Father Of Two-Time World of Outlaws Late Model Series Champ Josh Richards Has Some History At Central New York’s Big Racing Week

ELBRIDGE, NY – Sept. 28, 2011 – When the World of Outlaws Late Model Series ends a six-year absence from the Super DIRT Week schedule with a visit to Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on Thurs., Oct. 6, Mark Richards will renew his own connection to central New York’s huge fall festival of speed.

The father/car owner of two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards might be a life-long dirt Late Model loyalist, but he also happens to possess some under-the-radar history at the biggest event of the year for the Northeast’s DIRTcar Modified division.

“I’ve been up there a few times over the years,” said the 50-year-old Richards, a well-known figure in the full-fender industry as the co-owner of Rocket Chassis in Shinnston, W.Va. “I know what that deal is about. For all those Modified people in New York, Canada and throughout the Northeast, it’s their Super Bowl weekend.”

Richards made his first trip to Super DIRT Week – the annual showcase of DIRTcar Modified racing encompassing action at the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, N.Y., and other nearby short tracks like the Wheels – in October 1979 when he was the teenage crew chief of the Ed Howe house car driven by Rodney Combs. The period’s vaguely-written DIRTcar Big-Block Modified rules allowed Richards and Combs to enter Howe’s dirt Late Model in the open-wheel class’s marquee race at the menacing Moody Mile.

One year later Richards returned to Super DIRT Week with Combs, this time to run a satellite National Dirt Racing Association (NDRA) Late Model event at Rolling Wheels. They also ended up at the big track, where they found themselves with a front-row seat for one of the most controversial moments in the history of DIRTcar Big-Block Modified racing.

Today Richards is well aware of Super DIRT Week’s lofty stature in the short-track racing world – the Big-Block Modified division’s 40^th annual SEF Small Engine Fuels 200 Presented By Ferris and Snapper on Sun., Oct. 9, pays $50,000 to win – but he was largely oblivious to the event when he drove through the pit gate of the Syracuse Mile as Combs’s fresh-faced right-hand-man in ’79.

“I’d been to Northeast Big-Block Modified races around home at places like Lernerville, Motordrome and Latrobe, but never a race like Syracuse,” said Richards, who is 10 years younger than Combs. “I’d never even seen a track that big, so for me it was a new experience.”

It was Howe, a respected Beaverton, Mich.-based chassis guru in both dirt and asphalt Late Model racing, who pointed Richards and Combs toward Syracuse that year. With big money on the line (’79 SEF 200 winner Jack Johnson pocketed $23,380) and independent front suspension dirt Late Models legal for competition with some modifications, the race was very attractive.

“Ed said, ‘They’re having a big race in Syracuse that we should go run,’” remembered Richards. “Ed explained to us that it’s a Modified race, but if we take the fenders off we can go. So we stripped the car down, made a hood for it and went up there. We unloaded and right off the bat we were one of the quicker cars, but they slowed us down all week. They made us take off our spoiler, raise our roof and do some other stuff

“Larry Moore was there with us with Howe’s other car and I remember that we both made the big race, but Larry blew up in practice the day before the race and we blew up in the last round of practice before the race. Neither of us had another motor so we didn’t get to run.”

Richards and Combs were back at Super DIRT Week in 1980, but in this case expressly to run a mid-week NDRA tour show at Rolling Wheels. It marked the first time that a major dirt Late Model event was part of the multi-day DIRTcar Modified extravaganza, and Combs piloted a Tri-City Aluminum car to victory in the evening’s feature.

While racing at the Wheels that year, Richards and Combs crossed paths with Floridian Gary Balough, a superstar short-track driver who had already won the Syracuse 200 Big-Block Modified event three times. Balough mentioned to Richards and Combs that he was running an exotic Big-Block Modified at the Mile – a cutting-edge machine that would literally shake the foundation of the division – and he invited them to check it out.

“We’d actually been talking to Gary that year about running some Late Model races with us so we knew him,” recalled Richards. “He told us, ‘Hey, we got this car that’s pretty wild. Why don’t you guys come take a look at it?’ So we went over and saw it, and it was really bad-ass trick.

“Then Gary said, ‘You guys coming to the (Modified) race (at the Mile)? You can help pit or whatever, and I’ll let Rodney drive the other (Modified) I have up here.’”

So Richards and Combs went to the big track and were there for Balough’s history-making performance in the ‘Batmobile,’ a black Lincoln-bodied No. 112 that featured a high roof and ground-effects aerodynamics. Built in secret by a band of mechanical talents that included the late Kenny Weld, the car stretched the division’s thin rulebook to the max and ended up being the class of the field. Balough dominated the week en route to winning his fourth career Syracuse 200 in a runaway; Combs, meanwhile, drove Balough’s conventional backup car, the Billie Harvey-owned No. 31, but didn’t start the main event.

“That car Gary drove was unbelievably fast compared to anything else out there,” said Richards. “It was something to see. I’ll always remember that year. That car made (the DIRTcar Modified division) come up with more rules so that things wouldn’t get any further out of hand to where the regular short-track Modified guys would be unable to compete there (at Syracuse).”

Richards has made four Super DIRT Week appearances since his memorable visit in ’80. He returned in ’81 for another NDRA Late Model program at Rolling Wheels, then participated in back-to-back STARS Late Model Series events at the Syracuse Mile in 1995-96 (Tim Hitt drove Richards’s Rocket Chassis house car both years) and a WoO LMS show at Fulton (N.Y.) Speedway in 2004 (Bart Hartman and Josh Richards ran as Rocket Chassis house car teammates).

This year’s 50-lap, $10,000-to-win WoO LMS A-Main at Rolling Wheels – part of an exciting Thursday-evening doubleheader with the Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series – will give Richards an opportunity to taste the unique Super DIRT Week atmosphere once again. He said that after putting in a hard night’s work at the Wheels with his 23-year-old son – Josh enters the race second in the WoO LMS points standings (16 markers behind leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa.) and with an opportunity to tie the tour’s single-season win record (nine) – he might even stop his team’s hauler at the Syracuse Mile on Friday to take in some DIRTcar Big-Block Modified racing.

Richards would recommend a visit to the Mile to any dirt Late Model fan who might be interested in making the trip to Rolling Wheels. Full-fender followers will even have a rooting interest at the big track with three WoO LMS regulars – 2006 tour champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., and Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y. – running Big-Block and 358-Modifieds during this year’s Super DIRT Week.

“I think it’s just a good experience for any fan,” Richards said of Super DIRT Week. “There’s a lot of activity going on up there around the big race and it’s a fair-type atmosphere. It’d be good for any real race fan to go up there and watch a different type of racing at the end of the year.”

On Thurs., Oct. 6, at Rolling Wheels, pit gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. and grandstand gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m. Race time is set for 7:30 p.m.

Adult reserved seat tickets are available for $39 by logging on to http://dirtcar.ticketforce.com or calling 315-834-6606. Discounted student (ages 10-17) and children (9-and-under) pricing is available for reserved sections (children 9-and-under are free in General Admission seating).

Ticket information and details on all the action during Super DIRT Week, which runs from Oct. 5-9, is available at www.superdirtweekonline.com.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Two-Time Defending Tour Champion Inches Closer To Eckert In Points Standings With Flawless Effort

PEVELY, MO – Sept. 17, 2011 – Josh Richards continued his assault on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series record book – and the top spot in the points standings – with a convincing victory in Saturday night’s 29^th annual Pepsi Nationals at I-55 Raceway.

The national tour’s two-time defending champion was flawless in the 55-lap A-Main. He roared off the outside pole to grab the lead at the start and never looked back, controlling the entire distance without facing a single serious challenge.

Richards, 23, of Shinnston, W.Va., beat fourth-starter Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., to the finish line by 1.635 seconds. It was his eighth win of the season, breaking him out of a tie with Lanigan for top-winner status on the series in 2011.

DIRTcar UMP star Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., placed third, over three seconds behind Richards at the finish. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., charged forward from the 11^th starting spot to place fourth – despite racing with a broken right thumb suffered on Sept. 10 in a heat-race tangle during the World 100 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway – and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., was fifth.

Richards earned $10,875 for a score that moved him within one triumph of matching both the single-season WoO LMS record of nine established in 2004 by Scott Bloomquist and the tour’s alltime victory standard. Already the winningest driver of the circuit’s ‘modern’ era (2004-present) with 36 checkered flags, Richards is one win from tying Billy Moyer atop the alltime win list that includes the tour’s original 1988-89 campaigns.

Adding even more significance to Richards’s success, he inched closer to points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa., in the WoO LMS points standings. With Eckert, who has led the battle for the tour’s $100,000 title since early May, settling for a sixth-place finish, Richards shaved 12 points off his deficit to leave the high-banked, one-third-mile oval trailing Eckert by just 16 markers with five events remaining on the 2011 schedule.

“I’m very grateful for that,” Richards said of his opportunity to make WoO LMS history. “No matter what happens, I feel like we’ve had a great year. To still be there in the hunt and have a shot at (the championship) really means a lot to me and really shows how strong our team is.”

Richards registered his first-ever win at I-55, a speedy bullring promoted by NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader and Mike Marler that he called “a mini-Eldora.” He mastered the track behind the wheel of his father Mark’s Rocket Chassis house – though he had some doubts at the start.

“Whenever we lined up on the front row, I looked over and saw (polesitter Randy) Korte had some softer tires on than us,” said Richards, who has four of the last six WoO LMS A-Mains. “I was kind of nervous because we kind of gambled on tires a little bit. We didn’t really know what to do.

“I was trying to get some heat in my tires, and (then) we fired off on the start and got to the lead. Everything worked out for us.”

Four caution flags between laps 10 and 22 slowed Richards’s pace, but he easily pulled away on each restart. His biggest obstacle was negotiating heavy lapped traffic during the 33-lap run of green-flag racing that closed the race.

“My car was awesome tonight,” said Richards, whose machine was powered by a Roush-Yates Ford engine. “I was able to maneuver and have the car to be able to keep the momentum up to get by the lapped traffic. That was definitely key to winning tonight.”

Lanigan, 40, simply couldn’t match Richards’s moves through the pack of slower cars.

“Our cars were pretty close, pretty equal,” said Lanigan, whose last WoO LMS victory came six races ago, on Aug. 3 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway. “He was a little bit better in (the turns) because I was a little bit tighter, but there wasn’t much difference.

“He just got through lapped traffic a little better than I could. Right when I started to get closer to him he got by a couple (lapped) cars quicker than I did and I got stuck back there behind them for a few laps.”

The 33-year-old Feger, meanwhile, was able to climb as high as second after passing Lanigan on lap 16, but he lost the position to Lanigan on a lap-22 restart and ran in third for the remainder of the distance. He held off a late bid from Frank to record his fourth top-five finish in 12 A-Mains starts on the 2011 WoO LMS.

Feger felt fortunate, however, to preserve a third-place finish. He struggled throughout the race with an ill-handling Pierce car.

“I don’t know if we had a rack going bad or what, but it felt like my steering was coming in-and-out,” said Feger, who started third. “I had my hands full just trying to keep it out of the wall and from spinning out. I had to try to anticipate the car, so I had to drive it a lot more sideways than I would’ve liked to just to make sure it would turn.”

Eckert, who started eighth, spent the race’s late stages battling for sixth with Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., before finally securing the spot on lap 49. Shirley placed seventh, followed by 17^th-starter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.; 21^st-starter Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga.; and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who won last year’s WoO LMS Pepsi Nationals but was never a factor on Saturday despite starting seventh.

The event’s four caution flags were all caused by minor problems. Mark Voigt of Marine, Ill., slowed on lap 10 after tagging the wall; 18-year-old Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., fell off the pace on lap 12 with front-end damage sustained in a scrape with Nick Lyons of Centralia, Ill.; Korte slowed and retired on lap 14 after slapping the wall while running seventh; and Lyons slowed on lap 22 with a heavily damaged rear spoiler.

Babb was quickest in the 42-car Ohlins Shocks Time Trials session with a lap of 12.096 seconds – just off the track record of 12.031 seconds. It was his first WoO LMS fast-time honor of 2011 and the 13^th of his career.

Heat winners were Babb, Lanigan, Richards and Shirley. The B-Mains were captured by McCreadie and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.

The program was completed despite being a day-long threat of rain. While showers struck just south of the track, only a few brief spits of drizzle fell at the speedway.

The next action for the WoO LMS will come on Thurs., Oct. 6, when the tour visits Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, N.Y., for a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event as part of the annual Super DIRT Week activities in and around Syracuse, N.Y.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Pepsi Nationals’ at I-55 Raceway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

 

1. (2) Josh Richards/55 $10,875

2. (4) Darrell Lanigan/55 $5,650

3. (3) Jason Feger/55 $3,000

4. (11) Chub Frank/55 $3,050

5. (6) Jimmy Mars/55 $2,000

6. (8) Rick Eckert/55 $2,250

7. (5) Brian Shirley/55 $1,400

8. (17) Tim McCreadie/55 $1,950

9. (21) Shane Clanton/55 $1,750

10. (7) Shannon Babb/55 $1,200

11. (14) Dennis Erb Jr./55 $1,050

12. (13) Bub McCool/54 $1,500

13. (18) Clint Smith/54 $1,500

14. (23) Vic Coffey/54 $1,450

15. (24) Tim Fuller/54 $1,500

16. (19) Austin Hubbard/54 $1,350

17. (10) Brandon Sheppard/54 $770

18. (12) Ron Davies/54 $1,550

19. (16) Jason McBride/53 $730

20. (20) Jack Sullivan/52 $700

21. (15) Frankie Heckenast Jr./44 $700

22. (9) Nick Lyons/21 $700

23. (1) Randy Korte/13 $700

24. (22) Mark Voigt/9 $700

25. (25) Jeff Johns/1 $425

* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses

 

Time of Race: 22 Mins., 55.246 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 1.635 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 10, 12, 14, 22)

Lap Leaders: Richards (1-55)

Provisional Starters: Coffey, Fuller (WoO); Johns (track)

Rookie of the Race: Davies ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: McCool ($500)

Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

 

1. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 12.096

2. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 12.237

3. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 12.239

4. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, PA 12.291

5. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 12.325

6. 00-Randy Korte/Highland, IL 12.356

7. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 12.390

8. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 12.486

9. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 12.489

10. 28e-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 12.493

11. 30-Mark Voigt/Marine, IL 12.530

12. 6K-Michael Kloos/Trenton, IL 12.563

13. 2x-Nick Lyons/Centralia, IL 12.570

14. b5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 12.573

15. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr.//Batesville, AR 12.586

16. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 12.608

17. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 12.617

18. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 12.621

19. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 12.679

20. 77-Jason McBride/Carbondale, IL 12.691

21. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 12.734

22. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 12.761

23. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 12.783

24. 1s-Jack Sullivan/Greenbrier, AR 12.834

25. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 12.854

26. 88-Wendell Wallace/Batesville, AR 12.874

27. 99Jr-Frankie Heckenast Jr./Orland Park, IL 12.895

28. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 12.927

29. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 12.947

30. 4J-Scott Weber/Festus, MO

31. 33F-Ricky Frankel/Quincy, IL 13.083

32. 0-Dewayne Kiefer/St. Genevieve, MO 13.168

33. 3c-Mike Collins/Council Bluffs, IA 13.350

34. 78-Mark Miner/Arnold, MO 13.362

35. 95-Jeff Johns/Belleville, IL 13.392

36. 23-Dylan Sharp/Pevely, MO 13.433

37. 2J-David Jumper/Fenton, MO 13.438

38. 86-Jason Crump/St. Genevieve, MO 13.672

39. 66-Chris Hall/Sikeston, MO 14.048

40. 26-Randy Estes/Pevely, MO 15.076

41. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 12.495 (DQ-light)

42. 1HR-Ron McQuerry/St. Albans, MO 13.647 (DQ-technical)

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Babb, Feger, Lyons, McCool, Hubbard, Fuller, Clanton, Collins, Moyer, Doar, Jumper

 

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lanigan, Korte, Sheppard, Erb, McCreadie, Wallace, Weber, Coffey, McQuerry, Crump (DNS) Miner

 

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Mars, Frank, Heckenast, Smith, Voigt, Moyer Jr., Frankel, Johns, Hall

 

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Shirley, Eckert, Davies, McBride, Sullivan, Kiefer, Lobb, Sharp, Kloos, Estes

 

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): McCreadie, Hubbard, Clanton, Wallace, Moyer, Weber, Fuller, Doar, Coffey, Collins, McQuerry, Jumper, Crump

 

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Smith, Sullivan, Voigt, Moyer Jr., Kiefer, Miner, Lobb, Frankel, Johns, Hall, Sharp, Estes (DNS) Kloos

 

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners:

 

Arizona Sports Shirts ($100 apparel certificate to 22^nd fastest qualifier): Vic Coffey

Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main w/decal): Jason Feger

Comp Cams ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Josh Richards

Comp Cams (certificate to 10^th place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Clint Smith

Eibach Springs (one free spring to each B-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Billy Moyer/Jack Sullivan

JE Pistons ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Josh Richards

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 11^th-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): Dennis Erb Jr.

