ROSSBURG, OH - Sept. 10, 2009 - For a driver who’s never even entered the World 100, Tim Fuller will sure have plenty of eyes focused on him during the prestigious UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned event this weekend (Sept. 11-12) at Eldora Speedway.
In fact, with Fuller charging into the famed half-mile oval on a month-and-a-half-long hot streak that has seen him win seven of the last 11 World of Outlaws Late Model Series events and finish second in a 100-lap crown-jewel race, he’s being talked up as a – dare it be said? – favorite to capture the coveted World 100 globe.
It’s a pretty mind-blowing situation for the 41-year-old from Watertown, N.Y., who’s in just his third year of dirt Late Model competition after excelling in the Northeast’s DIRTcar big-block Modified ranks.
“I don’t want more attention, but that goes with the territory when you’re on a roll like we are,” said the modest Fuller, acknowledging the respect his summertime run has brought him. “To roll in there (to Eldora) and be considered a favorite – man, that’s great. Sure, it’s some extra pressure, but it’s better to be thought of in the group of guys who can win the race than the alternative.”
While Fuller’s experience at Eldora amounts to four dirt Late Model starts and a couple DIRTcar big-block Modified appearances, he’s very confident that the magic he’s found with his Gypsum Express Rocket car will translate to the fast, high-banked track.
“I’m looking forward to the World,” said Fuller, whose recent headline-grabbing success includes a WoO LMS record-tying four consecutive wins and a second-place finish in the USA Nationals 100 on Aug. 1 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. “I think we’re going there with a pretty decent car. If it’s slippery like the place is known to get I think we can have one of the best cars, but if it takes rubber we might be in trouble.”
Fuller has an understanding of Eldora’s big-race format from his assaults on the $100,000 Dream event the past two Junes. He finished 22nd in the 2008 A-Main but failed to qualify for this year’s version three months ago, missing a transfer spot by two positions in the B-Main after advancing from 20th to sixth in impressive fashion.
“I think we’ll be alright in the race, but we gotta get there first,” said Fuller, who skipped the World 100 the past two years to run big-block Modified events close to his upstate New York home. “I know from running the Dream that it’s time trials that are so tough. You have one lap (to get up to speed) and it better be a good one, so you gotta go around there wide open.
“With so many good cars (in the field), it’s tough to come back from a bad time-trial (lap). I’d like to be able to start up front (in a heat) and see what happens.”
Fuller, who will have a fresh Custom engine under the hood of his car this weekend, might actually have some good vibes on his side. He’s coming off a victory on Sept. 6 in the finale of the WoO LMS Oil Region Labor Day Classic at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. – the same race that Shane Clanton won last year one week before capturing his first-ever World 100.
Eleven of the 14 drivers who have entered all 37 WoO LMS events this season have plans to complete in this weekend’s World 100, including former event winners Clanton, Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.
Locust Grove, Ga.’s SHANE CLANTON will attempt to become the first driver to win back-to-back World 100s since Donnie Moran in 1996-1997. He just wishes he was bringing as much momentum to Eldora as he did one year ago.
Clanton, 33, entered the 2008 World 100 as one of the country’s hottest drivers – and with a solid third-place finish in that year’s Dream 100 already under his belt. But he’s struggled to find his way this season, winning just once to date on the WoO LMS (April’s Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway) and failing to qualify for June’s Dream after a heat-race tangle with veteran Delmas Conley.
After winning last year’s World 100 in what was just his third career start in the prestigious event (he previously qualified in 2004 and 2005), Clanton will go for a repeat after showing some signs of life with top-five finishes in both ends of Tri-City’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic last weekend. The RSD Enterprises Rocket car he ran at Tri-City was the same machine he drove to victory in the ’08 World 100, but he plans to enter this weekend’s action behind the wheel of a mount with fewer laps on its odometer.
WoO LMS points leader STEVE FRANCIS enters the World 100 in much the same way he did last year: hot off a victory in the opener of the Oil Region Labor Day Classic at Tri-City.
Francis, 41, is hoping for some better results in his division’s big show, however. The 1999 World 100 winner finished 14th in the ’08 event.
The ‘Kentucky Colonel’ is making his second World 100 bid driving for Maryland car owner Dale Beitler, who has never enjoyed much success in Eldora’s September biggie but did win the 2007 Dream with Richmond, Ind.’s Steve Casebolt steering his familiar blue-and-white No. 19.
