Tim Fuller 4925 (-148)
5. Rick Eckert 4867 (-206)
6. Shane Clanton 4835 (-238)
7. Chub Frank 4793 (-280)
8. Brady Smith 4674 (-399)
9. Clint Smith 4581 (-492)
10. Russell King 4129 (-944)
11. Jordan Bland 3981 (-1092)
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World of Outlaws World Finals Puts Rick Eckert On Same Program As His Rising-Star Nephew Cody Darrah
Eckert Chases Late Model Cash, Darrah Looks For Sprint Car Glory With Kasey Kahne Racing At Lowe's Motor Speedway Nov. 5-7
CONCORD, NC – Oct. 28, 2009 – Rick Eckert will be a racer and a race fan during the third annual World of Outlaws World Finals on Nov. 5-7 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
As soon as Eckert finishes his World of Outlaws Late Model Series duties throughout the blockbuster weekend, catching a glimpse of the companion WoO Sprint Car Series action will be on his mind. He will, after all, have a rooting interest in the winged competition.
Eckert's nephew, rising young star Cody Darrah, is scheduled to drive the Kasey Kahne Racing No. 19 Sprinter in the World Finals – a rare instance in which the relatives will practice their respective racing disciplines on the same program.
“Hopefully we don't have any problems with our stuff and I'll have enough time to get up to the fence and see him when he's out there (on the four-tenths-mile oval),” Eckert said of Darrah, who enters the World Finals as one of the country's top Sprint Car prospects. “I really enjoy watching him run whenever I can.”
Eckert, 43, of York, Pa., has been a witness to Darrah's development from a wide-eyed kid in awe of his uncle's accomplishments to the confident, talented 20-year-old he is today. A younger brother of Darrah's mother Kitty, Eckert remembers being unsure if Darrah even wanted to race while growing up, but then he saw Darrah “get serious about it” when he went Micro-Sprint racing as a teenager and he hasn't looked back since.
“When Cody and his dad (Joe) talked about going Sprint Car racing (in 2006), I was like, ‘You're doing what?'” said Eckert, who often accompanied Darrah to local Micro-Sprint events and drove a second team car when his schedule allowed. “But he picked up the Sprint Car deal amazingly fast. He just understands how to race. A lot of young guys will get themselves in bad positions – and he did that originally too, don't get me wrong – but he's learned the right way to race now and his results are showing it. He's already won more races than some guys do in their whole career.
“He's got good crew guys and good equipment, but a lot of guys have that and don't win races. And he's a likeable kid too, so he can go far.
“I know one thing – he's already a better Sprint Car driver than I ever thought about being,” added a smiling Eckert, who ran Sprint Cars in central Pennsylvania for a short time before his career path took him to dirt Late Models.
A resident of Red Lion, Pa., Darrah owns six victories this season, including a career-first WoO Sprint Car score (worth $20,000) in the rescheduled Summer Nationals event on Oct. 3 at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. His breakout campaign in family-owned equipment helped earn him a chance to serve as a fill-in driver of the Kasey Kahne Racing Sprinter on Oct. 10 at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, N.Y., and again in the World Finals – and, of course, a shot at earning a fulltime ride with KKR in 2010 to hit the road with the Outlaws.
“It's a heck of an opportunity and an absolute honor to drive for these guys,” said Darrah, who arrived at the KKR shop outside Charlotte on Tuesday and will remain there for the next week to help the team prepare for the World Finals. “It definitely puts the pressure on you because with this kind of team you're expected to win, but that's a good thing. I want that pressure.”
Darrah is eyeing a long career as a race car driver. He would love to follow in his Uncle Scrub's footsteps, albeit not necessarily behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model.
“He's the guy I grew up watching and I know his lifestyle inside and out,” said Darrah, who has never tested one of Eckert's orange dirt Late Models (which happen to carry sponsorship from the Darrah family's J&K Salvage business) but would like to take a few laps in a full-fender machine someday. “Seeing how he's done it gives me that drive to succeed.”
Not surprisingly, Darrah considers Eckert to be the biggest influence on his burgeoning career. While it's been two decades since Eckert drove a Sprint Car, the general racing savvy he provides Darrah during visits to the track (Eckert attends as many of Darrah's events as he can fit in his schedule) and in conversations at the shop, by cell phone and during family gatherings is invaluable.
“His knowledge of what makes a car go around a track is absolutely priceless to have on your side some nights,” Darrah said of his uncle. “He might not be the greatest Sprint Car mechanic, but he has such a great eye for what's happening with the racetrack. He can see how a track is changing and point that out to me, which is such a big help.”
Eckert and Darrah will certainly find time to swap ideas about the fast, demanding Lowe's dirt track during the World Finals, which include two rounds of qualifying for Late Models and Sprint Cars on Thurs., Nov. 5, and complete season-ending programs (heats, B-Mains, A-Mains) for both divisions on Friday and Saturday nights (Nov. 6-7).
And uncle and nephew will have plenty of familiar faces watching their every move from The Dirt Track's massive grandstand. A throng of their relatives and friends are planning to travel down from Pennsylvania for the weekend, including Eckert's parents (Darrah's grandparents).
“It's going to be like a family reunion for us in Charlotte,” said Darrah. “We have a real big family, but we don't have picnics. We go to the races. That's where everybody gets together.”
Just imagine the scene if both Eckert and Darrah are able to thrill their partisan backers with victories during the World Finals. But do they believe a family double is possible?
“I think our odds are good,” asserted Darrah, whose debut at The Dirt Track one year ago resulted in solid finishes of fifth and ninth in the twin World Finals Sprint Car A-Mains. “I definitely have some of the best equipment in the country under me running for Kasey Kahne Racing, so I'm going there with the expectation that I can win. (KKR) has the confidence to put me in the car, so I can't think any other way.
“And Rick is coming off a win at Hagerstown (on Oct. 25 in the Maryland track's Octoberfest event) and those Bloomquist cars he runs always seem to run great at Charlotte, so I know he can win one.”
Indeed, Eckert is carrying some momentum into the World Finals. He's pocketed a $10,000 check after each of his last two starts – for a third-place finish in the Dirt Track World Championship on Oct. 18 at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and his third career Octoberfest 100 victory at Hagerstown – and his three WoO LMS triumphs this season represent his first multiple-victory campaign on the tour since 2006.
Eckert has some confidence – and with his longtime car owner, Raye Vest, ailing with some health problems that are threatening to cancel his planned trip to The Dirt Track, the veteran driver also has some extra incentive to reach Victory Lane.
“We've got our stuff going pretty good lately, so I think I have a shot,” said Eckert, who sits fifth in the WoO LMS points standings. “We've always been pretty fast at Charlotte but haven't had a lot of luck, so hopefully we'll catch a few breaks. Cody was pretty good (at The Dirt Track) last year for his first time there, so I think he could pull (a win) off too.
“That would definitely be a good time if we both won. With all our family there, we'd have a ball after the race.”
Ticket information on the World of Outlaws World Finals – the only event this season fans can see the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars compete on the same card – is available by logging on to www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
The fun at The Dirt Track actually will begin on Wed., Nov. 4, with the postponed WoO LMS ‘Topless Showdown by Hungry Man.' The 50-lap event offers a base purse of $10,000 for first place, but if the driver who wins the A-Main submitted an official entry form prior to deadline they will also receive a ‘passing' bonus in an amount equal to $1,000 multiplied by their starting position – setting up a possible winner's prize of as much as $30,000.
The finale of the World Finals will air live on the SPEED cable network on Sat., Nov. 7, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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Friendly Battle: Francis & Richards Chase 2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Title In Nov. 5-7 World Finals
CONCORD, NC - Oct. 21, 2009 - Steve Francis was there when Josh Richards drove a dirt Late Model for the first time.
Now, six-and-a-half years later, Francis and Richards are battling for the 2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series title.
Francis vs. Richards. The 42-year-old veteran from Kentucky vs. the 21-year-old young gun from West Virginia. The proven champion vs. the hopeful champion. The mentor vs. the student.
A season spent criss-crossing the country comes down to two racers who know each other well – very well – in a virtual dead-heat for a $100,000 championship prize entering the third annual World of Outlaws World Finals on Nov. 5-7 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
“It's definitely a different situation to be racing for a championship against somebody you're so close to,” said Francis, who has known Richards's father, Mark, for two decades and has watched Josh grow from a shy kid to a confident dirt Late Model superstar. “With Josh, I kind of feel like a father would in that I'm proud to have played a little part in seeing him get to where he is so fast. I want to see him do good and I'd like to see him win the championship – but not at my expense, which is where the mixed emotions come in.”
Richards is experiencing the same type of conflicted feelings as his friendly war with Francis heads to its dramatic conclusion.
“He's been one of the biggest helpers I've had in my career,” Richards said of Francis. “He's been mentoring me since I started. He's taught me a lot, so it's kind of weird that we'll be trying to use some of that knowledge to beat him for the championship.”
Francis brings a scant four-point WoO LMS points lead over Richards into The Dirt Track's season-ending spectacular, which actually kicks off on Nov. 4 with the postponed ‘Topless Showdown.' The topless event offers only tour show-up points, however, so the two 50-lap A-Mains that comprise the World Finals will determine the '09 champion.
“We're going there tied is what it amounts to in my mind,” said Francis, who overtook Richards for the points lead in the last WoO LMS event contested, on Sept. 6 at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. “Four points is just a couple (finishing) positions, so there's basically no difference. There's no scenarios to think about – you just put your helmet on and go racing.
“Hopefully it doesn't come down to bad luck for either of us and we can race it out.”
Considering the nip-and-tuck nature of the '09 WoO LMS points race, it's very likely that the two drivers will take their battle right down to the last lap of the Nov. 7 A-Main. They have, after all, produced remarkably similar performance records. Richards has seven wins, Francis six. Francis has nine runner-up finishes, Richards six. Francis has 24 top-five finishes in 37 events, Richards 21. Richards pulled off a late-race pass of Francis to win on July 16 at Huron, S.D., and Francis returned the favor on Sept. 5 at Tri-City. Both drivers have 31 top-10 finishes, five fast-time honors and failed to qualify through a heat race just once (resulting in the lone provisional starting spots each has used this season). Richards has held at least a share of the points lead after 23 events, Francis after 11 – and they were tied for the top spot after the July 8 ‘Gopher 50' at Minnesota's Deer Creek Speedway.
“It seems like we've been married to each other all year,” Francis said of their nearly mirror-image stats and penchant for running close together. “I'm sure that's the way it will be again (during the World Finals). We'll probably be parked right beside each other like we have been most of the season, and I'm sure we'll talk and help each other all weekend like we always have.
“This is not a rivalry-type thing,” he added. “I feel like I've had a part in his development.”
Indeed, throughout Richards's march from little kid tagging along to the races with his father to the brink of a WoO LMS title, Francis has been there. Francis has long run cars built by Rocket Chassis, the Shinnston, W.Va.-based business co-owned by Mark Richards, and in 2002-2003 Francis drove the Mark Richards Racing Enterprises/Rocket Chassis house car that Josh now campaigns.
“I remember when Josh was 10, 11 years old, he was a shy, quiet kid who would barely say anything,” said Francis. “You didn't know if he had that much interest in (driving), but by the time I left (as the Rocket house driver) he was getting into it. I could tell where he was headed.”
In fact, in the spring of 2003, Francis stood in awe at I-79 Raceway – a now-shuttered quarter-mile oval across the street from the Rocket shop that Mark Richards used to co-promote – when Josh took his first laps behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model. With Josh, then 15, downtrodden because his high-school classes meant he couldn't head out on a road trip with his dad and Francis, Mark Richards tried to cheer his son up by offering him a chance to hot-lap Francis's backup car. Josh jumped right in and almost immediately got the machine up to speed.