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 21st-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): Mark Voigt

MSD Ignition ($75 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Josh Richards

MSD Ignition ($25 cash to last-place in A-Main or next lowest w/decal): Jeff Johns

Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash to fast qualifier or next highest w/decal): Shannon Babb

Quartermaster ($100 product certificate to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Chub Frank

Quartermaster ($50 product certificate to 5^th-place or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Quartermaster ($25 product certificate to 15^th-place or next highest w/decal): Ron Davies

R2C Performance ($100 certificate to highest-finishing driver w/decal or $100 cash if race winner is using R2C filter and decal is displayed): Josh Richards (cash)

STP ($50 cash to 2^nd-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Darrell Lanigan

Superflow Dynos ($50 cash to 7^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Tim McCreadie

VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to winner of Heat 1 or next highest w/decal): Shannon Babb
VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (one five-gallon plastic fuel jugs to fastest qualifier who does not make the A-Main or next highest w/decal): Michael Kloos

WIX Filters ($50 cash to 13^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Clint Smith

Wrisco Aluminum (Three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner w/decal): Josh Richards

 

2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 17 – 28 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):

 

1. Rick Eckert 3928

2. Josh Richards 3912 (-16)

3. Darrell Lanigan 3816 (-112)

4. Tim McCreadie 3726 (-202)

5. Chub Frank 3654 (-274)

6. Shane Clanton 3634 (-294)

7. Austin Hubbard 3610 (-318)

8. Clint Smith 3598 (-330)

9. Vic Coffey 3472 (-456)

10. Tim Fuller 3466 (-462)

11. Pat Doar 3328 (-600)

12. Ron Davies 3214 (-714)

13. John Lobb 3046 (-882)

14. Jill George 2122 (-1806)

15. Jason Feger 1756 (-2172)

 

FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via 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.

Over 5,100 fans are now WoO LMS ‘followers’ on Twitter. To sign-up and receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to http://www.dirtvision.com/welcome.php and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

BLOGGING: WoO LMS fans can now read interesting stories from the road by checking out two blogs –‘Life As An Outlaw’ by series announcer Rick Eshelman and ‘The Scoop With Scoop’ by tour P.R. director Kevin Kovac. Both blogs can be accessed by clicking on the preceding links or the specific ‘Blog’ buttons on the right-hand side of http://www.woolms.com/.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Twenty-Two Years After Capturing A WoO LMS A-Main, Gundaker Hosts National Tour At His Tri-City Oval This Friday Night (Sept. 16)

PONTOON BEACH, IL – Sept. 14, 2011 – Tri-City Speedway promoter Kevin Gundaker will stand in Victory Lane this Friday night (Sept. 16) and present a $10,000 check to the winner of his track’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Kehrer Brothers Roofing 50.’

And Gundaker will completely understand the triumphant driver’s joy over capturing a World of Outlaws event. He has, after all, experienced it.

A standout dirt Late Model racer at tracks across the Midwest before shifting his focus to operating Tri-City Speedway in 2005, Gundaker is one of just two promoters of facilities on the 2011 WoO LMS schedule who has won an A-Main on the renowned tour.

Gundaker’s big WoO LMS moment came on Aug. 4, 1989, at Sante Fe Speedway, a short half-mile oval in Hinsdale, Ill. (outside Chicago) that closed following the 1995 season and was sold shortly thereafter to make way for a housing development. He won during the tour’s short-lived original incarnation organized by late WoO Sprint Car Series founder Ted Johnson, who ceased his full-fender circuit’s operation after two seasons (1988-89). The series sat silent until resuming action in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner.

“I remember that race,” said Gundaker, now 56 and hailing from St. Charles, Mo. “I have 392 career wins, but that World of Outlaws win stacks right up there near the top.”

Gundaker always lists his best race and worst race as the 1980 World 100 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, where he finished second to Charlie Swartz by about three feet. (“Let’s face it,” he said, “at the World they don’t remember who runs second. Swartz has that globe sitting there in his trophy room and I don’t.”) But his World of Outlaws success at Sante Fe holds a special place in his personal highlight reel.

“We led the whole thing, but Billy Moyer and I had a heck of a battle the whole way,” Gundaker said of his score in a World of Outlaws feature that ran over the 40-lap distance. “He got by me on the white-flag lap, but I was able to get right back by him and went on to win it. When it was all over and done with, I couldn’t have been happier.”

Driving his own Bullit Chassis No. 11 at the time, Gundaker led Moyer, John Provenzano, Gibby Stenhouse and Bob Pohlman Jr. across Sante Fe’s finish line. If his memory is correct, he believes he earned $4,000 for what would be the lone WoO LMS victory of his career.

Gundaker didn’t enter all 21 WoO LMS events contested in 1989, but he ran enough to finish fifth in the points standings behind Moyer, who won the championship for the second straight season, Steve Francis, Willy Kraft and Rick Aukland. He registered one other top-five finish that season, placing second behind Donnie Moran in a preliminary to the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis.

While Gundaker tended to pick-and-choose his starts rather than points-race with series during the 18 years he made his living as a dirt Late Model driver, he thought the WoO LMS had potential to continue growing through the ‘90s if Johnson hadn’t decided to shut it down. “There’s no doubt it could’ve gotten bigger,” said Gundaker, who cited Johnson’s desire to focus on his WoO Sprint Car Series following a challenge from a rival touring series as a major factor in the full-fender tour’s early termination.

A 2011 inductee of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame, Gundaker hasn’t raced regularly since 2005 but asserts that he’s not “officially retired.”

“I still want to race. I still have the desire,” said Gundaker, who whet his appetite for speed by hot-lapping Randy Korte’s dirt Late Model after a mid-July program at Tri-City. “But now with us running a racetrack (he shares operational duties at Tri-City with his wife Tammy), you’re very limited in the time you have to focus toward a race car and a racing program.

“I really miss driving, but I just don’t have the time to do it anymore. We’re really busy with the racetrack.”

Gundaker does plan to climb back behind the wheel for competition in the near future. He has two sons in racing – Dane, 28, runs a UMP Modified, and Gordy, 19, is a UMP Pro (crate) Late Model racer who will make his full-blown Late Model debut during the Sept. 22-24 ‘Modified Mania’ program at Tri-City – and they want a piece of dear old dad.

“My boys are wanting me to compete against them and I promised them I would,” said Gundaker. “They’ve been talking that smack on me, how they’re gonna whip me and all that. But it’s kind of like I told them – I taught them everything they know, but I didn’t teach them everything I know.”

Gundaker is one of 53 drivers with at least one A-Main victory over the history of the WoO LMS, including the 1988-89 seasons and the modern era (2004-present). The only other promoter of a track on this year’s series able to claim a WoO LMS win is Johnny Stokes of Columbus (Miss.) Speedway, who was victorious on July 8, 1988, at Enid (Okla.) Speedway.

At least 16 former WoO LMS victors are expected to compete Friday night (Sept. 16) in the tour’s first-ever event on Tri-City’s three-eighths-mile layout, which was shortened by Gundaker from its original half-mile distance prior to the 2008 season.

Batesville, Ark.’s Moyer, who owns a record 37 alltime WoO LMS triumphs, and modern-era win leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va. (35 victories) top the list of World of Outlaws winners eyeing Tri-City’s checkered flag. Others planning to join them are Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. (26 wins), points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (23), Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (17), Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (16), Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga. (15), Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (12), Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga. (12), Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill. (10), Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa (seven), Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis. (four), Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill. (two), Austin Hubbard (two), Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill. (one) and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill. (one).

Pit gates are scheduled to open at 1 p.m. CT and the grandstand gates will be unlocked at 3 p.m. on Friday. Hot laps are set to begin at 6:30 p.m. with competition getting the green flag at 7 p.m.

With racing for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, Pro Late Models and Street Stocks also on Friday night’s agenda, general admission is $30. Children 12-and-under will be admitted free of charge.

Pit passes are $35, but a special deal grants support-class drivers and three of their crew members entry to the pits for $25 each provided they all sign in at the same time.

For more information on the Kehrer Brothers Roofing 50, visit www.tricityspeedway.net or call 636-448-9111.

Tri-City Speedway is located just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Mo., in Pontoon Beach, IL. Take Exit 4 off I-270 and go a half-mile south on SR 203.

Friday’s program kicks off a big weekend doubleheader in the St. Louis area for the WoO LMS. The tour heads to I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., for the Pepsi Nationals on Saturday evening (Sept. 17).

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

St. Louis-Area Tracks Provide Attractive Action-Packed Doubleheader For Fans & Teams

CONCORD, NC – Sept. 12, 2011 – Rick Eckert has tried all season to avoid thoughts of the $100,000 World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship prize, but he can no longer simply disregard the obvious.

When the national tour invades the Midwest this weekend for a huge doubleheader at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., on Friday night (Sept. 16) and I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., on Saturday evening (Sept. 17), Eckert’s focus will be set squarely on doing what it takes to top a points battle that he has led since early May.

“At this point you have to think about it,” Eckert said when asked if visions of a career-first WoO LMS title have begun dancing in his head. “When you’re down to the last seven races, the championship has to be on your mind.”

Eckert, 45, of York, Pa., carries a precarious 28-point lead over two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., into this weekend’s action, which features the Kehrer Brothers 50 at Tri-City and the 29^th annual Pepsi Nationals at I-55. Both races will pay $10,000 to win.

The WoO LMS stretch drive promises to be a tense affair for Eckert. He maintained a healthy edge of 42 to 60 points over Richards for a nine-race summer stretch, but the gap became a little too close for the veteran’s comfort after he recorded a season-worst finish (16^th) in the tour’s last full points show, on Aug. 20 at Merritt Raceway in Lake City, Mich.

“We haven’t run good the last couple races, so we’re gonna have to pick the pace up,” said Eckert, whose remarkably steady 2011 performance record shows two wins, 14 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes in 27 WoO LMS events. “Josh isn’t making it easy for us. He’s gonna either win or run up front, so we know where we gotta finish – up front.

“It isn’t like we’re racing a guy for the championship who isn’t running good. He’s running real good right now. The only thing we can do is keep our heads up and keep getting after ‘em.”

This weekend’s St. Louis-area twinbill should provide Eckert an opportunity to jump-start his run toward the points crown. He likes both tracks and has run well at both in the past, buoying his confidence for the trip to the Midwest with his Team Zero by Bloomquist cars.

Friday’s program at Tri-City will mark the track’s first WoO LMS event since promoter Kevin Gundaker shortened it from a sprawling half-mile to a three-eighths-mile oval prior to the 2008 season. Eckert, who placed seventh in a WoO LMS A-Main run on Tri-City’s old half-mile on Aug. 1, 2004, got a taste of the more compact layout last year when he finished fourth in a mid-September DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned show.

“I think the racing there is way better since Gundaker made it smaller,” said Eckert. “Gundaker doesn’t do anything half – he did everything first-class when he redid it. It’s a real neat little place, a real fun place to race. It can be wide open, and then you flip a switch and it can change to icy-slippery. It can throw some curves at you.”

Eckert has made four WoO LMS appearances since 2005 at I-55, a high-banked, 11/32^nd-mile oval that is co-promoted by NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader and Ray Marlar. His finishes have gotten progressively worse – he was fourth in the ’05 event and then fell to sixth in ’07, seventh in ’08 and 12^th in ’10 – so he’ll be looking to reverse that trend on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old Richards, meanwhile, will make his first start on Tri-City’s three-eighths-mile and his fifth career visit to I-55. His best WoO LMS runs at I-55 have come in his most recent appearances; after finishes of 14^th in ’05 and 13^th in ’07, he was a contending third in ’08 and sixth last year.

Richards also heads into the weekend with more World of Outlaws momentum than Eckert. Since experiencing a season-low 21^st-place finish on July 15 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., he’s won four of his seven 2011 A-Mains and has finished outside the top-five just once (an 11 ^th-place finish) in 10 races.

But while Eckert has struggled in his last two WoO LMS starts – he followed up his subpar outing at Merritt by failing to qualify for the 45-lap ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale of the unique ‘Black Diamond 125’ event on Sept. 3 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. (an event that offered only show-up points) – he’s certainly not in a slump. In the 17 races since he scored his second win of the season on May 12 at Delaware International Speedway, he has six runner-up finishes and has placed worse than eighth just twice.

Eckert is enjoying his best WoO LMS campaign since 2006 when he recorded a tour-leading eight wins and was in the thick of the title chase until August. He faltered down the stretch that season (finishing seventh in the points standings) and did not seriously challenge for a championship over the next four years, fueling his desire to capitalize on the opportunity currently staring him in the face.

“Winning the championship would be a great thing to experience and it would be great for our program,” said Eckert, who is in his second season of fielding his own equipment following a 15-year run driving for the late Raye Vest. “I know after the last championships we won (back-to-back UDTRA national titles in 2001-02) we were able to get some extra product help for the next year or two, and since we’re on our own now that would be a huge boost for us. The extra income would be really nice too now that I own everything.

“We’re gonna take it one race at a time and race as hard as we can,” he continued. “It’s not a secret that each race (the points pursuit) does get a little more stressful, but we’ve been there before (with the UDTRA title battles) and there’s really nothing we can change. We just gotta go to every race left and run the best we can.

“It’s not like we’re going anywhere and saying, ‘If we finish top 10, we’re good.’ We know how good Josh is running, so we have to go to every race knowing we most likely have to be in contention to win.”

*****

This weekend’s Tri-City/I-55 swing is expected to rank as arguably the most talent-laden doubleheader on the 2011 WoO LMS schedule.

Eckert and Richards will pace a star-studded roster of WoO LMS regulars that features former champions Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. (winner of the ’04 WoO event on the Tri-City half-mile) and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (victor in a DIRTcar UMP special last September at Tri-City). Other Outlaw travelers include Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga. (’08 winner at I-55), Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga. (’07 winner at I-55), Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., and Rookie of the Year contenders Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., and John Lobb of Frewsburg, N.Y.

The list of drivers planning to enter both events includes former WoO LMS champ Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., and his budding son Billy Moyer Jr.; DIRTcar Summer Nationals champ Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill. (last year’s WoO LMS victor at I-55); Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis.; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa; Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill.; Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill.; Wendell Wallace of Batesville, Ark.; Randy Korte of Highland, Ill.; and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Midwest Swing Event Information:

Fri., Sept. 16, at Tri-City Speedway: Pit gates are scheduled to open at 1 p.m. CT and the grandstand gates will be unlocked at 3 p.m. Hot laps are set to begin at 6:30 p.m. with competition getting the green flag at 7 p.m.

With racing for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, Pro Late Models and Street Stocks is also on Friday night’s agenda, general admission is $30. Children 12-and-under will be admitted free of charge.

For more information on the Kehrer Brothers Roofing 50, visit www.tricityspeedway.net or call 636-448-9111.

Tri-City Speedway is located just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Mo., in Pontoon Beach, IL. Take Exit 4 off I-270 and go a half-mile south on SR 203.

Sat., Sept. 17, at I-55 Raceway: All gates will open at 4 p.m. for the Pepsi Nationals, which also boasts competition for the UMP Modifieds, Sportsman and Pro-4 Stocks. Hot laps are scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m., followed by WoO LMS time trials at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.

Reserved-seat tickets are $32 and general admission will be $30, with kids 12-and-under admitted free in general admission sections. Tickets can be purchased on-line at www.worldofoutlaws.com/tickets.

Pit passes are $35, but a special deal grants support-class drivers and three of their crew members entry to the pits for $25 each provided they all sign in at the same time.

More details on the Pepsi Nationals can be obtained by logging on to www.i55raceway.com or calling 636-479-3219.

I-55 Raceway is located 30 minutes south of downtown St. Louis, off Pevely exits 180 and 178 of Interstate 55.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Qualifying Feature Triumphs Worth $10,000 Go To World of Outlaws Rookie Pat Doar & West Virginia’s Steve Shaver

MIDDLEBOURNE, WV – Sept. 3, 2011 – Jared Hawkins lived a fairy tale on Saturday night.

Racing in front of his home-state fans on a track he knows well, the rising young star from Fairmont, W.Va., rolled to the biggest win of his career in the 45-lap ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale of the second annual Black Diamond 125 at Tyler County Speedway.

Hawkins, 25, earned a huge $20,000 paycheck for his victory in the unique World of Outlaws Late Model Series event, which pitted the top-eight finishers from a pair of 40-lap Qualifying Features held earlier in the night. He placed third in the second preliminary (from the 12th starting spot) and then dominated the evening’s headline race after passing Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., for the lead on lap four.

Click here to watch a post-race interview with Hawkins.

The triumph capped a spectacular weekend at the quarter-mile oval for Hawkins, who also scored an $8,000 triumph in Friday night’s 51-lap UFO Series ‘West Virginia State Championship’ event. That stood as the richest win of his seven-year dirt Late Model career – for exactly 24 hours.

“This is unreal,” said Hawkins, who became the 43^rd driver to win a WoO LMS A-Main since 2004. “I’m waiting to wake up from this. I’ve dreamed about (winning a major race) my whole life, and to win here in my home state at my favorite track with all these guys here – the 20-grand’s nice, but beating these guys feels so damn good.”

After WoO LMS Rookie of the Year leader Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., and veteran Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., bagged $10,000 victories in the Qualifying Features, Hawkins seized the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ spotlight. He quickly hustled his Bobby Lake Motorsports Rocket forward from the fourth starting position and was never seriously challenged en route to the checkered flag.

Hawkins did have to deal with a single caution flag – on lap 26 when Davey Johnson of Imperial, Pa., slowed in turn four – but he scarcely missed a beat following the restart. He spent the remainder of the distance maintaining an edge of about one second over Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who grabbed second from Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., on lap 28.

“I was just trying to protect,” Hawkins said of his steady run to the finish. “I figured at any minute somebody was gonna be rolling by me, so I just tried to run a smooth line. I got a little excited when I saw the two-to-go (signal) and almost threw (the race) away, but I was able to hold on.”

Hawkins was greeted in Victory Lane by his overjoyed car owner Bobby Lake, who in 11 years in the dirt Late Model business had never won a race paying more than $5,000 to win. The West Virginian praised his hired gun.

