BEAR LAKE, PA – July 4, 2013 – A busy month of June produced several highlights for Chub Frank, including his first feature win of 2013 and his best World of Outlaws Late Model Series finish of the season.
The 51-year-old standout from Bear Lake, Pa., made 14 starts during the month and finished outside the top 10 just three times. He ran off 11 consecutive top-10 placings – four of which were top-fives – until ending the stretch with three frustrating outings in a row during the June 27-29 WoO LMS Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.
After a month that saw Frank make his first Victory Lane appearance of the year in a Go Nuclear Crate Late Model Series event on June 21 at Mohawk International Raceway in Hogansburg, N.Y., and finish a WoO LMS season-high third in the national tour’s first-ever event on June 20 at Brighton (Ont.) Speedway, he definitely had some moments to remember. But the competitive veteran also heads into July – and the big WoO LMS Wild West Tour that runs from July 5-12 – wanting better, more consistent results.
“Lernerville wasn’t good,” said Frank, who finished 23rd (June 27) and 18th (afternoon of June 29) in the Firecracker 100 preliminary A-Mains and capped the weekend with another 23rd-place run in the rain-delayed 100-lap finale on the evening of June 29 (he dropped out after 32 laps with problems that included a broken axle tube, busted U-joint and cut brake line). “But other than that, the month was pretty good – especially the Canadian trip. We’re still a little bit behind on preparation from where we need to be, but we were better (in June).”
Frank’s most encouraging performance came at Brighton, where he charged forward from the seventh starting spot to finish a solid third in the Excel Tower Service 50 behind WoO LMS stars Darrell Lanigan and Josh Richards. He reached third on lap 20 and stayed there for the remainder of the distance.
“It was a good run for us,” said Frank, who recorded his third top-five finish of the 2013 WoO LMS campaign. “We were a little tight if we slowed down and loose if we ran in there hard like them (leaders) were, but we’re happy. (Lanigan and Richards) are the two guys that you gotta beat, so I guess finishing behind them is almost like a win – for us anyway right now.”
After leaving Brighton, Frank spent his two off-days before the WoO LMS event on June 23 at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway making rare crate-engine Late Model starts in a car prepared by Greg Belyea. A customer of Frank’s, Belyea drove Frank’s second Corry Rubber/Lake Shore Paving/Hino Toyota Rocket No. 1* at both Brighton (finished 19th) and Cornwall (finished 17th) and returned the favor by putting Frank in one of his crate-engine machines – complete with a No. 1* on the side – for two Go Nuclear Series events.
Frank nearly swept the two races, winning the $1,000 top prize at Mohawk and finishing third on June 22 at Brockville Ontario Speedway (after being slowed by an overheating engine).
“It was fun to do something different like that,” Frank said of his crate-engine doubleheader. “I don’t run those crate cars so when a guy asks me what to do with one it’s hard to give them a good answer. I have a better idea of what a crate car needs now, so that was a good thing. Getting a win was just a bonus.”
Frank spent the first half of the month racing close to home at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y. (10th in WoO LMS A-Main on June 1, third in regular show on June 8); Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa. (fourth on June 2 and ninth on June 9); and McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa. (finishes of 10th and ninth in a ULMS doubleheader on June 14-15).
Then Frank hit the road with the WoO LMS on a four-race swing through New York and Canada. He sandwiched Brighton with finishes of seventh on June 19 at Fonda (N.Y.) Speedway (after winning a heat race and starting fifth in the 50-lapper); seventh on June 23 at Cornwall; and 10th on June 25 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park.
In addition to his two-car effort with Belyea at Brighton and Cornwall, Frank also entered a second car in the Fonda race for the track’s 2011 Big-Block Modified champion Ronnie Johnson of Duanesburg, N.Y. Johnson, who made his dirt Late Model debut, timed sixth-fastest in qualifying – one position behind Frank – and qualified through a heat race but pulled out of the A-Main early due to difficult-to-pass conditions, finishing 21st.
Frank, who sits 10th in the WoO LMS points standings after his rough Firecracker 100 weekend, spent the past few days regrouping for his longest trip of the season: the WoO LMS Wild West Tour. The six-race swing begins on July 5 at Amsoil Speedway in Superior, Wis., and continues at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., on July 6; Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D., in July 8; Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway in July 9; Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in July 11; and River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., on July 12.
For more information on Chub Frank, visit his Web site at www.chubfrank.com.
Chub Frank Racing receives support from many valued sponsors, including Corry Rubber, Lake Shore Paving, Sorbera Family Chiropractic, Horton Equipment, Hino Toyota, Nystrom’s Auto Sales, Rocket Chassis, Roush-Yates Racing Engines, Slavic Corporation, All-Star Performance, GW Performance and Integra Shocks.
