CONCORD, NC - Aug. 11, 2009 -
BACK IN BUSINESS: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series ends a two-and-a-half-week break with a three-race swing through the Mid-Atlantic region, making stops on Thursday night (Aug. 13) at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa.; Friday night (Aug. 14) at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway; and Saturday night (Aug. 15) at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
Grandview’s mid-week date is headlined by a 40-lap A-Main paying $7,000 to win, while the Bedford and Hagerstown programs boast 50-lap A-Mains with $10,000 top prizes on the line.
FIRST TIME: Veteran Northeast racing official/publicist Bob Miller has provided fans a wide variety of thrills since 1990 when he began co-promoting the ‘Thunder on the Hill’ special-event series with Grandview Speedway owner Bruce Rogers.
Just look at the divisions and series that Miller has featured at Grandview – a mix that includes 410 Sprint Cars (Pennsylvania Posse, World of Outlaws, All-Star Circuit of Champions, CRA, SCRA and USAC wingless), big-block Modifieds (open competition and Super DIRTcar Series), NASCAR 358-Modifieds, 360 Sprint Cars (URC and KARS), 358 Late Models, ARDC Midgets, Legends Cars and Mini-Sprints.
But on Thurs., Aug. 13, Miller will bring a brand-new attraction to the high-banked, one-third-mile oval: the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Making the ‘Traffic Jam’ program even more exciting, a 40-lap, $4,000-to-win feature for the big-block Modifieds will give fans an opportunity to see two huge headline divisions on the same night.
“I’m really excited to bring the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to Grandview for the first time and pair the event up with a race for the big-block Modifieds,” said Miller, who also serves as an official with the URC Sprint Car Series. “We always try to come up with Thunder on the Hill events that are unique and different, and this doubleheader definitely fits the bill.”
Grandview has long run 358 Late Models as a weekly Saturday-night division alongside its headline NASCAR 358-Modifieds, but Thursday’s WoO LMS event will mark the first race in track history for full-blown dirt Late Models.
Several Grandview 358 Late Model standouts are expected to challenge the WoO LMS stars on Thursday, including current points leader Randy Stoudt of Pottstown, Pa.; two-time ’09 winner Chuck Schutz of Pottstown, Pa., who has entered WoO LMS events in the past; Brian Shuey of Shoemakersville, Pa; Kyle Merkel of Gilbertsville, Pa.; and Dan Snyder of Green Lane, Pa.
BATTLE OF DIVISIONS: An added attraction on Grandview’s Aug. 13 schedule is the BPG Racing/Chad Sinon Motorsports Big-Block Modified vs. Late Model Challenge Dash, which will pit the winners of the WoO LMS and big-block Mod heats in a six-lap battle for a $1,000 top prize.
Which car would WoO LMS regular – and longtime DIRTcar big-block Modified standout – Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., rather be in for the Challenge sprint?
“Right now I’d want to be in my Late Model no matter what,” said Fuller, who won a Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified event at Grandview on July 19, 2005. “That doesn’t mean I don’t think a Modified could win it. It’s just that I really feel good about how my Late Model is running right now.”
Indeed, Fuller enters the Mid-Atlantic swing on a real hot streak. He won the last WoO LMS A-Main, on July 25 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, and over the past two weeks he enjoyed a great dirt Late Model weekend at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. (he won a WDRL feature on July 30 and scored a $20,000 second-place finish in the unsanctioned USA Nationals 100 on Aug. 1) and registered a $6,000 Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified victory on Aug. 8 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway.
FANTASTIC FAIRGROUNDS: Bedford Speedway hosts the WoO LMS for the third consecutive season on Fri., Aug. 14 – and track management is expecting the big event to continue a very successful season at the half-mile oval.
“We’re really looking forward to the Outlaw show,” said J.R. Keifer, who co-promotes the fairgrounds facility with Jim Maybury and Dr. Dave Horne under the DKM, Inc. banner. “This season has been the best we’ve had in eight years (operating the track), and we’re really tickled with the track preparation and surface (new clay was applied prior to the 2008 campaign).”
Unfortunately, Bedford’s third WoO LMS event (Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., won the 2007 A-Main and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., captured last year’s show) will be run with the track’s staff missing one familiar face. Keifer’s wife, Mary Ann, is currently in a Pittsburgh hospital being treated for serious injuries she suffered in a motorcycle accident on Sunday night in West Saint Clair Township, Pa.
The thoughts of the racing community are with the Keifer family for the recovery of Mary Ann, whose injuries include a broken wrist, dislocated elbow and injured right leg that will require surgery.