“I think I got me a gem here,” Lake said of Hawkins, who is in his seventh year behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model but first driving for Lake. “He’s doing a heck of a job.”

Stone, 34, settled for a $6,000 second-place finish in his family-owned car – four years and one day since his memorable upset WoO LMS victory at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. He thought he might have had a shot to battle Hawkins if not for the race’s lone caution flag.

“I think we had a different tire than just about everybody out there and that caution killed us,” said Stone, who started fifth. “Man, that thing was locked to the racetrack before that caution. It was effortless to drive.

“But I’ll tell you what – this is great for these guys,” he continued, gesturing toward the celebrating Hawkins and Lake team. “Hometown guys winning – it couldn’t happen to nicer people.”

Marlar finished third driving a new Rocket car owned by Norman Bryson. Two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., came from 12^th to place fourth – and visited his good buddy Hawkins in Victory Lane to offer his congratulations – and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., completed the top five after starting 15^th in the 16-car field.

Finishing in positions 6-10 was Tim Senic of Elkins, W.Va.; Doar, who started third but wasn’t a factor; Chris Meadows of Crab Orchard, W.Va.; Butch McGill of West Union, W.Va., and Shaver, who pitted on lap 26.

Shaver was flawless in the second Qualifying feature, leading the event from wire-to-wire in the K&L Rumley Rocket car. He survived four caution flags and turned back a late-race bid from Richards to secure the five-figure payday.

Richards, who started sixth, reached second with a lap-22 pass of Stone but couldn’t find a way by Shaver. He crossed the finish line 0.201 of a second behind Shaver.

Hawkins placed third, fading slightly during the second half after appearing primed to glide straight to the front when he needed just 10 laps to move from 12^th to fourth. McCreadie was fourth after starting 11^th and Stone slipped to fifth at the checkered flag.

The 46-year-old Doar, meanwhile, was the lone driver from outside West Virginia’s borders to crack the winner’s circle during the Black Diamond 125. He pulled off the most dramatic win of the night, outdueling Davey Johnson and Marlar in a tense three-car shootout that had the big crowd howling.

Doar raced off the pole position to lead laps 1-23 before being overtaken by Johnson. The first-year WoO LMS traveler refused to give in, however, and found new life after a lap-30 caution flag, using the high side of the Bullring to regain command on lap 34.

Moments later Marlar, who started fifth but had fallen to seventh when the caution flag flew on lap 30, found a fast way around the outside of the track. He caught Doar and Johnson on lap 36 and for the next three circuits the trio ran three-wide at times for the lead.

The battle was stalled on the final lap when a caution flag was needed for a multi-car tangle in turn three – an incident that occurred directly in front of the on-rushing leaders. Doar had to spin to avoid the crashed machines, but his Mars car sustained only slight rear bodywork damage and he was permitted to restart at the front of the pack because the yellow lights were already on when he slid into the accident scene.

Doar took advantage of the second chance, firing off on the restart to defeat Johnson by 0.145 of a second. Marlar finished a close third, followed by McGill and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.

“We’ve been running all over the country this summer and we’ve run pretty ugly some nights,” said Doar. “Tonight it just went good. I like it here at Tyler County. It’s a pretty big moment for me.”

With 87 cars signed in for the action, Marlar was quickest in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials with a lap of 13.306 seconds. It was his second WoO LMS fast-time honor of 2011 and the third of his career.

The results of time trials were used to split the field for the two qualifying-feature programs – odd-numbered qualifiers to the first program, even-numbered timers to the second set of preliminaries.

Heat winners for the first qualifying program were Marlar, Tim Dohm of Cross Lanes, W.Va., Doar and Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga. The B-Mains were captured by Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and Cody Parker of Zanesville, Ohio.

Heats for the even-numbered time-trialers were claimed by Jacob Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., Stone, Richards and Chris Meadows of Crab Orchard, W.Va. The B-Mains were won by Corey Conley of Wellsburg, W.Va., and Chris Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va.

The WoO LMS will complete its Labor Day doubleheader on Sunday night (Sept. 4) at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa. A $10,000 top prize will be on the line in the three-eighths-mile track’s inaugural ‘Joy Mining Machinery 50.’

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Black Diamond 125 Sweet Sixteen Finale’ at Tyler County Speedway – 45 laps (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

 

1. (4) Jared Hawkins/45 $20,000

2. (5) Dan Stone/45 $6,000

3. (6) Mike Marlar/45 $4,000

4. (12) Josh Richards/45 $3,000

5. (15) Tim McCreadie/45 $2,000

6. (13) Tim Senic/45 $1,800

7. (3) Pat Doar/45 $1,500

8. (7) Chris Meadows/45 $1,400

9. (11) Butch McGill/45 $1,300

10. (10) Steve Shaver/45 $1,200

11. (16) Shane Clanton/44 $1,150

12. (1) Zack Dohm/36 $1,100

13. (2) Chub Frank/32 $1,075

14. (14) Davey Johnson/25 $1,050

15. (8) Darrell Lanigan/24 $1,025

16. (9) Tim Fuller/19 $1,000

 

Time of Race: 12 Mins., 40.060 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 0.816 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 1 (Lap 26)

Lap Leaders: Frank (1-3); Hawkins (4-45)

Results of WoO Late Model Series Black Diamond 125 Qualifying Feature No. 1 (odd-numbered time-trialers) – 40 laps/Top 8 Transfer to ‘Sweet Sixteen Finale’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

1. (1) Pat Doar/40 $10,500

2. (5) Mike Marlar/40 $3,000

3. (2) Davey Johnson/40 $2,000

4. (9) Butch McGill/40 $1,200

5. (3) Darrell Lanigan/40 $1,600

6. (7) Shane Clanton/40 $1,300

7. (10) Tim Senic/40 $700

8. (16) Chub Frank/40 $1,100

9. (4) Rick Williams/40 $1,000

10. (17) Clint Smith/40 $1,500

11. (11) Keith Barbara/40 $1,000

12. (22) Freddie Carpenter/40 $1,000

13. (14) Jonathan Davenport/40 $1,000

14. (12) Mike Benedum/40 $1,000

15. (18) Cody Parker/40 $1,000

16. (13) Donnie Moran/40 $1,000

17. (15) Gregg Satterlee/40 $1,000

18. (21) John Lobb/39 $1,000

19. (23) John Garvin/39 $1,000

20. (8) Tim Dohm/38 $1,000

21. (6) Paul Wilmoth Jr./38 $1,000

22. (19) Austin Hubbard/38 $1,500

23. (20) Dwight Henry/34 $1,000

24. (24) Wayne Maffett Jr./28 $1,000

* Earnings include Winners Circle program

Time of Race: 17 Mins., 40.405 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 0.145 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 30, 39)

Lap Leaders: Doar (1-23); Johnson (24-33); Doar (34-40)

Provisional Starters: Garvin (WoO); Maffett (track)

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Marlar, Williams, McGill, Donnie Moran, Hubbard, Garvin, Devin Moran, Delano, S. Merkel, Armstrong, T. Carpenter

 

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): T. Dohm, Johnson, Senic, Davenport, Smith, Hitt, Lobb, Prosser, Brown, Coffman, Thomas

 

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Doar, Lanigan, Barbara, Satterlee, Bradsher, S. Wilmoth, Henry, Rogers, Tish, Baumberger, Klepinger

 

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Clanton, P. Wilmoth, Benedum, Frank, Parker, F. Carpenter, Corbett, R. Conley, Southern, Lily (DNS) Miley

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Smith, Hubbard, Lobb, Devin Moran, Garvin, Hitt, Brown, Delano, S. Merkel, T. Carpenter, Armstrong, Prosser, Coffman, Thomas

 

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Parker, Henry, F. Carpenter, Corbett, R. Conley, Southern, Tish, Lily, Klepinger, Rogers, S. Wilmoth, Baumgardner (DNS) Bradsher, Miley

Results of WoO Late Model Series Black Diamond 125 Qualifying Feature No. 2 (even-number time-trialers) – 40 laps/Top 8 Transfer to ‘Sweet Sixteen Finale’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

1. (2) Steve Shaver/40 $10,000

2. (6) Josh Richards/40 $3,600

3. (12) Jared Hawkins/40 $2,000

4. (11) Tim McCreadie/40 $1,800

5. (3) Dan Stone/40 $1,000

6. (4) Chris Meadows/40 $800

7. (19) Tim Fuller/40 $1,200

8. (1) Zack Dohm/40 $600

9. (8) Rick Eckert/40 $1,500

10. (9) Devin Friese/40 $1,000

11. (18) Chris Carpenter/40 $1,000

12. (17) Corey Conley/40 $1,000

13. (7) Jacob Hawkins/40 $1,000

14. (16) Jason Covert/40 $1,000

15. (23) Vic Coffey/40 $1,500

16. (10) Steve Weigle/40 $1,000

17. (14) Dusty Hamrick/40 $1,000

18. (13) Harold Redman Jr./39 $1,000

19. (21) Kyle Thomas/23 $1,000

20. (5) Ron Davies/4 $1,500

21. (20) Sonny Conley/4 $1,000

22. (15) Jamie Lathroum/4 $1,000

23. (22) Mark Banal/3 $1,000

24. (24) Steve Wilmoth/3 $1,000

* Earnings include Winners Circle program

Time of Race: 17 Mins., 08.648 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 0.201 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 0, 4, 4, 29)

Lap Leaders: Shaver (1-40)

Provisional Starters: Coffey (WoO); S. Wilmoth (track)

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Jacob Hawkins, Davies, Friese, Redman, Coffey, Brunty, Fuller, Frazier, Cline, Powers, Ferguson

 

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Stone, Eckert, Weigle, Hamrick, C. Conley, Thomas, K. Merkel, Beck, Sampson, D. Conley, Bostic

 

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Richards, Shaver, McCreadie, Lathroum, Watts, Mitchell, Maffett, Jeff, Dobnak, Watson, Maloney

 

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Meadows, Z. Dohm, Jared Hawkins, Covert, C. Carpenter, Banal, S. Conley, Dodd, Wilbin, Clevenger

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): C. Conley, Fuller, Thomas, Cline, Brunty, K. Merkel, Beck, Powers, Frazier, Sampson, Ferguson, D. Conley (DQ) Coffey (DNS) Bostic

 

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): C. Carpenter, S. Conley, Banal, Jett, Watts, Wilbin, Watson, Maffett, Dobnak, Mitchell, Maloney, Clevenger (DNS) Dodd

Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

 

1. 5B-Mike Marlar/Winfield, TN 13.306

2. 28R-Harold Redman Jr./Cross Lanes, WV 13.427

3. s2-Tim Senic/Elkins, WV 13.436
4. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.506

5. 17B-Keith Barbara/South Park, PA 13.507

6. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 13.520

7. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 13.538

8. 33-Chris Meadows/Crab Orchard, WV 13.584

9. 99M-Devin Moran/Dresden, OH 13.589

10. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, OH 13.597

11. 1J-Davey Johnson/Latrobe, PA 13.617

12. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 13.627

13. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 13.639

14. 6s-Steve Shaver/Vienna, WV 13.642

15. B1-Paul Wilmoth Jr./Clarksburg, WV 13.646

16. 43A-Jason Covert/York Haven, PA 13.652

17. 12W-Rick Williams/Beckley, WV 13.653

18. 20H-Jacob Hawkins/Fairmont, WV 13.696

19. 6T-Tim Dohm/Cross Lanes, WV 13.705

20. 14-Corey Conley/Wellsburg, WV 13.710

21. 32-Greg Baumberger/Jacksonburg, OH 13.722

22. 39-Tim McCeadie/Watertown, NY 13.760

23. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 13.764

24. 17z-Zack Dohm/Cross Lanes, WV 13.766

25. 1MC-Butch McGill/West Union, WV 13.782

26. 30-Josh Brunty/Beckley, WV 13.792

27. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 13.793

28. 117-Kyle Merkel/Gilbertsville, PA 13.798

29. s1-Steve Wilmoth/Clarksburg, WV 13.809

30. 6L-Jamie Lathroum/Mechanicsville, MD 13.813

31. 25B-Mike Benedum/Salem, WV 13.813

32. 18CC-Chris Carpenter/Parkersburg, WV 13.819

33. 0d-Ron Delano Jr./Stoystown, PA 13.826

34. 4c-D.J. Cline/St. Clairsville, OH 13.831

35. 54-Billy Brown/Clarksburg, WV 13.843

36. 75-Steve Weigle/Middlebourne, WV 13.856

37. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 13.861

38. 88M-Charley Maloney/Belmont, OH 13.884

39. C4-Freddie Carpenter/Parkersburg, WV 13.886

40. 5*-Mark Banal/St. Clairsville, OH 13.889

41. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 13.891

42. 0F-Richard Frazier/Mt. Claire, WV 13.893

43. 49-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 13.897

44. X-Dusty Hamrick/Clarksburg, WV 13.902

45. 22s-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 13.902

46. 04-David Watts/Buchanan, VA 13.918

47. 63-Cody Parker/Zanesville, OH 13.920

48. 1X1-Sonny Conley/New Martinsville, WV 13.940

49. J4-John Garvin/Sarver, PA 13.955

50. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 13.957

51. 2*-Shane Hitt/Buchannon, WV 13.964

52. 57T-Kyle Thomas/Pennsboro, WV 14.002

53. 93-Donald Bradsher/Burlington, NC 14.009

54. 18d-Danny Mitchell/Clarksburg, WV 14.022

55. 18RC-Rick Conley Jr./Wellsburg, WV 14.043

56. 37-Jared Hawkins/Fairmont, WV 14.047

57. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 14.083

58. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 14.121

59. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 14.224

60. 91-Tommy Beck/Jeanette, PA 14.246

61. 60-Dwight Henry/Marietta, OH 14.259

62. 42b-Matt Dobnak/W. Mifflin, PA 14.266

63. 45-Nick Corbett/Waverly, WV 14.268

64. 12d-Doug Dodd/Cambridge, OH 14.293

65. 21A-Rick Armstrong/Bloomingdale, OH 14.313

66. 50-L.C. Powers/Mt. Morris, PA 14.319

67. 88c-Josh Coffman/Grafton, WV 14.347

68. 24R-Robbie Bostic/Kenna, WV 14.361

69. 23R-Derek Rogers/Spelter, WV 14.430

70. 137-Shawn Jett/Pennsboro, WV 14.458

71. K2-Kris Southern/Janelew, WV 14.530

72. 64-Marshall Wilbin/Charleston, WV 14.544

73. 28c-Tyler Carpenter/Parkersburg, WV 14.456

74. 4M-Melvin Ferguson/Proctor, WV 14.551

75. 7JR-Danny Thomas/Middlebourne, WV 14.566

76. 12s-Tracie Sampson/Lumberport, WV 14.726

77. 77T-Keith Tish/Millersburg, OH 14.750

78. 51-John Watson/Middlebourne, WV 14.835

79. 17L-Jeff Lily/Beckley, WV 14.946

80. 2P-Ron Clevenger/Clarksburg, WV 15.009

81. 118M-Sean Merkel/Pottstown, PA 15.088

82. 12F-Devin Friese/Chambersburg, PA 15.104

83. 77-Joel Prosser/New Martinsville, WV 15.293

84. 57C-Don Conley/Navarre, OH 15.732

85. 28-Tom Klepinger/Salem, WV 16.398

86. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr./Mansfield, OH 14.298 (DQ – light)

87. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA N/T

 

2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 3 – 27 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):

 

1. Rick Eckert 3730

2. Josh Richards 3702 (-28)

3. Darrell Lanigan 3610 (-120)

4. Tim McCreadie 3532 (-198)

5. Chub Frank 3452 (-278)

6. Shane Clanton 3442 (-288)

7. Austin Hubbard 3432 (-298)

8. Clint Smith 3414 (-316)

9. Vic Coffey 3290 (-440)

10. Tim Fuller 3286 (-444)

11. Pat Doar 3184 (-546)

12. Ron Davies 3040 (-690)

13. John Lobb 2902 (-828)

14. Jill George 2122 (-1608)

15. Jason Feger 1552 (-2178)

 

FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via 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.

Over 5,000 fans are now WoO LMS ‘followers’ on Twitter. To sign-up and receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to http://www.dirtvision.com/welcome.php and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

BLOGGING: WoO LMS fans can now read interesting stories from the road by checking out two blogs –‘Life As An Outlaw’ by series announcer Rick Eshelman and ‘The Scoop With Scoop’ by tour P.R. director Kevin Kovac. Both blogs can be accessed by clicking on the preceding links or the specific ‘Blog’ buttons on the right-hand side of http://www.woolms.com/.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Regional Star Says First-Ever World of Outlaws Late Model Series Visit To Pennsy Track Is A Can’t-Miss Event

MARKLEYSBURG, PA – Sept. 1, 2011 – Jason Covert has a pretty straightforward message for any fan contemplating a visit to Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex for the ‘Joy Mining Machinery 50’ this Sunday night (Sept. 4).

Don’t miss it!

“It’s gonna be one of the best races of the year,” the regional dirt Late Model standout said of the first-ever World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at the three-eighths-mile oval. “I guarantee it.”

Covert, 40, of York Haven, Pa., isn’t speaking in hyperbole when he talks up Roaring Knob’s $10,000-to-win holiday-weekend spectacular. He’s well qualified to praise the western Pennsylvania track – after all, he’s been running special events there since 2006 and has won five times, including a Three-State Flyers Series event less than three weeks ago.

A personable driver who is considered one of the top threats to upset the World of Outlaws stars when the national tour invades facilities in and around his native Keystone State, Covert is ecstatic that the series is headed to a speedway he ranks as one of his favorites.