“I told Mark right there, ‘When I get done, there's your next driver,'” recalled Francis.
By 2005, Richards was the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year. He's improved every season since then, finishing ninth in the 2006 points standings, sixth in 2007 and second in 2008. Now he's attempting to continue his progression by winning the championship over Francis, who won the title in 2007 and is bidding to become the first repeat champ since the WoO LMS was rekindled in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner.
Francis, who is chasing this year's points crown driving for Maryland's Dale Beitler after winning the '07 title with his own equipment, isn't surprised that Richards is contending for a championship on a series that he calls “the top echelon of the sport.”
“I did think it could happen,” Francis said when asked if he expected Richards to be going for a title just six years after debuting in the division. “He has the ability to drive a race car, he works on his race car, he understands his race car, and he has as good a group of people behind him as you could ever have.
“Josh takes a lot of grief sometimes about having this-and-that handed to him, but I've been to the shop and seen him working at midnight or 1 o'clock. It's not like he didn't earn his shot at a championship.”
For his part, the polite, easy-going Richards modestly deflects the praise thrown his way by Francis. He almost feels like he's crashing a party by running neck-and-neck with Francis for a WoO LMS title.
“I've always looked up to him,” Richards said of Francis. “I'm real honored to be up there racing for the World of Outlaws championship with him. I never would've thought it was possible, but I dreamed it. I had it in my mind before I started (racing) that if you set your mind to it, if you have the passion and desire to do it, if you have the support and just believe in yourself, you can have success pretty quickly.”
Richards knows he faces the challenge of his racing career during the World Finals. He's pitted against a driver who's been racing for more years than he's been alive, a battle-tested chauffeur who's been in series points races that have literally come down to the last lap of the season – in 2005, Francis lost the WoO LMS title to Billy Moyer on a tie-breaker after being passed for position by Moyer on the final circuit of the Gator 100 at Florida's Volusia Speedway Park.
“Francis isn't gonna let up,” said Richards, who outdueled Francis during last year's World Finals to finish second in the WoO LMS points standings (one spot ahead of Francis). “He's gonna give it 120 percent on every lap, in every corner. He's been through everything before, so you know if you can beat him it will definitely mean a lot.”
Richards, of course, has never entered the final event of a season in position to win a points title. His father Mark, meanwhile, hasn't enjoyed a championship celebration since 1983, when he and Rodney Combs co-owned the car that Combs drove to the National Dirt Racing Association (NDRA) series crown, so there figures to be plenty of anxiousness in the Richards pit during the World Finals.
Can the young Richards handle the pressure? His cool, calm personality should have him equipped for the mental aspect of the weekend, but it's still a new experience for him.
“I've always been pretty relaxed at the track, but this is definitely gonna test my limits,” said Richards. “I'm sure where (Francis) is at is always gonna be in the back of my mind all weekend, but he'll be thinking the same way. He's been in the situation before where he's lost close points battles and he doesn't want to let it happen again, so we'll have to be on top of our game.”
Ticket information on the World of Outlaws World Finals – the only event this season fans can see the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars compete on the same card – is available by logging on to www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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WoO Fest at Lone Star Speedway Gets Even Bigger: Purse Upped to $12,000 to-win
Kilgore, TX—October 15, 2009—In what is shaping up to be the biggest event of the season at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas, the inaugural WoO Fest for the World of Outlaws has gotten even bigger, as track owners Sam and Lisa Hafertepe have increased the purse for the event on Saturday, October 24 with $12,000 now awaiting the winner of the 30-lap A-Feature.
The World of Outlaws returned to Lone Star Speedway earlier this season for the first time since 2004 and played to the largest crowd in the history of the blazing fast half-mile. Since that visit, the track has been resurfaced with new clay making it even faster, along with the completion of numerous other ongoing projects to the grounds and facility at Lone Star Speedway.
“We're really looking forward to WoO Fest,” said Sam Hafertepe. “It should be a great night of racing and we have all kinds of games and prizes for the kids as well. We have gained so much knowledge this season and learned so much back in the spring with our first World of Outlaws race. It's going to be a big night and we are very excited for it.”
Joey Saldana was victorious at Lone Star Speedway back on April 10 to put his name in the record books as just the third driver to win with the World of Outlaws at the track, joining 20-time series champion Steve Kinser and three-time title winner Sammy Swindell. He was victorious the following night at Houston Raceway Park and looks to remain undefeated in the Lone Star State this season with the World of Outlaws. The native of Brownsburg, Indiana leads the series with 18 A-Feature wins in 2009 and 19 overall triumphs.
“I'm so happy to be racing in Texas, especially Kilgore,” Saldana said after his win in April. “This is a beautiful facility. I'm glad all the fans came out and supported this. We need to be back in this state racing. The Outlaws belong in Texas.”
Heading into the inaugural WoO Fest at Lone Star Speedway on Saturday, October 24, Jason Meyers and three-time and defending series champion Donny Schatz are locked in a tight battle for the 2009 World of Outlaws championship, with just 18 markers separating the pair with three events remaining in 2009.
Schatz, who is the current point leader, was fastest in time trials at Lone Star Speedway back in April and finished second in the A-Feature event, while Meyers turned in a fourth-place performance. Meyers, who leads the series with 52 Top-10 finishes has finished eighth or better in 14 consecutive World of Outlaws events as he chases his first career title.
“That's a pretty cool place, it's pretty wide open,” stated Meyers recently when asked about Lone Star Speedway. “It depends on what the weather is like as well. Usually it gets pretty slick there, but this time of year, who knows what you could get down there. We'll just to have wait and see.”
The inaugural WoO Fest will feature games for kids, drawings for Halloween costumes and other prizes. Also, a special event T-shirt will be for sale at the track on the day of the race.
On Saturday, October 24 at Lone Star Speedway, general admission tickets for adults will be $25, with general admission tickets for Seniors/Military $20, with children ages 6-12 $15 and kids ages five-under admitted free of charge in the general admission seats. All reserved tickets will be $30. For tickets visit http://www.lonestarspeedway.com or call the track at 903-986-9731.
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Looking For More: Streaking Fuller Ready For DIRTcar Modified Assault On Super DIRT Week Oct. 7-11 At Syracuse Mile
SYRACUSE, NY - Oct. 7, 2009 - Tim Fuller is undoubtedly the hottest driver on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
Now the Watertown, N.Y., star is hoping all his sweet full-fender vibes will transfer to his DIRTcar Modified assault on Super DIRT Week XXXVIII, which runs Oct. 7-11 at the Syracuse Mile on the New York State Fairgrounds.
With wins in seven of the last 11 WoO LMS A-Mains – including the last tour event contested on Sept. 6 at Pennsylvania's Tri-City Speedway – Fuller is riding high as he returns to his Modified roots for the Northeast open-wheel circuit's biggest show of the season. He'll race for nearly $75,000 in first-place cash during the extravaganza of speed, which is headlined by the $50,000-to-win Rite Aid 200 for DIRTcar big-block Modifieds on Sunday (Oct. 11).
“It sure would be nice to keep things going at Syracuse,” said Fuller, who will also enter the $20,000-to-win 358-Modified Syracuse 150 on Saturday (Oct. 10) and a 100-lap Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series event that offers a $4,000 top prize on Thursday night (Oct. 8) at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway. “There's a lot of money on the line and I'd like to get some of it.”
Fuller, 41, will make all his Super DIRT Week starts at the Syracuse Mile in equipment fielded by the Smith Brothers Concrete team, a long-running big-block Modified operation from the Middletown, N.Y., area that is co-owned by Steve Hastings and Joe Knoth. Fuller joined the team earlier this season to run selected big-block Modified events that fit into his busy dirt Late Model schedule.
But while Fuller's cars will sport the No. 74 that Hastings and Knoth have displayed on their Modifieds for years, the machine he's set to run in the Rite Aid 200 is actually his own proven Syracuse car. Fuller has entered the 2006 Teo-Pro mount in the last three Rite Aid 200s, finishing seventh (2006), second (2007) and fifth (2008) and winning the pole position with a fast time-trial lap in both '06 and '08.
Hastings and Knoth agreed to make Fuller's car a Smith Brothers No. 74 for Syracuse duty early in their partnership. They took the Mod to car builder Bobby Hearn's northern New Jersey shop for updating several months ago and recently installed a new big-block engine that they had constructed by New York's Precision Engine Service.
“We'll be good (with the big-block car),” stated a confident Fuller, who spent the past few days making final preparations on the car in his shop. “The big thing is that I'm not going into the week in a car I don't know. I know I have a good, fast car that works well at Syracuse.”
Fuller, who will run the 358-Modified Syracuse 150 in a separate Smith Brothers No. 74 and Brewerton's midweek satellite event in a small-block owned by central New Yorker Joe Beyea, won the Rite Aid 200 in 2004 and 358-Modified Syracuse 150 in 2005 while making his living as a fulltime DIRTcar Modified driver. He'd love to repeat in both races – not only for his own bank account, but to provide Hastings and Knoth a huge highlight for their careers as car owners and reward them for backing him in 2009.
Earlier this year, on Aug. 8, Fuller captured a Super DIRTcar Series event at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway – the first win Hastings and Knoth enjoyed on the Northeast's premier big-block Modified tour in two decades. They have not realized great success in limited Super DIRT Week appearances over the years, so Fuller has a chance to bring them a second rare experience in his first season as their driver.
“Racing for these guys has been perfect,” Fuller said of his '09 Modified outings, which also included a spring victory in the DIRT Challenge Cup at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, N.Y., and a second-place finish in the inaugural $20,000-to-win DIRTcar All-Star 100 in July at Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y. “I couldn't ask for a better deal. They're out to run good but also have a good time, so they fit my program real well.
“They're giving me everything you need to win at Syracuse and hopefully we can get the job done for them.”
Fuller has been a Super DIRT Week fixture since 1992, when he finished 33rd in his first start in the 358-Modified event. He's started every Rite Aid 200 since 1996, with his average finish of 12th ranking among the best of all drivers during that span.
And even as he continues to develop into a true national dirt Late Model star, he can't fathom spending Columbus Day weekend doing anything but running a Modified on the famed ‘Moody Mile' in Syracuse.
“I enjoy going (to Super DIRT Week) because it's still one of the premier events in the country,” said Fuller, a former champion of the overall Mr. DIRTcar big-block Modified (2005) and Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified (1993 and 2003) points races. “I really enjoy race day (of the Rite Aid 200) and the challenge of trying to win the race. I've always said that you haven't made it in Modifieds until you've won it.”
Fuller will be back behind the wheel of his Gypsum Express No. 19 dirt Late Model just three days after the Rite Aid 200 when he enters the WoO LMS ‘Topless Showdown' on Wed., Oct. 14, at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. The unique 50-lap event boasts a top prize of as much as $30,000, depending on the starting position of the winner.
Currently ranked fourth in the WoO LMS points standings and tied with Josh Richards for the most wins (seven), Fuller will close out the tour's 2009 season on Nov. 5-7 with the third annual running of the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track.
For more information about Super DIRT Week, including ticket info, contact DIRTcar Racing Northeast Headquarters at 315-834-6606. Further newsworthy items can be found at www.superdirtcarseries.com and www.superdirtweekonline.com, while tickets can be ordered on-line by logging into https://syracuse.ticketdirector.com.
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Ohio's Russell King Closing In On World of Outlaws Late Model Series Rookie of the Year Honors
CONCORD, NC - Sept. 28, 2009 - Russell King is closing in on a grand reward for his long, tough season spent getting a dirt Late Model education on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
With just three events remaining on the 2009 WoO LMS schedule following the wash-out of last weekend's Midwestern doubleheader, the hard-nosed King finds himself on the verge of clinching the tour's Rookie of the Year award.