CHUB FRANK is taking a back-to-basics approach to this year’s World 100.
For starters, after drawing plenty of attention the past two years with unique, limited-edition World 100 graphics schemes but failing to qualify for the A-Main both times, the 47-year-old star is sticking to his normal look this year. He also will be behind the wheel of a 2005-vintage Rocket car he borrowed from western Pennsylvania racer Chad Valone last month and refuses to give back – because, of course, it’s helped get his struggle-filled season back on track.
Frank, who was eliminated from World 100 starting-field contention by heat-race accidents in both 2007 and 2008, finished 12th in June’s Dream 100.
Defending WoO LMS champion DARRELL LANIGAN of Union, Ky., will chase his first-ever World 100 checkered flag in a Rocket car that he debuted just two weeks ago. He got the machine cranking last weekend, registering finishes second and third in the two 50-lappers at Tri-City.
Lanigan has been on the cusp of winning a major event this season, scoring runner-up finishes in the Lone Star 100 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, the Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and a third-place finish in June’s Dream 100 (after starting 18th).
The 39-year-old has a Dream victory on his resume but is among the group of drivers with the most World 100 starts who has yet to win the Big One; he’s made all but four World 100 A-Mains since 1990 with a top finish of second, in 1999.
JOSH RICHARDS of Shinnston, W.Va., who sits just four points behind Francis in the WoO LMS standings with five events remaining on the 2009 schedule, will once again attempt to break through for his first career crown-jewel triumph.
The youngest World 100 qualifier ever when he made the 2005 field at the age of 17, Richards transferred to the A-Main for three straight years (finishing a career-best fourth in 2006) before ending up as a DNQ in 2008. He would like to forget last year’s World 100; his car shut off due to a faulty battery as he held a transfer spot on the final lap of a heat and wouldn’t fire up for the B-Main.
Richards had his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket honking during qualifying for June’s Dream 100, setting fast time in the Friday-night time-trial session. But he was never a factor in the A-Main, losing a lap before blowing a right-rear tire on lap 51 and slapping the turn-one wall to leave him 22nd in the final rundown.
With a fresh Cornett Chevy engine bolted inside one of his Raye Vest Racing Team Zero by Bloomquist cars, RICK ECKERT of York, Pa., has his eyes squarely set on his first World 100 victory.
Eckert, 43, has won the Dream, but his best finish in 10 career World 100 feature starts is fourth, in 1999. A three-time winner on this year’s WoO LMS, he made a late charge to finish eighth in June’s Dream 100 and hopes the speed he found will carry over to this weekend.
CLINT SMITH of Senoia, Ga., last qualified for the World 100 in 2006 when he placed a late-charging sixth. Adding insult to injury, last year he suffered a broken bone in his wrist in a heat-race crash that ended his weekend early.
The 44-year-old Smith also missed the cut for June’s Dream, so he’s hoping to find a better combination for the Eldora clay. His car builder, GRT’s Joe Garrison, was scheduled to bring him a new car to run in this weekend’s meet.
BRADY SMITH of Solon Springs, Wis., who has turned heads in his first season as a WoO LMS regular, is taking a laid-back approach to this year’s World 100. He’ll bid to make his second A-Main start, hoping to improve upon his 15th-place finish in the 2007 event.
JORDAN BLAND of Campbellsville, Ky., and DUSTIN HAPKA of Grand Forks, N.D., will represent the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders in this year’s World 100.
Bland, 20, is looking to make the World 100 A-Main for the second consecutive season (he finished 19th last year) with his family-owned Team Zero by Bloomquist equipment, while the 26-year-old Hapka plans to bolt a new Pro Power engine in his Rocket car for his first-ever World 100 assault.
WoO LMS Rookie of the Year points leader RUSSELL KING of Bristolville, Ohio, has opted to bypass this year’s World 100 to prepare for the tour’s stretch run. Fellow rookies BRENT ROBINSON of Smithfield, Va., and TYLER REDDICK of Corning, Calif., are also not expected to compete.
Time trials and non-qualifiers events for the World 100 are scheduled for Fri., Sept. 11. Heat races, last-chance events and the World 100 final will be run on Sat., Sept. 12.