FAMILIAR STOP: Few tracks are more a part of the WoO LMS fabric than Hagerstown Speedway, which brings the tour back on Sat., Aug. 15, for a second 2009 appearance.
The half-mile oval has hosted at least one WoO LMS event in seven of the tour’s eight seasons, including the first incarnation of the WoO LMS under late WoO Sprint Car Series founder Ted Johnson (1988-1989) and the modern version that has been operated since 2004 by the World Racing Group. Eight drivers have scored victories in the 10 WoO LMS A-Mains contested at Hagerstown – Les Hare (1988), Gary Stuhler (1989), Rick Eckert (two wins in 2004), Tim McCreadie (two wins in 2005), Clint Smith (2006), Shannon Babb (2007), Josh Richards (2007) and Steve Francis (2008). The only WoO LMS season that has not included a race at Hagerstown is 2008, when the track’s May 31 event was rained out and not rescheduled.
Hagerstown is one of just six tracks scheduled to present more than one WoO LMS event in 2009. The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., has four races scheduled, while Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., have two dates on the sked.
DRAMA RESUMES: This weekend’s tripleheader continues the titanic battle for the $100,000 WoO LMS points championship, which currently sees three drivers separated by a mere two points. Richards, 21, of Shinnston, W.Va., leads the standings by two markers over Francis and defending champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who are tied for second.
Sixteen of the season’s 43 scheduled A-Mains remain, but 11 of those races will be run over a 25-day span beginning on Aug. 13 at Grandview.
BIG WINNERS: The top six drivers in the current WoO LMS points standings have won 18 of the season’s 27 A-Mains to date, led by Richards’s seven victories. Francis (five), Lanigan (two), Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (two), Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga. (one) and Fuller (one) account for the other checkered flags claimed by WoO LMS regulars.
WoO LMS travelers who have entered all 27 events this season but are still looking for their first win include Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., as well as Rookie of the Year contenders Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and 14-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
King leads the Rookie of the Year points race by 20 points over Bland and 118 points over Robinson, but the standings could soon become closer. Saturday’s Hagerstown show is scheduled to be the 30th A-Main of the season – so with the Rookie of the Year determined using a driver’s best 30 finishes, the first-year racers are on the verge of beginning to replace their worst outings.
SWINGERS: Several well-known regional drivers plan to run all three events of the Mid-Atlantic swing, including O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series points leader Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., a cousin of Chub Frank who was named the 2004 WoO LMS Crew Chief of the Year while working for Frank; Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., a 17-year-old sensation who has two top-five finishes this season on the WoO LMS (including a fifth at Hagerstown on May 30); and former WoO LMS A-Main winners Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa. (2008 at Virginia Motor Speedway) and Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa. (2007 at Tri-City Speedway).
MODIFIED FACES: Tim Fuller will be joined by two Gypsum Racing teammates on Thursday night at Grandview Speedway.
DIRTcar big-block Modified regulars Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., and Larry Wight of Baldwinsville, N.Y., are expected to enter their Gypsum Racing dirt Late Models in the historic event at Grandview. Decker is the defending Mr. DIRTcar big-block Modified champion, while the 16-year-old Wight – the son of Gypsum Racing owner John Wight – is a rising young star on the Northeast scene.
Decker, who was the best man at Fuller’s wedding, owns two career big-block Modified wins at Grandview, the latest coming in last year’s Super DIRTcar Series event.
GRANDVIEW EVENT INFORMATION: Gates will open on race night at 5:30 p.m., with WoO LMS Ohlins Shocks Time Trials scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m.
General Admission tickets are $30, with children 6-11 charged $10 and kids under 6 admitted free. Pit passes are $35.
Grandview Speedway is located 10 miles north of Pottstown, Pa., on Passmore Road, just off Route 100.
Additional info is available by visiting www.thunderonthehillracingseries.com and www.grandviewspeedway.com or by calling the track office at 610-754-7688.
BEDFORD EVENT INFORMATION: Spectator gates are scheduled to open at 5 p.m., with hot laps set to begin at 6:45 p.m. and time trials at 7:15 p.m.
General admission is $30, with kids 5-12 charged $5 and children 4-and-under admitted free. Pit passes are $40.
A raindate of Sun., Aug. 16, has been established for the event.
Additional info is available by visiting www.bedfordspeedway.com or calling 814-623-0500.
HAGERSTOWN EVENT INFORMATION: Hagerstown’s pit gates are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and the spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m., with hot laps set to begin at 7 p.m.
General admission is $30 and reserved seats are $35, with children 12-and-under admitted free of charge. Pit passes are $40.
Additional information is available by logging on to www.hagerstownspeedway.com or calling the track office at 301-582-0640.