King, 20, of Bristolville, Ohio, holds a 148-point lead (3,604-3,456) over Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., in the Rookie of the Year standings, which are determined using drivers' 30 best finishes of the '09 campaign. The only way King can lose the crown is if he fails to finish 20th or better in at least one of the 50-lap A-Mains that comprise the season-ending World of Outlaws World Finals on Nov. 5-7 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and Bland wins the two headline races in an unprecedented sweep.
Yes, King is so close to the rookie laurels, he can taste them. But while clinching the honor over a tour-record five-driver rookie class will bring him plenty of attention, he'll be just as proud to finish 10th in the WoO LMS points standings – the last spot that offers a share of the tour's nearly $400,000 points fund.
“Our goal this year is the Rookie of the Year, but we also want to finish 10th in the points,” said King, who is guaranteed the coveted 10th-place position provided he enters the ‘Topless Showdown' on Oct. 14 at The Dirt Track (an event that offers only WoO LMS show-up points and thus won't affect the rookie battle) and starts one of the World Finals A-Mains. “Winning the Rookie deal and finishing 10th in the points means over $30,000 to us. After driving around all season to do this, you want to go home with something substantial like that.”
King stands to pocket $10,000 for the Rookie of the Year crown plus another $21,000 for rounding out the top 10 in the star-studded WoO LMS points standings – a huge chunk of change for a young lion who entered the 2009 season with less than two-dozen dirt Late Model starts under his belt. His six-year career has mostly come behind the wheel of a big-block Modified, the Northeast-based division that his father, Rex Sr., has run for more than 20 years and his younger brother, Rex Jr., now regularly competes in.
King is bidding to become the third consecutive and fourth overall driver with big-block Modified roots to win the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year award since 2004. He would join New Yorkers Tim McCreadie (2004), Tim Fuller (2007) and Vic Coffey (2008).
“We've learned a lot this year,” said King, who drives family-owned equipment. “I wish we would've run better, but we know coming into this that it was gonna be tough to run against the best guys in the country at tracks we've never seen. Hopefully what we learned this year will help us down the road.”
King has certainly showed that he's catching on to the dirt Late Model game. After getting off to a slow start with five DNQs in the season's first nine events, he's started 27 of the last 28 A-Mains. He's been especially solid during the critical stretch run; in the seven A-Mains contested since the schedule reached the 30-race mark and the rookies began replacing their worst finishes, King hasn't missed a feature and has recorded four of his rookie-leading eight top 10 finishes.
Though King passed Bland for the rookie points lead and 10th place in the standings after the June 24 event at Big Diamond Raceway in Forestville, Pa., and has never relinquished the positions, it's his strength over the last seven shows that has allowed him to pull away. He enters the ‘Topless Showdown' with a top-10 finish in four of his last five starts, including a 10th on Sept. 6 at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., that came after his second-place heat run put him in the A-Main redraw for the first time in his career.
King, whose top finish of '09 is a ninth on July 10 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., has already replaced his six 75-point DNQs with better finishes in the Rookie of the Year points computations. The worst remaining finish on his 30-race ledger is a 21st place (108 points).
The 20-year-old Bland, meanwhile, boasts the best single finish by a rookie to date this season – seventh on June 18 at Ohsweken (Ont.) Speedway – but he's separated from King by his fewer top 10 finishes (three) and more DNQs (nine). His hopes of putting some pressure on King entering the World Finals were dashed when last weekend's rainouts at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., and La Salle (Ill.) Speedway robbed two races from him.
But while Bland will be disappointed if he falls short of the rookie trophy with his family-owned team, he asserted that the experience he gained following the WoO LMS this season has made him a better driver.
“It was definitely hard trying to figure out a new chassis (Team Zero by Bloomquist) while racing against the best drivers in the country at a new track every night,” said Bland, who has firm control of 11th in the points standings. “The flip (a wicked crash on June 21 at Ontario's Cornwall Motor Speedway that forced Bland to visit a local hospital for a check-up before returning to run the A-Main) set us back too, but I've learned more this year than I ever have in my career. Being able to watch these (WoO LMS) guys every night – their good laps and their bad laps – helps you so much.”
Joining King and Bland as Rookie of the Year candidates with perfect attendance on the '09 WoO LMS are Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
Robinson, 21, has shown flashes of brilliance in his family's red-white-and-blue cars, but he couldn't quite challenge King and Bland. He's third in the rookie race and 12th in the overall WoO LMS points standings, with a ninth-place finish at Ohsweken standing as his lone top 10 of the season.
No rookie has had a more eventful campaign than Robinson, who's fought through such obstacles as his studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.; a late-spring bout with mononucleosis and kidney stones; and a variety of travel headaches that produced late arrivals to tracks. His dedication was evident when he used a dualie and enclosed trailer to tow his car to the postponed event on Sept. 1 at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., and had only his mother, Elaine, for crew help because his father Dean – the driver of the team's normal big rig – couldn't make the trip.
A newcomer to open dirt Late Model racing in 2008, Hapka, 26, decided to hit the highways immediately this season and sits fourth in the rookie and 13th in the overall standings. He has started 17 of 37 A-Mains and has a top finish of 12th, at Ohsweken.
Reddick, who at 14 years old is the most fresh-faced rookie contender and ranks 14th in the overall points standings, burst onto the WoO LMS scene in dramatic fashion when he qualified through a heat for the season opener on Feb. 12 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., to become the youngest driver in tour history to start an A-Main. He experienced plenty of growing pains after that spectacular debut – he's started just 13 of 37 A-Mains and has a top finish of 13th, at River Cities – but the cool-headed driving and natural talent that he's displayed stamps him as one of the hottest teenage racers in the country.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Rookie of the Year Points Standings (drivers' best 30 finishes through 37 events):
1. Russell King 3,604
2. Jordan Bland 3,456 (-148)
3. Brent Robinson 3,124 (-480)
4. Dustin Hapka 2,897 (-707)
5. Tyler Reddick 2,717 (-887)
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Rain Washes Out Saturday's World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Pepsi Nationals' At I-55 Raceway
PEVELY, MO - Sept. 19, 2009 - Saturday night's World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Pepsi Nationals' at I-55 Raceway was washed out by rain.
A slow-moving band of precipitation reached the one-third-mile oval late Saturday afternoon and radar indicated little chance of imminent clearing, forcing I-55 Raceway co-promoters Ken Schrader and Ray Marler to pull the plug on the track's 27th annual special event.
It was the 11th time that a WoO LMS event has been either canceled or postponed during the rain-plagued 2009 season.
Track and series officials are discussing the possibility of a new date for a WoO LMS visit to I-55 Raceway. For more information about rainchecks and the status of the event visit www.i55raceway.com.
The WoO LMS will move on to La Salle (Ill.) Speedway on Sunday night (Sept. 20) to contest the 18th annual Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals. A 40-lap A-Main paying $7,000 to win will top the program.
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Plenty Of Points Title Drama Will Spice Up Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals On Sunday (Sept. 20) At La Salle Speedway
LA SALLE, IL - Sept. 18, 2009 - La Salle Speedway will be swirling with points-title drama on Sunday night (Sept. 20) during the 18th annual Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals.
From the two-driver face-offs for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and UMP DIRTcar Racing national Super Late Model championships to the battle for the UMP DIRTcar national Modified crown, the quarter-mile oval's season-ending event promises to be a crucial big-picture evening for several competitors.
The evening's headline 40-lap, $7,000-to-win World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main will have two points-race storylines spinning simultaneously – Steve Francis and Josh Richards are locked in a neck-and-neck stretch run for the $100,000 Outlaw title, while homestate stars Jason Feger and Dennis Erb Jr. are rolling toward the end of a memorable struggle for a UMP DIRTcar national championship worth $20,000.
What's more, UMP DIRTcar Modified national points leader Gary Cook Jr. of Deer Creek, Ill., and defending national champion Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., who won the 2007 Illinois Fall Nationals Modified event at La Salle, are among the title contenders expected to compete in the division's supporting 25-lap, $1,000-to-win feature.
Get out the calculators – the Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals promise to be exciting for more than the night's first-place prizes.
“I think it's great for the fans to have an opportunity to see this many different points battles play out at one facility on a single night,” said veteran Midwestern promoter Bob Sargent, whose Track Enterprises, Inc. is presenting the Illinois Fall Nationals for the second time at La Salle after a 17-year run on the Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. “There's a lot on the line for the championship contenders. Every position will count, so fans are going to have plenty to watch.”
Highlighting the program will be the Francis-Richards war for 2009 WoO LMS supremacy. With the two drivers having distanced themselves from defending champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., in the points standings, it appears they will decide the title between themselves.
Francis, 42, of Ashland, Ky., leads Richards, a 21-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., who drives the Rocket Chassis house car that is fielded by his father Mark and was campaigned by Francis earlier this decade, by a mere four points entering this weekend's WoO LMS Midwest doubleheader at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. (the Pepsi Nationals on Sat., Sept. 20) and La Salle. A WoO LMS champion in 2007 and runner-up on three previous occasions, Francis grabbed the points lead from Richards in the last tour event, on Sept. 6 at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa.
Richards, who is gunning for his first-ever WoO LMS title after finishing second last season, is hoping for better luck at La Salle than he experienced in the last Outlaw event there on Sept. 16, 2007. In an Illinois Fall Nationals 40-lapper that saw Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., emerge victorious and Francis finish fifth after running as high as second, Richards had to pit on the opening lap due to nosepiece damage from hitting an inside tractor tire and could only manage a 13th-place finish.
Just three events remain on the WoO LMS schedule after this weekend's shows – and all three are at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
With La Salle's WoO LMS action carrying a UMP DIRTcar co-sanction and being run under UMP DIRTcar's Hoosier LM20, LM30 and LM40 tire-compound rule, the event is a full UMP DIRTcar points race. Feger, 31, of Bloomington, Ill., holds a slim 10-point lead over Carpentersville, Ill.'s Erb in the national standings with just three weekends of weekly racing and the Oct. 9-10 UMP DIRTcar Nationals at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, remaining in the circuit's points season.
The UMP DIRTcar national Super Late Model standings are determined using drivers' best 40 finishes/points nights and include bonus points for car count, so with a strong field expected on Sunday both Feger and Erb will have an opportunity to gain points with a finish near the front of the pack. They figure to be serious contenders in the event, considering that both drivers have turned many laps at La Salle and have proven their ability to win on the WoO LMS.
Feger, who is shooting for his UMP DIRTcar national championship and also to end Erb's two-year run as the national titlist, captured his first career WoO LMS A-Main earlier this year at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wis. A winner of 18 features at 13 different tracks this season, Feger finished 17th in the 2007 WoO LMS event at La Salle and two months ago raced to a 13th-place finish in the track's UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals program.
Erb, meanwhile, owns two career WoO LMS A-Mains victories, with both coming in 2007. He finished sixth in the 2007 Illinois Fall Nationals at La Salle and scored a third-place finish in this year's UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals show at the track.
The WoO LMS and UMP DIRTcar title contenders will headline a star-studded field of dirt Late Model drivers expected to invade La Salle.
The traveling Outlaw roster will also include Lanigan, who finished second in the 2007 Illinois Fall Nationals; the red-hot Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who has won seven of the last 11 tour events and placed fourth in '07 at La Salle; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who ran La Salle's cushion hard to finish third in '07; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis.; and Rookie of the Year contenders Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and 14-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
Other drivers planning to enter the Illinois Fall Nationals include Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., and Terry Casey of New London, Wis.
Last year's Illinois Fall Nationals at La Salle was rained out and not rescheduled, so this will mark the track's first WoO LMS event in two years.
