World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Wrapping Up The Southern Swing To Lowe’s Motor Spee

jdearing

Administrator
Staff member
CONCORD, NC – Oct. 15, 2007 –

WORKING WELL: Steve Francis will be the first to tell you – there’s a lot of people responsible for the late-season surge that has put him on the brink of his first-ever World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship.

“We have been working our butts off,” Francis said after capturing Saturday night’s ‘Tennessee Fall Brawl’ 100 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. “Me, Lee (Logan, Francis’s chief mechanic), Mark (Richards of Rocket Chassis), Josh (Richards), Little Brian (Daugherty) from Integra, Larry and Jeremy (Clark) from Custom (Race Engines) – everyone has contributed to how strong we’ve been running.

“We’ve tested, and tested, and tested, and I finally got everything all put together where it needed to be.”

Francis, who has won three of the last nine WoO LMS events and holds a 62-point lead over Chub Frank with just two events remaining on the 2007 schedule, also credits his Rocket Chassis stablemates on the tour for helping him step up his game.

“The Rocket crew (on the WoO LMS) kinda got separated out this year,” said Francis. “With Dale (McDowell) deciding to do the thing with (Richard) Childress and Rick (Eckert) changing cars, our group kinda got all jumbled up.

“But now we finally got myself, Josh, Darrell (Lanigan), Brian (Shirley), (Shane) Clanton, Chub (Frank) and (Tim) Fuller where we’re actually back working on our cars, sharing our information and helping each other with our decisions. It’s just showing up for all of us.”

Francis, 40, of Ashland, Ky., heads to the season-ending ‘Outlaws World Finals’ on Nov. 1-3 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., solidly in the driver’s seat for the $100,000 title. If he finishes 14th or better in each of the 50-lap A-Mains, he’s assured of the championship even if Frank wins both events.

MISSING PIECE: Chub Frank didn’t lose any points to Francis after finishing seventh in Wednesday night’s ‘Jani-King Southern Showdown’ at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (the event offered WoO LMS show-up points to all entrants), but he did lose a part of his car during the 50-lapper.

When Frank hit a hole especially hard on the final lap, his car’s air cleaner stud broke, sending the air cleaner flying away. Frank stopped his car between turns one and two following the checkered flag and climbed out of his cockpit to search for the missing component, which he was able to locate.

The jarring blow that Frank absorbed at speed in the Jani-King event also left him with a sore neck. He realized how painful his stretched muscles were when he dived into Volunteer Speedway’s steeply-banked turn one for the first time on Friday night.

“The g-forces pushed my head to the side and I was like, ‘Oh, man! That hurts!’” said Bear Lake, Pa.’s Frank.

Frank gingerly moved his neck all weekend at Volunteer, but that wasn’t the reason for his subpar 11th-place finish. “We ain’t found a setup that works (at Volunteer),” he bottom-lined.

To start the second A-Main of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ with at least a shot at the WoO LMS title, Frank must shave a minimum of 10 points off Francis’s points lead in the first night’s 50-lapper. That equals a five-position difference (or four positions if Frank wins the feature).

With 26 cars scheduled to start each of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ A-Mains, a driver can make up a maximum of 52 points (the difference between 150 points for first and 98 for 26th). If Frank and Francis finished in a tie for the points lead, the title would go to Frank by virtue of the feature-wins tiebreaker (Frank has more victories).

HOPING FOR SECOND: Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who held at least a share of the WoO LMS points lead after 17 events this season, saw his flickering hopes for a career-first title effectively end at Volunteer Speedway.

With a 10th-place finish in the ‘Tennessee Fall Brawl 100,’ Smith fell 112 points behind Francis, who merely has to start the first A-Main of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ to extinguish Smith’s chances for the championship. Smith is 40 points behind Frank, however, so a runner-up finish in the standings remains possible for ‘Cat Daddy.’

QUICK REPAIR: When Josh Richards limped into the infield during the pace laps for Saturday’s ‘Tennessee Fall Brawl 100’ with a busted driveshaft in his No. 1, it looked like his night might be over before he even reached the green flag.

