Three Straight Victories To Close ‘Wild West Tour’ Pushes Kentucky Star’s 2012 Total To 10
BRAINERD, MN – July 14, 2012 – The record belongs to Darrell Lanigan.
Adding another flourish to a campaign that is shaping up as the most dominant in World of Outlaws Late Model Series history, Lanigan rolled to victory in Saturday night’s Dondelinger Automotive Company 50 at North Central Speedway to set a new single-season win standard on the national circuit.
Lanigan, 42, of Union, Ky., overtook Rick Eckert of York, Pa., for the lead on lap 14 and never looked back en route to his 10th triumph of 2012, surpassing the nine-win seasons authored by Scott Bloomquist and Josh Richards. He also extended his commanding points lead to 152 points over Eckert, who finished a distant 4.717 seconds behind Lanigan in the runner-up spot.
With the $10,650 checkered, Lanigan closed the five-race ‘Wild West Tour’ with three wins in a row, putting him one victory away from tying the WoO LMS consecutive-win record when the series returns to action on Aug. 1 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway.
“It’s awesome to set the record,” said Lanigan, whose 36th career WoO LMS victory moved him within two of matching Richards for the most wins on the tour since 2004. “We’re not satisfied, though. We want to get as many (wins) as we can. We go to every race to try to win it, so we’ll see what we can come up with (the remainder of the season).”
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who was passed by Lanigan on the final lap for the win in Friday night’s WoO LMS A-Main at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., finished third at North Central. He started from the pole position but slipped to third on the opening circuit and ran there for the entire distance in his Rocket machine.
Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., placed fourth in his Team Zero by Bloomquist car, giving him three consecutive top-five finishes to end the ‘Wild West Tour.’ Third-starter Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., completed the top five in his Mars Chassis mount.
Lanigan emerged triumphant despite receiving a penalty for jumping the race’s initial green flag. Officials ruled that Lanigan, who started from the outside pole, fired before polesitter Clint Smith and put him back to the fourth spot for the restart.
Eckert, 46, benefitted from the penalty levied on Lanigan by moving from fourth to second for the restart and then immediately driving his Team Zero by Bloomquist car into the lead, but he was no match for the fast – and angry – Lanigan. Lanigan vaulted his Rocket into second on the restart and chased down Eckert to assume command with an inside move off turn two on lap 14.
“I think they pissed me off a little bit there,” Lanigan said of his reaction to the jumping penalty. “They probably shouldn’t have done that. It made me drive a little bit harder.
“The car was awesome. (Eckert) got into lapped traffic and couldn’t move around as well as we could, and I kind of got him pinned a little where we could make a move.”
With the race running without interruption after two caution flags before a lap was completed (Lanigan’s jumping penalty and a multi-car tangle in turn four involving, among others, Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y.), Eckert fell more than a straightaway behind Lanigan shortly after the halfway point. He turned back a late challenge from Clint Smith to secure second place.
“That guy’s rolling,” Eckert said of Lanigan. “He was on a different tire and he made the right choice, but his car and his whole team are working good.
“I think we were a little too soft on tire. By the time we got to (lapped) traffic I was out of tire. I couldn’t move off that top to pass lapped cars like Darrell could.
“We made a bunch of strides on this trip, though, and got our act a little bit closer to where we can at least see (Lanigan) now,” he added. “I think a couple more changes and we’ll be able to race with him.”
Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., raced just outside the top five throughout the distance, settling for a sixth-place finish. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., placed seventh after battling hard to move up from the 10th starting spot on a three-eighths-mile oval that developed a dominant outside lane during the headliner. Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., ran in the top five for the first half of the event but faded to eighth at the checkered flag; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., fell from the fifth starting spot to ninth; and 24-year-old Jake Redetzke of Eau Claire, Wis., scored a career-best WoO LMS finish of 10th to earn the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO A-Main and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.
Twenty-three cars signed in for the event, which brought the WoO LMS to North Central for the first time since 2006.
Heat winners were Lanigan, Fuller and Eckert. No B-Main was contested.
The only entered driver who did not start the A-Main was Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, whose night ended abruptly when she pounded the wall between turns one and two during her first time-trial lap. Her car sustained significant damage but she escaped the wreck uninjured.
The WoO LMS is now idle for the remainder of the month. The circuit returns to action on Aug. 1 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway and continues in the Upper Midwest with the USA Nationals on Aug. 3-4 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., and a visit to Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway on Aug. 6.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Fans can also follow the WoO LMS on Twitter at Twitter.com/WoOLateModels and Facebook at Facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws .
