McCreadie Drives Backup Car To Stirring Victory In World of Outlaws Late Model Series

jdearing

Administrator
Staff member
Kevin Kovac, WoO Late Model Series P.R. Director

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., earned every cent of his $10,000 victory in Friday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Summer Showdown in Sarver Town 50’ at Lernerville Speedway.

From his smooth transition to a backup car early in the program to his frenetic battle with Rick Eckert of York, Pa., in the closing stages, McCreadie cleared all obstacles to triumph in an event that featured enough twists and turns to keep the banner crowd buzzing long after the checkered flag.

“Nothing came easy tonight,” McCreadie said after his second WoO LMS win of the season. “But nothing ever does on this series.”

McCreadie, 32, wasn’t headed after taking the lead when Chub Frank of Beak Lake, Pa., slowed on lap 32 with a flat right-front tire, but his 10th career win on the nation’s premier dirt Late Model tour wasn’t secure until Eckert’s last-ditch bid on the final lap was short-circuited by a crushing spin in turn four.

Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., avoided Eckert’s spun car to finish second, 1.554 seconds behind McCreadie. Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., placed third after starting 23rd, and locals Alex Ferree of Saxonburg, Pa., and Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., completed the top five with career-best WoO LMS finishes.

McCreadie’s memorable performance came behind the wheel of a Carl Myers-owned Sweeteners Plus Rocket car that was rolled out of the team’s hauler just before the night’s qualifying heats began. He started the evening racing the No. 39 he campaigned in a majority of his July appearances, but engine problems with the machine during time trials prompted him to press his backup into duty.

“We put a fresh motor in it (for Friday’s show) but it was just terrible,” McCreadie said of his primary mount. “So we parked it after time trials. If you don’t have your program in order, there’s no use struggling.”

Though McCreadie jumped into a car that had barely been touched by his crew since he ran it on July 29 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., he made a strong advance from the rear of his heat race to grab the fourth transfer spot.

Then he turned up the wick in the main.

McCreadie cracked the top five on lap 24, when he had a close call that he didn’t even know about. Just as he slid ahead of Shinnston, W.Va.’s Josh Richards for fifth place in turn three, a red flag came out – for Richards, who escaped injury after his car jumped the cushion and barrel-rolled twice off the racing surface.

“I didn’t slide him,” said McCreadie, disputing suggestions that he might have forced Richards over the bank. “I stayed in the middle. We didn’t even touch. I looked at my car, and there’s no marks on it.

“I didn’t even know what red flag was for. Lo and behold, it was (Richards). I was shocked he was the guy who was upside down.”

McCreadie surged into the lead on lap 32, after passing Francis for second on the backstretch and blasting by Frank’s slowing Lester Builders No. 1* off turn four moments later.

Frank, a two-time WoO LMS winner at Lernerville, had come from the seventh starting spot to snare the lead from Francis on lap 25, but the untimely flat dive-bombed his effort.

“I must have run over something on the racetrack,” mourned Frank, who rallied to salvage a sixth-place finish. “It had been going down for awhile; I was waiting for people to pass me four laps before it went flat. I could smell the right-front smoking when I’d go in the turn.

“It was good,” he added when asked about his car’s setup, which was accented by his use of the discontinued Hoosier 35-compound tires that he has stockpiled to use on slick tracks like Lernerville. “It was a perfect track for (the 35s).”

McCreadie appeared to be home-free following the restart for Frank’s misfortune. He built a solid advantage until a final caution flag flew on lap 40 for Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio, who ran in the top five early before slipping backward and finally sliding off the track in turn two.

Eckert, who started 12th, restarted in second place and immediately put pressure on McCreadie.

“I got real nervous,” said McCreadie. “I didn’t see anybody beside me for 10 laps, then we go restart and all of a sudden Rick comes from third to almost by me in one and two.

“I don’t where he was before the yellow came out. I didn’t slow down (after the restart); I charged like I was. It was just amazing how well his car fired.”

On lap 41 Eckert actually got his Rave Vest-owned Rocket ahead of McCreadie with an inside move in turn two, but McCreadie made a quick recovery.

“Fortunately he didn’t stick that one time on the bottom to get all the way clear,” said McCreadie. “I was able to cut back left (on the backstretch) and get back in front of him before getting to three.”

Eckert kept the heat on McCreadie over the remaining circuits, diving to the inside through the corners and repeatedly pulling even. But McCreadie used the extreme outside lane to stay ahead each lap, sometimes by mere inches.