Visit www.worldofoutlaws.com this weekend for an update on the results of the WoO LMS drivers in the World 100, and visit www.eldoraspeedway.com for more information on the huge dirt Late Model event.
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.
In fact, with Fuller charging into the famed half-mile oval on a month-and-a-half-long hot streak that has seen him win seven of the last 11 World of Outlaws Late Model Series events and finish second in a 100-lap crown-jewel race, he’s being talked up as a – dare it be said? – favorite to capture the coveted World 100 globe.
It’s a pretty mind-blowing situation for the 41-year-old from Watertown, N.Y., who’s in just his third year of dirt Late Model competition after excelling in the Northeast’s DIRTcar big-block Modified ranks.
“I don’t want more attention, but that goes with the territory when you’re on a roll like we are,” said the modest Fuller, acknowledging the respect his summertime run has brought him. “To roll in there (to Eldora) and be considered a favorite – man, that’s great. Sure, it’s some extra pressure, but it’s better to be thought of in the group of guys who can win the race than the alternative.”
While Fuller’s experience at Eldora amounts to four dirt Late Model starts and a couple DIRTcar big-block Modified appearances, he’s very confident that the magic he’s found with his Gypsum Express Rocket car will translate to the fast, high-banked track.
“I’m looking forward to the World,” said Fuller, whose recent headline-grabbing success includes a WoO LMS record-tying four consecutive wins and a second-place finish in the USA Nationals 100 on Aug. 1 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. “I think we’re going there with a pretty decent car. If it’s slippery like the place is known to get I think we can have one of the best cars, but if it takes rubber we might be in trouble.”
Fuller has an understanding of Eldora’s big-race format from his assaults on the $100,000 Dream event the past two Junes. He finished 22nd in the 2008 A-Main but failed to qualify for this year’s version three months ago, missing a transfer spot by two positions in the B-Main after advancing from 20th to sixth in impressive fashion.
“I think we’ll be alright in the race, but we gotta get there first,” said Fuller, who skipped the World 100 the past two years to run big-block Modified events close to his upstate New York home. “I know from running the Dream that it’s time trials that are so tough. You have one lap (to get up to speed) and it better be a good one, so you gotta go around there wide open.
“With so many good cars (in the field), it’s tough to come back from a bad time-trial (lap). I’d like to be able to start up front (in a heat) and see what happens.”
Fuller, who will have a fresh Custom engine under the hood of his car this weekend, might actually have some good vibes on his side. He’s coming off a victory on Sept. 6 in the finale of the WoO LMS Oil Region Labor Day Classic at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. – the same race that Shane Clanton won last year one week before capturing his first-ever World 100.
Eleven of the 14 drivers who have entered all 37 WoO LMS events this season have plans to complete in this weekend’s World 100, including former event winners Clanton, Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.
Locust Grove, Ga.’s SHANE CLANTON will attempt to become the first driver to win back-to-back World 100s since Donnie Moran in 1996-1997. He just wishes he was bringing as much momentum to Eldora as he did one year ago.
Clanton, 33, entered the 2008 World 100 as one of the country’s hottest drivers – and with a solid third-place finish in that year’s Dream 100 already under his belt. But he’s struggled to find his way this season, winning just once to date on the WoO LMS (April’s Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway) and failing to qualify for June’s Dream after a heat-race tangle with veteran Delmas Conley.
After winning last year’s World 100 in what was just his third career start in the prestigious event (he previously qualified in 2004 and 2005), Clanton will go for a repeat after showing some signs of life with top-five finishes in both ends of Tri-City’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic last weekend. The RSD Enterprises Rocket car he ran at Tri-City was the same machine he drove to victory in the ’08 World 100, but he plans to enter this weekend’s action behind the wheel of a mount with fewer laps on its odometer.
WoO LMS points leader STEVE FRANCIS enters the World 100 in much the same way he did last year: hot off a victory in the opener of the Oil Region Labor Day Classic at Tri-City.
Francis, 41, is hoping for some better results in his division’s big show, however. The 1999 World 100 winner finished 14th in the ’08 event.
The ‘Kentucky Colonel’ is making his second World 100 bid driving for Maryland car owner Dale Beitler, who has never enjoyed much success in Eldora’s September biggie but did win the 2007 Dream with Richmond, Ind.’s Steve Casebolt steering his familiar blue-and-white No. 19.
CHUB FRANK is taking a back-to-basics approach to this year’s World 100.
