BEAR LAKE, PA – Chub certainly had the most talked about car entered in last weekend’s 37th annual World 100 at Eldora Speedway.
Unfortunately, the special-edition ‘Chubzilla’ graphics package that adorned the Bear Lake, Pa., driver’s Lester Buildings/Corry Rubber/All Star Performance/Corry Laser/Slavic Corporation/Farr MotorSports/Lake Shore Paving/Custom Race Engines Chevrolet Impala SS Rocket Chassis No. 1* didn’t get much track time in front of the fans.
The unique, bright-green machine – complete with reptile-like “scales” and Day-Glo headlights that looked like the mean eyes of a monster – earned Chub the DirtOnDirt.com Best Appearing Car & Crew Award by vote of the media covering the event. But the eye-catching dirt Late Model got “skinned” on the final lap of Sunday afternoon’s second qualifying heat, preventing the 2004 World 100 victor from starting this year’s edition of the prestigious $40,000-to-win race.
After Chub timed 44th-fastest (16.283 seconds) in Friday night’s 203-car time-trial session, he earned the eighth starting spot for the second of six heats, which were postponed to Sunday afternoon after heavy rain washed out Saturday night’s scheduled action. With only three transfer spots available in a race that was arguably the toughest of the day, Chub knew he would have to hustle to make the World 100 field.
All looked good for Chub after he survived an opening-lap scrape with Earl Pearson Jr. and reached third place on lap eight of the 15-lap heat, but a caution flag on the final lap for a spun car between turns one and two proved to be disastrous for Chub. Forced to run one more circuit after being less than a half-lap from the checkered flag, Chub met a humbling fate. On the restart, he slammed the turn-one wall and was hit by a passing car, heavily damaging his gorgeous machine and ending his weekend.
“I’m not sure what happened,” Chub said of the fateful restart. “I knew it was gonna be bad when I caught the cushion (in turn one) with my right-rear. It just turned me into the wall head-on.
“The cushion was real thin all the way up against the wall, and you were flirting with danger every lap. I showed what could happen if you missed it.”
Chub said his car had absorbed a hard hit to its right-front corner when he slapped the turn-two wall in the opening-lap tangle with Pearson, but he wasn’t sure if it caused a mechanical problem that contributed to his crash.
Failing to qualify for the World 100 wasn’t a crushing blow to Chub, who kept a positive attitude about his misfortune. He even walked to his souvenir trailer and signed autographs for fans after the accident.
“When you go to Eldora, you have to have thick skin,” said Chub. “It’s tough to make the race no matter who you are. That’s what makes it Eldora.”
Chub’s special World 100 car was a success on the merchandising front. Ron Slavic, who operates Chub’s souvenir trailer, reported that all of Chub’s World 100 t-shirts and diecast cars sold out during the weekend. A limited number of the green World 100 diecast cars will still be available at various dealers.
Chub now turns his focus back to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, which makes a three-race swing through the Midwest this weekend. The tour visits Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway on Fri., Sept. 14; I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., on Sat., Sept. 15; and La Salle (Ill.) Speedway on Sun., Sept. 16.
Chub, who ranks second in the WoO LMS points standings (52 points behind Steve Francis), will leave early for the weekend so he can visit the Lester Buildings’ Service Center in Charleston, Ill., on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. He’ll tour the plant, and Lester employees and local fans will have an opportunity to get an up-close look at his car, check out his hauler and purchase merchandise from his souvenir trailer.
Race fans in the Charleston area are invited to visit the Lester Buildings Charleston (Ill.) Service Center to meet Chub. It is located at 890 West State Street in Charleston, Ill.
CFR PR.
Unfortunately, the special-edition ‘Chubzilla’ graphics package that adorned the Bear Lake, Pa., driver’s Lester Buildings/Corry Rubber/All Star Performance/Corry Laser/Slavic Corporation/Farr MotorSports/Lake Shore Paving/Custom Race Engines Chevrolet Impala SS Rocket Chassis No. 1* didn’t get much track time in front of the fans.
The unique, bright-green machine – complete with reptile-like “scales” and Day-Glo headlights that looked like the mean eyes of a monster – earned Chub the DirtOnDirt.com Best Appearing Car & Crew Award by vote of the media covering the event. But the eye-catching dirt Late Model got “skinned” on the final lap of Sunday afternoon’s second qualifying heat, preventing the 2004 World 100 victor from starting this year’s edition of the prestigious $40,000-to-win race.
After Chub timed 44th-fastest (16.283 seconds) in Friday night’s 203-car time-trial session, he earned the eighth starting spot for the second of six heats, which were postponed to Sunday afternoon after heavy rain washed out Saturday night’s scheduled action. With only three transfer spots available in a race that was arguably the toughest of the day, Chub knew he would have to hustle to make the World 100 field.
All looked good for Chub after he survived an opening-lap scrape with Earl Pearson Jr. and reached third place on lap eight of the 15-lap heat, but a caution flag on the final lap for a spun car between turns one and two proved to be disastrous for Chub. Forced to run one more circuit after being less than a half-lap from the checkered flag, Chub met a humbling fate. On the restart, he slammed the turn-one wall and was hit by a passing car, heavily damaging his gorgeous machine and ending his weekend.
“I’m not sure what happened,” Chub said of the fateful restart. “I knew it was gonna be bad when I caught the cushion (in turn one) with my right-rear. It just turned me into the wall head-on.
“The cushion was real thin all the way up against the wall, and you were flirting with danger every lap. I showed what could happen if you missed it.”
Chub said his car had absorbed a hard hit to its right-front corner when he slapped the turn-two wall in the opening-lap tangle with Pearson, but he wasn’t sure if it caused a mechanical problem that contributed to his crash.
Failing to qualify for the World 100 wasn’t a crushing blow to Chub, who kept a positive attitude about his misfortune. He even walked to his souvenir trailer and signed autographs for fans after the accident.
“When you go to Eldora, you have to have thick skin,” said Chub. “It’s tough to make the race no matter who you are. That’s what makes it Eldora.”
Chub’s special World 100 car was a success on the merchandising front. Ron Slavic, who operates Chub’s souvenir trailer, reported that all of Chub’s World 100 t-shirts and diecast cars sold out during the weekend. A limited number of the green World 100 diecast cars will still be available at various dealers.
Chub now turns his focus back to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, which makes a three-race swing through the Midwest this weekend. The tour visits Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway on Fri., Sept. 14; I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., on Sat., Sept. 15; and La Salle (Ill.) Speedway on Sun., Sept. 16.
Chub, who ranks second in the WoO LMS points standings (52 points behind Steve Francis), will leave early for the weekend so he can visit the Lester Buildings’ Service Center in Charleston, Ill., on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. He’ll tour the plant, and Lester employees and local fans will have an opportunity to get an up-close look at his car, check out his hauler and purchase merchandise from his souvenir trailer.
Race fans in the Charleston area are invited to visit the Lester Buildings Charleston (Ill.) Service Center to meet Chub. It is located at 890 West State Street in Charleston, Ill.
CFR PR.
