Bear Lake, PA --- Chub Frank, defending Renegade Dirt Car Racing Series champion, pulled into East Bay Raceway in Tampa, FL last week for the ‘27th Annual East Bay Winternationals’ to kick off his 2003 season and experienced a rollercoaster week of highs and lows, with the highlight coming on Wednesday February 5 when he won his first Renegade feature event of the season which also marked his career first feature win at East Bay Raceway Park driving his Corry Rubber/Corry Laser/Nystrom's Auto Sales/Draime Racing Engines/Rocket Chassis/Pierotti Motorsports/Farr MotorSports Chevrolet Monte Carlo #1*.
Frank participated in the six-race ‘Winternationals’ speed week with three nights sanctioned by the Renegade Dirt Car Racing Series and the Xtreme Dirt Car Series that was held from February 3 – 8.
On night one for the Renegade opener Frank qualified 34th out of 87 cars and then started sixth in the fourth heat, and finished fourth from the tail after getting spun out. He then went to the second B-main and finished third, falling one spot shy of making the A Main forcing him to take a provisional for the A Main where he started 26th and finished 13th, receiving the ‘Hard Charger Award’ for the race.
On day two for the Xtreme debut Frank qualified 16th out of 86 cars and then started third in the fourth heat where he finished third. He then started 16th in the main event where he finished 14th.
On night number three the Renegade series returned to action where Frank qualified 33rd out of 87 cars and started sixth in the third heat. Frank came across the checker in third which lined him up in 15th for the feature. After pitting for tires on lap 27, Frank eventually took the lead on lap 47 and held on for his first Renegade victory of the season and his career first feature win at East Bay Raceway.
“Well, it was lucky (laughs)!” chuckled Frank on his win. “It was lucky. We didn’t have the right tires on to start the race but we were one of the first ones to get into the pits and get them changed before everybody else did so that kind of gave us a little bit of advantage, other than (Brian) Birkhofer and (Ray) Cook, they both had the right tires on to start with. It took the rest of us a little time to get there.”
“That was definitely a good thing, winning our career first here. We led a couple here but it’s just one of them places where you cant seem to get a win but we finally did and we’re glad we did. Definitely a tough place.”
Night number four found Xtreme returning and Frank qualifying 22nd out of 80 cars. Frank started fourth in the fourth heat and finished third that placed him in the 16th starting slot for the A Main. After pitting twice for tires Frank was only able to muster a 17th place finish. The fifth day of action brought the Renegade forces back in where Frank qualified 48th out of 70 cars. Finishing ninth in the sixth heat, Frank then placed ninth in the third B Main. Taking another provisional, Frank started 26th, pitted for tires early, and finished 16th.
The sixth and final night of the ‘Winternationals’ found Frank qualifying 23rd during time trials, finishing sixth in the fifth heat, and fourth in the second B Main, just two spots shy of making the starting field.
“We can’t get anything going except for that one night,” stated Frank upon reviewing his week. “We can’t get anything going the rest of the nights. We’re making the races, except for the Renegade nights I had to take two provisionals. The Xtreme deal we’ve been making those races, except Saturday, but haven’t been running very good.”
“I thought I had a good car on Monday night and we had to pit and we started on the tail and got back up to 13th. I thought the car was pretty good but the rest of the week the car hasn’t been worth a darn. Even the night we won it was more of a rubbered up deal and the car didn’t handle that well. It was just one of them deals where we got out first and kind of manhandled the car around the race track and the rubber.”
This week Frank will head over to Volusia County Speedway near Barberville, FL for their series of races where Frank captured an impressive win last season.
“This (new) car acts like it runs good in the rubber and that place likes to rubber up so maybe we’ll be good there,” observed Frank. “We’ve won a race there every year we’ve been there. So hopefully we can keep that streak alive.”
The three-time Renegade champion currently resides in sixth place in the Renegade national point standings. Assisting Frank on his crew are crew chief Boom Briggs, Steve Briggs and Bruce Repine.
For additional information on Chub Frank visit the Chub Frank website at: www.chubfrank.com.
Frank participated in the six-race ‘Winternationals’ speed week with three nights sanctioned by the Renegade Dirt Car Racing Series and the Xtreme Dirt Car Series that was held from February 3 – 8.
On night one for the Renegade opener Frank qualified 34th out of 87 cars and then started sixth in the fourth heat, and finished fourth from the tail after getting spun out. He then went to the second B-main and finished third, falling one spot shy of making the A Main forcing him to take a provisional for the A Main where he started 26th and finished 13th, receiving the ‘Hard Charger Award’ for the race.
On day two for the Xtreme debut Frank qualified 16th out of 86 cars and then started third in the fourth heat where he finished third. He then started 16th in the main event where he finished 14th.
On night number three the Renegade series returned to action where Frank qualified 33rd out of 87 cars and started sixth in the third heat. Frank came across the checker in third which lined him up in 15th for the feature. After pitting for tires on lap 27, Frank eventually took the lead on lap 47 and held on for his first Renegade victory of the season and his career first feature win at East Bay Raceway.
“Well, it was lucky (laughs)!” chuckled Frank on his win. “It was lucky. We didn’t have the right tires on to start the race but we were one of the first ones to get into the pits and get them changed before everybody else did so that kind of gave us a little bit of advantage, other than (Brian) Birkhofer and (Ray) Cook, they both had the right tires on to start with. It took the rest of us a little time to get there.”
“That was definitely a good thing, winning our career first here. We led a couple here but it’s just one of them places where you cant seem to get a win but we finally did and we’re glad we did. Definitely a tough place.”
Night number four found Xtreme returning and Frank qualifying 22nd out of 80 cars. Frank started fourth in the fourth heat and finished third that placed him in the 16th starting slot for the A Main. After pitting twice for tires Frank was only able to muster a 17th place finish. The fifth day of action brought the Renegade forces back in where Frank qualified 48th out of 70 cars. Finishing ninth in the sixth heat, Frank then placed ninth in the third B Main. Taking another provisional, Frank started 26th, pitted for tires early, and finished 16th.
The sixth and final night of the ‘Winternationals’ found Frank qualifying 23rd during time trials, finishing sixth in the fifth heat, and fourth in the second B Main, just two spots shy of making the starting field.
“We can’t get anything going except for that one night,” stated Frank upon reviewing his week. “We can’t get anything going the rest of the nights. We’re making the races, except for the Renegade nights I had to take two provisionals. The Xtreme deal we’ve been making those races, except Saturday, but haven’t been running very good.”
“I thought I had a good car on Monday night and we had to pit and we started on the tail and got back up to 13th. I thought the car was pretty good but the rest of the week the car hasn’t been worth a darn. Even the night we won it was more of a rubbered up deal and the car didn’t handle that well. It was just one of them deals where we got out first and kind of manhandled the car around the race track and the rubber.”
This week Frank will head over to Volusia County Speedway near Barberville, FL for their series of races where Frank captured an impressive win last season.
“This (new) car acts like it runs good in the rubber and that place likes to rubber up so maybe we’ll be good there,” observed Frank. “We’ve won a race there every year we’ve been there. So hopefully we can keep that streak alive.”
The three-time Renegade champion currently resides in sixth place in the Renegade national point standings. Assisting Frank on his crew are crew chief Boom Briggs, Steve Briggs and Bruce Repine.
For additional information on Chub Frank visit the Chub Frank website at: www.chubfrank.com.