Pit gates will open at 2 p.m. and the grandstand gates will be unlocked at 4 p.m. on Sun., Sept. 20. Practice is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., followed by time trials at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
Adult grandstand admission is $25 with children 11-and-under $5. All pit passes will cost $35.
La Salle Speedway is centrally located in Illinois, sitting 60 miles west of Joliet, 80 miles east of the Quad Cities, 70 miles south of Rockford and 60 miles north of Bloomington.
For additional information or to purchase advanced general admission tickets, visit www.lasallespeedway.com; www.trackenterprises.com; or contact Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200 or La Salle Speedway at 815-223-6939.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Richards Top Outlaw In World 100; Red-Hot Fuller Cools Off At Eldora
CONCORD, NC - Sept. 14, 2009 -
A LITTLE MOMENTUM: Josh Richards wasn't able to finally add a victory in a crown-jewel dirt Late Model event to his rapidly-expanding resume on Saturday night at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
But while he was clearly disappointed to remain atop the list of ‘Best Drivers Yet To Win A Big One' after the checkered flag fell on the prestigious UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned World 100, the 21-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., gracefully accepted a sixth-place run that left him as the race's highest-finishing World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular.
“At least we were closer tonight than we've been the last couple years,” said Richards, who finished 19th in the 2007 event and failed to qualify in 2008. “If I couldn't win I wanted a top five (finish), but I'm happy to run sixth here. With 172 cars (entered), running sixth is definitely awesome.”
Richards, whose best finish in five career World 100 attempts is a fourth in 2006, enjoyed a solid, if not spectacular weekend at NASCAR star Tony Stewart's famed half-mile oval. He turned the fourth-fastest lap in Friday night's time trials, finished second in a 15-lap heat race on Saturday night and quietly moved forward from the 10th starting spot to place sixth in the A-Main.
If there was anything Richards would like to do over, it would be fast-timer Dan Schlieper's heat-race inversion redraw on Friday night. Schlieper picked a six, giving Richards a starting spot outside the third row in the fourth heat.
“We got up to second in our heat, but it took us a little too long to get there from sixth,” said Richards. “I think in another lap or two we might've passed (Dennis) Erb (for the win) – we were catching him, and that would've put us in a lot better position for the feature.”
Indeed, a heat-race triumph would have aligned Richards third for the start of the World 100. Considering the fact that passing became difficult about one-third of the way through the event because the surface took some rubber, Richards might have found himself in the mix up front if he had been able to overtake Erb earlier in the night.
“The track was so dry and rubbered up so hard, so early, you just had to sit and ride the best you could,” said Richards, who earned $5,000 for his World 100 performance. “We got Earl (Pearson) for sixth on that last restart (lap 83) and I was trying to get (Jimmy) Owens (for fifth) at the end, but I just couldn't find a way by him.
“The Dream (in June) was very frustrating for us, so this weekend shows we're gaining on it here,” added Richards, who set fast-time for the $100,000-to-win Dream but finished a disappointing 22nd. “We got some good laps in the feature and hopefully we learned some things that will help us when we come back here next year.”
Richards did visit Victory Lane following the World 100 to congratulate winner Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio, who happens to be the last driver Richards's father Mark hired to run the familiar Rocket Chassis house car before Josh took over its seat fulltime in 2005. Hartman ran the No. 1 machine on the entire WoO LMS in 2004 – the same year that Richards made his debut behind the wheel as Hartman's teammate in a selected number of Outlaw events.
“Congratulations to Hartman,” said Richards. “For a guy who I guess almost passed out after his heat race (due to a splitting headache) and didn't even know if he could make a lap – to go out there and win the World 100, I'm sure he's feeling a lot better after that.
“He finally won this thing after coming here for so many years. We just gotta keep coming here and digging like he has for so long.”
Richards now shifts his attention to this weekend's WoO LMS events in the Midwest, on Saturday night (Sept. 19) at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., and Sunday night (Sept. 20) at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway. He enters the critical swing – the last WoO LMS races of the 2009 season not being held at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. – sitting second in the points standings, a mere four points behind 2007 champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.
“I feel comfortable at both tracks,” said Richards, who is seeking his first-ever WoO LMS points crown. “I didn't run too great at La Salle when we were there a couple years ago, but I think we'll have a better idea about what to do when we go back this time. And last year we were good at Pevely and I like that place, so I like our chances.
“I feel pretty confident (about resuming WoO LMS action) after coming (to Eldora) and running sixth. It helps the team morale a little bit going into the (Midwest) weekend. We just gotta not let anything bother us and go out there and do the best we can.”
Richards finished 13th in his lone WoO LMS start at La Salle in 2007. He has made three tour appearances at I-55, finishing progressively better in each race (14th in '05, 13th in '07, third in '08).
COOLING OFF: The red-hot Tim Fuller – a winner of seven of the last 11 WoO LMS A-Mains – seemed to still have good fortune on his side at Eldora when his 32nd-fastest time-trial lap gave him the pole position for the second heat thanks to the six-car invert.
Making his first career appearance at the World 100 extravaganza, Fuller, 41, of Watertown, N.Y., finished second in his heat to earn the eighth starting spot in the A-Main. But soon after a caution flag flew on lap 21 as Fuller was bidding to overtake Owens for third, the engine in his Gypsum Express Rocket car began to skip. Fuller fell to seventh before retiring on lap 52 with a terminal motor problem, leaving him 25th in the final rundown.
“I think we might have had a third-place car,” said Fuller. “I don't think we would've had anything for Hartman and (runner-up Brian) Birkhofer, especially after (the track) rubbered, but I felt like we were good enough for third.”
WORLD 100 OUTLAWS: Richards and Fuller were among a group of seven WoO LMS regulars who made the World 100 starting field.
The group included Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis. (finished 13th), who pulled off one of the weekend's most thrilling moves when he split two cars off turn two to surge into third place during the sixth heat; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. (14th), who finished the 100 sporting damage to his car's right-rear spoiler; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (15th), who won a B-Main; Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (17th), who started 28th and lost a lap early but passed Owens moments later to get back on the lead lap; and Steve Francis (24th), who started 27th and was never a factor before retiring midway through the 100 while one lap down.
NO MAGIC THIS TIME: One year after standing tall on Eldora's stage after winning the World 100 for the first time, WoO LMS standout Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., was a spectator for Saturday night's A-Main.
Clanton, 33, never quite found his rhythm while attempting to defend his World 100 title. He missed the heat-race inversion with a 41st-fastest time-trial lap, then missed transferring to the headliner by three spots in his heat and two in a B-Main.
Clanton's DNQ made him the seventh driver in the 39-year history of the World 100 who did not start the feature event the year after his triumph, joining Verlin Eakers (1972 winner), Joe Merryfield (1975), Charlie Hughes (1976), Ken Walton (1978), Donnie Moran (1992) and Earl Pearson Jr. (2006).
FORGETTABLE EVENING: Senoia, Ga.'s Clint Smith experienced a double-dose of misery during Saturday night's program at Eldora.
After earning himself a third-place starting spot in a heat race when he ripped off the 21st-fastest circuit on his second time-trial lap on Friday, Smith missed transferring to the A-Main by two spots in his heat. He then scratched from the B-Main due to a broken motor in his new GRT car, which he debuted at Eldora.
Smith still had another horse in Saturday's race because 2007 Dream winner Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind., was behind the wheel of Smith's backup car, but a heavily-smoking machine forced Casebolt to pull out of his B-Main during the pace laps. Casebolt, who became friendly with Smith in recent years while they vacationed together on the annual ‘Cruise With The Champions,' landed a ride with Smith at the 11th hour after relating that two blown engines had left him without a powerplant for his own car.
THE ROOKS: Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., and Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., represented the five-driver 2009 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year class at the World 100, but neither driver made the A-Main starting field.
The 20-year-old Bland, who qualified for the World 100 last year, appeared to be in good shape for back-to-back feature appearances after he avoided an opening-lap tangle and then surged into second place on the restart. But his car's right-rear spoiler was damaged when he clipped the outside wall several circuits later and he faded to a seventh-place finish. He never threatened to grab a transfer spot in a B-Main, finishing ninth.
Hapka, meanwhile, made the cut for the heat races in his first-ever World 100 appearance but finished 15th in the third prelim, ending his weekend early.
STRONG DEBUT: Rising teenage star Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., who has entered 25 WoO LMS events this season and plans to apply as a Rookie of the Year candidate for the 2010 campaign, was impressive in his first-ever visit to Eldora.
The 17-year-old timed 17th-fastest and finished third in the fifth heat to become the second-youngest driver to qualify for the World 100. Josh Richards was one month younger than Hubbard when he made the World 100 starting field in 2005.
Hubbard was understandably in awe after cracking the elite feature event.
“I never imagined I would make the show tonight,” said Hubbard, who hadn't even seen Eldora Speedway prior to arriving on Wednesday night to watch NASCAR regular Aric Almirola drive his car in the Prelude to the Dream. “I've probably never been so scored in my life.”
Hubbard went down a lap early in the 100, but he proceeded to gain valuable seat time at Eldora by running the remainder of the distance en route to a 19th-place finish.
TIRE UPDATE: WoO LMS have announced that UMP DIRTcar's Hoosier 20-, 30- and 40-compound tires will be the only rubber permitted for use in this weekend's tour events at I-55 Raceway and La Salle Speedway.
Ken Schrader's I-55 Raceway will host the 50-lap, $10,000-to-win Pepsi Nationals on Saturday night (Sept. 19), while Bob Sargent's Track Enterprises Inc. will present the 18th annual 18th Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals (40 laps/$7,000 to win) on Sunday night (Sept. 20.)
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Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway Announces Plans For $25,000-To-Win ‘Commonwealth 100’ On April 16-17, 2010
Blockbuster World of Outlaws Late Model Series Event Will Offer Total Purse Exceeding $125,000
JAMAICA, VA - Sept. 7, 2009 - Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway is already considered one of the country’s top dirt-track facilities.
In 2010, the gorgeous half-mile oval in Virginia’s Tidewater Region will also boast a dirt Late Model mega-event to match its stature.
The inaugural World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Commonwealth 100’ will be contested on April 16-17, 2010, at VMS, track and series officials announced on Monday.
A $25,000 prize is earmarked for the winner of the two-day blockbuster, which will offer a cash purse totaling over $125,000. The Commonwealth 100 will pay $2,000 to start, and a 30-lap Non-Qualifiers’ Race will boast a $3,000 first-place award from a purse of nearly $16,000.
Time trials and heat races will be run on Fri., April 16, with last-chance races and the headline Commonwealth 100 dominating the program on Sat., April 17. A raindate of Sun., April 18, has been established for the event.
“We feel it’s time for us to step up to the plate and offer to run the biggest show in the history of Virginia Motor Speedway,” said track owner Bill Sawyer, who is in his 10th season at the helm of the dirt-track showplace. “We have a premier facility and we want to create a premier event that showcases our track to fans and race teams from across the country.
“We’re very excited about building the Commonwealth 100 into a marquee event that everyone automatically puts on their calendars every season. After running various touring events and seeing what’s going on in the short-track world, it’s become clear that a major event like this is what we need to do to get the fans and racers excited.”
Sawyer said plans are in the works to make the Commonwealth 100 weekend “more than just a race.” Details will be announced in the future, but he indicated that there will be plenty of auxiliary fun for attendees, including a giant driver autograph session, post-race entertainment following Friday’s action and ear-splitting festivities prior to the 100-lap A-Main (think the Civil War-themed pre- and post-race activities during April’s WoO LMS event at VMS that included multiple cannon and pistol shots by costumed re-enactors).
