BEAR LAKE, PA – A visit to the Hoosier State en route home from a long ‘Wild West Tour’ proved to be just the medicine Chub Frank needed.
The 47-year-old veteran from Bear Lake, Pa., made his stop-over for an O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series doubleheader pay off, finishing second in the 40-lap feature on July 17 at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, Ind., and winning the 30-lap A-Main on July 18 at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.
The $5,000 checkered flag was a huge relief for Chub, who had gone more than a year without a victory. His last triumph had come on May 18, 2008, in a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Lincoln ( Ill. ) Speedway .
“I don’t know if we’re back on track, but it feels to finally win one again,” said Chub, who conceded that he had likely never gone so long between victories during his 31-year career. “It was over a year without a win, so it was a little bit frustrating.
“Hopefully things are turning around a little bit, but one win doesn’t mean you’re going to go out and do it again in the next race. I wouldn’t say we have it figured out, but we are making better decisions at the racetrack and that has me happy.”
After bidding for the lead in the Friday-night All-Star event at Twin Cities but ultimately failing to overtake winner Duane Chamberlain, Chub raced off his outside pole starting spot at the three-eighths-mile oval Lawrenceburg oval on Saturday night to lead the entire distance in his Corry Rubber, Lake Shore Paving, Hino Toyota, All-Star Performance, Corry Laser, Slavic Corporation, Custom Race Engines, GW Performance Chevrolet Impala SS Rocket Chassis No. 1*. ‘Chubzilla’ repelled several challenges from fellow WoO LMS regular Darrell Lanigan to sc ore his first career All-Star Series at the track that will host the $50,000-to-win Dirt Track World Championship in October.
Chub decided to enter the All-Star twinbill after he experienced a lackluster week-long, four-race WoO LMS swing through Minnesota , North Dakota , Wyoming and South Dakota . He registered ‘Wild West Tour’ finishes of 17th in the ‘Gopher 50’ on July 8 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.; 10th in the 50-lap A-Main on July 10 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. (after sliding into the infield in front of the leaders on lap 31 and making two pit stops); ninth in the ‘Cowboy 50’ on July 14 at Wyoming’s Gillette Thunder Speedway; and sixth in the ‘Great Plains 50’ on July 16 at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D. (after starting seventh).
“After we ran in South Dakota I punched in the Twin Cities track on the GPS (in his hauler) and said, ‘If we make good time, we’ll go there,’” commented Chub, who made an overnight haul of over 900 miles from Huron, S.D., to North Vernon, Ind. “We pulled in at 20 minutes after four, so we went racing. I’m glad we did now.”
Chub, who sits eighth in the current WoO LMS points standings (192 points behind leader Josh Richards), will return to the tour this week for the four-race Ohio Speedweek. He’s scheduled to run Outlaws shows on July 23 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio; July 24 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park (where he finished second in a WoO LMS event last season); July 25 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio; and July 26 at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., one of the tracks where he grew up racing.
The 47-year-old veteran from Bear Lake, Pa., made his stop-over for an O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series doubleheader pay off, finishing second in the 40-lap feature on July 17 at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, Ind., and winning the 30-lap A-Main on July 18 at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.
The $5,000 checkered flag was a huge relief for Chub, who had gone more than a year without a victory. His last triumph had come on May 18, 2008, in a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Lincoln ( Ill. ) Speedway .
“I don’t know if we’re back on track, but it feels to finally win one again,” said Chub, who conceded that he had likely never gone so long between victories during his 31-year career. “It was over a year without a win, so it was a little bit frustrating.
“Hopefully things are turning around a little bit, but one win doesn’t mean you’re going to go out and do it again in the next race. I wouldn’t say we have it figured out, but we are making better decisions at the racetrack and that has me happy.”
After bidding for the lead in the Friday-night All-Star event at Twin Cities but ultimately failing to overtake winner Duane Chamberlain, Chub raced off his outside pole starting spot at the three-eighths-mile oval Lawrenceburg oval on Saturday night to lead the entire distance in his Corry Rubber, Lake Shore Paving, Hino Toyota, All-Star Performance, Corry Laser, Slavic Corporation, Custom Race Engines, GW Performance Chevrolet Impala SS Rocket Chassis No. 1*. ‘Chubzilla’ repelled several challenges from fellow WoO LMS regular Darrell Lanigan to sc ore his first career All-Star Series at the track that will host the $50,000-to-win Dirt Track World Championship in October.
Chub decided to enter the All-Star twinbill after he experienced a lackluster week-long, four-race WoO LMS swing through Minnesota , North Dakota , Wyoming and South Dakota . He registered ‘Wild West Tour’ finishes of 17th in the ‘Gopher 50’ on July 8 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.; 10th in the 50-lap A-Main on July 10 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. (after sliding into the infield in front of the leaders on lap 31 and making two pit stops); ninth in the ‘Cowboy 50’ on July 14 at Wyoming’s Gillette Thunder Speedway; and sixth in the ‘Great Plains 50’ on July 16 at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D. (after starting seventh).
“After we ran in South Dakota I punched in the Twin Cities track on the GPS (in his hauler) and said, ‘If we make good time, we’ll go there,’” commented Chub, who made an overnight haul of over 900 miles from Huron, S.D., to North Vernon, Ind. “We pulled in at 20 minutes after four, so we went racing. I’m glad we did now.”
Chub, who sits eighth in the current WoO LMS points standings (192 points behind leader Josh Richards), will return to the tour this week for the four-race Ohio Speedweek. He’s scheduled to run Outlaws shows on July 23 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio; July 24 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park (where he finished second in a WoO LMS event last season); July 25 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio; and July 26 at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., one of the tracks where he grew up racing.