“It’s an awesome racetrack,” said Covert, who lives just over three hours to the east of Roaring Knob. “As far as just plain racing, it’s one of the best racetracks I’ve ever been to. If your car’s good, you can go to the front. There’s plenty of room and you can run all over it.

“I’ve won races there on the bottom (groove) and I’ve won races with the right side of the car dragging the (outside) guardrail all the way around. When you can do that, you know it’s a fun place.”

Everything about Roaring Knob appeals to Covert – its unique D-shape (“Once you turn into one you never really stop turning until you get back over through three and four”), its picturesque location in the hills near the Pennsylvania/Maryland border (“I grew up in the mountains so it’s kind of like going home for me”), its atmosphere (“People sit in their chairs on the grass or watch the race from their cars on the side of the hill”), its staff (“You get treated right”). In case you haven’t figured it out, he’s an unabashed proponent of the track.

“We love going there,” said Covert, who won twice at Roaring Knob in 2010. “I’m just tickled that the Outlaws got a show there. I think it will be huge.”

Roaring Knob also happens to be a speedway where Covert probably has a better than average chance to break through for his coveted first career WoO LMS A-Main triumph. He counts it as one of stronger tracks – a fact he proved earlier this year when he went toe-to-toe for first place in the Knob’s Appalachian Mountain Speedweek event with World of Outlaws regulars Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del.

“That Speedweek race was Josh, me and Austin racing up front until Austin got a flat tire,” said Covert, who finished second behind Richards, the two-time defending WoO LMS champion, in the June 6 race. “The three of us were just absolutely having at it. Josh just whipped us in the end, but it was a ball running with them and gives us some confidence for the Outlaw show.”

A three-time title-holder with the defunct Mid-Atlantic Championship Series (MACS) and the defending champ and current points leader of the Three-State Flyers Series, Covert has been in contention for World of Outlaws glory in the past. He has eight top-five finishes in 23 A-Main starts since 2005; a runner-up finish on June 2, 2007, at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway is his career high.

“We’ve had some good Outlaw runs, but I’ve laid eggs in Outlaw shows too,” said Covert, who has four WoO LMS top-fives at Hagerstown, two at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., and one each at Virginia Motor Speedway and Delaware International Speedway. “Roaring Knob is a place I feel that we can go and at least be at ‘Outlaw pace.’ This is going to be a good measuring stick for us.”

Covert, who has driven Pennsylvanian Barry Klinedinst’s Rocket No. 43A since 2006, understands the supreme challenge facing him at Roaring Knob. While he may be a top regional racer, he must pick up his game to an even higher level to defeat the Outlaws.

“I feel our equipment’s as good as Outlaw equipment, but the guys are Outlaws because they’re the best,” said Covert, who has made three WoO LMS A-Main starts this season with a best finish of fifth (at Delaware International on May 12) to his credit. “Josh, (Darrell) Lanigan, (points leader Rick) Eckert, (Tim) McCreadie, all the Outlaws – they’re there because they’re the best at what they do. Not all of those guys are gonna have a bad night at the same time, which kind of tells you how hard it is to beat them.

“I feel like we can run with them from time to time, but their consistency is what makes them so good. They’re gonna be fast in all conditions. They’re not gonna fall off because, well, the track’s a little bit wetter or a little bit drier than usual. They adjust to things, they drive better, they know how to do their tires better, they know what they want with their shocks and their car, they’ve seen all the conditions they can see, and they’ve got more experience. This is a tough sport to begin with, then to try and beat professionals at it – it’s like a high school team going up against an NFL team. It just kind of leaves you speechless thinking about it.”

But as Covert certainly knows, the Outlaws aren’t unbeatable. He’s seen three of his Pennsylvania/Maryland contemporaries – Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., and Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsville, Md. – pull off upset victories in WoO LMS events and the significance of their accomplishments is not lost on him.

“When Stoney (Dan Stone) won (at Pennsy’s Tri-City on Sept. 3, 2007), we were driving home from Portsmouth (Ohio) that night after winning a $10,000 MACS race,” recalled Covert. ‘When we heard that Stoney won we were almost happier for him than we were for ourselves. We were like, ‘Stoney beat the Outlaws!’ We were just tickled to death for him – and we just off winning 10-grand!

“If we can’t win, we always love to see a regional guy win an Outlaw show. We race the other regional guys so hard all year that we kind of become fans of them ourselves, so if one of us is lucky enough to win an Outlaw show it’s a big deal.

“Hey, I know what it’s like to win a national race,” added Covert, who has captured a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event. “It makes you feel legitimate, like maybe you can live the dream a little a bit – like if you could, you would go out there and run fulltime.”

No, Covert won’t be hitting the road with the World of Outlaws. He’s married with two kids and makes his living working for Verizon as the on-site phone and fiber-optics technician at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Londonderry Township, Pa., so a regional Weekend Warrior is what he will stay.

Covert would just like to join that select group of hobby racers with a WoO LMS victory under their belt.

“We’re gonna give ‘er heck,” said Covert, who has nine feature wins this season. “We’re not gonna back down. We’re there for a reason, and that’s to try and win the race. It won’t be easy, but if everything goes our way maybe we can pull it off.”

Sunday’s historic WoO LMS event at Roaring Knob carries title sponsorship from Joy Mining Machinery, the Warrendale, Pa.-based manufacturer of surface and underground mining machinery that has entered the motorsports scene this season as the sponsor of Josh Richards’s debut with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Richards, who enters this weekend’s WoO LMS doubleheader at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. (Black Diamond 125 on Sat., Sept. 3) and Roaring Knob trailing Eckert by 28 points in the tour standings, is scheduled to drive Busch’s Toyota in Friday night’s Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Gates are scheduled to open at 5 p.m., time trials are set to begin at 7 p.m. and racing will get the green flag at 7:30 p.m. Roaring Knob’s FASTRAK crate Late Models will also be in action in a $1,000-to-win event on Sunday night.

Tickets for the Joy Mining Machinery 50 are $30 for general admission, with kids 10-and-under admitted free of charge with a paying adult. Pit passes will be $40.

More details are available by logging on to www.RoaringKnob.com.

Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex is located near the Pennsylvania/Maryland border along Route 40, just southeast of Uniontown, Pa.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

ABOUT JOY MINING MACHINERY

Joy Mining Machinery has over 90 years of experience as a global leader in the development, manufacture, distribution and service of underground mining machinery for the extraction of coal and other bedded materials. Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, Joy Mining Machinery employs over 8,000 employees worldwide. For additional information, visit www.joy.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

One Driver Can Pocket $30,000 In First-Place Cash During Saturday’s Action At West Virginia Quarter-Mile

MIDDLEBOURNE, WV – Aug. 29, 2011 –

CAN’T MISS THIS: The ‘Black Diamond 125’ this Saturday night (Sept. 3) at Tyler County Speedway hasn’t been dubbed “Dirt Racing’s Newest and Coolest Crown Jewel” for nothing.

With a unique split-field, three-feature format that spreads the wealth to race teams and provides fans incredible bang for their buck...with Saturday’s program alone giving one competitor a chance to ride off with $30,000 in first-place winnings...with more than 135 drivers entered as of Monday afternoon...with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series banner flying over the event for the first time...with an action-packed, quarter-mile ‘Bullring’ serving as the venue – yes, it’s easy to see why the second annual Labor Day weekend spectacular is one of the most anticipated shows on the 2011 dirt Late Model calendar.

“The ‘Black Diamond 125’ is shaping up to be an unbelievable event,” said WoO LMS director Tim Christman, who last month signed a deal with Circle Track Management Group’s Frank Wilson to add World of Outlaws sanction to the fast-growing, big-money race. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of a weekend that offers such a lucrative payoff for the teams and so much excitement for the fans. There’s a buzz around the ‘Black Diamond’ that puts it in rarified air.”

A total of over $157,000 will be on the line for Super Late Model competitors during Tyler County’s ‘Black Diamond 125’ weekend, which includes the 51-lap, $8,000-to-win ‘West Virginia State Championship’ for the UFO Series on Fri., Sept. 2. Practice for Late Model teams will also be held on Thurs., Sept. 1, as part of the weekend’s opening night action that features support-division racing.

Saturday, of course, is the anchor of the weekend. The ‘Black Diamond 125’ field will be split into two groups following Ohlins Shocks Time Trials (odd-numbered qualifiers in one group, evens in the other) and a full racing program – 15-lap heats, 15-lap B-Mains and 24-car, 40-lap preliminary A-Mains paying $10,000 to win – will be run for each. The top-eight finishers in each preliminary feature will move on to the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale, a 45-lap showdown that offers a gargantuan $20,000 first-place prize.

Each 40-lap preliminary feature and the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale boasts a full purse, including cool $1,000 payoffs for last place. Forty-eight drivers are guaranteed to earn at least $1,000.

The Sweet Sixteen’ race will carry even more significance than it did during the inaugural ‘Black Diamond’ weekend in 2010. After last year’s program featured a winner-take-all, $10,000-to-win ‘Sweet Sixteen’ event following preliminary A-Mains that paid $20,000 to win each, track officials have assured fans a dramatic weekend-ending battle by not only making the 45-lap finale Saturday’s highest-paying race but also posting a solid payoff for every finishing position.

Click here to view the latest pre-entry list for the ‘Black Diamond 125.’

STREAKING MOUNTAINEER: The hottest driver on the WoO LMS entering Saturday’s action happens to be someone who would count a ‘Black Diamond’ victory as one of the most cherished of his career – and not merely because of the event’s huge payoff.

A checkered flag at Tyler County would have special sentimental value for two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards, who has won three of the last four tour A-Mains. The 23-year-old sensation, after all, hails from Shinnston, W.Va., but he’s still never won a dirt Late Model feature of any kind in his home state.

“It’s cool to run a big World of Outlaws show in West Virginia,” said Richards, whose seven triumphs on this year’s series places him in a tie with Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., for top-winner status. “I’ve never really had too many chances to run in West Virginia during my career, so I’m looking forward to Tyler County. It would mean a lot to win a race like that so close to home.”

While the Tyler County oval is just a little over an hour’s drive from Richards’s residence, he’s made only two career starts there. He finished 12 ^th in the 2004 Hillbilly 100 during his first season of dirt Late Model racing and placed sixth in the track’s lone previous WoO LMS event, a 40-lapper on May 31, 2009.

“I’ve watched a lot of races there though,” said Richards, who often visited Tyler County as a teenager to serve as a crewman for his uncle, Robbie Scott. “It’s definitely a unique racetrack. It’s a racer’s racetrack. It’s not the prettiest place and it’s only a quarter-mile, but the racing there is hard.

“It’s a great place to go if you like racing – and it’s definitely a track that I like racing at.”

Richards sits second in the current WoO LMS points standings, trailing Rick Eckert of York, Pa., by just 28 points after cutting Eckert’s edge in half during the tour’s Michigan doubleheader on Aug. 19-20. But there will be no change in the points battle at Tyler County; the ‘Black Diamond 125’ offers only show-up points because it does not follow the normal series format.

RECORD IN SIGHT: Darrell Lanigan’s hopes of a 2011 WoO LMS championship might be flickering (he’s 120 points behind Eckert in third place), but there’s still one headline-grabbing feat well within his reach: the tour’s single-season win record.

Both Lanigan and Richards are just two wins away from matching Scott Bloomquist’s 2004 standard of nine WoO LMS victories. The two close friends have scrawled their names all over the ’11 season, combining to win 14 of the tour’s 26 A-Mains to date, including seven of the last eight.

Lanigan’s last start at Tyler County, in the ’09 WoO LMS event, resulted in a fifth-place finish.

VETERAN WINNERS: WoO LMS stalwarts Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., would like to relive old times at Tyler County this Saturday night. Both drivers won the Hillbilly 100 when it was run at the Mountain State track – Frank in 2003, and Smith in 2005.

Frank, 49, heads into this weekend’s action riding a frustrating 76-race winless streak on the WoO LMS (his last victory came on Aug. 22, 2009, at Ohio’s K-C Raceway), but he’s fifth in the current points standings and is coming off a win in last Friday night’s weekly DIRTcar UMP Late Model feature at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. He set fast time and finished 10^th in the 2009 WoO LMS event at Tyler County.

The 46-year-old Smith, who finished 20^th in his last appearance at Tyler County (’09 WoO LMS), also enters the ‘Black Diamond 125’ on a winning note. Last Saturday night he made a triumphant return to his hometown’s New Senoia Speedway after a 25-year absence, driving Laddie Fulcher’s No. 29 Limited Late Model to victory in the finale of the Senoia Summer Nationals II Weekend.

CHASIN’ CASH: Rick Eckert doesn’t have to worry about protecting his WoO LMS points lead during the ‘Black Diamond 125’ festivities (all entrants will receive 60 show-up points), so he’ll have just one thing on his mind: padding his bank account.

A big night at Tyler County could provide a welcome late-season boost for Eckert, who is chasing his first-ever WoO LMS title with his own racing equipment. He’s craving a return to Victory Lane – since his last series win, on May 12 at Delaware International Speedway, he’s registered six runner-up finishes.

Eckert, 46, has visited Tyler County just once over the past seven years, finishing 14^th in the ’09 WoO LMS event.

IS THERE MAGIC IN HIS CAR?: Nineteen-year-old WoO LMS standout Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., has never competed at Tyler County, but his car owner, Dale Beitler, knows what it feels like to reach Victory Lane at the ‘Bullring.’

In the track’s 2009 WoO LMS event, Beitler watched his familiar blue-and-white No. 19 flash under the checkered flag first with Steve Francis behind the wheel.

BACK FOR MORE: Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., is the only ’11 WoO LMS regular who entered last year’s inaugural Black Diamond 125, which drew a 77-car field. He finished 18^th in the second preliminary feature (50 laps in ’10), missing the cut for the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale that was run over the 25-lap distance.

The 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year also competed in the tour’s ’09 event at Tyler County, finishing 15^th. He enters this weekend’s action still seeking his first career series win after 105 A-Main starts.

ONE-TIMERS, FIRST-TIMERS: Four WoO LMS regulars will make their second career starts at Tyler County – Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (2005 Hillbilly 100 his only previous appearance); Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (seventh in ’09 WoO LMS event); Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga. (ninth in ’09 WoO LMS); and Rookie of the Year contender Ron Davies of Warren, Pa. (he remembers running there once about a decade ago).

Travelers who will attack Tyler County for the first time are rookies Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., and John Lobb of Frewsburg, N.Y.

SUPERMAN: Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., made a mark on last year’s Black Diamond 125, finishing third in the first preliminary feature and then charging forward from the 10^th starting spot in the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ shootout to capture the $10,000 top prize.

The 27-year-old is planning a return to Tyler County with the Barry Wright house car team. He has four top-five finishes in nine WoO LMS A-Main starts this season.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Dirt Late Model superstar Donnie Moran or Dresden, Ohio, and his teenage son Devin plan to enter the Black Diamond 125 for the second consecutive year.

Donnie, of course, would love to repeat his 2010 effort; he won the first of the 50-lap preliminary features for a $20,000 payday and finished fifth in the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale. Devin, meanwhile, hopes to improve upon his 22^nd-place finish in last year’s second preliminary feature.

HOME STATE HOPEFULS: Richards is just one of dozens of West Virginia drivers who will aim to keep the Black Diamond 125 money from leaving the state.

The group includes Steve Shaver of Vienna, who earlier this year won the WoO LMS Commonwealth 100 at Virginia Motor Speedway; Paul Wilmoth Jr. of Clarksburg, who scored a WoO LMS career-best finish of fourth in Tyler County’s ’09 tour event; Steve Wilmoth of Clarksburg, whose car will sport a special graphics scheme honoring the 29 coal miners killed in the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster near Montcoal, W.Va.; brothers Jared and Jacob Hawkins, both of Fairmont; the father-son combo of Tim and Zack Dohm of Cross Lanes; Chuck Harper of Beverly; Butch McGill of West Union; Tim Dohm of Cross Lanes; Corey Conley of Wellsburg; Robbie Scott of Shinnston; and Mike Benedum of Bristol.

KEYSTONE STATE INVADERS: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be well represented at Tyler County with expected appearances by Jason Covert of York Haven, a 10-time feature winner across the region this season; Devin Friese of Chambersburg, who was in contention for a Black Diamond preliminary feature win last year before tangling with Jimmy Mars; Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who has a 2007 WoO LMS victory at Pennsylvania’s Tri-City Speedway under his belt; Gregg Satterlee of New Richmond; Alex Ferree of Saxonburg; Ron Delano Jr. of Stoystown; Keith Barbara of South Park; Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg; and Jared Miley of South Park.

SATURDAY SKED: Tyler County’s pit gates will open at 2 p.m. and the grandstands will be unlocked at 3 p.m.

The remainder of Saturday’s schedule of events includes driver registration/qualifying pill draw from 3-6:30 p.m., drivers’ meeting at 6:30 p.m. and hot laps at 6:45 p.m., followed by WoO LMS Ohlins Shocks Time Trials; track prep and opening ceremonies; two sets of WoO LMS heat races and heats for the TSMA Modifieds; B-Mains for the WoO LMS and TSMA Modifieds; the pair of 40-lap WoO LMS Qualifying features; a redraw of the top-eight finishers from each feature to determine the lineup for the 45-lap ‘Sweet 16’ finale; the 30-lap TSMA Modified West Virginia State Championship (30 minute time limit); and the $20,000-to-win ‘Sweet 16’ event.

THE UNDERCARD: The weekend will kick off on Thurs., Sept. 1, with a complete show for the TSMA Modifieds and STARS Modified Lites and prelims for the Hot-Mods and 4-Cylinders. On ‘Black Lightning Thursday’ gates will open at 2 p.m. (pits) and 4 p.m. (grandstands), with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. and opening ceremonies commencing at 7:15 p.m.

