By Kevin Kovac
NORMAN , OK – Nov. 13, 2006 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series’s ’Georgia Trio’ represented the tour well over the weekend.
Racing into the late fall while most of their fellow 2006 WoO LMS travelers have already called it a season, Peach State residents Dale McDowell, Clint Smith and Shane Clanton added strong finishes to their ’06 records in weekend special events at North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth and Cherokee Super Speedway in Gaffney , S.C.
All three drivers entered Saturday night’s ’Turkey Rumble 60’ at North Georgia Speedway, a one-third-mile, high-banked oval that hosted the WoO LMS on May 8, 2004.
It was no surprise that the highest-finishing WoO LMS regular in North Georgia’s season-ender was McDowell, the 40-year-old from Chickamauga , Ga. , who has his dirt Late Model driving school based at the track. He finished second in his Larry Shaw Race Cars/J&J Steel Rocket No. 17M behind four-time UMP Modified national champion Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.
McDowell, coming off a $30,000 National 100 victory on Nov. 5 at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City , led the middle portion of the race before being passed by Owens, who used lapped traffic to assume command and grab the $5,000 victory.
Locust Grove , Ga. ’s Clanton, the runner-up in the ’06 WoO LMS point standings, chased McDowell during the event’s late stages and finished third. Clanton, who won the only WoO LMS event ever held at North Georgia , drove Ronnie Dobbins’s RSD Enterprises Rocket No. 25.
Senoia , Ga. ’s Smith, meanwhile, appeared headed to a top-five finish in his J.P. Drilling GRT No. 44 when mechanical trouble forced him to retire from competition midway through the event.
Smith turned his fortunes around in Sunday’s 16th annual Blue-Gray 100 at Cherokee Super Speedway.
The only WoO LMS regular in the field at Cherokee, Smith ran a steady race to finish second behind local favorite Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C., who last month won the WoO LMS season-finale ‘Gator 100’ at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, S.C.
Smith inherited second place on the final lap from Donnie Moran of Dresden , Ohio , whose car blew a tire.
Tire wear was an issue in the Blue-Gray 100, but Madden and Smith managed to go the distance on the same set of tires while most of the drivers finishing behind them pitted to make late-race rubber changes.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.dirtmotorsports.com/LMS.
NORMAN , OK – Nov. 13, 2006 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series’s ’Georgia Trio’ represented the tour well over the weekend.
Racing into the late fall while most of their fellow 2006 WoO LMS travelers have already called it a season, Peach State residents Dale McDowell, Clint Smith and Shane Clanton added strong finishes to their ’06 records in weekend special events at North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth and Cherokee Super Speedway in Gaffney , S.C.
All three drivers entered Saturday night’s ’Turkey Rumble 60’ at North Georgia Speedway, a one-third-mile, high-banked oval that hosted the WoO LMS on May 8, 2004.
It was no surprise that the highest-finishing WoO LMS regular in North Georgia’s season-ender was McDowell, the 40-year-old from Chickamauga , Ga. , who has his dirt Late Model driving school based at the track. He finished second in his Larry Shaw Race Cars/J&J Steel Rocket No. 17M behind four-time UMP Modified national champion Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.
McDowell, coming off a $30,000 National 100 victory on Nov. 5 at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City , led the middle portion of the race before being passed by Owens, who used lapped traffic to assume command and grab the $5,000 victory.
Locust Grove , Ga. ’s Clanton, the runner-up in the ’06 WoO LMS point standings, chased McDowell during the event’s late stages and finished third. Clanton, who won the only WoO LMS event ever held at North Georgia , drove Ronnie Dobbins’s RSD Enterprises Rocket No. 25.
Senoia , Ga. ’s Smith, meanwhile, appeared headed to a top-five finish in his J.P. Drilling GRT No. 44 when mechanical trouble forced him to retire from competition midway through the event.
Smith turned his fortunes around in Sunday’s 16th annual Blue-Gray 100 at Cherokee Super Speedway.
The only WoO LMS regular in the field at Cherokee, Smith ran a steady race to finish second behind local favorite Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C., who last month won the WoO LMS season-finale ‘Gator 100’ at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, S.C.
Smith inherited second place on the final lap from Donnie Moran of Dresden , Ohio , whose car blew a tire.
Tire wear was an issue in the Blue-Gray 100, but Madden and Smith managed to go the distance on the same set of tires while most of the drivers finishing behind them pitted to make late-race rubber changes.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.dirtmotorsports.com/LMS.