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Dondelinger Automotive Company 50’ at North Central Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,650
2. (4) Rick Eckert/50 $5,750
3. (1) Clint Smith/50 $3,550
4. (6) Brady Smith/50 $2,500
5. (3) Jimmy Mars/50 $2,050
6. (7) Shane Clanton/50 $2,250
7. (10) Tim McCreadie/50 $2,100
8. (8) Pat Doar/50 $1,850
9. (5) Tim Fuller/50 $1,750
10. (11) Jake Redetzke/50 $1,650
11. (12) Bub McCool/50 $1,850
12. (14) Terry Casey/49 $1,000
13. (13) Chub Frank/49 $1,500
14. (9) Vic Coffey/49 $1,450
15. (17) Jack Sullivan/49 $1,400
16. (18) Chris Olson/30 $850
17. (16) Kent Robinson/26 $1,320
18. (19) Dustin Hapka/23 $750
19. (20) Tommy Thompson/14 $730
20. (15) Don Shaw/14 $700
21. (21) Lane Cullum/1 $700
22. (22) John Volpe/1 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 13 Mins., 38.140 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 4.717 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Start, Restart)
Lap Leaders: Eckert (1-13); Lanigan (14-50)
Provisional Starters: None
Rookie of the Race: McCool ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Redetzke ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 15.947
2. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.175
3. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.189
4. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 16.228
5. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.301
6. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 16.422
7. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 16.456
8. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 16.580
9. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 16.604
10. 7R-Kent Robinson/Bloomington, IN 16.785
11. 42-Terry Casey/New London, WI 16.792
12. 42s-Don Shaw/Alexandria, MN 16.853
13. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.894
14. 27-Jake Redetzke/Eau Claire, WI 16.898
15. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 16.936
16. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.982
17. 1s-Jack Sullivan/Greenbrier, AR 16.983
18. 1L-Lane Cullum/Greenbrier, AR 17.131
19. 18-Dustin Hapka/Grand Forks, ND 17.215
20. 1x-John Volpe/Lakewood, NY 17.382
21. 18c-Chris Olson/Hibbing, MN 17.393
22. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA N/T
23. 12T-Tommy Thompson/Brainerd, MN 17.317 (DQ – did not report to scales)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw): Lanigan, Mars, Clanton, McCreadie, Frank, Robinson, Hapka (DNS) George
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw): Fuller, C. Smith, Doar, Redetzke, Casey, Sullivan, Thompson, Volpe
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw): Eckert, B. Smith, Coffey, McCool, Shaw, Olson, Cullum
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners:
Arizona Sport Shirts ($100 product certificate to 23rd-place finisher I n A-Main or next highest w/decal): None
Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jake Redetzke
Cometic Gasket ($50 cash to 12th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jack Sullivan
Comp Cams ($50 cash to 10th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jake Redetzke
Comp Cams ($50 product certificate to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
Dominator ($50 cash to 6th-place finisher 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): None
Gravely ($50 cash to 7th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Tim McCreadie
JE Pistons ($50 cash to 16th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Chris Olson
JE Pistons (one compete set of JE Pro Seal rings to 11th-place finisher or next highest w/decal – $285 value): Bub McCool
JE Pistons (one complete set of JE Pro Seal rings to 21st-place finisher or next highest w/decal – $285 value): John Volpe
Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash to 17th-place finisher or next highest finisher): Kent Robinson
MSD Ignition ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
MSD Ignition ($25 cash to 24th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): None
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 5th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jimmy Mars
Quartermaster ($25 product certificate to 15th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jack Sullivan
Roush-Yates Performance Products ($50 cash to 4th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jimmy Mars
Roush-Yates Performance Products (carburetor repair kit to 18th-place finish in A-Main or next highest w/decal – $100 value): Dustin Hapka
Roush-Yates Lap Leader Award (one pair of Wiley X Sunglasses to driver who leads most laps in A-Main): Darrell Lanigan
STP ($50 cash to 2nd-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
SuperFlow ($50 cash to 14th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Vic Coffey
VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to 9th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Pat Doar
VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (one VP 5-gallon container to fastest qualifier who misses A-Main or next highest with decal – $30 value): None
WIX Filters ($50 cash to 13th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Chub Frank
Wrisco Aluminum (three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner if decal displayed – $200 value): Darrell Lanigan
XS Power ($50 cash to 3rd-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Clint Smith
XS Power ($60 product certificate to 8th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Pat Doar
XS ‘Power Move of the Race’ ($60 product certificate): Darrell Lanigan
2012 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 14 – 27 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 3838
2. Rick Eckert 3686 (-152)
3. Tim McCreadie 3616 (-222)
4. Shane Clanton 3556 (-282)
5. Chub Frank 3548 (-290)
6. Bub McCool 3402 (-436)
7. Clint Smith 3378 (-460)
8. Vic Coffey 3296 (-542)
9. Pat Doar 3214 (-624)
10. Tim Fuller 3170 (-668)
11. Kent Robinson 3088 (-750)
12. Jack Sullivan 2990 (-848)
13. John Lobb 2300 (-1538)
14. Mike Marlar 1906 (-1932)
15. Jill George 1842 (-1996)
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), Gravely Tractors (Official Lawn Equipment), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award) and McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award); in addition to contingency sponsors Butlerbuilt, Cometic Gaskets, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, QuarterMaster, Roush Yates Performance Parts, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filter, Wrisco Aluminum and XS Power Racing Batteries; along with manufacturer sponsors Integra Shocks, GRT Chassis, Jake’s Carts, Longacre, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis, TNT Rescue, and Warrior Chassis.