But as the field took a few extra laps to run in some water that had been sprayed on the inside of the track, the 19-year-old Richards suggested to his father/car owner Mark that they might be able to fix the machine. So Mark got on his four-wheeler, flew across the track and retrieved a replacement driveshaft at the team’s hauler in the pit area. Mark returned moments later, and the new driveshaft was quickly put on Josh’s car.

Alas, Richards pulled onto the racetrack in turn one just as the leaders were completing the first lap of the A-Main, so he ended up a lap down moments later. But he did salvage a 14th-place finish (two laps down) – and while he dropped to sixth in the points standings, he stayed within eighth points of Rick Eckert for fifth.

“We just needed about 15 more seconds and we could’ve got it fixed to where we could’ve made it on the track without losing a lap right off the bat,” said Richards. “Then we might’ve had a better night then we did.”

UPLIFTING RUN: Brian Shirley was very upbeat after driving forward from the 14th starting spot to finish sixth in Saturday’s 100-lapper at Volunteer Speedway, where two months ago he failed to qualify for the ‘Scorcher 100’ in his first-ever appearance there.

The 26-year-old standout from Chatham, Ill., showed that he’s finishing his first season with the WoO LMS on a strong note.

“We did some carburetor work on this car, did some motor work, and it’s a good package now,” Shirley said of the newest Ed Petroff-owned Rocket No. 3s he ran on Saturday. “This is a big race, and to run sixth is a important deal to us.

“Unfortunately, it’s all just so new to us, but I feel like in the last month, we’ve run second twice, won a (Knoxville Nationals) preliminary deal – things are seemingly getting better.”

The uplifting Bulls Gap run came after Shirley had a tough night on Wednesday at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He was scheduled to start second in the 50-lapper, but he was forced to take the green flag at the rear of the field after leaving the staging line to repair a broken rocker arm on his Rayburn car’s engine. Shirley was able to climb as high as third in the event, but he was hampered by a broken left-front A-frame and bodywork damage before finally retiring on lap 45 due to a broken axle tube. He also discovered afterward that his machine’s swing-arm had pulled out of the frame.

BACK IN OUTLAWS ACTION: Reigning WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie made his first tour start since June 2 on Wednesday night at The Dirt Track, finishing fifth in the A-Main despite making a mid-race pit stop to change a flat tire on his Sweeteners Plus No. 39.

McCreadie, 33, has run a limited dirt Late Model schedule to concentrate on his duties as a Richard Childress Racing development driver. He’s entered NASCAR Busch, Busch East and West Series events as well as ARCA RE/MAX Series shows in RCR equipment.

According to T-Mac, racing a stock on pavement hasn’t been his biggest adjustment this year. It’s been just as big a challenge for him to get used to a new work schedule.

“It’s a big lifestyle difference (running NASCAR and ARCA events),” said McCreadie. “I’m used to night work from running on dirt. I always say that I was a ‘third-shift’ guy – we’d race and work all night, drive all night to the next track, and then do it again the next night.

“Now, it’s the opposite for me. I have to get to the track early.”

MOVIN’ ON UP: Randy Weaver scored a career-high WoO LMS finish at Volunteer, placing third in the 100.

The 37-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., hopes he’ll be able to improve upon his show-position outing next year, when he plans to enter more WoO LMS events. His fourth year with D&R Racing of Kingston, Tenn., will be his busiest – and most ambitious – yet.

“We’re working on some big deals sponsorship-wise,” said Weaver. “We’re looking at teaming up with some people, and that’s gonna allow us to travel and run more big shows, including quite a bit of with the Outlaws.

“I’ve been with (D&R Racing) three years. We’ve been getting things in order – we had to build a shop, buy a hauler, get the right people in place. We’re getting there, and we’re ready to take the next step.

“I’m looking forward to doing more racing. I turn 38 next week, so I told (the team), ‘If it’s O.K., we gotta hurry up, because I probably don’t have a whole lot of years left!”

NOTABLE…

* Ray Cook’s WoO LMS career-best third-place finish in the ‘Tennessee Fall Brawl 100’ came after he swapped motors on Saturday. The fan belt came off his powerplant with two laps left in his Friday-night heat win, forcing him to pull a smaller 388 cubic-inch motor out of his backup car and install it in his primary No. 53.