“I can’t think of a better place to host a huge new World of Outlaws Late Model Series event than Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway,” said World Racing Group Chief Operating Officer Tom Deery. “Bill Sawyer and has staff have built a beautiful racetrack that deserves a signature race like the Commonwealth 100 on its schedule. With the facilities available at Virginia Motor and the great racing that the track is known for, the sky’s the limit for the Commonwealth 100.”
VMS has been a staple track on the WoO LMS, presenting at least one tour event each season since 2005. The Commonwealth 100 will bring all the WoO LMS stars – plus dozens more national and regional standouts – to the facility for a race that will go down in VMS and series history.
“We’ve been talking to Bill Sawyer about running a major event at Virginia Motor Speedway for a couple years so we’re thrilled that he’s decided to go all-out in 2010,” said WoO LMS director Tim Christman. “The Commonwealth 100 is going to be one of the centerpieces of the 2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series schedule. I’m sure it will generate the same sort of excitement that we’ve seen for events like the Firecracker 100 (at Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway) and Illini 100 (at Illinois’s Farmer City Raceway) that have become part of the World of Outlaws tour in recent years.”
More information on the Commonwealth 100 weekend – including ticket prices, camping info and a complete weekend schedule – will soon be released by VMS management.
Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway is a half-mile dirt oval located on U.S. Route 17 in Jamaica, Va., eight miles north of Saluda and 25 miles south of Tappahannock. The speedway, which boasts spacious 8,000-seat aluminum grandstand, beautiful sponsor suites, MUSCO lighting, a pit area treated with a tar-and-gravel mixture and over 20 acres of parking, is just a short drive from the Richmond, Fredericksburg, southern Maryland and Hampton Roads areas.
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Seventh Heaven: Fuller Holds Off Late Challenge From Lanigan For Victory In Oil Region Labor Day Classic Finale At Tri-City Speedway
FRANKLIN, PA - Sept. 6, 2009 - Tim Fuller’s hot streak on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series is still going strong.
Making amends for a tire choice that cost him a shot at victory the previous night, Fuller roared back to win Sunday’s 50-lap finale of the Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic at Tri-City Speedway.
It was the seventh triumph in the last 11 WoO LMS events for the sizzling 41-year-old standout from Watertown, N.Y., who moved into a tie with Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., for winningest-driver status on the 2009 tour. Both drivers have won seven times.
“I thought (the run of success) was ending last night after I made a bad decision,” said Fuller, who led laps 1-13 of the weekend’s opening A-Main before an overheated right-rear tire sent him tumbling to a sixth-place finish. “But tonight we put on the same tires as everybody else did and we got right back on track.
“I hope it doesn’t end. I like it the way it is.”
Fuller steered his Gypsum Express Rocket car forward from the seventh starting spot, passing Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., for the lead on lap 28 and never looking back. Defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who started alongside Fuller in eighth, overtook Francis for second on lap 37 and made a late bid to unseat Fuller but settled for second place in his one-week-old Rocket mount.
Francis, who raced off the pole position to lead laps 1-27 in the Beitler Motorsports Rocket, held on to finish third. He fell short of sweeping the weekend after capturing his sixth victory of 2009 the previous evening, but the run allowed him to regain the WoO LMS points lead by four points over Richards, who finished a quiet ninth.
Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., advanced from the ninth starting spot to place fourth in Barry Klinedinst’s Rocket car. It was his second top-five run of the Oil Region Labor Day Classic and once again earned him the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the tour points standings.
Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., completed the top five in the RSD Enterprises Rocket after starting third. He joined Francis, Lanigan and Covert as drivers with a top-five finish in both halves of the Classic.
Fuller’s latest checkered flag was arguably his most satisfying of the season.
“You can win from the front row and feel good,” said Fuller, who registered his 10th career victory on the WoO LMS. “But when you do it like we did tonight – when you start further back and pass everybody you need to pass – it’s a way better feeling.”
Fuller had to withstand a stiff challenge from Lanigan, who sailed his car hard to the outside of Fuller rounding turns three and four on lap 44. Lanigan wasn’t able to get around Fuller, however, and that proved pivotal in the outcome of the race, which was slowed by just a single caution flag, on lap 34 when Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., stopped in turn four with mechanical trouble.
When the low-running Fuller saw Lanigan’s car above him, he immediately adjusted his groove higher on the track and proceeded to pull away over the remaining circuits.
“I showed him my nose too quick,” said Lanigan, who finished 0.995 of a second behind Fuller. “He saw me out there and knew to move up. He’s running smart right now.”
Lanigan, 39, nearly surprised Fuller, who thought the inside was the lane of choice.
“It seemed like I was so slow going in there down on the bottom,” said Fuller, who earned $10,600 to push his total WoO LMS earnings to over $130,000 this season. “I was thinking, I can’t believe no one is running over me. But ‘Smoke’ (Fuller’s chief mechanic Mike Countryman) was telling me (with hand signals from the infield) to stay on the bottom, so that’s what I did.
“Then Lanigan showed me the nose. I saw him out there out of the corner of my eye and fortunately he didn’t make it sick. I knew right then that I had to get back up in the middle of the corner where I could keep my momentum up.”
Francis, 41, could only watch Fuller and Lanigan battle it out for the win during the race’s late stages.
“I was a little softer on the right front (tire) than Fuller and Darrell,” said Francis. “As the race went on I just couldn’t turn through the corners like they could anymore. I had to start bending it into the corners and was just losing time to them.”
Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., was sixth – and pushing Clanton for fifth – at the finish after starting 18th for the second consecutive night. Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., placed seventh, followed by fourth-starter Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., who ran second for laps 4-16; Richards, who started fifth; and Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, who recorded his fourth top-10 finish in the last five events after a second-place heat finish put him in the A-Main redraw for the first time in his career.
Sunday night’s field numbered 46 cars – all 41 of Saturday’s entries plus five new additions.
Richards ripped off a lap of 17.940 seconds during Ohlins Shocks Time Trials to record his fifth fast-time honor of 2009, tying Francis for the series lead in the category.
Heat winners were Richards, Francis, Fuller and Miller. The B-Mains were captured by David Scott of Garland, Pa., and McCreadie.
The WoO LMS will have one weekend off – though most of the tour’s regulars will compete in the prestigious UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned World 100 on Sept. 11-12 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio – before resuming action with a doubleheader in the Midwest. I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., hosts the ‘Pepsi Nationals’ on Sat., Sept. 19, and La Salle (Ill.) Speedway will present the Illinois Fall Nationals on Sun., Sept. 20.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ Night No. 2 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (7) Tim Fuller/50 $10,600
2. (8) Darrell Lanigan/50 $5,600
3. (1) Steve Francis/50 $3,600
4. (9) Jason Covert/50 $3,000
5. (3) Shane Clanton/50 $2,500
6. (18) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,800
7. (10) Clint Smith/50 $1,900
8. (4) Jeremy Miller/50 $1,300
9. (5) Josh Richards/50 $1,750
10. (6) Russell King/50 $1,950
11. (21) Vic Coffey/50 $1,050
12. (12) Chub Frank/50 $1,500
13. (13) Austin Hubbard/50 $950
14. (16) Robbie Blair/50 $900
15. (19) Brady Smith/50 $1,350
16. (20) Gregg Satterlee/50 $800
17. (11) Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/50 $770
18. (15) Dave Hess Jr./50 $750
19. (23) Rick Eckert/50 $1,230
20. (22) Jordan Bland/49 $1,200
21. (14) Matt Lux/33 $700
22. (2) D.J. Myers/29 $700
23. (17) David Scott/17 $700
24. (24) Brent Robinson/13 $1,200
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 21 Mins., 8.396 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.995 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (lap 34)
Lap Leaders: Francis (1-27); Fuller (28-50)
2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 6 – 37 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Steve Francis 5073
2. Josh Richards 5069
3. Darrell Lanigan 4981
4. Tim Fuller 4925
5. Rick Eckert 4867
6. Shane Clanton 4835
7. Chub Frank 4793
8. Brady Smith 4674
9. Clint Smith 4581
10. Russell King 4129
-end-
Francis Slips By Richards Heading To White Flag For Dramatic Victory In Oil Region Labor Day Classic Opener At Tri-City Speedway
FRANKLIN, PA - Sept. 5, 2009 - Steve Francis is a bridesmaid no more.
The veteran from Ashland, Ky., ended his rewarding-but-frustrating run of second-place finishes on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series in dramatic fashion, slipping underneath Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., for the lead heading to the white flag to capture Saturday night’s 50-lap Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic opener at Tri-City Speedway.
Francis, 41, entered the weekend action at the half-mile oval with seven runner-up finishes in the last 12 tour A-Mains – and without a victory since scoring his fifth win of the season on May 31 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va.
“It’s definitely a relief to finally win again,” said Francis, who started third in Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting Rocket car. “When we’re finishing second, we’re making a living and maintaining in the points, but it’s still not a win.
“Anytime you win it feels good. That’s we come to do, and it had been awhile since we did it last.”
Francis earned $10,700 for his sixth triumph of the season on the WoO LMS. It was his 26th career series win – the most of any driver on the tour since 2004 – and gave him a victory in the first half of Tri-City’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic for the third consecutive year.
The 2007 WoO LMS champion’s joy came at the expense of Richards, who appeared headed to his series-leading eighth win of the season after passing Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., for the lead on lap 14. Richards turned back repeated challenges from Francis during a race that was slowed by only a single caution flag on lap 31, but he made a fatal slip on the 48th circuit that sent Francis to Victory Lane.
Richards, 21, settled for second place in his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket after starting from the pole position, keeping him winless on the WoO LMS since he overtook Francis to win on July 16 at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D. He also saw his points lead over Francis shrink even smaller – to a mere eight points with six events remaining on the 2009 schedule.
Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who trails Richards and Francis in the points standings, followed the series leaders across the finish line in third place. He advanced from the eighth starting spot to third by lap 17 in his one-week-old Rocket car, but he couldn’t climb higher.
Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., moved up one position to finish fourth in the RSD Enterprises Rocket and sixth-starter Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., placed fifth in Barry Klinedinst’s Rocket. Covert earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hadn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main and wasn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.
Fuller, who had won six of the last nine WoO LMS events including Wednesday night’s ‘Dirt Demon 50’ at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway, faded to a sixth-place finish after outgunning Richards from the outside pole to lead laps 1-13. His soft-compound right-rear tire overheated, dooming his chances.
Francis felt fortunate to bring his 20-race WoO LMS winless streak to an end.
“We were pretty equal,” said Francis, who reached second with a lap-16 pass of Fuller. “I felt like I could gain on Josh in (turns) one and two, but he could gain in three and four. I don’t think I’m passing him if he doesn’t slip up.
“When he ran in there (in turn three with two laps remaining) he just sort of misjudged where the rubber was and where his car needed to be. He slipped off the bottom and I was lucky enough to be there.”
Richards sat sullenly on the back step of his trailer after the race, replaying lap 48 over and over in his mind.
“I just slipped up,” said Richards. “I have to admit it. I gave the race away. There was only one groove to be (at the end) and I got out of it.
“We caught ‘Boom’ (Rick Briggs) with two-to-go and I tried to slow the pace down. He entered way, way low going into three. I entered just a little bit wider, I got my right-rear tire out of the rubber, and I just slipped. I left the door open for Steve.
“It was my fault,” he continued. “It’s just disappointing. The team’s worked so hard for this and we were in position to win, and I screwed up. It’s still good to run second, but we’re trying to beat Steve (in the points race) and Steve won.”
Finishing in positions 7-10 was Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., who was coming off a career-high second-place WoO LMS finish at Brewerton; 18th-starter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who was never a factor after starting seventh; and Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, who scored his third top-10 finish in the last four events.