 

‘Black Gold Friday’ – Fri., Sept. 2 – will feature the UFO Series West Virginia State Championship, a 51-lap, $8,000-to-win event that gives the full-fender teams an opportunity to tune up for the Black Diamond 125. Also on the card will be the FASTRACK Northeast Touring Series Late Models vying for $3,000 to win; another complete show of STARS Modified Lites; and the West Virginia State Championship features in the Hot-Mod and 4-Cylinder divisions.

 

Gates will open on Friday at 2 p.m. (pits) and 4 p.m. (grandstands). Hot laps are scheduled to get the green flag at 6:30 p.m. and opening ceremonies are set to begin at 7:15 p.m.

 

OFF-TRACK FUN: The Black Diamond 125 weekend will be filled with extracurricular activities. Some of the highlights:

* The ‘2011 Black Diamond Launch Party’ following Thursday night’s racing program will feature an appearance of the official Girls Gone Wild party bus and D.J. (as seen on T.V.). The nationally-known entertainment brand will help welcome fans to the speedway as part of its cross-country ‘Search for the Hottest Girl in the USA.’

* Mike Martin of Think Pink Motorsports will provide D.J. entertainment that rocks the hills of West Virginia after the Friday and Saturday night action.

* A driver autograph session is slated to begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

GET YOUR TICKETS: Discount three-day tickets for the event can be purchased in advanced for $50 (general admission) and $60 (pits). Three-day tickets for children ages 7-12 are $15, and reserved seats in the top four rows of bleachers are available by adding $5 per seat to any ticket (grandstand/child/pit).

Tickets may be purchased online at www.tylercountyspeedwayonline.com or by phone at 304-758-2660 or 304-665-1118.

At the gate during race weekend three-day general admission tickets will be $55 for adults and $15 for children ages. Weekend pit passes will cost $65.

Individual tickets will be available at the gate as well. General admission is $10 on Thursday, $25 on Friday and $35 on Saturday.

THE TRACK: Tyler County Speedway is located at the Tyler County Fairgrounds, three miles south of Middlebourne, W.Va., on State Route 18. The track sits 18 miles east of the Ohio River; halfway between Parkersburg, W.Va., to the south and Wheeling, W.Va., to the north; two hours from Pittsburgh and Charleston, W.Va.; and three hours from Columbus, Ohio.

INFO:Log on to www.tylercountyspeedwayonline.com or www.blackdiamond125.com. To stay up to date with the latest-breaking Black Diamond 125 news via Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/blackdiamondwv.

ONE MORE SHOW: The WoO LMS will close out the Labor Day weekend on Sunday evening (Sept. 4) with the running of the ‘Workforce 50’ at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum

West Virginia Star Will Attempt To Tie Tour’s Consecutive Win Record On Saturday Night At Michigan’s Merritt Raceway

ROTHBURY, MI – Aug. 19, 2011 – Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., rolled to his third straight victory on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, dominating Friday night’s inaugural ‘Keyser Manufacturing 50’ before a standing-room-only crowd at Winston Speedway.

The two-time defending series champion made short work of the field, vaulting forward from the fifth starting spot to grab the lead from Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., on lap 14. He wasn’t challenged the remainder of the distance en route to a triumph worth $10,875.

Richards, 23, beat Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, to the finish line by a commanding 4.213-second margin for his seventh win of the 2011 WoO LMS season. The checkered flag tied him with Lanigan for top-winner status through 25 events and put him within reach of two series records: most consecutive wins (four) and most wins in a single season (nine).

Points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa., finished third, maintaining a 50-point edge over Richards with his third top-three finish in his last four starts. Lanigan settled for a fourth-place finish after starting from the outside pole and leading laps 1-13, and 13^th-starter Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., placed fifth thanks to a last-lap pass of Bear Lake, Pa.’s Chub Frank.

Richards’s 35^th career win on the WoO LMS – more than any driver since 2004 – came in his first-ever visit to Tom Sprague Sr.’s one-third-mile oval in western Michigan. The track’s fast, moist condition surprised his father Mark’s Rocket Chassis team, but he handled the physical racing with aplomb.

“They kept talking about how slippery it is and how slow it is,” Richards said of the scouting report he heard on Winston Speedway. “(Then) you come here and it’s wet and wide open and you can race all over it. It was a fun race.”

Richards was on the charge as soon as the race was green-flagged, hustling his No. 1 to the front. He reached second with a lap-eight pass of Eckert and shortly thereafter drove around the outside of Lanigan to assume command for good.

“On a track like that where there’s traction, you just try to use it to your advantage,” said Richards, who built leads of as much as a straightaway once he took the point. “You just try to keep your momentum up and get your car pointed to where if someone slips up, you can go.

“Luckily enough we had the right tire combination and had the car right to where I was able to do that.”

Birkhofer, 39, was certainly no match for Richards. He came on strong during the race’s second half to secure second from Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., on lap 40, but he never drew close to Richards.

“Josh was obviously the best car,” said Birkhofer, who started seventh in his MB Customs machine. “He got out there and took off. We just were consistent.”

Eckert, who started third but fell back as far as fifth, rallied in the final circuits to grab the show finishing position. His Team Zero by Bloomquist remained just a bit off Richards’s torrid pace.

“If Josh keeps winning races like this he’s gonna get us (in the points) so we’re gonna have to pick our pace up,” said Eckert, whose two wins this season came in May. “We’re running well but just not as good as Josh right now.”

Richards will go for a record-tying fourth consecutive WoO LMS victory on Saturday night (Aug. 20) at Merritt Raceway in Lake City, Mich. Only Eckert (2006) and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (2009) have won four A-Mains in a row on the tour.

“I don’t want to think about that,” said Richards, who had never won three straight WoO LMS events until Friday night. “We just go in each night and try to race hard. You try to win the race everywhere you go. You try not to put any extra pressure on yourself.”

Fuller finished sixth in Friday’s A-Main, rallying after he brought out the first caution flag of the race on lap three when he bounced in the air and slid to a stop in turn four. The event’s fourth starter had to restart from the rear of the field.

Frank placed seventh after losing two spots on the final lap. Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., was eighth and earned the $250 bonus as the highest-finishing WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender; Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., finished ninth after starting from the pole position; and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., completed the top 10 after using a provisional to start 23^rd.

Four caution flags slowed the race – all for drivers who have followed the WoO LMS this season. Following Fuller’s early misfortune, rookie Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., stopped between turns one and two on lap 24; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., stopped in turn three on lap 31; and Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, spun in turn two on lap 33.

Mars, who climbed as high as second from the eighth starting spot, was running fifth when he pulled off the track on lap 46. His car’s right-front lower control arm broke because he slapped the turn-four wall.

Eckert bested the 40-car field in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, establishing a new track record with a circuit of 13.568 seconds. The tour’s alltime fast-time award leader earned his third quick-lap honor of 2011.

Heat winners were Lanigan, Fuller, Coffey and Doar. The B-Mains were captured by Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del.

The WoO LMS’s doubleheader in Michigan ends on Saturday night (Aug. 20) at Merritt Raceway in Lake City with a 50-lap event paying $10,000 to win.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Keyser Manufacturing 50’ at Winston Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

 

1. (5) Josh Richards/50 $10,875

2. (7) Brian Birkhofer/50 $5,050

3. (3) Rick Eckert/50 $3,550

4. (2) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,150

5. (13) Shane Clanton/50 $2,550

6. (4) Tim Fuller/50 $2,250

7. (12) Chub Frank/50 $1,950

8. (11) Ron Davies/50 $1,850

9. (1) Vic Coffey/50 $1,750

10. (23) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,750

11. (18) Austin Hubbard/50 $1,600

12. (15) John Lobb/50 $1,500

13. (17) Dennis Erb Jr./50 $1,000

14. (19) Curt Spalding/49 $900

15. (8) Jimmy Mars/45 $850

16. (10) Jason Feger/43 $800

17. (22) Casey Noonan/43 $770

18. (9) Jeep VanWormer/38 $750

19. (21) Kevin Nelson Jr./35 $730

20. (24) Jill George/33 $700

21. (20) Clint Smith/30 $1,250

22. (6) Pat Doar/22 $1,250

23. (14) Brady Smith/16 $700

24. (16) Curtis Roberts/10 $725

* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses

 

Time of Race: 28 Mins., 48.767 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 4.213 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 3, 24, 31, 33)

Lap Leaders: Lanigan (1-13); Richards (14-50)

Provisional Starters: McCreadie, George

Rookie of the Race: Davies ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Lobb ($500)

Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

 

1. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.568 (NTR)

2. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 13.662

3. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 13.683

4. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 13.692

5. 34-Alan Vochaska/South Haven, MI 13.772

6. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 13.821

7. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 13.861

8. 9R-Curtis Roberts/Coleman, MI 13.908

9. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 13.916

10. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 13.918

11. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, PA 13.930

12. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 13.984

13. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 13.998

14. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 13.998

15. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 14.002

16. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 14.022

17. 13-J.R. Hotovy/Hartford, MI 14.034

18. 28e-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 14.048

19. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 14.083

20. 15b-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 14.084

21. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 14.172

22. 0N-Kevin Nelson Jr./Muskegon, MI 14.228

23. 1N-Casey Noonan/Sylvania, OH 14.271

24. 6M-Dona Marcoullier/Houghton Lake, MI 14.275

25. 85-Mark Anderson/Blanchard, MI 14.339

26. 87-Richard Neiser/Fruitport, MI 14.349

27. 07-Shawn Reed/Grant, MI 14.396

28. 99-Mike Wilburn/Muskegon, MI 14.545

29. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 14.571

30. 28s-Sammy Epling/Perry, MI 14.582

31. 94-Bill Bray/Spring Lake, MI 14.748

32. 44T-Rob Taylor/Muskegon, MI 14.750

33. 111-Curt Spalding/Hartford, MI 14.958

34. 05-C.J. Heskett/Muskegon, MI 14.983

35. 28JM-John McDonald/Muskegon, MI 15.085

36. 55P-Matt Pickard/Grant, MI 15.100

37. 3-Scott Wenell/Muskegon, MI 15.637

38. 21-Tom Sprague Jr./Muskegon, MI 18.791

39. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA N/T

40. 50-Scott Phillips/Marlette, MI N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lanigan, Eckert, VanWormer, Clanton, Hotovy, Spalding, Vochaska, Anderson, George, Wenell

 

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Fuller, Mars, Feger, B. Smith, Erb, Noonan, Heskett, Sprague, Epling, Neiser

 

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Coffey, Richards, Davies, Lobb, Hubbard, C. Smith, Bray, Noonan, Reed, McDonald

 

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Doar, Birkhofer, Frank, Roberts, McCreadie, Marcoullier, Pickard, Wilburn, Phillips, Taylor

 

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Erb, Spalding, Nelson, Hotovy, Sprague, Anderson, Vochaska, Neiser, George, Heskett, Wenell, Epling

 

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Hubbard, C. Smith, Noonan, Pickard, Taylor, Reed, Wilburn, Phillips, McDonald, Bray, Marcoullier (DNS) McCreadie

 

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners:

 

Arizona Sports Shirts ($100 apparel certificate to 22^nd fastest qualifier): Shawn Reed

Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main w/decal): Brian Birkhofer

Comp Cams ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Josh Richards

Comp Cams (certificate to 10^th place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Tim McCreadie

Eibach Springs (one free spring to each B-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Tom Sprague Jr./Rob Taylor

JE Pistons ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Josh Richards

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 11^th-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): Austin Hubbard

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 21st-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): Clint Smith

MSD Ignition ($75 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Josh Richards

MSD Ignition ($25 cash to last-place in A-Main or next lowest w/decal): Curtis Roberts

Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash to fast qualifier or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Quartermaster ($100 product certificate to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Quartermaster ($50 product certificate to 5^th-place or next highest w/decal): Shane Clanton

Quartermaster ($25 product certificate to 15^th-place or next highest w/decal): Casey Noonan

R2C Performance ($100 certificate to highest-finishing driver w/decal or $100 cash if race winner is using R2C filter and decal is displayed): Josh Richards (cash)

STP ($50 cash to 2^nd-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Brian Birkhofer

Superflow Dynos ($50 cash to 7^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Chub Frank

VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to winner of Heat 1 or next highest w/decal): Darrell Lanigan
VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (one five-gallon plastic fuel jugs to fastest qualifier who does not make the A-Main or next highest w/decal): Alan Vochaska

WIX Filters ($50 cash to 13^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Dennis Erb Jr.

Wrisco Aluminum (Three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner w/decal): Josh Richards

 

2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of August 19 – 25 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):

 

1. Rick Eckert 3552

2. Josh Richards 3502 (-50)

3. Darrell Lanigan 3408 (-144)

4. Tim McCreadie 3362 (-190)

5. Chub Frank 3256 (-296)

6. Shane Clanton 3244 (-308)

7. Austin Hubbard 3240 (-312)

8. Clint Smith 3226 (-326)

9. Tim Fuller 3100 (-452)

10. Vic Coffey 3096 (-456)

11. Pat Doar 3000 (-552)

12. Ron Davies 2866 (-686)

13. John Lobb 2734 (-818)

14. Jill George 2018 (-1534)

15. Jason Feger 1408 (-2144)

 

FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via 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.

Nearly 5,000 fans are now WoO LMS ‘followers’ on Twitter. To sign-up and receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to http://www.dirtvision.com/welcome.php and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

BLOGGING: WoO LMS fans can now read interesting stories from the road by checking out two blogs –‘Life As An Outlaw’ by series announcer Rick Eshelman and ‘The Scoop With Scoop’ by tour P.R. director Kevin Kovac. Both blogs can be accessed by clicking on the preceding links or the specific ‘Blog’ buttons on the right-hand side of http://www.woolms.com/.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Wolverine State Doubleheader Takes National Tour To Winston Speedway (Aug. 19) & Merritt Raceway (Aug. 20)

CONCORD, NC – Aug. 15, 2011 – Jeep VanWormer is ready for what just might be the biggest weekend of dirt Late Model racing his home state of Michigan has ever seen.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is set to invade the Wolverine State this weekend for a huge doubleheader on Friday night (Aug. 19) at Winston Speedway in Rothbury and Saturday evening (Aug. 20) at Merritt Raceway in Lake City – and naturally, Pinconning, Mich.’s VanWormer feels a special duty to defend his turf against the national tour’s stars.

“Definitely,” said VanWormer, a 36-year-old standout who has arguably become Michigan’s most recognizable dirt Late Model driver. “Anytime there’s a big show in your area you want to put your best foot forward and show everybody what you can do.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he added, considering the pair of 50-lap, $10,000-to-win WoO LMS events ahead of him. “There’s never been a weekend like this in Michigan for Late Models. It’s exciting to have a chance to run two big shows without having to drive more than two hours (from home).”

VanWormer, of course, usually travels long distances from his residence in north-central Michigan to battle the country’s best dirt Late Model racers. This weekend the big boys are coming to him, contesting a rich swing that will put Michigan in the rarified air of the division’s national spotlight.

“I hope it all turns out well and we get a gold star for Michigan Late Model racing out of this,” said VanWormer, analyzing the significance of the inaugural WoO LMS twinbill. “We haven’t had many big Late Model shows up here, so hopefully this will open the door to more in the future.”

A hard-charger who is annually a top contender on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals ‘Hell Tour’ and in the crown-jewel events at Ohio’s famed Eldora Speedway, VanWormer knows the level of personal satisfaction and circuit-wide respect that comes with winning a WoO LMS A-Main. He is one of 42 drivers to reach Victory Lane on the tour since 2004, accomplishing the feat on Sept. 16, 2007, at LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway.

The past WoO LMS success, however, doesn’t mean VanWormer expects to be listed as a favorite in this weekend’s Keyser Manufacturing 50 at Winston and the Lane Automotive/All-Star Performance 50 at Merritt. He’s confident but also realistic about his chances of winning one for the home team – after all, the 2011 season to date hasn’t been overly memorable for VanWormer, and it’s not like he owns an especially large experience edge over the World of Outlaws travelers at either track.

“I’d love to say that I feel like I’m gonna go in there and stomp their ass at both racetracks, but I know that’s not likely,” said VanWormer, whose only previous WoO LMS start this season came on April 29 at Hartford (Mich.) Motor Speedway (he finished 21^st after retiring because he hit the wall while moving into contention). “I feel like I’m gonna have a real good chance at Winston because we usually run good there, but I’m going to be as puzzled as the next guy when we get to Merritt.”

VanWormer has made only four starts at Tom Sprague’s three-eighths-mile Winston Speedway over the past five seasons, but he’s been triumphant in two of them (2007 and 2010). He’s visited Merritt even less frequently in recent years, entering just two races there since ’07.

Merritt was once a regular stop for VanWormer, but that was at the very start of his racing career. He made his competitive debut at the three-eighths-mile oval in 1997 in the Street Stock class, won the division’s championship the following season and ran open-wheel Modifieds there for two more years before moving to dirt Late Models and broadening his horizons to more far-flung tracks.

“I’ve never won in a Late Model at Merritt, but I’ve only run one there about a half-dozen times,” said VanWormer, who is in his 11^th season of dirt Late Model action. “Really, I wouldn’t say I have any advantage there. When guys come up to me and ask what tire (compound) to run there, I’m not gonna have an answer because I’m going to be trying to figure that out myself.”

VanWormer comes into this weekend’s doubleheader less than one month removed from his first – and still only – feature win of 2011, the American Late Model Series ‘Lane Automotive 47’ on July 22 at Hartford. It’s been a frustrating season for VanWormer, who campaigns family-owned equipment under the Iron Motorsports banner.

