ROSSBURG, OH - June 4, 2009 - Steve Francis is the hottest driver on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
This weekend the veteran from Ashland, Ky., would like to extend his sizzling stretch of success to the UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned ‘Dream XV' at Eldora Speedway.
A winner of two straight and three of the last five WoO LMS A-Mains, Francis is riding high entering a weekend of action at NASCAR star Tony Stewart's famed half-mile oval that has a $100,000 check awaiting the ‘Dream' champion.
Time trials and non-qualifiers' races are scheduled for Friday night (June 5), with the heats, last-chance events and ‘Dream 100' set for Saturday night (June 6).
“We're doing everything that we need to do right now,” said Francis, who leads the WoO LMS in 2009 victories (five) and sits atop the tour's points standings in search of his second career title. “This is one helluva momentum deal going into the Dream at Eldora, that's for sure. You can't ask for a better time to be on a roll.”
Francis, 41, has never won the 100-lap ‘Dream,' which offers the single largest race paycheck a dirt Late Model driver will collect this season. The only other 100-grand check available to the division in '09 is the payoff due the WoO LMS champion.
The ‘Dream' has actually been a source of frustration to Francis in recent years. While he's qualified for 12 of the previous 14 ‘Dream' A-Mains, his two DNQs have come in the past five years (2005 and 2008) and he hasn't registered a top-10 finish since 2003 (a career-high fourth).
After falling short of last year's ‘Dream' headliner thanks to a blown tire in a heat race, Francis returns this weekend with plenty of confidence. He plans to run the Dale Beitler-owned Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket car that he drove to victory in the WoO LMS event on Feb. 14 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., but hasn't raced since.
“It's been in the front of the trailer since Volusia,” Francis said of his ride for the ‘Dream.' “(The team's other car) is running real good right now, but we want to take a little time to get it refurbished for the Outlaw shows we have coming up and we know (the Volusia winner) is a good piece.”
While Francis's biggest Eldora moment came when he won the prestigious World 100 in 1999, Beitler has experienced the thrill of victory in the ‘Dream.' The 52-year-old team owner from West Friendship, Md., watched Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind., steer his familiar blue-and-white No. 19 to the $100,000 win in 2007.
Joining Francis in the ‘Dream' field will be 10 WoO LMS regulars, including (in order of current tour points standing):
* Defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., whose 10 career ‘Dream' A-Main starts ranks him second to Francis among Outlaw drivers. A winner of the event in 2003, Lanigan also has a pair of runner-up finishes (1998 and 2002) and has finished outside the top 10 just once (22nd in 2000). He suffered a rare DNQ last year, however, after experiencing engine trouble during a heat race.
* Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., the 21-year-old sensation who is generally considered the next driver most likely to join the fraternity of crown-jewel event winners. He's qualified for two ‘Dream' A-Mains (seventh in 2005, 16th in 2007); last year he missed the cut after being involved in several heat-race scrapes that tore up his Mark Richards Racing Enterprises Rocket.
* Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who stamped himself as a serious contender at Eldora last year when he set fast time for the ‘Dream' and led laps 4-23 en route to a third-place finish in his fourth career A-Main start. The 33-year-old came back three months later to win the World 100, proving that he deserves favorite status whenever he lines up at the high-banked track.
* Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who won the ‘Dream' in 1999 but has struggled at Eldora in recent years. A six-time A-Main starter, he's failed to qualify for the ‘Dream' in each of the last two years but is energized for this weekend's activity because it will mark his first appearance at the track in a Team Zero by Bloomquist car.
* Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., the 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year who made his first ‘Dream' A-Main last year, finishing 22nd. He's shown speed at Eldora in the past, finishing fourth in the track's 2007 WoO LMS event.
* Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who owns a 2004 World 100 triumph but is still searching for big-buck ‘Dream' score. His A-Main starts show three top-five and four top-10 finishes, including a career-best third in 2007 and a ninth last year.
* Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., a new WoO LMS traveler in 2009 who has shown his ability by racking up five top-five finishes on the tour to date. Smith, who turned 32 on May 31, has one career ‘Dream' A-Main start (seventh in 2007) and will go to the post this weekend driving a Team Zero by Bloomquist car that has proven its strength at Eldora.
* Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who has a top finish of fourth (1997) in his four career ‘Dream' A-Main starts. He's hoping his visit to Eldora this weekend goes better than his run in last September's World 100 – he suffered a broken hand in a heat-race accident that swept up Chub Frank.
* Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., the 2009 Rookie of the Year points leader through 14 events. The 20-year-old driver of a Team Zero by Bloomquist mount is looking to qualify for his first ‘Dream' A-Main, but he did make last year's World 100 starting field.
Five WoO LMS regulars do not plan to enter the ‘Dream,' including 2008 Rookie of the Year Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y. With the WoO LMS off until the start of the Great Northern Tour on June 18 at Ohsweken (Ont.) Speedway, Coffey is using the break to get his own hauler ready for the remainder of the season; he's been using the rig of his sidelined Sweeteners Plus teammate Tim McCreadie, who is hoping to make the Ohsweken event his return from the back injury he suffered in a January Chili Bowl Midget wreck.
The other WoO LMS drivers with perfect attendance so far in 2009 who are not headed to Eldora this weekend are all rookies: Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tires, Integra Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks, Racing Electronics, Quarter Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams Engine Builder's Challenge participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom Race Engines and Pro Power Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder Challenge participants Rocket Chassis and Team Zero by Bloomquist.