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., brought out the race’s lone caution flag on lap 31 when he slowed in turn four. He continued and finished on the lead lap in 17th place.
A field of 41 cars was signed in for the program, which was run under clear, postcard-perfect weather conditions.
Austin Hubbard, 17, of Seaford, Del., registered the second WoO LMS fast-time honor of his young career with a lap of 18.328 seconds in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials. But he failed to qualify for the A-Main after fading out of a transfer spot in his heat and running into trouble during the first B-Main.
Hubbard’s problems in the last-chance race began when he was penalized one row by officials from his pole starting slot for jumping the initial green flag. He then tangled on the homestretch with Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, Pa., and Bob Close of Eldred, Pa., while battling for second, sending him sliding through the infield. The youngster was left with a flat right-front tire and could only rally to finish sixth after making a pit stop.
Heat winners were Lanigan, Frank, Clanton and Covert, and the B-Mains were captured by Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.
The Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic continues on Sunday night (Sept. 6) with another complete WoO LMS program topped by a 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ Night No. 1 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (3) Steve Francis/50 $10,700
2. (1) Josh Richards/50 $5,500
3. (8) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,600
4. (5) Shane Clanton/50 $3,000
5. (6) Jason Covert/50 $2,500
6. (2) Tim Fuller/50 $2,200
7. (11) Vic Coffey/50 $1,400
8. (18) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,400
9. (7) Chub Frank/50 $1,700
10. (9) Russell King/50 $1,950
11. (10) Gregg Satterlee/50 $1,050
12. (15) Rick Eckert/50 $1,500
13. (14) Nick Dickson/50 $950
14. (12) Brady Smith/50 $1,400
15. (4) Robbie Blair/50 $850
16. (19) Bob Close/50 $800
17. (20) Clint Smith/50 $1,270
18. (23) Jordan Bland/50 $1,250
19. (13) Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/50 $730
20. (16) Dan Stone/42 $700
21. (24) Brent Robinson/18 $1,200
22. (22) Brent Rhebergen/18 $700
23. (17) Matt Lux/13 $700
24. (21) Jeremy Miller/12 $700
Time of Race: 19 Mins., 11.023 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.667 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (lap 31)
Lap Leaders: Fuller (1-13); Richards (14-48); Francis (49-50)
1. Josh Richards 4937 (-0)
2. Steve Francis 4929 (-8)
3. Darrell Lanigan 4835 (-102)
4. Tim Fuller 4775 (-162)
5. Rick Eckert 4755 (-182)
6. Shane Clanton 4695 (-242)
7. Chub Frank 4667 (-270)
8. Brady Smith 4554 (-383)
9. Clint Smith 4445 (-492)
10. Russell King 3999 (-938)
-end-
Late Caution Helps Fuller Steal ‘Dirt Demon 50’ Victory From Coffey Wednesday Night At Brewerton Speedway
BREWERTON, NY - Sept. 2, 2009 - Tim Fuller had a bunch of reasons to smile after winning Wednesday night’s inaugural World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Dirt Demon 50’ at Brewerton Speedway.
It continued his torrid summer on the national tour. It came at a one-third-mile oval that he used to call home during his days as a DIRTcar big-block Modified regular. His car owner, John Wight, was looking on from the tower of the track he purchased earlier this year.
And Fuller, 41, of Watertown, N.Y., happened to earn his $10,600 victory in truly dramatic fashion.
Battling forward from the eighth starting spot in the Gypsum Express Rocket, Fuller took advantage of a late caution flag to grab the lead from Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., on lap 45 and hold on for his sixth triumph in the last nine WoO LMS events.
“It’s just incredible to win one at my car owner’s track in front of a crowd like this,” said Fuller, gesturing toward the bleachers that were filled to capacity for Brewerton’s first-ever WoO LMS program. “For awhile it seemed like I could only win (dirt Late Model) races in the West, so it’s a nice change to win close to home.”
In a showdown of former DIRTcar big-block Modified regulars who have won the last two WoO LMS Rookie of the Year awards, Fuller beat Coffey’s Sweeteners Plus Rocket car to the finish line by a scant 0.833 of a second to record his ninth career win on the tour – and deny Coffey a coveted first career Outlaws victory.
Polesitter Rick Eckert of York, Pa., placed third in the Raye Vest Racing Team Zero by Bloomquist mount, just a couple car lengths behind Coffey at the finish. Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., advanced from the 14th starting spot to finish fourth in his Team Zero by Bloomquist machine – his first top-five since July 24 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park – and 21st-starter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., made a late charge to snare a fifth-place finish in his Rocket.
Former WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who competed in Brewerton’s big-block Modified ranks before going full-fender racing, finished sixth after being overtaken by Frank in the final laps.
Coffey, 38, appeared headed to a milestone victory after racing forward from the seventh starting spot to take the lead on lap 13 from Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga. He pulled away when green-flag conditions prevailed for an extended period – as evidenced after Fuller came on following a lap-31 caution flag to lead lap 36 but then dropped back, losing the top spot to Coffey on lap 37 and falling nearly a straightaway behind by lap 44.
Moments later, however, a busted driveshaft from the car driven by 17-year-old Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., was spotted on the inside of the homestretch, bringing out the race’s fourth and final caution flag. The turn of events gave Fuller new life and proved to be Coffey’s undoing.
Fuller fired off quickly on the restart, pulling to the outside of Coffey and taking the lead on lap 45. One lap later Fuller surged ahead of Coffey to snatch the inside line that Coffey had been using so successfully throughout the race.
“Under a long green (flag) he was supersonic – I couldn’t run with him,” Fuller said of Coffey. “As his tires got hot he got better, and as mine got hot I got slower.
“It all played out in my favor when that caution came out with six (laps) to go. I got one more shot at him and I felt my chances were pretty good. My tires were so good cold.
“I wasn’t positive I could pull it off (a pass) after the caution because I didn’t make it work 15 laps prior to that,” added Fuller, who owns 26 career DIRTcar big-block Modified feature wins at Brewerton. “But my car stuck in that center (lane) and I was able to clear him and get to the bottom. Then I was just hoping I could last to the end.”
The caution flag came out at the worst possible time for Coffey, who couldn’t match Fuller’s speed over a short sprint.
“I definitely didn’t want to see that caution because I knew (Fuller) was good for three, four, five laps, maybe a tick better than me,” said Coffey. “He got alongside me the restart before that and I was able to fight him off, but I knew when the caution came out with six to go that if he could stick (the center lane) twice and drop down in front of me, there’s nothing I would be able to do about it. And that’s what he did.
“Obviously he’s on a roll right now, there’s no doubt about it. He’s getting the breaks he needs and taking advantage of them.”
While Coffey scored a career-best WoO LMS finish and earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a tour A-Main and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings, he was disappointed to remain winless at Brewerton during his career. He had previously absorbed heartbreaking late-race losses on at least three occasions in big-block and 358-Modified events at the track.
Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., maintained his WoO LMS points lead despite being forced to restart at the rear of the field following an incident on the race’s original start. The 21-year-old sensation started fifth but he got sideways between turns one and two and was nicked by Coffey, cutting Richards’s left-rear tire.
With a caution flag thrown for the multi-car, chain-reaction stack-up that occurred behind Richards, the young driver was able to pit for a tire change. He rallied to finish eighth – just one spot behind his closest pursuer in the points standings, Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who ran quietly just outside the top five throughout the A-Main and left Brewerton trailing Richards by 12 points.
Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., a Brewerton big-block Modified regular and another member of Wight’s Gypsum Express team, finished ninth, while Clanton faded to a 10th-place finish (after starting second and leadings laps 1-12) thanks to a broken right-front fender flare that hampered his car’s handling.
A field of 30 cars assembled for the event, which was run on a cool, crystal-clear evening.
Richards registered his fourth fast-time award of 2009 with a lap of 14.324 seconds in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials.
Heat winners were Richards, Francis and Eckert, and Greg Oakes of Franklinville, N.Y., captured the B-Main.
With his preliminary triumph, Francis became the first driver to reach 100 career heat-race wins since the WoO LMS was launched under the World Racing Group banner in 2004.
The WoO LMS closes out a busy week with the Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic on Saturday and Sunday nights (Sept. 5-6) at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. Complete shows both evenings will be topped by 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Mains.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Dirt Demon 50’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (8) Tim Fuller/50 $10,600
2. (7) Vic Coffey/50 $5,500
3. (1) Rick Eckert/50 $3,500
4. (14) Brady Smith/50 $3,000
5. (21) Chub Frank/50 $2,500
6. (4) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,800
7. (6) Steve Francis/50 $2,000
8. (5) Josh Richards/50 $1,850
9. (3) Billy Decker/50 $1,200
10. (2) Shane Clanton/50 $1,700
11. (9) Dan Stone/50 $1,050
12. (10) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,600
13. (16) Russell King/50 $1,700
14. (13) Brent Robinson/50 $1,400
15. (11) Clint Smith/49 $1,350
16. (12) Matt Sheppard/49 $800
17. (15) Jordan Bland/48 $1,270
18. (18) James Cornell/47 $750
19. (23) Dustin Hapka/47 $730
20. (17) Austin Hubbard/44 $700
21. (24) Tyler Reddick/44 $700
22. (19) Greg Oakes/26 $700
23. (22) Tony Knowles/15 $700
24. (20) Jimmy Bernheisel $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 24 Mins., 46.475 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.833 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 0, 16, 31, 44)
Lap Leaders: Clanton (1-12); Coffey (13-35); Fuller (36); Coffey (37-44); Fuller (45-50)
2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 2
1. Josh Richards 4791 (-0)
2. Steve Francis 4779 (-12)
3. Darrell Lanigan 4691 (-100)
4. Tim Fuller 4637 (-154)
5. Rick Eckert 4629 (-162)
6. Shane Clanton 4553 (-238)
7. Chub Frank 4535 (-256)
8. Brady Smith 4432 (-359)
9. Clint Smith 4329 (-462)
10. Russell King 3869 (-922)
-end-
Eckert Romps To Third Victory Of Season In Twice-Postponed World of Outlaws Late Model Series 50 At Eriez Speedway
HAMMETT, PA - Sept. 1, 2009 - Rick Eckert didn’t mind making three trips to Eriez Speedway this season.
Not after he won the one-third-mile oval’s twice-postponed World of Outlaws Late Model Series event on a clear, cool Tuesday night.
Eckert, 43, of York, Pa., dominated the 50-lap A-Main at Bob and Kathy Rohrer’s track, blasting off the outside pole to lead the entire distance for his third victory of the season on the national tour.
“This makes coming here three times worth it,” Eckert said after pocketing $10,600 for capturing a race that was postponed by rain on July 26 (near the end of time trials) and Aug. 23 (after heat races). “This is great for (car owner) Raye (Vest), great for the team and great for me. It’s been awhile since we won one of these races.”
Indeed, Eckert’s last WoO LMS triumph came on June 22 at Can-Am Motorsports Park in Lafargeville, N.Y. What’s more, with his earlier 2009 victories worth $7,000 apiece, he collected a five-figure first-place prize for the first time in over 14 months.
Eckert’s only threat at Eriez came from Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who made a bid for the lead as Eckert worked lapped traffic with his Team Zero by Bloomquist car midway through the A-Main. But Eckert pulled away once he got into open track, leaving the fourth-starting Francis to settle for his seventh runner-up finish in the last 11 WoO LMS events behind the wheel of the Beitler Motorsports Rocket.
Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., started and finished third in the Gypsum Express Rocket, but he had to battle hard to outduel Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., for the show position. Richards, who started from the pole position, finished fourth in the Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket to maintain his points lead by 14 markers over Francis, and Eriez regular Chad Valone of Warren, Pa., scored a career-best WoO LMS finish of fifth in a Rocket machine.