Cook, 36, of Brasstown, N.C., also put American Racer tires on his car for the 100-lapper

“I have a really good relationship with both American Racer and Hoosier, and we just run what we feel we need to,” said Cook. “This field is so competitive that a lot of time you can pick up a tenth or two just by swapping tires.”

* Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who registered a memorable upset victory over the Outlaws on Sept. 2 at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., made the tow south to compete in both events.

But Stoney had trouble en route to The Dirt Track – first a flat tire on his trailer, then a faulty fuel pump on his hauler that forced him to stop on I-81 in Virginia and use chewing gum to effect a temporary fix – and had no better luck in competition. He failed to qualify for both shows.

* After watching NASCAR NEXTEL Cup star Ryan Newman drive a car from his stable to an 11th-place finish in The Dirt Track’s ‘Jani-King Southern Showdown,’ Steve Francis and a few of his WoO LMS friends spent part of Thursday visiting the palatial new 18,000-square-foot home that Newman is building outside Charlotte.

* At The Dirt Track, Rick Eckert nearly was a spectator for a WoO LMS A-Main for the first time since the tour was re-launched in 2004. His streak of consecutive tour starts was in jeopardy of ending at 150 when he failed to qualify in the first B-Main and found himself third in line for the two WoO LMS provisionals available.

Josh Richards won the third B-Main, however, and didn’t need a provisional, putting Eckert into a WoO LMS A-Main for the 151st consecutive time. Eckert and Francis remain the only two drivers who have competed in every WoO LMS A-Main since 2004.

* Austin Dillon, the 16-year-old grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, flashed his potential in the week’s pair of WoO LMS events. He was headed to a convincing heat win at The Dirt Track when his car’s motor expired in a cloud of smoke, and he won a B-Main at Volunteer over Chub Frank, Rick Eckert and Brady Smith (who was a DNQ after finishing fourth in August’s ‘Scorcher 100’ at the track).

Dillon, who finished the ‘Tennessee Fall Brawl 100’ on the lead lap in 13th place, received pit-area guidance from some faces familiar to WoO LMS followers. His head wrench is Shane McDowell, who spent 2004-2006 traveling the WoO LMS with his brother Dale McDowell and now works for the RCR Driver Development program; Dale McDowell was on hand to race and also spent time mentoring Dillon; and Tommy Grecco, the crew chief for Tim McCreadie’s 2006 WoO LMS title run who is now the chief mechanic on NASCAR star Clint Bowyer’s dirt Late Model equipment, provided additional assistance to Dillon and Dillon’s younger brother Ty, who raced in the crate Late Model support feature.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Oct. 13 - 42 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Steve Francis 4-25-38-$135,950-5,688 (-0)
2. Chub Frank 6-19-34-$128,180-5,626 (-62)
3. Clint Smith 4-17-30-$119,625-5,576 (-112)
4. Shane Clanton 2-13-28-$89,747-5,496 (-192)
5. Rick Eckert 0-12-26-$79,110-5,480 (-208)
6. Josh Richards 4-11-25-$102,657-5,472 (-216)
7. Darrell Lanigan 2-10-27-$86,105-5,206 (-482)
8. Tim Fuller 1-10-15-$70,705-4,259 (-1429)
9. Brian Shirley 1-5-13-$61,754-4,070 (-1618)
10. Shannon Babb 5-13-17-$100,885-3,732 (-1956)
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-2-5-$25,920-2,754 (-2936)
12. Roy Mitchell 0-0-0-$13,290-2,458 (-3230)
13. Chris Madden 2-8-12-$90,015-2,454 (-3234)
14. Billy Moyer 1-9-12-$42,575-2,448 (-3240)
15. Brian Birkhofer 0-1-8-$24,810-2,079 (-3609)
16. Jimmy Mars 0-5-7-$27,930-1,773 (-3915)
17. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$10,830-1,738 (-3950)
18. Dan Stone 1-1-3-$18,335-1,640 (-4048)
19. Brady Smith 0-2-5-$14,450-1,434 (-4254)
20. Dennis Erb Jr. 2-4-7-$33,000-1,433 (-4255)
 




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