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.
BACK IN BUSINESS: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series ends a two-and-a-half-week break with a three-race swing through the Mid-Atlantic region, making stops on Thursday night (Aug. 13) at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa.; Friday night (Aug. 14) at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway; and Saturday night (Aug. 15) at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
Grandview’s mid-week date is headlined by a 40-lap A-Main paying $7,000 to win, while the Bedford and Hagerstown programs boast 50-lap A-Mains with $10,000 top prizes on the line.
FIRST TIME: Veteran Northeast racing official/publicist Bob Miller has provided fans a wide variety of thrills since 1990 when he began co-promoting the ‘Thunder on the Hill’ special-event series with Grandview Speedway owner Bruce Rogers.
Just look at the divisions and series that Miller has featured at Grandview – a mix that includes 410 Sprint Cars (Pennsylvania Posse, World of Outlaws, All-Star Circuit of Champions, CRA, SCRA and USAC wingless), big-block Modifieds (open competition and Super DIRTcar Series), NASCAR 358-Modifieds, 360 Sprint Cars (URC and KARS), 358 Late Models, ARDC Midgets, Legends Cars and Mini-Sprints.
But on Thurs., Aug. 13, Miller will bring a brand-new attraction to the high-banked, one-third-mile oval: the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Making the ‘Traffic Jam’ program even more exciting, a 40-lap, $4,000-to-win feature for the big-block Modifieds will give fans an opportunity to see two huge headline divisions on the same night.
“I’m really excited to bring the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to Grandview for the first time and pair the event up with a race for the big-block Modifieds,” said Miller, who also serves as an official with the URC Sprint Car Series. “We always try to come up with Thunder on the Hill events that are unique and different, and this doubleheader definitely fits the bill.”
Grandview has long run 358 Late Models as a weekly Saturday-night division alongside its headline NASCAR 358-Modifieds, but Thursday’s WoO LMS event will mark the first race in track history for full-blown dirt Late Models.
Several Grandview 358 Late Model standouts are expected to challenge the WoO LMS stars on Thursday, including current points leader Randy Stoudt of Pottstown, Pa.; two-time ’09 winner Chuck Schutz of Pottstown, Pa., who has entered WoO LMS events in the past; Brian Shuey of Shoemakersville, Pa; Kyle Merkel of Gilbertsville, Pa.; and Dan Snyder of Green Lane, Pa.
BATTLE OF DIVISIONS: An added attraction on Grandview’s Aug. 13 schedule is the BPG Racing/Chad Sinon Motorsports Big-Block Modified vs. Late Model Challenge Dash, which will pit the winners of the WoO LMS and big-block Mod heats in a six-lap battle for a $1,000 top prize.
Which car would WoO LMS regular – and longtime DIRTcar big-block Modified standout – Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., rather be in for the Challenge sprint?
“Right now I’d want to be in my Late Model no matter what,” said Fuller, who won a Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified event at Grandview on July 19, 2005. “That doesn’t mean I don’t think a Modified could win it. It’s just that I really feel good about how my Late Model is running right now.”
Indeed, Fuller enters the Mid-Atlantic swing on a real hot streak. He won the last WoO LMS A-Main, on July 25 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, and over the past two weeks he enjoyed a great dirt Late Model weekend at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. (he won a WDRL feature on July 30 and scored a $20,000 second-place finish in the unsanctioned USA Nationals 100 on Aug. 1) and registered a $6,000 Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified victory on Aug. 8 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway.
FANTASTIC FAIRGROUNDS: Bedford Speedway hosts the WoO LMS for the third consecutive season on Fri., Aug. 14 – and track management is expecting the big event to continue a very successful season at the half-mile oval.
“We’re really looking forward to the Outlaw show,” said J.R. Keifer, who co-promotes the fairgrounds facility with Jim Maybury and Dr. Dave Horne under the DKM, Inc. banner. “This season has been the best we’ve had in eight years (operating the track), and we’re really tickled with the track preparation and surface (new clay was applied prior to the 2008 campaign).”
Unfortunately, Bedford’s third WoO LMS event (Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., won the 2007 A-Main and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., captured last year’s show) will be run with the track’s staff missing one familiar face. Keifer’s wife, Mary Ann, is currently in a Pittsburgh hospital being treated for serious injuries she suffered in a motorcycle accident on Sunday night in West Saint Clair Township, Pa.
The thoughts of the racing community are with the Keifer family for the recovery of Mary Ann, whose injuries include a broken wrist, dislocated elbow and injured right leg that will require surgery.