Eckert’s winning move proved to be his opening-lap slide by Richards to assume command. He went on to record his 19th career WoO LMS victory, which ironically tied him with Richards for second on the tour’s win list since 2004.
“I knew the start was gonna be pretty close,” said Eckert, who sits fifth in the series points standings. “(Richards) was in the traction down on the bottom, but when we were out there riding around (on the pace laps) I saw that there was some moisture at the top so I just stayed wide and kept my right-side tires in it.
“We fired at the same time, but I probably had a little better lane through (turns) one and two. I could run down in there and carry some speed – and usually with these cars, if you can be beside a guy on corner entry on a start, you’re gonna beat him off of two.”
After three caution flags and one red flag (for a homestretch rollover on lap five that left Scott Gurdak of Spring Creek, Pa., shaken but otherwise uninjured) during the race’s first five circuits, Eckert controlled the remaining 45 laps that ran caution-free.
“One time in (lapped) traffic I got behind guys who were side-by-side and I seen Steve (Francis) get under me, so I was like, ‘I gotta get going here,’” said Eckert. “I couldn’t find my crew guys through the fence, so I just ran as hard as I could because I thought they were right on me. I had no idea I was pulling away.”
Francis, 41, could only mutter “second again” after falling just short of his sixth victory of ’09. The 2008 WoO LMS winner at Eriez crossed the finish line 4.066 seconds behind Eckert.
“I thought I was gonna get (Eckert),” said Francis, who showed his car’s nose to Eckert on lap 24. “Then, all of a sudden, my car just died. I don’t know if I overheated the tires or what, but all I could do (the second half of the A-Main) was drive around and try not to make any dumb mistakes.”
Fuller, 41, was rapidly closing on Francis during the race’s final laps but ran out of time. He fell back to fifth early in the race and spent nearly 30 laps attempting to power around the outside of Richards for third before finally completing the pass on lap 38.
“I needed to get by Josh 20 laps earlier to have a shot at Francis,” said Francis, who had won five of the last seven WoO LMS events. “It was just hard to make a clean pass – and (Richards is) in a points battle, so I didn’t want to rough him up or do something that might take him out.”
The 21-year-old Richards did all he could to hold off Fuller but conceded that he had a fourth-place car.
“We were off a little bit,” said Richards, who won the 2007 WoO LMS A-Main at Eriez. “The car was a little bit too tight. I couldn’t drive it in as aggressively as I wanted to.”
Valone, 37, started sixth and hung tough for a milestone top-five finish. He earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main and wasn’t ranked among the top 12 in the tour points standings.
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who has turned his season around over the past two weeks since borrowing a 2005 Rocket car from Valone, finished a fast-closing sixth. Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., advanced from 14th to seventh, ahead of Franklinville, N.Y.’s Greg Oakes, who scored a career-best WoO LMS finish of eighth; defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who stared 23rd after using a provisional; and Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio.
Ohlins Shocks Time Trials and four heat races were completed on Aug. 23, so two B-Mains kicked off Tuesday night’s program. Clanton and Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., were victorious in the last-chance events.
The WoO LMS continues a busy summer-ending stretch on Wednesday night (Sept. 2) at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway and Saturday and Sunday nights (Sept. 5-6) at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. All three evenings feature 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Mains, including both halves of Tri-City’s Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series at Eriez Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Rick Eckert/50 $10,600
2. (4) Steve Francis/50 $5,600
3. (3) Tim Fuller/50 $3,500
4. (1) Josh Richards/50 $3,050
5. (6) Chad Valone/50 $2,500
6. (9) Chub Frank/50 $2,200
7. (14) Clint Smith/50 $1,900
8. (13) Greg Oakes/50 $1,300
9. (23) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,800
10. (10) Russell King/50 $1,950
11. (5) Mike Knight/50 $1,050
12. (7) Tony Knowles/50 $1,000
13. (17) Shane Clanton/50 $1,450
14. (18) Austin Hubbard/50 $900
15. (16) John Lobb/50 $850
16. (24) Brady Smith/49 $1,300
17. (11) Ron Davies/49 $770
18. (22) Dennis Lunger/49 $750
19. (15) Bump Hedman/49 $730
20. (21) Dick Barton/41 $700
21. (20) Brent Rhebergen/30 $700
22. (19) Chris Hackett/10 $700
23. (8) Robbie Blair/5 $700
24. (12) Scott Johnson/5 $700
25. (25) Doug Eck/5 $700
26. (26) Scott Gurdak/5 $700
Points
1. Josh Richards 4657 (-0)
2. Steve Francis 4643 (-14)
3. Darrell Lanigan 4565 (-92)
4. Tim Fuller 4487 (-170)
5. Rick Eckert 4485 (-172)
6. Shane Clanton 4423 (-234)
7. Chub Frank 4395 (-262)
8. Brady Smith 4290 (-367)
9. Clint Smith 4209 (-448)
10. Russell King 3745 (-912)
-end-
World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Previewing The Final Summer Swing To New York & Pennsylvania
CONCORD, NC - Aug. 31, 2009 -
BIG ENDING: Call it the last blast of summer for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
The national tour heads toward the Labor Day holiday with a busy – and very critical – swing of four events this week, competing on Tuesday night (Sept. 1) at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.; Wednesday night (Sept. 2) at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway; and Saturday and Sunday nights (Sept. 5-6) at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa.
Each program will be topped by a 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win, including both halves of Tri-City’s Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic.
This stretch of racing will mark the final time that the WoO LMS visits the Northeast this season. Only two events in the Midwest (Sept. 19 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., and Sept. 20 at Illinois’s La Salle Speedway) and three races at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. (Oct. 14 and the World Finals on Nov. 5-7) will remain on the schedule.
ONE MORE TRY: With clear skies forecast for Tuesday night in Northwest Pennsylvania, it’s looking like the WoO LMS’s third visit to Eriez in 2009 will finally be the charm.
The series is returning to Bob and Kathy Rohrer’s one-third-mile oval near Lake Erie to complete a card that was originally scheduled as the finale of Ohio Late Model Speedweek on July 26. Rain with two cars left to time-trial forced officials to postpone the program and restart it from scratch on Aug. 23 – and then more pesky precipitation struck after qualifying and heat races were run on the second date, pushing the balance of the action to Sept. 1.
A big crowd was on hand Aug. 23 to watch a 46-car field battle it out. Josh Richards of Shinnston, W. Va., who carries the WoO LMS points lead into this week’s competition, set fast time and heat winners were Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., Chad Valone of Warren, Pa., Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., and Outlaw title contender Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.
At the start of Tuesday’s show, the four heat winners will be joined by the second-place finishers in each heat on Aug. 23 – Richards, Tony Knowles of Tyrone, Ga., Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. – in a redraw for the top-eight starting spots in the 50-lap headliner. Two B-Mains will also be contested to firm up the remainder of the A-Main field.
HIGHLY ANTICIPATED: Nearly 13 years after a wild Super Late Model practice session got Brewerton Speedway’s fans fired up for full-fender racing, the WoO LMS will finally give the track’s faithful what they’ve been waiting to see.
Francis, the 2007 WoO LMS champion, was one of four drivers who hot-lapped dirt Late Models at the high-banked, one-third-mile oval during Super DIRT Week in October 1996 in preparation for a scheduled STARS Renegade DirtCar Series event. The race was rained out the next night and the tour never returned to central New York, but memories of Francis and Co. twisting their machines around the track in electric fashion still live on.
And now, with everyone knowing that Wednesday night’s field will be stacked with not only WoO LMS superstars but a host of drivers who have made their name running central New York’s DIRTcar big-block Modified circuit, anticipation couldn’t be higher for the inaugural ‘D-Shaped Dirt Demon 50.’
A capacity crowd is expected to converge on Brewerton, a stalwart DIRTcar big-block Modified track that was purchased earlier this year by trucking company magnate and multi-race team owner John Wight. Wight, whose racing operation includes the Gypsum Express dirt Late Models driven by red-hot WoO LMS regular Tim Fuller, has even installed a new section of bleachers to accommodate the influx of fans.
Fuller (26 career DIRTcar big-block Modified wins at Brewerton) will arrive at his former hometrack as the hottest driver on the WoO LMS. Sitting fourth in the series points standings entering the holiday-week swing, he recently tied the tour’s consecutive-win record of four and won for the fifth time overall in the last series event, on Aug. 29 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga.
The DIRTcar big-block Modified contingent in Wednesday’s event will also include 2006 WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (11 career wins at Brewerton), 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., defending track champion Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y. (44 career wins) and 16-year-old Larry Wight of Baldwinsville, N.Y. (son of track owner John Wight and a Friday-night regular).
In addition, current Brewerton DIRTcar big-block Modified points leader Matt Sheppard of Waterloo, N.Y., is hoping to make his dirt Late Model debut on Wednesday night. The 26-year-old standout’s team owner, Jeff Brownell Sr., recently purchased a Rocket car formerly driven by Fuller, but an unexpected problem with the C.C. Performance engine Brownell obtained from the Sweeteners Plus operation has Sheppard uncertain if he’ll be ready to challenge the Outlaws.
“We got the motor in the car and fired it up for the first time on Friday, but the intake started leaking,” said Sheppard, who leads the DIRTcar big-block Modified division with 16 feature wins this season. “We sent the intake back to C.C. on Saturday. Hopefully we’ll get it back in time to make it to Brewerton so we can get some laps.
“We’re gonna take it slow,” he added when asked about his future dirt Late Model plans. “We haven’t talked about any big plans.”
BIG WEEKEND: The WoO LMS will once again headline Tri-City’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic, a doubleheader that has grown each year since its inception in 2006.
H&H Motorsports partners Rich Hetrick and Roy Hill, who purchased the fast half-mile oval in January, are continuing the holiday-weekend tradition started by former track owners Mike Graham and Roger Crick. Tri-City’s grounds will be swamped by motorhomes and campers for the event, which includes the popular Ray's Racing Specialties/Engles Trucking Services ‘Ghetto South’ Party – a bash that will be rocked by a band – after the Saturday-night program.
The Classic, which features complete WoO LMS programs on both Saturday and Sunday, has produced some memorable WoO LMS A-Mains. There was final-lap drama in both 50-lappers run in 2006 (Chub Frank passed Billy Moyer to win the first night, then Shane Clanton captured the finale after leader Darrell Lanigan had a white-flag run-in with a lapped car), and in 2007 Thompson, Pa.’s Dan Stone pulled off the biggest upset in series history when he passed every Outlaw regular in the field en route to a wildly-popular victory that earned him two standing ovations.
H&H Motorsports has actually expanded the Classic weekend this season, adding a show on Friday night (Sept. 4) that headlines the BRP big-block Modified Tour. A 40-lap feature paying $3,000 to win is on the agenda.
One Outlaw regular will be very interested in Friday’s action at Tri-City: Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, a 20-year-old whose racing career started in the big-block Modified division. King will be in Tri-City’s pit area to watch his father, former Tour champion Rex King Sr., and younger brother Rex King Jr. continue their pursuit of the 2009 series title – and if Russell can land a ride, he might even join his family members in the big-block Modified field.
GOOD TIME TO BE HOT: Chub Frank has broken out of his season-long struggles at a perfect time.
With two wins and a third-place finish in his last three starts, the 47-year-old veteran from Bear Lake, Pa., is carrying plenty of momentum to three tracks where he already has a history of success. Eriez, of course, was his Sunday-night hometrack for many seasons earlier in his career (he’s scheduled to start ninth in Tuesday night’s A-Main there after qualifying through a heat on Aug. 23); he owns five career wins at Tri-City; and while he’s never competed at Brewerton, he has a knack for central New York racetracks as evidenced by his four WoO LMS victories at tracks in the area from 2005-2007.