This weekend the veteran from Ashland, Ky., would like to extend his sizzling stretch of success to the UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned ‘Dream XV' at Eldora Speedway.
A winner of two straight and three of the last five WoO LMS A-Mains, Francis is riding high entering a weekend of action at NASCAR star Tony Stewart's famed half-mile oval that has a $100,000 check awaiting the ‘Dream' champion.
Time trials and non-qualifiers' races are scheduled for Friday night (June 5), with the heats, last-chance events and ‘Dream 100' set for Saturday night (June 6).
“We're doing everything that we need to do right now,” said Francis, who leads the WoO LMS in 2009 victories (five) and sits atop the tour's points standings in search of his second career title. “This is one helluva momentum deal going into the Dream at Eldora, that's for sure. You can't ask for a better time to be on a roll.”
Francis, 41, has never won the 100-lap ‘Dream,' which offers the single largest race paycheck a dirt Late Model driver will collect this season. The only other 100-grand check available to the division in '09 is the payoff due the WoO LMS champion.
The ‘Dream' has actually been a source of frustration to Francis in recent years. While he's qualified for 12 of the previous 14 ‘Dream' A-Mains, his two DNQs have come in the past five years (2005 and 2008) and he hasn't registered a top-10 finish since 2003 (a career-high fourth).
After falling short of last year's ‘Dream' headliner thanks to a blown tire in a heat race, Francis returns this weekend with plenty of confidence. He plans to run the Dale Beitler-owned Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket car that he drove to victory in the WoO LMS event on Feb. 14 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., but hasn't raced since.
“It's been in the front of the trailer since Volusia,” Francis said of his ride for the ‘Dream.' “(The team's other car) is running real good right now, but we want to take a little time to get it refurbished for the Outlaw shows we have coming up and we know (the Volusia winner) is a good piece.”
While Francis's biggest Eldora moment came when he won the prestigious World 100 in 1999, Beitler has experienced the thrill of victory in the ‘Dream.' The 52-year-old team owner from West Friendship, Md., watched Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind., steer his familiar blue-and-white No. 19 to the $100,000 win in 2007.
Joining Francis in the ‘Dream' field will be 10 WoO LMS regulars, including (in order of current tour points standing):
* Defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., whose 10 career ‘Dream' A-Main starts ranks him second to Francis among Outlaw drivers. A winner of the event in 2003, Lanigan also has a pair of runner-up finishes (1998 and 2002) and has finished outside the top 10 just once (22nd in 2000). He suffered a rare DNQ last year, however, after experiencing engine trouble during a heat race.
* Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., the 21-year-old sensation who is generally considered the next driver most likely to join the fraternity of crown-jewel event winners. He's qualified for two ‘Dream' A-Mains (seventh in 2005, 16th in 2007); last year he missed the cut after being involved in several heat-race scrapes that tore up his Mark Richards Racing Enterprises Rocket.
* Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who stamped himself as a serious contender at Eldora last year when he set fast time for the ‘Dream' and led laps 4-23 en route to a third-place finish in his fourth career A-Main start. The 33-year-old came back three months later to win the World 100, proving that he deserves favorite status whenever he lines up at the high-banked track.
* Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who won the ‘Dream' in 1999 but has struggled at Eldora in recent years. A six-time A-Main starter, he's failed to qualify for the ‘Dream' in each of the last two years but is energized for this weekend's activity because it will mark his first appearance at the track in a Team Zero by Bloomquist car.
* Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., the 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year who made his first ‘Dream' A-Main last year, finishing 22nd. He's shown speed at Eldora in the past, finishing fourth in the track's 2007 WoO LMS event.
* Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who owns a 2004 World 100 triumph but is still searching for big-buck ‘Dream' score. His A-Main starts show three top-five and four top-10 finishes, including a career-best third in 2007 and a ninth last year.
* Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., a new WoO LMS traveler in 2009 who has shown his ability by racking up five top-five finishes on the tour to date. Smith, who turned 32 on May 31, has one career ‘Dream' A-Main start (seventh in 2007) and will go to the post this weekend driving a Team Zero by Bloomquist car that has proven its strength at Eldora.
* Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who has a top finish of fourth (1997) in his four career ‘Dream' A-Main starts. He's hoping his visit to Eldora this weekend goes better than his run in last September's World 100 – he suffered a broken hand in a heat-race accident that swept up Chub Frank.
* Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., the 2009 Rookie of the Year points leader through 14 events. The 20-year-old driver of a Team Zero by Bloomquist mount is looking to qualify for his first ‘Dream' A-Main, but he did make last year's World 100 starting field.
Five WoO LMS regulars do not plan to enter the ‘Dream,' including 2008 Rookie of the Year Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y. With the WoO LMS off until the start of the Great Northern Tour on June 18 at Ohsweken (Ont.) Speedway, Coffey is using the break to get his own hauler ready for the remainder of the season; he's been using the rig of his sidelined Sweeteners Plus teammate Tim McCreadie, who is hoping to make the Ohsweken event his return from the back injury he suffered in a January Chili Bowl Midget wreck.
The other WoO LMS drivers with perfect attendance so far in 2009 who are not headed to Eldora this weekend are all rookies: Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tires, Integra Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks, Racing Electronics, Quarter Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams Engine Builder's Challenge participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom Race Engines and Pro Power Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder Challenge participants Rocket Chassis and Team Zero by Bloomquist.