FAMILIAR STOP: Few tracks are more a part of the WoO LMS fabric than Hagerstown Speedway, which brings the tour back on Sat., Aug. 15, for a second 2009 appearance.
The half-mile oval has hosted at least one WoO LMS event in seven of the tour’s eight seasons, including the first incarnation of the WoO LMS under late WoO Sprint Car Series founder Ted Johnson (1988-1989) and the modern version that has been operated since 2004 by the World Racing Group. Eight drivers have scored victories in the 10 WoO LMS A-Mains contested at Hagerstown – Les Hare (1988), Gary Stuhler (1989), Rick Eckert (two wins in 2004), Tim McCreadie (two wins in 2005), Clint Smith (2006), Shannon Babb (2007), Josh Richards (2007) and Steve Francis (2008). The only WoO LMS season that has not included a race at Hagerstown is 2008, when the track’s May 31 event was rained out and not rescheduled.
Hagerstown is one of just six tracks scheduled to present more than one WoO LMS event in 2009. The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., has four races scheduled, while Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., have two dates on the sked.
DRAMA RESUMES: This weekend’s tripleheader continues the titanic battle for the $100,000 WoO LMS points championship, which currently sees three drivers separated by a mere two points. Richards, 21, of Shinnston, W.Va., leads the standings by two markers over Francis and defending champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who are tied for second.
Sixteen of the season’s 43 scheduled A-Mains remain, but 11 of those races will be run over a 25-day span beginning on Aug. 13 at Grandview.
BIG WINNERS: The top six drivers in the current WoO LMS points standings have won 18 of the season’s 27 A-Mains to date, led by Richards’s seven victories. Francis (five), Lanigan (two), Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (two), Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga. (one) and Fuller (one) account for the other checkered flags claimed by WoO LMS regulars.
WoO LMS travelers who have entered all 27 events this season but are still looking for their first win include Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., as well as Rookie of the Year contenders Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and 14-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
King leads the Rookie of the Year points race by 20 points over Bland and 118 points over Robinson, but the standings could soon become closer. Saturday’s Hagerstown show is scheduled to be the 30th A-Main of the season – so with the Rookie of the Year determined using a driver’s best 30 finishes, the first-year racers are on the verge of beginning to replace their worst outings.
SWINGERS: Several well-known regional drivers plan to run all three events of the Mid-Atlantic swing, including O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series points leader Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., a cousin of Chub Frank who was named the 2004 WoO LMS Crew Chief of the Year while working for Frank; Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., a 17-year-old sensation who has two top-five finishes this season on the WoO LMS (including a fifth at Hagerstown on May 30); and former WoO LMS A-Main winners Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa. (2008 at Virginia Motor Speedway) and Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa. (2007 at Tri-City Speedway).
MODIFIED FACES: Tim Fuller will be joined by two Gypsum Racing teammates on Thursday night at Grandview Speedway.
DIRTcar big-block Modified regulars Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., and Larry Wight of Baldwinsville, N.Y., are expected to enter their Gypsum Racing dirt Late Models in the historic event at Grandview. Decker is the defending Mr. DIRTcar big-block Modified champion, while the 16-year-old Wight – the son of Gypsum Racing owner John Wight – is a rising young star on the Northeast scene.
Decker, who was the best man at Fuller’s wedding, owns two career big-block Modified wins at Grandview, the latest coming in last year’s Super DIRTcar Series event.
GRANDVIEW EVENT INFORMATION: Gates will open on race night at 5:30 p.m., with WoO LMS Ohlins Shocks Time Trials scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m.
General Admission tickets are $30, with children 6-11 charged $10 and kids under 6 admitted free. Pit passes are $35.
Grandview Speedway is located 10 miles north of Pottstown, Pa., on Passmore Road, just off Route 100.
Additional info is available by visiting www.thunderonthehillracingseries.com and www.grandviewspeedway.com or by calling the track office at 610-754-7688.
BEDFORD EVENT INFORMATION: Spectator gates are scheduled to open at 5 p.m., with hot laps set to begin at 6:45 p.m. and time trials at 7:15 p.m.
General admission is $30, with kids 5-12 charged $5 and children 4-and-under admitted free. Pit passes are $40.
A raindate of Sun., Aug. 16, has been established for the event.
Additional info is available by visiting www.bedfordspeedway.com or calling 814-623-0500.
HAGERSTOWN EVENT INFORMATION: Hagerstown’s pit gates are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and the spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m., with hot laps set to begin at 7 p.m.
General admission is $30 and reserved seats are $35, with children 12-and-under admitted free of charge. Pit passes are $40.
Additional information is available by logging on to www.hagerstownspeedway.com or calling the track office at 301-582-0640.
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.