THE OUTLAWS: Josh Richards and Steve Francis have distanced themselves from third-place Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., in the WoO LMS points standings heading into this crucial four-race stretch.
Richards now leads the battle by 18 points over Francis. Lanigan, meanwhile, is 82 points behind Richards, leaving him with flickering hopes for a repeat title.
The top seven drivers in the current WoO LMS points standings have won 24 of the season’s 33 A-Mains to date, led by Richards’s seven victories. Francis (five), Fuller (five), Lanigan (two), Frank (two), Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (two) and Clanton (one) account for the other checkered flags claimed by WoO LMS regulars.
WoO LMS travelers who have entered all 33 events this season but are still looking for their first win include Clint Smith and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., as well as Rookie of the Year contenders Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and 14-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
JOINING IN: The list of regional drivers from the Northeast with plans to run all four WoO LMS events includes O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series points leader Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa.; Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., a 17-year-old coming off his eighth top-10 WoO LMS finish of the season on Saturday at Screven Motor Speedway; 22-year-old Tony Knowles of Tyrone, Ga., who is in the redraw for A-Main starting spots at Eriez; and Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., a top contender to upset the Outlaws at Eriez.
ERIEZ SPEEDWAY EVENT INFORMATION: Fans who don’t have rainchecks for entry into Tuesday night’s held-over program at Eriez can purchase a ticket for $15 to watch the remainder of the action, which includes two B-Mains and the 50-lap A-Main plus features for the track’s E-Mod and Limited Late Model divisions.
Gates are scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m. and racing will begin at 7 p.m.
Additional info is available by logging on to www.eriez-speedway.com or calling 814-434-4370 or 814-440-2859.
BREWERTON SPEEDWAY EVENT INFORMATION: All gates will open at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Sept. 2), with hot laps scheduled to start at 6:20 p.m., WoO LMS time trials at 6:45 p.m. and racing at 7:30 p.m.
General admission is $30 for persons over 14 and $10 for children 14-and-under, and pit passes will be $40. Fans who want to avoid waiting in the ticket lines can purchase advance-sale tickets at the regular price at the speedway box office all day Tuesday (Sept. 1) and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, but no blankets can be put down to save seats until after the gates open at 4:30 p.m. The only reserved seats are those painted orange for season-pass holders.
Brewerton’s Mod Lite class will also be on hand to run a 25-lap championship feature during the evening of competition, which has a raindate of Thursday night (Sept. 3).
For more information visit www.brewertonspeedway.com or call
TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY EVENT INFORMATION: Following a 7:30 p.m. start for Friday’s opening night of the Oil Region Labor Day Classic, on-track action will begin at 4 p.m. with WoO LMS hot laps and time trials on both Saturday (Sept. 5) and Sunday (Sept. 6).
The ULMS E-Mod Series, Fastrak Northeast Late Model Tour Series and Detroit Iron Pro Stocks will be part of both WoO LMS programs. The FASTTrack Late Models and Pro Stocks will run heats on Saturday and B-Mains and features on Sunday.
The fun-filled weekend will also include a bonfire and DJ music after Friday night’s racing; the fifth annual ‘Ghetto South’ party featuring the band ‘Intent’ after Saturday’s action; the first annual H&H Corn Hole Tournament at 11 a.m. on Saturday (think horseshoes with corn sacks and a board with a hole); a mechanical bull and Velcro wall; racing simulators; and a pit stop challenge.
Tickets for the Saturday and Sunday programs are $30 (adults), $15 (students 12-15) and free for kids 12-and-under. Two-day Saturday/Sunday passes are $50 (adults) and $25 (students 12-15), while three-day passes that include admission to Friday’s program are $75 (adults) and $35 (students 12-15). Pit passes are $40 on both Saturday and Sunday, $70 for a two-day pass or $100 for a three-day pass.
The raindate for the Saturday or Sunday programs is Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7.
More information is available by logging on to www.tricityspeedway.com or calling 814-676-1681 (track) or 814-676-0477 (office).
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Aug. 29
1. Josh Richards 4515
2. Steve Francis 4497
3. Darrell Lanigan 4433
4. Tim Fuller 4343
5. Rick Eckert 4335
6. Shane Clanton 4299
7. Chub Frank 4257
8. Brady Smith 4172
9. Clint Smith 4073
10. Russell King 3615
-end-
Fuller Returns To Winning Ways On Saturday Night At Georgia’s Screven Motor Speedway
SYLVANIA, GA - Aug. 29, 2009 - It didn’t take Tim Fuller long to get back to his winning ways on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
Just two starts after seeing his record-tying four-race win streak come to an end, Fuller roared back into the spotlight with a victory in Saturday night’s Dorsey Commercial Tire 50 at Screven Motor Speedway.
Fuller, 41, of Watertown, N.Y., inherited the lead when Benji Cole of Canon, Ga., went pitside with a cut left-rear tire during a lap-six caution period and never looked back. He repelled a late-race challenge from WoO LMS points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., en route to his fifth win in the last seven tour events driving John Wight’s Gypsum Express Rocket car.
“It feels good to get right back on track,” said Fuller, who rebounded from a 23rd-place finish due to a broken engine in the ‘Buckeye 100’ on Aug. 22 at K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio. “Hopefully we can get on another roll.”
Richards, 21, settled for his second consecutive runner-up finish, steering his Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket under the checkered flag 1.072 seconds behind Fuller.
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., started and finished third, ending his two-race WoO LMS win streak. He once again drove the 2005-vintage Rocket car that he obtained from western Pennsylvania racer Chad Valone.
Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., placed fourth in the Beitler Motorsports Rocket after surviving a 360-degree spin in a lap-32 incident that also involved defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who was forced to restart at the rear of the field because he spun his car to a stop. Rick Eckert of York, Pa., completed the top five in the Raye Vest Racing Team Zero by Bloomquist car after starting 14th.
Fuller started from the pole position – the third time he’s drawn the number-one spot during his hot streak – and had plenty of racing luck on his side. Not only did he watch Cole develop a flat tire on his Starrette Trucking mount after leading laps 1-6, but he also caught a caution flag at just the right time when Richards was making a serious bid for the lead.
Richards, who started fifth, pulled inside of Fuller and came within inches of leading lap 34. The young sensation was still side-by-side with Fuller when the race’s fourth and final caution flag flew on lap 34 for the spinning car driven by Rookie of the Year candidate Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va.
“If that caution doesn’t come out I was probably gonna be screwed,” said Fuller, who pocketed $10,600 to push his 2009 WoO LMS earnings over the $100,000 mark. “I was running that top, so I had no idea the bottom was taking rubber like it was. When Josh got under us he showed me that rubber was where I needed to be – and fortunately a caution came out before he got ahead of me.
“I might’ve been able to pinch him down (entering turn one) and get into that rubber to stay in front of him, but I’m not sure. I think it was more likely that I would’ve had to fall in behind him and then there would’ve been no way for me to pass him back.
“That’s just the way things are going for us,” concluded Fuller, who registered his eighth career WoO LMS triumph. “We’re getting the breaks.”
Richards was disappointed that the untimely caution cost him his best opportunity to execute a winning pass, but he was still satisfied with a run that pushed his points lead to 18 markers over Francis.
“I found that rubber on the bottom before (Fuller) did,” said Richards. “I used it to get up beside him on the homestretch and I thought we might have him, but once that caution came out I knew he’d get back down in front of us because I showed him where the rubber was.
“But I’m happy to get out of here with a second and the car in one piece. There’s still a long way to go (to secure the $100,000 WoO LMS championship), but we took another step tonight.”
The 47-year-old Frank battled at the front of the pack with Fuller and Richards early in the distance but couldn’t maintain that pace.
“We didn’t have it quite right,” said Frank, who recorded his sixth top-five finish of the season. “We probably could’ve tightened up a little bit more.”
Francis, meanwhile, pulled off the save of the night when he spun completely around in turn two on the 32nd lap and continued. His twirl came after he got sideways in front of Lanigan, causing Lanigan to spin out of fourth place as he took evasive action.
“I just misjudged where Chub was going and started spinning – it was either hit Chub or spin,” Francis said of the incident. “I just hate that Lanigan got the worst of it. I was able to keep my wheels turning as I spun and drove away, but I guess Darrell spun to a stop.”
Lanigan was on the move before the bad break, advancing from the 12th starting spot to battle Francis for fourth. He finished 14th, dropping him 82 points behind Richards in the points standings.
Finishing in positions 6-10 was Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who ran fifth for much of the race’s first half; 17-year-old Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., who earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main and wasn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings; 19th-starter Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., who used a provisional to start 23rd but rallied to grab a $250 bonus as the race’s top-finishing rookie; and Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio.
Among the early retirees was WoO LMS regular Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who was running eighth when he exited on lap 26 with rearend problems.
A field of 32 cars was signed in for the event, which followed a rainout the previous evening at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
It appeared that the unheralded John Henderson of Aiken, S.C., had upset the Outlaws in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials to register his first-ever fast-time honor after stopping the clock at 14.398 seconds. But a post-qualifying inspection found that he had used an illegally-treated tire, forcing WoO LMS officials to disqualify him for the remainder of the night and suspend him from further tour competition for a period of 30 days.
Henderson’s disqualification elevated Francis to his series-leading fifth fast-time award of 2009. Francis’s lap of 14.425 seconds earned him a $50 bonus.
Heat winners were Hubbard, Richards, Clanton and Frank.
The B-Mains were captured by defending Screven champion Chesley Dixon of Swainsboro, Ga., and 14-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif. Both drivers later slowed on the track during the A-Main to bring out caution flags – Dixon on lap six, Reddick on lap 28.
The WoO LMS now heads back north for a big week of action in the Northeast, beginning on Tuesday night (Sept. 1) with the completion of the twice-postponed 50-lap event at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa. The tour then visits Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway on Wednesday night (Sept. 2) before wrapping up the swing on Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 5-6) with the Oil Region Labor Day Classic (separate 50-lap programs each evening) at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series at Screven Motor Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (1) Tim Fuller/50 $10,600
2. (5) Josh Richards/50 $5,500
3. (3) Chub Frank/50 $3,500
4. (7) Steve Francis/50 $3,150
5. (14) Rick Eckert/50 $2,500
6. (8) Shane Clanton/50 $2,200
7. (4) Austin Hubbard/50 $1,900
8. (19) Clint Smith/50 $1,800
9. (23) Jordan Bland/50 $1,950
10. (16) Russell King/50 $1,700
11. (9) Casey Roberts/50 $1,050
12. (10) Jonathan Davenport/50 $1,000
13. (15) Royce Bray/50 $950
14. (12) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,500
15. (25) Jeremy Faircloth/50 $850
16. (20) Scott Shirey/50 $800
17. (11) Steven Howard/50 $770
18. (24) Brent Robinson/50 $1,250
19. (22) Michael Akeson/47 $730
20. (13) Henry Carter/31 $700
21. (18) Tyler Reddick/27 $700
22. (6) Brady Smith/26 $1,200
23. (21) Ben Faircloth/13 $700
24. (2) Benji Cole/6 $700
25. (17) Chesley Dixon/5 $700
NOTE: Jonathan Davenport, Henry Carter and Scott Shirey were penalized to the rear of the field for the start after reporting late to the staging area
Points
1. Josh Richards 4515 (-0)
2. Steve Francis 4497 (-18)
3. Darrell Laniga 4433 (-82)
4. Tim Fuller 4343 (-172)
5. Rick Eckert 4335 (-180)
6. Shane Clanton 4299 (-216)
7. Chub Frank 4257 (-258)
8. Brady Smith 4172 (-343)
9. Clint Smith 4073 (-442)
10. Russell King 3615 (-900)
-end-