“We haven’t been able to break into that win column very good,” said VanWormer, who has six runner-up finishes this season. “I feel like we’re headed in the right direction now, though. We had some motor problems early in the season but we got that worked out since we started working with (engine builder) Jay Dickens just before the Dream (in June at Eldora).”

VanWormer will enter this weekend’s action on the heels of what likely will be a long night of preparation in his shop. He will be away from home on business this week from Monday through Thursday – in his fulltime position as an inspection technician for his family’s Bayline Fire Protection Inc., he is traveling to Texas to help complete the installation of a sprinkler system at a Fed-Ex facility – so his race car won’t be touched until he returns.

“I’m a one-man band right now,” said VanWormer, who does not have a fulltime mechanic this season. “I’m not gonna have a lot of time to prepare for Winston and Merritt, but we’ll be ready. We’ll have to be if we expect to compete with the guys who will be there.”

VanWormer will face off with a star-studded field in this weekend’s events, including current WoO LMS points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and former tour champions Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va. (riding a two-race win streak), Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. (the tour’s leading A-Main winner in ’11) and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (a winner of the ‘Who 55’ at Merritt in 2008).

The WoO LMS roster also boasts Georgians Shane Clanton and Clint Smith; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; 19-year-old Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del.; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.; Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y.; and 2011 Rookie of the Year contenders Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., and John Lobb of Frewsburg, N.Y.

Among the Michigan drivers expected to join VanWormer at the two tracks are Brandon Thirlby of Traverse City (fifth in the DIRTcar UMP national points standings), Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, David Hilliker of Midland, Curtis Roberts of Coleman and Eric Spangler of Lake City.

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Michigan Swing Event Information:

Fri., Aug. 19, at Winston Speedway: Pit gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. and the grandstand gates will be unlocked at 4:30 p.m. Hot laps are set to begin at 6:30 p.m. with time trials and racing to follow.

Admission is $25 and $10 for children 12-and-under. Reserved seats are available for $30 and pit passes are $35.

For more information visit www.winstonspeedway.net or call 231-893-3023.

Sat., Aug. 20, at Merritt Raceway: Gates will open at 4 p.m. and hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $35 and include admission to the grandstand and an all-access pit pass. Children ages 6-12 will be charged $10 and kids 5-and-under are admitted free.

More info can be obtained by visiting www.merrittraceway.com or calling 231-328-RACE.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Star Drivers Face Off For First Time Since Bloomquist Protested Mars’s Tires Following Firecracker 100

NEW RICHMOND, WI – Aug. 3, 2011 – Jimmy Mars has a pretty good idea what people will be talking about when he rolls into the pit area at Cedar Lake Speedway this weekend (Aug. 4-6) for the 24^th annual USA Nationals presented by U.S. Steel.

It’ll be something to do with Mars and Scott Bloomquist facing off...right, Jimmy?

“Yeah,” smiled Mars. “I would imagine that will be a big topic of conversation.”

Indeed, Cedar Lake’s $50,000-to-win World of Outlaws Late Model Series event will match Mars and Bloomquist for the first time since Bloomquist’s decision to protest two tires on Mars’s winning car following the national tour’s Firecracker 100 on June 25 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. Bloomquist’s protest sparked strong words from Mars in media interviews and lit up dirt Late Model pit areas and internet messageboards with speculation for the two-and-a-half weeks that the results remained unofficial while Mars’s tires underwent laboratory testing.

Mars, 39, of Menomonie, Wis., was finally vindicated on July 13 when WoO LMS officials announced that his tires had not been illegally altered and declared him the winner of the Firecracker 100. The Mars-Bloomquist discussion then died down, but it will certainly roar back to life this weekend when Mars crosses paths – and likely races side-by-side – with the man who protested him.

For his part, the low-key Mars has pledged to pay little mind to his Cedar Lake reunion with Mooresburg, Tenn.s’s Bloomquist. His comments on the SPEED television broadcast of the Firecracker 100 and on DirtonDirt.com detailed his feelings about Bloomquist and made it clear that he won’t let the legendary dirt Late Model driver get in his head.

“I know who he is and what he’s like,” Mars said of Bloomquist, “and I am who I am. We just come to race. There’s going to be a lot more people to worry about (at Cedar Lake) than just him.”

Mars and Bloomquist, of course, will be two of the favorites to capture the lucrative top prize in Saturday night’s 100-lap USA Nationals headliner. Mars is a two-time winner of the event while Bloomquist owns a record-tying five USA Nationals victories, including a dramatic, survival-of-the-fittest triumph in last year’s edition of the race.

The USA Nationals ranks as one of the most important, highly-anticipated events on Mars’s annual racing schedule. The speedway, after all, sits less than an hour’s drive from his home and he’s won plenty of features there during his career.

“I’ve had a lot of success, had a lot of fun and done a lot of cool things up there,” Mars said of Cedar Lake Speedway. “We’ve won the Topless (100 in Batesville, Ark.) twice, the Firecracker 100 twice, the Dream (at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway), the North-South (100 at Kentucky’s Florence Speedway) – a lot of big races – but our two USA Nationals wins definitely are special to me. The track is right close to home where I grew up and I watched all the big guys come in there and race when I was a kid, so every year I get excited about having the chance to be involved in it.

“I’ll never forget winning my first one,” he continued, thinking back to his $29,000 triumph in the 1996 USA Nationals. “It was one of my biggest career wins at that point. In my book it was my first crown-jewel win, so it was pretty cool to do it close to home with my family and friends watching.”

Surprisingly, Mars didn’t repeat as a USA Nationals champion until 2009. Between his victories he started every USA Nationals feature except one (1999), but his best finishes were fourth (’00, ’04 and ’06) and fifth (’98 and ’03).

“I definitely know how hard it is to win it,” said Mars. “The first time I won it I was kind of a punk kid and just thought, ‘Hey, it’s a big race. I won it. Cool. Let’s drink some beer.’ I didn’t really realize how tough it was to win one of those races – until it took so long to win it again.

“Thirteen years between wins is a long time. I mean, so many things changed in my life between 1996 and 2009 – I got married, I had two kids, I got a pretty good-sized manufacturing deal going with our race cars and stuff.”

Mars made a run at a third USA Nationals checkered flag last year, leading laps 32-59 before an overheating engine forced him to pull off during a caution period. He settled for a 14^th-place finish.

“The (temperature) gauge was trying to come around for some more,” Mars said of his car’s overheating condition caused by a radiator that became caked with mud. “I pulled in before something could happen to the engine. It was just kind of a heartbreaker because I felt like we had one of the cars to beat.”

Mars will attempt to erase memories of last year’s disappointment during this weekend’s USA Nationals spectacular, which kicks off on Thurs., Aug. 4, with a $5,000-to-win Cornbelt Clash Series program before continuing with WoO LMS time trials, heats and a dash on Fri., Aug. 5, and last-chance events and the 100-lapper on Sat., Aug. 6. He will bid to join Bloomquist and Billy Moyer as only the third three-time winners of an event he raves about to anybody who will listen.

“It’s pretty laid back weekend, especially if you’re into just kicking back, having a few beers and enjoying some great racing,” said Mars. “It’s definitely unique compared to some of the races we go to. I think it’s turned into more of an event instead of just a race.

“I’m probably not the spotlight-style driver who needs to get introduced like they do at the Nationals, with the cars coming out of the pits with the lights out and the smoke. When I get introduced like that, I’m probably the one who’s gonna hang my head and act like, ‘Yeah...whatever.’

“But it’s pretty cool for the fan aspect,” he added. “It’s kind of got a little of the Monster Jam-type-intro thing to get the crowd revved up. I think tracks with race deals like the USA Nationals need to do that kind of stuff more to get everybody excited.”

The 2011 USA Nationals weekend will also feature complete shows each night for Cedar Lake’s NASCAR Late Models with the winners walking away with $2,500.

Plenty of off-track activities will give once again give the USA Nationals a more-than-just-a-race feeling. Cedar Lake officials will accent the racing with an exciting array of pre- and post-race entertainment, including a Saturday-morning golf scramble at the nearby New Richmond Links Golf Course; a Ladder Ball competition in the wooded camping area at 12 noon on Friday; the popular Apple River Tubing expedition during the afternoons before the races; the ‘FansFund’ Luncheon on Saturday afternoon that allows contributors an opportunity to meet the drivers they helped bring to the USA Nationals; a driver autograph/meet-and-greet session prior to Saturday night’s first green flag; go-karts in the backstretch parking lot; and the ‘Party in the Pits’ under the Big White Tent following the Thursday and Friday programs.

Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and on-track action at 6:30 p.m. each day.

Advanced tickets for the USA Nationals are available by calling 612-363-0479 or by visiting www.cedarlakespeedway.com. Regular camping is sold out but additional spots have been added and can be purchased by calling the number above.

Fans who can’t make the trip to Cedar Lake can still catch all the action through a live pay-per-view broadcast of the event over the web produced by DirtonDirt.com. Log on to www.dirtondirt.com for details.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Tyler County’s ‘Black Diamond 125’ & First-Ever WoO LMS Event At Roaring Knob Replace Two-Day Show Scheduled For PA’s Closed Tri-City Speedway

CONCORD, NC – Aug. 1, 2011 – World of Outlaws Late Model Series officials have reset the national tour’s schedule for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, inking dates at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va., on Sat., Sept. 3, and Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa., on Sun., Sept. 4.

The new events were announced on Monday to replace the circuit’s originally scheduled Oil Region Labor Day Classic on Sept. 3-4 at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., which was closed indefinitely by its owners late last week.

The cancellation of Tri-City’s doubleheader has actually produced an even richer holiday weekend for the WoO LMS, which will headline the lucrative second annual ‘Black Diamond 125’ that was already scheduled for Sept. 3 at Tyler County. A unique event billed as “The Coolest Crown Jewel on the Planet,” the three-part ‘Black Diamond 125’ provides an opportunity for a driver to earn $30,000 in a single night.

Roaring Knob’s WoO LMS show on Sept. 4, meanwhile, will feature a 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win. It will mark the tour’s first-ever visit to the three-eighths-mile oval.

“We were very disappointed when we learned last week that Tri-City Speedway was closing and would not be able to host the World of Outlaws Late Model Series for the seventh consecutive year,” said tour director Tim Christman. “But we quickly became extremely excited when we realized the level of interest the newly-open holiday-weekend dates generated among promoters in the region. Within two days of Tri-City’s announcement we were able to put together a doubleheader at Tyler County and Roaring Knob that will be very attractive for our racers and fans alike.

“We’re especially thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of the ‘Black Diamond 125’ at Tyler County. It offers an exceptional purse for the teams, and we’re looking forward to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series adding more excitement and value to the most unique and fan-friendly race in the country.”

The ‘Black Diamond 125’ will lead off the holiday weekend on Sept. 3, bringing the WoO LMS back to the hardscrabble quarter-mile oval for the first time since May 2009. The event will deviate from the traditional WoO LMS format – and thus award all drivers show-up points in the championship battle – but offer one of the richest payoffs of the 2011 series schedule.

Over $157,000 will on the line for Super Late Model competitors during Tyler County’s ‘Black Diamond 125’ weekend, which also includes the 51-lap, $8,000-to-win ‘West Virginia State Championship’ for the UFO Series on Fri., Sept. 2. Practice for Late Model teams will also be held on Thurs., Sept. 1, as part of the weekend’s opening night action that features support-division racing.

After a successful inaugural event in 2010 that drew one of the largest fields of Super Late Models anywhere in the country, the ‘Black Diamond 125’ will once again be comprised of three races in one night. The event’s field will be split into two groups and a full racing program – 15-lap heats, 15-lap B-Mains and 24-car, 40-lap preliminary A-Mains paying $10,000 to win – will be run for each. The top-eight finishers in each preliminary feature will move on to the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale, a 45-lap showdown that offers a gargantuan $20,000 first-place prize.

Each 40-lap preliminary feature and the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale boasts a full purse, including cool $1,000 payoffs for last place. Tow money will also be available for non-qualifiers and no entry fee will be charged for competitors who pre-enter by Aug. 15.

“We’re real excited to add the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to the ‘Black Diamond 125,’” said Circle Track Management Group’s Darren Dodd, who promotes the Tyler County oval alongside Frank Wilson. “We think having the World of Outlaws join the ‘Black Diamond 125’ is something that’s going to bring more attention to the event and help it continue to grow. The fans loved the format we introduced last year, and adding more well-known national names to the mix of regional and local drivers should produce great racing for everyone on hand.

“Frank (Wilson) and I are looking at this as a great opportunity to build a long relationship with the World of Outlaws that will benefit Tyler County Speedway and the ‘Black Diamond 125’ for years to come.”

A raindate of Mon., Sept. 5 – Labor Day – has been established for the ‘Black Diamond 125,’ reserving the Sunday date for the WoO LMS invasion of Roaring Knob.

Roaring Knob’s program on Sun., Sept. 4, will have some interesting wrinkles of its own. The evening’s action will be sponsored by Joy Mining Machinery, the sponsor of the Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra that two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., is driving in 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events this season. Joy Mining Machinery is headquartered outside Pittsburgh in Warrendale, Pa., about two hours northwest of Roaring Knob.

More news on Roaring Knob’s inaugural WoO LMS will be released as the date draws closer.

For more details on the ‘Black Diamond 125’ weekend, including advance-sale ticket information, visit www.blackdiamond125.com or tylercountyspeedwayonline.com or call 304-665-1118 on weekdays.

Additional info on Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex can be obtained by logging on to www.roaringknob.com.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum

Chasing World of Outlaws Late Model Series In 2011 Has Veteran Racer Tuned Up For His Hometown Track’s Marquee Event

NEW RICHMOND, WI – July 29, 2011 – Pat Doar has always been sort of an interloper in his hometown track’s biggest dirt Late Model race of the season – specifically, a small-engine specialist trying to make noise in an open-motor extravaganza.

But that won’t be the case for the 24^th annual USA Nationals presented by U.S. Steel at Cedar Lake Speedway, a 100-lap, $50,000-to-win spectacular on Aug. 4-6 that ranks as the highest-paying event on the 2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

The 47-year-old Doar, whose home in New Richmond, Wis., sits just five miles from Cedar Lake, is crisscrossing the country this season as a first-time WoO LMS regular. It’s the most sustained open-competition dirt Late Model racing he’s ever done since debuting in the full-fender division in 1994, so he’ll enter the USA Nationals with his confidence buoyed, if not exactly soaring.

“It’s always been the same for us at the (USA) Nationals – we run there for three days with the big motor and by the time everybody’s done and driving out the pit gate (after the 100-lapper), I’m like, ‘We’re just starting to get the hang of this big-motor stuff,’” said Doar, who currently leads the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year points standings over fellow veterans-turned-national-travelers Ron Davies, 53, of Warren, Pa., and John Lobb, 41, of Frewsburg, N.Y. “This year I know I’ll be better prepared than I normally am. Now when I unload I know I’ll be ready for time trials and the heats and I’ll be more comfortable running the big motor because we’ve been doing it all summer.”

The USA Nationals, which kicks off on Thurs., Aug. 4, with a $5,000-to-win Cornbelt Clash Series program before continuing with WoO LMS time trials, heats and a dash on Fri., Aug. 5, and last-chance events and the 100-lapper on Sat., Aug. 6, presents a quandary to Doar. While he’s an acknowledged standout at Cedar Lake with four career dirt Late Model championships and dozens of feature wins to his credit, all of his success has come in the track’s weekly series that utilizes a more restrictive engine-rules package than the open-motor specs that are in place for the USA Nationals. As a result, Doar has annually found himself at a disadvantage in his home track’s marquee show – either due to his inexperience with open-motor racing or, in some cases, sheer horsepower.

“A lot of years we didn’t have any open (competition) engines so we’d try to qualify for the Nationals with the smaller motor to get the starting pay,” said Doar, who fields his own racing equipment. “We got in the show like that several times, but not recently. Open motors have gotten that much better, so it’s not really a contest anymore. You have to run a big motor if you expect to even have a chance.”

Doar has qualified for the USA Nationals A-Main seven times, but he hasn’t recorded a single top-10 finish. His career-best finish was 13^thin 1996; since then he’s run 19^th (’97), 23^rd (’99), 22^nd (’03), 23^rd (’05), 20^th (’06) and 23 ^rd (’07). He fell three spots short of transferring into last year’s USA Nationals, which flew the WoO LMS banner for the first time since 2005.

Perhaps the most memorable USA Nationals performance for Doar came in 2003, when he was a race-long contender for a top-five finish despite running his small motor. He couldn’t make it to the checkered flag, however.

“It was a 75-lapper that year (sanctioned by the old UDTRA/Hav-A-Tampa Series) and I ran out of fuel on like lap 67,” recalled Doar. “We were (running) on alcohol and just couldn’t make it on fuel. We were pretty good in that one. That was our best shot at it.”

Doar’s history in the USA Nationals is filled with early retirements – usually because his underpowered car made pulling off the sensible option. On one occasion, however, he experienced a painful DNF.

“A few years ago – 2006, I think – I started in the back and was just gonna mind my own business and see how far I could go,” said Doar. “The next thing I know, an official was asking me if I was alright. I asked him, ‘What are you doing out here on the track?’ I apparently got hit in the head with a clod of mud and didn’t know what was going on for a second. I was knocked out and hit the wall a little bit.”

Doar is hoping that this year’s edition of the $250,000-plus weekend in his backyard will turn out better. He’s not expecting anyone to list him as a favorite to win the 50-grand, but he would like to believe the open-motor education he’s received on the WoO LMS this season will put him in the mix for a top-10 finish.