For starters, after drawing plenty of attention the past two years with unique, limited-edition World 100 graphics schemes but failing to qualify for the A-Main both times, the 47-year-old star is sticking to his normal look this year. He also will be behind the wheel of a 2005-vintage Rocket car he borrowed from western Pennsylvania racer Chad Valone last month and refuses to give back – because, of course, it’s helped get his struggle-filled season back on track.
Frank, who was eliminated from World 100 starting-field contention by heat-race accidents in both 2007 and 2008, finished 12th in June’s Dream 100.
Defending WoO LMS champion DARRELL LANIGAN of Union, Ky., will chase his first-ever World 100 checkered flag in a Rocket car that he debuted just two weeks ago. He got the machine cranking last weekend, registering finishes second and third in the two 50-lappers at Tri-City.
Lanigan has been on the cusp of winning a major event this season, scoring runner-up finishes in the Lone Star 100 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, the Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and a third-place finish in June’s Dream 100 (after starting 18th).
The 39-year-old has a Dream victory on his resume but is among the group of drivers with the most World 100 starts who has yet to win the Big One; he’s made all but four World 100 A-Mains since 1990 with a top finish of second, in 1999.
JOSH RICHARDS of Shinnston, W.Va., who sits just four points behind Francis in the WoO LMS standings with five events remaining on the 2009 schedule, will once again attempt to break through for his first career crown-jewel triumph.
The youngest World 100 qualifier ever when he made the 2005 field at the age of 17, Richards transferred to the A-Main for three straight years (finishing a career-best fourth in 2006) before ending up as a DNQ in 2008. He would like to forget last year’s World 100; his car shut off due to a faulty battery as he held a transfer spot on the final lap of a heat and wouldn’t fire up for the B-Main.
Richards had his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket honking during qualifying for June’s Dream 100, setting fast time in the Friday-night time-trial session. But he was never a factor in the A-Main, losing a lap before blowing a right-rear tire on lap 51 and slapping the turn-one wall to leave him 22nd in the final rundown.
With a fresh Cornett Chevy engine bolted inside one of his Raye Vest Racing Team Zero by Bloomquist cars, RICK ECKERT of York, Pa., has his eyes squarely set on his first World 100 victory.
Eckert, 43, has won the Dream, but his best finish in 10 career World 100 feature starts is fourth, in 1999. A three-time winner on this year’s WoO LMS, he made a late charge to finish eighth in June’s Dream 100 and hopes the speed he found will carry over to this weekend.
CLINT SMITH of Senoia, Ga., last qualified for the World 100 in 2006 when he placed a late-charging sixth. Adding insult to injury, last year he suffered a broken bone in his wrist in a heat-race crash that ended his weekend early.
The 44-year-old Smith also missed the cut for June’s Dream, so he’s hoping to find a better combination for the Eldora clay. His car builder, GRT’s Joe Garrison, was scheduled to bring him a new car to run in this weekend’s meet.
BRADY SMITH of Solon Springs, Wis., who has turned heads in his first season as a WoO LMS regular, is taking a laid-back approach to this year’s World 100. He’ll bid to make his second A-Main start, hoping to improve upon his 15th-place finish in the 2007 event.
JORDAN BLAND of Campbellsville, Ky., and DUSTIN HAPKA of Grand Forks, N.D., will represent the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders in this year’s World 100.
Bland, 20, is looking to make the World 100 A-Main for the second consecutive season (he finished 19th last year) with his family-owned Team Zero by Bloomquist equipment, while the 26-year-old Hapka plans to bolt a new Pro Power engine in his Rocket car for his first-ever World 100 assault.
WoO LMS Rookie of the Year points leader RUSSELL KING of Bristolville, Ohio, has opted to bypass this year’s World 100 to prepare for the tour’s stretch run. Fellow rookies BRENT ROBINSON of Smithfield, Va., and TYLER REDDICK of Corning, Calif., are also not expected to compete.
Time trials and non-qualifiers events for the World 100 are scheduled for Fri., Sept. 11. Heat races, last-chance events and the World 100 final will be run on Sat., Sept. 12.
Visit www.worldofoutlaws.com this weekend for an update on the results of the WoO LMS drivers in the World 100, and visit www.eldoraspeedway.com for more information on the huge dirt Late Model event.
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.