“If Rick came off two and had me by half a car on the backstretch, it was gonna be him going to the top into three,” said McCreadie. “So I had to stay on the cushion to keep my momentum up and get a run off of two every lap.”

Eckert lost control of his car and spun to a stop backward on the inside of turn four with the checkered flag flying, dropping him to a disappointing 19th in the final rundown.

But the stunning ending did not diminish the intense racing between McCreadie and Eckert.

“He raced me like a professional – clean, just like he always has,” said McCreadie, who moved into the WoO LMS points lead with his victory. “I feel like I did the same to him. We raced real hard and both had cars good enough to finish first.

“I didn’t even know anything happened to him. I thought he ran second.”

Francis, who spent the race’s first half battling for the lead with Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, Pa., had the best seat in the house for the McCreadie/Eckert struggle. He was closing on them in the race’s final moments.

“After that red flag I didn’t go out there and really work my tires and I kinda got ‘em sealed up,” said Francis, who ran a slightly harder tire compound on his Mopar Performance No. 15 than the leaders. “I got behind because of that, but they finally started coming back to me the last four, five laps.

“I got about two car lengths behind Timmy and Rick. On the last lap I kinda lifted going into three because I wasn’t sure what the outcome was gonna be with them.

“I thought we might get lucky, but we needed the race to go green to checkered (to be a winner),” added Francis, who scored his second straight runner-up finish in WoO LMS action.

McDowell quietly turned in one of the comeback stories of the night. He dropped out of his heat race because his car shut off due to ignition problems and didn’t qualify through a B-Main, so he used a provisional to get in the feature.

Despite struggling with vision problems after running out of tear-offs early in the race, McDowell admitted that was watching the McCreadie/Eckert battle even while challenging Francis for third in the final laps. He wasn’t surprised that Eckert went all-out on the last circuit.

“He was just trying hard, trying to win the race,” said McDowell. “We’ve all done it. We don’t like it, but we’ve done it.”

Early contenders Lanigan and Hess weren’t in the mix at the finish.

Lanigan, who led laps 1-2, saw his hopes dashed by a lap-two scrape with Francis in turns three and four that flattened his left-rear tire and forced him to pit. The 22-year-old Hess, meanwhile, led laps 3-16 and 18 while dueling with Francis, but he faded to a ninth-place finish.

Hess earned his first-ever WoO LMS fast-time award during the 50-car qualifying session. His lap of 15.970 seconds made him the only driver to crack the 15-second bracket.

Heat winners were Hess, Richards, Francis and Lanigan. Billy Moyer and Steve Shaver captured the B-Mains, and Lanigan topped the pole dash.

Results of WoO Late Model Series(Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won): 1. (13) Tim McCreadie/50 $10,000; 2. (3) Steve Francis/50 $6,000; 3. (23) Dale McDowell/50 $3,500; 4. (9) Alex Ferree/50 $2,500; 5. (10) Matt Lux/50 $2,200; 6. (7) Chub Frank/50 $2,000; 7. (8) Clint Smith/50 $1,800; 8. (11) Shane Clanton/50 $1,600; 9. (2) Dave Hess Jr./50 $1,400; 10. (19) Robbie Blair/50 $1,200; 11. (21) Mike Blose/50 $1,000; 12. (18) Steve Shaver/50 $900; 13. (1) Darrell Lanigan/50 $800; 14. (14) David Scott/50 $700; 15. (17) Billy Moyer/50 $700; 16. (22) Billy Decker/50 $700; 17. (24) John Blankenship/50 $700; 18. (16) Eddie Carrier Jr./50 $700; 19. (12) Rick Eckert/50 $700; 20. (5) Bart Hartman/40 $700; 21. (6) Jeremy Miller/40 $700; 22. (25) Lynn Geisler/37 $700; 23. (20) Sam Stile/35 $700; 24. (26) Gary Lyle/31 $700; 25. (4) Josh Richards/23 $700; 26. (15) Dutch Davies/23 $700.

Time of Race: 43 Mins., 10.843 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.554 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 - Laps 4, 32, 40 (1 Red Flag – Lap 24)
Lap Leaders: Lanigan (1-2); Hess (3-16); Francis (17); Hess (18); Francis (19-24); Frank (25-31); McCreadie (32-50).
Provisional Starters: McDowell, Blankenship, Geisler, Lyle.


Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 15.970
2. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.092
3. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.116
4. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.187
5. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 16.208
6. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Littlestown, PA 16.271
7. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.277
8. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.282
9. 75-Bart Hartman/Zanesville, OH 16.310
10. 5b-Mike Blose/New Bethlehem, PA 16.332
11. 30-Steve Shaver/Vienna, WV 16.347
12. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 16.352
13. 18-John Britsky/Indiana, PA 16.377
14. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 16.416
15. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 16.466
16. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.468
17. 4-Alex Ferree/Saxonburg, PA 16.473
18. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 16.488
19. 48-John Flinner/Zelionople, PA 16.490
20. 1c-Lynn Geisler/Cranberry Twp., PA 16.491
21. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA 16.509
22. 3-David Scott/Garland, PA 16.516
23. 2s-Sam Stile/Charleroi, PA 16.519
24. 07R-Brent Rhebergen/Clymer, NY 16.538
25. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.548
26. 5-Eric Jacobsen/Santa Cruz, CA 16.556
27. 58c-Garrett Durrett/Simsboro, LA 16.581
28. 10-Gary Lyle/Hyde Park, PA 16.594
29. W11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 16.615
30. 22-Bump Hedman/Sugar Grove, PA 16.631
31. 40-Dutch Davies/Warren, PA 16.682
32. 91-Billy Decker/Unadilla, NY 16.703
33. 28B-Dick Barton/Ashville, NY 16.727
34. 42-Todd Andrews/Eldred, PA 16.730
35. 29s-Ken Schaltenbrand/Sarver, PA 16.756
36. 03-Doug Eck/Corrie, PA 16.779
37. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 16.784
38. 2j-Mike Johnson/Imperial, PA 16.786
39. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 16.863
40. 46-Doug Horton/Bruceton Mills, WV 16.901
41. 2V-Chad Valone/Warren, PA 16.907
42. CO2-Paul Davis/Fowler, OH 16.927
43. 1L-Dane Laraway/Irwin, PA 16.933
44. 22s-Greg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 17.014
45. 9k-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 17.069
46. 22b-Darrell Bossard/Centerville, PA 17.086
47. 66-Todd Buchman/Natrona Heights, PA 17.122
48. 32-Jeff Hoffman/Clarendon, PA 17.375
49. 23T-Tony Burke/Sarver, PA 17.517
50. 11L-Jeff Ferguson/Uniontown, PA N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Hess, Hartman, Ferree, McCreadie, Blair, Britsky, Barton, Burke, Valone, Knight, Miley, Blankenship, McDowell.

Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Miller, Lux, Scott, Moyer, Blose, Andrews, Johnson, Bossard, Davis, Hedman, Jacobsen.

Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Francis, Frank, Clanton, Davies, Stile, Durrett, Shaver, Schaltenbrand, Flinner, Stone, Laraway, Bachman.

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lanigan, Smith, Eckert, Carrier, Decker, Geisler, Eck, Rhebergen, Satterlee, Hoffman, Lyle.

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Moyer, Blair, Blose, Barton, Johnson, J. Miley, McDowell, Andrews, Burke, Valone, Bossard, Davis, Knight, Blankenship, Jacobsen, Britsky (DNS) Hedman.

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Shaver, Stile, Decker, Flinner, Stone, Durrett, Rhebergen, Schaltenbrand, Hoffman, Eck, Laraway, Satterlee, Geisler, Lyle (DNS) Bachman, Horton.

Dash (6 laps): Lanigan, Hess, Francis, Richards.

WoO Late Model Series Points Standings (after Aug. 4): 1. Tim McCreadie 3,020; 2. Billy Moyer 2,996; 3. Darrell Lanigan 2,980; 4. (tie) Shane Clanton 2,978; 4. (tie) Steve Francis 2,978; 6. Rick Eckert 2,962; 7. Chub Frank 2,958; 8. Dale McDowell 2,884; 9. Clint Smith 2,843; 10. Josh Richards 2,778; 11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 2,483; 12. John Blankenship 2,466; 13. Eric Jacobsen 2,366; 14. Garrett Durrett 2,346; 15. Mike Balzano 998; 16. Brady Smith 953; 17. Jimmy Mars 932; 18. Billy Deckere 901; 19. Brian Birkhofer 877; 20. Ricky Elliott 849.

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on Dirtvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail webmaster@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Series sponsor Hoosier Tire; Promotional sponsors AMB i.t., Choice Hotels International, COESfx, The University of Northwest Ohio and Snap-on. Contingency sponsors include DART Machinery, Holley Performance Products Inc., MSD Ignition, Quarter Master, Ohlins and Wrisco Industries.
 




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