“You never know...things could go my way,” said Doar, who sits 11^th in the current WoO LMS points standings with a rookie-leading five top-10 finishes on his ledger (a sixth-place finish is his best outing to date). “But I think realistically, and I don’t think I’ve raced enough with the open-motor stuff yet to be going for a win in the Nationals. It’s a tall order to beat these (WoO LMS) guys. They’re the best in the country and you just don’t go out and beat ‘em. You gotta put some time in and learn how to do it.

“For the last 10 or 15 years we’ve been traveling a lot through the Upper Midwest, and I did race a little bit (in open-motor events) with Jimmy Mars so I knew it wasn’t gonna be easy coming out here (on the WoO LMS) and racing with these guys. I just figured, If I can stay around long enough to kind of weather the storm, it’ll get better. And we are getting better. We still have to get the whole night together, but there’s usually at least a part of each night now where I feel like I run well.

“I think it’s gonna take a little more time for me to learn what all needs to be done in a 100-lap deal,” he continued. “I haven’t hardly ever run many 100-lappers. We’ve run some over the years (he’s won three small-motor 100s at Cedar Lake since 1999), but we’ve mostly just done 40- or 50-lappers. One-hundred laps is a whole different deal.

“In the Firecracker (100) at Lernerville (Speedway in Sarver, Pa., on June 25), we started out and got a flat right away and went to the tail. I was passing cars and got up to about mid-pack, and then about lap 60 I just totally fell off. I don’t know if it was me or my car, but I was like, ‘Oh, man, I got some learning to do on these longer races.’”

Whether Doar can figure out the secret to success in the USA Nationals 100 will be determined on Aug. 6. He’s looking forward to the challenge of facing off on home turf with WoO LMS stars like Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Rick Eckert of York, Pa., Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., as well as former USA Nationals winners Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., and Brian Birkhofer of Mucastine, Iowa.

“I think I’ve pretty much been there for all of them,” said Doar, who was a race fan and crew member when the USA Nationals began in 1988. “I’ve sat and watched a bunch of them, so in theory I know what you gotta do. But it’s easier said than done. It’s like watching Tiger Woods hit a golf ball – that looks pretty easy, but it ain’t.

“It’s going to be pretty fun going to Cedar for the Nationals this year,” he added. “It’s one of the biggest races in the country and it’s right by my house, so it’s exciting to go in feeling a little better about our chances.

“I think this year, with traveling around like we’ve done, maybe I’ll be better because I won’t be so nervous or worked up about the race like I have in years past. We’ve been racing bigger races all over, so hopefully it’ll let me think better and things will go better.”

The 2011 USA Nationals weekend will also feature complete shows each night for Cedar Lake’s NASCAR Late Models with the winners walking away with $2,500.

Plenty of off-track activities will give once again give the USA Nationals a more-than-just-a-race feeling. Cedar Lake officials will accent the racing with an exciting array of pre- and post-race entertainment, including a Saturday-morning golf scramble at the nearby New Richmond Links Golf Course; a Ladder Ball competition in the wooded camping area at 12 noon on Friday; the popular Apple River Tubing expedition during the afternoons before the races; the ‘FansFund’ Luncheon on Saturday afternoon that allows contributors an opportunity to meet the drivers they helped bring to the USA Nationals; a driver autograph/meet-and-greet session prior to Saturday night’s first green flag; go-karts in the backstretch parking lot; and the ‘Party in the Pits’ under the Big White Tent following the Thursday and Friday programs.

Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and on-track action at 6:30 p.m. each day.

Advanced tickets for the USA Nationals are available by calling 612-363-0479 or by visiting www.cedarlakespeedway.com. Regular camping is sold out but additional spots have been added and can be purchased by calling the number above.

Fans who can’t make the trip to Cedar Lake can still catch all the action through a live pay-per-view broadcast of the event over the web produced by DirtonDirt.com. Log on to www.dirtondirt.com for details.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

‘Laurel Highlands 40’ Marks 300^th A-Main Contested By National Tour Since 2004

STRONGSTOWN, PA – July 26, 2011 – Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., rediscovered his winning form on a milestone night for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, capturing Tuesday’s ‘Laurel Highlands 40’ at Dog Hollow Speedway.

The 41-year-old star ended a nearly three-month checkered-flag drought in a memorable way, inking his name in the record book as the winner of the 300 ^th A-Main contested by the national tour since it was reincarnated in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner.

“It’s pretty cool to win the 300^th World of Outlaws feature,” said Lanigan, who has entered all but two WoO LMS events since ’04. “We’ve been running this deal for a long time so it feels good to win a race like this.”

Racing before a big crowd that turned out to witness the biggest dirt Late Model race in Dog Hollow’s history, Lanigan surged forward from the fourth starting spot to grab the lead from Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., on lap 15 and never looked back. He beat WoO LMS points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa., to the finish line by 1.693 seconds in a caution-free 40-lapper that took just under 12 minutes to complete.

Two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., finished third after starting eighth. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., made a spectacular charge from the 18^th starting spot to place fourth, and Davies slipped back to fifth at the finish after leading racing off the outside pole to lead laps 1-14.

Lanigan earned $8,775 for his series-leading fifth win of 2011 but first since April 30 at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, Ky. He was the tour’s hottest driver early in the season with four victories in a five-race span before falling into a slight slump.

“We struggled there a little bit for a couple months and got our program off a little bit,” said Lanigan, who pushed his career win total on the WoO LMS to 24. “We put our program back together pretty much similar to where we had it the beginning of the year and the car’s pretty good right now.

“You get caught up in what everybody else is doing and then you get off of your own stuff. You need to just stick with what you’re doing. We kind of parked by ourselves tonight, did our own thing and kind of gambled on tires, and I think it paid off.”

Driving his GottaRace.com Rocket in Dog Hollow’s first-ever WoO LMS event, Lanigan wasn’t challenged after slipping underneath Davies for the top spot. For most of the race’s second half he maintained an edge of about two seconds over Eckert, who overtook Davies for second on lap 18.

“The car was awesome tonight,” said Lanigan. “I could put it anywhere I wanted to. We had to get around the lapped traffic, but once I got around it I knew they’d (his pursuers) would have to get around it too.”

Eckert, 45, started from the pole position but couldn’t convert the prime spot into his third win of the season. He concluded that his tire-compound choice on his Team Zero by Bloomquist car contributed to his loss.

“I’ve never been here before, so I went with tires that the Hoosier guys were saying (to run),” said Eckert, who is the only driver in WoO LMS history to start all 300 A-Mains contested since 2004. “(Lanigan) snuck by us at the beginning with a little softer left-rear tire, and then when I got mine going I came back towards him at the end but I couldn’t get close enough to challenge him.

“Track position was everything. I probably should’ve gambled on tires.”

The 23-year-old Richards made a solid advance in his father Mark’s Rocket house car, reaching third on lap 22 and running there to the finish. He drew within one second of Eckert in the final laps.

“I gave it everything I had there at the beginning just trying to get positions,” said Richards. “I definitely think we had a car that was good enough to win, but we got strung out. I was hoping for a caution to get everything cooled back down and get everybody bunched up, but we never got one.”

No one made more moves than McCreadie, who hustled his Sweeteners Plus Victory Circle car forward using primarily the outside groove around Jim Michny’s four-tenths-mile oval. He picked up five spots on the opening circuit and was 10^th by lap 12, but it took him until lap 26 to break into eighth. He spent the remainder of the distance chasing down the cars ahead of him, finally reaching fourth with a lap-38 pass of Davies.

“I could see Josh once I got near the front, so I think that must mean I was at least as good as he was,” said the 37-year-old McCreadie, who ended the race over six seconds behind Richards. “I think a lot of guys didn’t even know there was something up there (on the outside), so I think I surprised them a little to move forward.

“I didn’t work on the car enough after qualifying and in the heat we were terrible, so we just went to work on it. I’m learning that these cars are definitely different than my old (Rocket) cars. It’s a learning process.”

Davies, 53, led a WoO LMS A-Main for the second time in his last three starts but couldn’t maintain that position to the finish in his Mars race car. His fifth-place finish was his best of the season and made him the first 2011 Rookie of the Year contender to crack the top five.

Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., finished sixth, earning 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 points standings. Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., placed seventh, Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., was eighth, Jared Miley of South Park, Pa., took ninth and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., rounded out the top 10.

Richards was the quickest qualifier in the 33-car field, topping Ohlins Shocks Time Trials with a lap of 16.782 seconds. His first WoO LMS fast-time honor of 2011 established a new dirt Late Model track record at Dog Hollow.

Heat winners were Richards, Davies, Lanigan and Covert. The B-Mains were captured by Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., and McCreadie.

The WoO LMS continues its three-race swing through western Pennsylvania with the ‘Penn Gold 40’ on Wednesday night (July 27) at McKean County Raceway in East Smethport and a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event on Sunday evening (July 31) at Eriez Speedway in Hammett.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Laurel Highlands 40’ at Dog Hollow Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

 

1. (4) Darrell Lanigan/40 $8,775

2. (1) Rick Eckert/40 $4,700

3. (8) Josh Richards/40 $2,750

4. (18) Tim McCreadie/40 $2,950

5. (2) Ron Davies/40 $2,800

6. (3) Jason Covert/40 $2,100

7. (5) Tim Fuller/40 $1,950

8. (9) Vic Coffey/40 $1,850

9. (11) Jared Miley/40 $1,200

10. (6) Clint Smith/40 $1,650

11. (7) Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/40 $1,000

12. (10) Pat Doar/40 $1,450

13. (12) Chub Frank/40 $1,400

14. (20) Corey Conley/40 $800

15. (13) Gregg Satterlee/40 $750

16. (17) Shane Clanton/40 $1,250

17. (14) Ron Delano Jr./39 $660

18. (22) Austin Hubbard/39 $1,190

19. (15) Devin Friese/39 $620

20. (24) Mike Johnson/39 $610

21. (16) Robbie Blair/39 $600

22. (21) John Lobb/39 $600

23. (19) Ken Schaltenbrand/24 $600

24. (23) Davey Johnson/6 $625

 

* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses

 

Time of Race: 11 Mins., 56.940 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 1.693 Secs.

Yellow Flags: None

Lap Leaders: Davies (1-14); Lanigan (15-40)

Provisional Starters: D. Johnson, M. Johnson

Rookie of the Race: Davies ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Covert ($500)

Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

 

1. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.782 (NTR)

2. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.824

3. 12-Devin Friese/Chambersburg, PA 16.831

4. 43A-Jason Covert/York Haven, PA 16.852

5. 5-Mike Blose/New Bethlehem, PA 16.970

6. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, PA 16.973

7. 99B-Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 16.998

8. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 17.008

9. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 17.100

10. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 17.126

11. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA 17.132

12. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 17.155

13. 56B-Denton Boyer/Punxsutawney, PA 17.187

14. 0-Ron Delano Jr./Stoystown, PA 17.188

15. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 17.201

16. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 17.202

17. 1d-Dane Laraway/Irwin, PA 17.227

18. 20H-Jacob Hawkins/Fairmont, WV 17.229

19. 2s-Sam Stile/Charleroi, PA 17.248

20. won11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 17.282

21. 29s-Ken Schaltenbrand/Sarver, PA 17.314

22. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 17.342

23. 1J-Davey Johnson/Latrobe, PA 17.363

24. 28c-Clate Copeman/Greensburg, PA 17.406

25. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 17.440

26. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, PA 17.461

27. 14-Corey Conley/Wellsburg, WV 17.469

28. 47-Mike Johnson/Imperial, PA 17.471

29. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 17.500

30. 12G-Sam Gindelesperger/Johnstown, PA 17.523

31. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 17.549

32. 33-Bern Whiteford/Hastings, PA 17.609

33. 55T-Rodney Phillips/Punxsutawney, PA 17.766

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Fuller, Coffey, Satterlee, Schaltenbrand, Boyer, Phillips, Laraway (DNS) Blose

 

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Davies, Eckert, Doar, Delano, Hawkins, Clanton, Lobb, Gindelesperger

 

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lanigan, Briggs, Miley, Friese, Conley, Stile, Hubbard, D. Johnson

 

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Covert, C. Smith, Frank, Blair, McCreadie, Copeman, M. Johnson, Whiteford

 

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Clanton, Schaltenbrand, Lobb, Hawkins, Phillips, Boyer, Laraway, Gindelesperger (DNS) Blose

 

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): McCreadie, Conley, Hubbard, Stile, Copeman, M. Johnson, D. Johnson, Whiteford

 

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners:

 

Arizona Sports Shirts ($100 apparel certificate to 22^nd fastest qualifier): John Lobb

Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main w/decal): Jason Covert

Comp Cams ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Comp Cams (certificate to 10^th place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Clint Smith

Eibach Springs (one free spring to each B-Main winner or next highest w/decal): John Lobb/Bern Whiteford

JE Pistons ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 11^th-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 21st-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): John Lobb

MSD Ignition ($75 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Darrell Lanigan

MSD Ignition ($25 cash to last-place in A-Main or next lowest w/decal): Davey Johnson

Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash to fast qualifier or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Quartermaster ($100 product certificate to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Quartermaster ($50 product certificate to 5^th-place or next highest w/decal): Jason Covert

Quartermaster ($25 product certificate to 15^th-place or next highest w/decal): Shane Clanton

R2C Performance ($100 certificate to highest-finishing driver w/decal or $100 cash if race winner is using R2C filter and decal is displayed): Darrell Lanigan (cash)

STP ($50 cash to 2^nd-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Superflow Dynos ($50 cash to 7^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Tim Fuller

VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to winner of Heat 1 or next highest w/decal): Vic Coffey
VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (one five-gallon plastic fuel jugs to fastest qualifier who does not make the A-Main or next highest w/decal): Mike Blose

WIX Filters ($50 cash to 13^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Chub Frank

Wrisco Aluminum (Three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner w/decal): Darrell Lanigan

 

2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 26 – 19 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):

 

1. Rick Eckert 2772

2. Josh Richards 2718 (-54)

3. Tim McCreadie 2668 (-104)

4. Darrell Lanigan 2644 (-128)

5. (tie) Austin Hubbard 2546 (-226)

5. (tie) Chub Frank 2546 (-226)

7. Shane Clanton 2540 (-232)

8. Clint Smith 2522 (-250)

9. Tim Fuller 2420 (-352)

10. Vic Coffey 2354 (-418)

11. Pat Doar 2340 (-432)

12. Ron Davies 2194 (-578)

13. John Lobb 2096 (-676)

14. Jill George 1648 (-1124)

15. Jonathan Davenport 1288 (-1484)

 

FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via 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.

Over 4,500 fans are now WoO LMS ‘followers’ on Twitter. To sign-up and receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to http://www.dirtvision.com/welcome.php and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

BLOGGING: WoO LMS fans can now read interesting stories from the road by checking out two blogs –‘Life As An Outlaw’ by series announcer Rick Eshelman and ‘The Scoop With Scoop’ by tour P.R. director Kevin Kovac. Both blogs can be accessed by clicking on the preceding links or the specific ‘Blog’ buttons on the right-hand side of http://www.woolms.com/.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

National Tour’s Pennsy Tripleheader Visits Dog Hollow (July 26), McKean County (July 27) & Eriez (July 31)

CONCORD, NC – July 24, 2011 – Ron Davies and John Lobb are longtime buddies. They share the same race shop. They’re spending the 2011 season caravanning together across the country as rookies on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

And of course, they’re both eagerly anticipating the coming week. The WoO LMS, after all, will contest a three-race swing on the veteran drivers’ familiar Keystone State turf.

After logging thousands of miles this year on the renowned national tour, Davies and Lobb will get a chance to face off with the World of Outlaws stars at a trio of tracks that sit virtually in their backyards. The series is scheduled to make first-ever visits to Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa., on Tuesday night (July 26) and McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa., on Wednesday evening (July 27) before returning for the fifth consecutive year to Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., on Sun., July 31.

Dog Hollow’s ‘Laurel Highlands 40’ and McKean County’s ‘Penn Gold 40’ carry top prizes of $8,000, while the annual 50-lap event at Eriez boasts a $10,000 winner’s share.

Davies and Lobb understand what’s at stake for them this week. Both have found the going tough in their first year on the road with the Outlaws, so they must take advantage of some home cooking.

“If we’re really going to have a shot to capitalize and get a win anywhere, it’s going to be these places coming up,” said Davies, a 53-year-old from Warren, Pa., who decided to broaden his racing horizons to a national level this season after focusing on local and regional racing for three decades. “These tracks should be good for us – especially Smethport (McKean County) and Eriez. We’ve won a lot of races at both places over the years.”

“This is where we have to shine – no question about it,” emphasized the 41-year-old Lobb, who lives just north of the Pennsylvania border in Frewsburg, N.Y. “McKean and Eriez have been my hometracks for years, so this is our best shot.”

Dog Hollow, a four-tenths-mile oval located near Indiana, Pa., is the lone track from this week’s swing that neither Davies nor Lobb know intimately. Davies’s only career start there came roughly a decade ago when he drove for an Ohio-based team (he remembers running at the back end of the top 10); Lobb entered a race there several years ago but never even took a lap around the speedway before the event was rained out.

Davies and Lobb possess much deeper histories at McKean County and Eriez. They have won features at both tracks and Davies even scored his career-best WoO LMS finish at Eriez, finishing second to two-time defending tour champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., in last year’s event despite racing with his left thumb heavily bandaged due to a cut tendon he suffered in a mishap away from the track.

Beating experienced World of Outlaws standouts like Richards (three-time winner in ’11 and currently second in the points standings), points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (’09 series victor at Eriez), Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. (series-leading four wins this season), Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (third in the points and closing after winning for the first time this season on July 15 in Grand Forks, N.D.) and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (a local legend who cut his teeth at Eriez and McKean County and has won at Dog Hollow) anywhere is a chore, but Davies and Lobb believe they can use their knowledge of the Pennsy tracks to pull off an upset. And while they enter this week’s swing ranked only 12^th(Davies) and 13^th (Lobb) in the WoO LMS points standings through 18 events – putting them behind Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis. (11 ^th in the points) in the battle for the tour’s Rookie of the Year award – they feel buoyed by the recent strides they’ve made with their performance on the ultra-competitive series.

Davies, in fact, is just one race removed from his run of the year. On July 15 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., he passed Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., for the lead on lap five of the 50-lap A-Main and appeared primed to bid for victory. He made a heartbreaking miscue on lap six, however, sliding over the turn-three bank to remove himself from contention (he finished 12^th).

“We haven’t really had the finishes that we were wishing for (as a WoO LMS rookie), but all in all we haven’t really tore up much stuff and we’ve have some opportunities to capitalize and just didn’t do it,” said Davies, whose season-best finish is a sixth, on May 8 at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga. “The one at Grand Forks – man, that’s the one that will be hard to forget. I knew we were good there. We took off and got by Jimmy for the lead so I felt pretty sure we had at least a top-five car. I just made a mistake and drove off the track.”

There’s no room for error on the WoO LMS – a fact Lobb has learned as well.

“It’s tougher than I even could have thought it would be,” Lobb said of the challenge he took on campaigning the Kennedy Motorsports cars on the WoO LMS. “You have to be on the gas all the time. Racing with these guys you learn that you gotta race harder than you ever thought you could run.

“It’s quite a learning curve,” he continued, “but when we go home and race (weekly shows), we’re better now. We find ourselves just driving so much harder than the local guys.”

Lobb hopes his recent improvement on tour will translate over to the homefront this week.

“We’ve struggled really bad (on the series),” said Lobb, whose single top-10 finish this season is a ninth, also at Needmore. “We had some motor problems early and got that ironed out, and we got off our page from what we’ve done in the past by trying some new stuff that just didn’t suit me. In the past couple weeks we’ve gone back to what we used to do – back to last year’s plan – and even though our finishes don’t show it, we’ve been much better our last few times out.

“I really thought the other night at Grand Forks we had a top-five race car, but we lost our brakes with about 15 to go (and finished 13^th). A run like that is encouraging and it’s why I’m looking forward to the season from here on out.”

Racing in front of dozens of family members and friends should help Lobb’s psyche even more.

“I’m definitely excited about these shows,” said Lobb, who since April has been preparing his cars in Davies’s shop in Warren, Pa., as he makes plans to build a new garage of his own. “I get text messages all the time from people at home saying how they can’t wait until we run at our hometracks.”

Davies also has an army of backers anxious to see him return to his native territory as an Outlaw. He wants to give them all something to cheer about.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Davies said of the tour’s western Pennsylvania tripleheader. “We have a lot of fans around the area and all of our sponsors are from around the Erie area. They’re all behind us so much. I mean, I contacted all of our sponsors at the beginning of the year and told them I was gonna do the Outlaw deal instead of racing locally, and every one of them said, ‘We’re on board with you.’ That kind of support makes it even more exciting to come back home and race because they’ll all be there to see us. Hopefully we’ll have a good showing for them.”

In the same manner that the gentlemanly Davies is savoring his first trip around the WoO LMS loop – “I’m glad we’ve done it,” he said. “I have no regrets at all about trying this” – he will enjoy having a week of Outlaw racing so close to his front door. He expects to host several WoO LMS travelers at his shop during the stretch, including his future son-in-law Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., and Doar, who has developed a friendship with Davies and Lobb and taken to traveling from race-to-race with his Rookie of the Year rivals. Davies even accompanied Doar to a pair of WISSOTA Late Model events in Minnesota and South Dakota on off-nights during the recent WoO LMS ‘Wild West Tour,’ helping the veteran from the Upper Midwest in the pits and “rooting for him” from the stands.

“It’ll be nice to race by the house,” said Davies, whose sponsor, Penn Gold, is serving as the title backer of Wednesday’s event at McKean County. “Dog Hollow two-and-a-half hours from us and Eriez and McKean are one hour, so we’re pretty much right in the middle of everything. We’ll be able to go back to the shop and work every day and we’re going to bring a few guys back with us.

“It seems like everyone wants to go see the oil stuff that we do (he makes his living operating Weldbank Energy, an oil- and gas-producing firm). They’re all intrigued by that, so it’ll be fun to take them around and show them during the off days of the swing.”

*****

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Pennsylvania Swing Event Information:

Tues., July 26, at Dog Hollow Speedway: Gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. (pits) and 3:30 p.m. (grandstands), with hot laps getting the green flag at 7 p.m. The FASTRAK Late Models will also be in action.

Admission is $25, with children ages 12-15 charged $5 and kids 11-and-under admitted free of charge. A Family Pass (two adult tickets and up to three kids 15-and-under plus vouchers for free hot dogs and drinks) is available for $60 and pit passes will be $38.

For more information visit www.dog-hollow.net or call 814-948-4252 (office) or 814-948-6812 (raceday).

Wed., July 27, at McKean County Raceway: Gates will open at 3:30 p.m. and practice is tentatively scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. with time trials to follow. Full programs for the ULMS E-Mod Series and MCR Street Stocks will also be part of the evening’s card.

Admission is $25 for fans ages 16-and-over and $12 for youths ages 8-15. Kids 7-and-under will be admitted free, and pit admission is $35.

More info can be obtained by logging on to www.mckeancountyraceway.com or calling 814-362-6909 (daily) or 814-887-2600 (raceday).

Sun., July 31, at Eriez Speedway: Gates open at 4 p.m. and hot laps are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Admission is $30 (adults) and $15 (kids), and pit passes will be $35.

Info is available by visiting www.eriez-speedway.com or calling 814-825-5661.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

 

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.

Georgia Driver Outduels Lanigan To End ‘Wild West Tour’ On Winning Note

GILLETTE, WY – July 19, 2011 – Shane Clanton wasn’t going to be denied a slump-busting victory in Tuesday night’s ‘Cowboy 50’ at Gillette Thunder Speedway.

Refusing to concede defeat after being overtaken for the lead midway through the World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Wild West Tour’ finale, Clanton mounted a stirring rally to outduel Darrell Lanigan and snap a 37-race winless streak on the national tour.

The $10,775 triumph was a season-turner for Clanton, a 35-year-old standout from Fayetteville, Ga., who has struggled to get his new Capital Race Cars machine running up to his exacting standards. He had not registered a single top-five finish in a WoO LMS A-Main until breaking through on Tuesday at the one-third-mile oval in eastern Wyoming.

“I feel ecstatic,” said Clanton, whose last WoO LMS win came on July 3, 2010, at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway. “Me and (former racer) Marshall Green have worked our butts off to try to develop a race car and it’s took this long to get where we can race with these guys on a week-in, week-out basis. It feels good to win a World of Outlaws race with it.”

Clanton, who started from the pole position, found an extra gear in his Ronnie Dobbins-owned car after his race-long stint at the head of the pack ended when Union, Ky.’s Lanigan passed him on lap 27. Clanton went to the outside line, pinned Lanigan behind the lapped car driven by John Lobb of Frewsburg, N.Y., and surged into the lead for good on lap 35.

Lanigan, 41, could only watch from afar as Clanton sailed to the checkered flag. The 2009 WoO LMS victor at Gillette settled for runner-up money in his Rocket mount, crossing the finish line 1.121 seconds behind Clanton.

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., finished a distant third in the Sweeteners Plus Victory Circle chassis, roughly a half-lap behind Clanton. He spent most of the distance running just in front of two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who settled his father Mark’s Rocket house car into fourth on a lap-12 restart and stayed there to the finish.

Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., completed the top five in his Rocket. He overtook 2011 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year points leader Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., for fifth on lap 37 and ran alone in the position for the remainder of the race.

Clanton became the 10^th different winner in 18 WoO LMS A-Mains this season. He let loose in Victory Lane with one of his customary loud screams of joy and, of course, donned a cowboy hat for Gillette’s traditional post-race photos.

“I was about content just riding second and having a good race (after losing the lead to Lanigan),” said Clanton, who recorded his 15^th career win on the WoO LMS. “But then I seen where (Lanigan) just started twitching a little bit just off the corner. He was trying to get lower and lower, and I said, ‘Heck, he’s leaving me the whole outside,’ so I just went out there and it stuck.

“I just made the move, stuck with it and John (Lobb) luckily just turned a little sideways and held Darrell up for a minute so I could drive by him on the outside.”

Lanigan, whose four WoO LMS wins this season leads all drivers, had no answer for Clanton’s late-race speed.

“We got tight as soon as it started to rubber, but Shane had a good car,” said Lanigan, who started fifth. “He could run anywhere on the racetrack, so we wound up second.

“I couldn’t run up there on the top because I just got way too tight, and then those lapped cars held me up on the bottom so he just drove around me.”

McCreadie, 37, completed a solid three-race ‘Wild West Tour’ swing. He finished third twice and captured his first win of 2011 on July 15 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D.

“It’s been a real good trip for us,” said McCreadie, who ran his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to 11. “I wish the first restart (on the opening lap) could’ve went because I don’t think anybody knew there was traction up on the outside there so I might have been able to snooker them, but we’ll take third. Shane – man, he was just good when (the track) really started to latch up.”

Two caution flags slowed the A-Main, including one that aborted the original start and sent 2008 Gillette WoO LMS winner Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., to the rear of the field. Fuller, who started third, appeared primed for his best run of 2011 but had his hopes dashed when a tap to his car’s right-rear corner sent him spinning in turn four.

Fuller initially thought contact from Lanigan had turned him around – he pulled in front of Lanigan’s car during the caution period to express displeasure – but he learned later that Lanigan was not responsible for his misfortune. WoO LMS points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who started second, visited Fuller following the race and apologized for getting into him.

The event’s second caution flag flew on lap six for Eddie Kirchoff of Gillette, Wyo., who spun to a stop high in turn four. A winner of three of this season’s four DIRTcar Late Model features at Gillette, Kirchoff timed second-fastest in qualifying but was running outside the top 10 at the time of his problem.

Finishing in positions 6-10 was Doar, who scored a career-best finish on the WoO LMS; Eckert, who slipped backward but nevertheless ended the ‘Wild West Tour’ leading the tour’s standings by 52 points over Richards; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; 17^th-starter Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis.; and Tony Leiker of Gillette, Wyo., who advanced from the 18^th starting spot to earn the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who has never won a WoO LMS A-Main and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.

NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader entered the event in a Clint Smith’s second car and finished 11^th in the A-Main.

With 32 cars signed in for action, Eckert turned a lap of 14.682 seconds in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials to set fast time. It was his second such honor of 2011 and the 26^th of his career on the WoO LMS – more than any other driver since 2004.

Heat winners were Eckert, Richards, Fuller and Lanigan. The B-Mains were captured by Mars and Leiker.

The WoO LMS will head back east for a triple-play in Pennsylvania, visiting Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown on Tues., July 26; McKean County Raceway in East Smethport on Wed., July 27; and Eriez Speedway in Hammett on Sun., July 31.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Cowboy 50’ at Gillette Thunder Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

 

1. (1) Shane Clanton/50 $10,775

2. (5) Darrell Lanigan/50 $5,650

3. (4) Tim McCreadie/50 $3,650

4. (6) Josh Richards/50 $3,150

5. (9) Chub Frank/50 $2,550

6. (7) Pat Doar/50 $2,500

7. (2) Rick Eckert/50 $2,000

8. (13) Clint Smith/50 $1,850

9. (17) Jimmy Mars/50 $1,200

10. (18) Tony Leiker/50 $1,600

11. (14) Ken Schrader/50 $1,050

12. (11) Austin Hubbard/50 $1,550

13. (3) Tim Fuller/50 $1,500

14. (8) Eric Mass/50 $900

15. (22) Ron Davies/49 $1,350

16. (10) Eddie Kirchoff/49 $800

17. (16) John Lobb/49 $770

18. (23) John Bey/49 $750

19. (20) Scott Lewis/47 $730

20. (19) Will Brack/35 $700

21. (12) Chris Johnson/24 $700

22. (24) Rich Herman II/17 $700

23. (21) Jason Schierkolk/7 $700

24. (15) Vic Coffey/0 $1,250

* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses

 

Time of Race: 15 Mins., 16.290 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 1.121 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 0, 6)

Lap Leaders: Clanton (1-26); Lanigan (27-34); Clanton (35-50)

Provisional Starters: Bey, Herman

Rookie of the Race: Doar ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Leiker ($500)

Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

 

1. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 14.682

2. 00-Eddie Kirchoff/Gillette, WY 15.218

3. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 15.238

4. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 15.262

5. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.285

6. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 15.400

7. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 15.460

8. 44M-Eric Mass/Rapid City, SD 15.508

9. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 15.641

10. 82-John Bey/Sturgis, SD 15.736

11. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 15.741

12. 4-Rich Herman II/Billings, MT 15.774

13. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 15.803

14. 44s-Ken Schrader/Concord, NC 15.841

15. 97-Dan Henrikson/Rapid City, SD 15.917

16. 1-Chris Johnson/Rapid City, SD 15.924

17. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 15.947

18. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 15.965

19. 18-Tony Leiker/Gillette, WY 15.987

20. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 16.245

21. 19W-Will Brack/Meade, CO 16.253

22. 0-Chris Dunn/Great Falls, MT 16.332

23. 99-Scott Lewis/Henderson, CO 16.395

24. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, PA 16.411

25. 12s-Jason Schierkolk/Casper, WY 16.416

26. 7-Mike Stadel/Rapid City, SD 16.466

27. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 16.469

28. F16-Scott Anderson/Spearfish, SD 16.772

29. 6-Jeff Gorsuch/Gillette, WY 16.943

30. 55-Erin Wood/Rapid City, SD 16.958

31. 2-Darryn Waldo/Billings, MT 17.032

32. 47-Lynn Amick/Rapid City, SD 17.425

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Eckert, McCreadie, Frank, C. Smith, Mars, Brack, Schierkolk, Gorsuch

 

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Doar, Kirchoff, Schrader, Bey, Dunn, Wood, Stadel

 

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Fuller, Clanton, Hubbard, Coffey, Leiker, Lewis, Henrikson, Waldo

 

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lanigan, Mass, Johnson, Lobb, Davies, Anderson, Herman, Amick

 

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Mars, Brack, Schierkolk, Bey, Dunn, Stadel, Gorsuch, Wood

 

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Leiker, Lewis, Davies, Anderson, Henrikson, Herman, Amick, Waldo

 

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners:

 

Arizona Sports Shirts ($100 apparel certificate to 22^nd fastest qualifier): Chris Dunn

Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main w/decal): Clint Smith

Comp Cams ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Shane Clanton

Comp Cams (certificate to 11^th place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Ken Schrader

Eibach Springs (one free spring to each B-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Will Brack/Scott Lewis

JE Pistons ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Shane Clanton

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 11^th-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): Ken Schrader

JE Pistons (one set of Pro Seal rings to 21st-place or next highest w/decal, redeemable w/next purchase of one complete set of rings): Rich Herman II

MSD Ignition ($75 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Shane Clanton

MSD Ignition ($25 cash to last-place in A-Main or next lowest w/decal): Vic Coffey

Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash to fast qualifier or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

Quartermaster ($100 product certificate to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Shane Clanton

Quartermaster ($50 product certificate to 5^th-place or next highest w/decal): Chub Frank

Quartermaster ($25 product certificate to 15^th-place or next highest w/decal): Ron Davies

R2C Performance ($100 certificate to highest-finishing driver w/decal or $100 cash if race winner is using R2C filter and decal is displayed): Shane Clanton (cash)

STP ($50 cash to 2^nd-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Darrell Lanigan

Superflow Dynos ($50 cash to 7^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert

VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to winner of Heat 1 or next highest w/decal): Tim McCreadie
VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (one five-gallon plastic fuel jugs to fastest qualifier who does not make the A-Main or next highest w/decal): Dan Henrikson

WIX Filters ($50 cash to 13^th-place in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Tim Fuller

Wrisco Aluminum (Three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner w/decal): Shane Clanton

 

2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 19 – 18 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):

 

1. Rick Eckert 2626

2. Josh Richards 2574 (-52)

3. Tim McCreadie 2526 (-100)

4. Darrell Lanigan 2494 (-132)

5. Austin Hubbard 2432 (-194)

6. (tie) Chub Frank 2422 (-204)

6. (tie) Shane Clanton 2422 (-204)

8. Clint Smith 2392 (-234)

9. Tim Fuller 2284 (-342)

10. Vic Coffey 2220 (-406)

11. Pat Doar 2214 (-412)

12. Ron Davies 2054 (-572)

13. John Lobb 1990 (-636)

14. Jill George 1648 (-978)

15. Jonathan Davenport 1288 (-1338)

 

FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via 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.

Over 4,500 fans are now WoO LMS ‘followers’ on Twitter. To sign-up and receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to http://www.dirtvision.com/welcome.php and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

BLOGGING: WoO LMS fans can now read interesting stories from the road by checking out two blogs –‘Life As An Outlaw’ by series announcer Rick Eshelman and ‘The Scoop With Scoop’ by tour P.R. director Kevin Kovac. Both blogs can be accessed by clicking on the preceding links or the specific ‘Blog’ buttons on the right-hand side of http://www.woolms.com/.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.