CONCORD, NC - Aug. 17, 2009 -
WINNING DECISION: Tim Fuller has made plenty of on-the-money decisions during his current World of Outlaws Late Model Series win streak, which swelled to a record-tying four in-a-row with his sweep of last weekend’s three-race Mid-Atlantic Region swing.
But the Watertown, N.Y., star’s shrewdest call might have come before Saturday night’s 50-lap A-Main at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway – when he made a Hoosier tire choice that ultimately helped propel him to a runaway victory.
Fuller, 41, carefully considered his options before finally going with a softer tire-compound selection that snookered his competition.
“We had 40s (compound tires) ready for the right side and a 1450 and 1425 (compounds) ready for the right side,” Fuller said of his pre-race thought process for the half-mile oval. “We finally put the (softer) 1450 and 1425 on. After we dropped the car down (off the jack), Bob (Wirts of Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic) came over to me and said, ‘What did you go with?’ I said, ‘1450 and 1425,’ and then he said, ‘You sure?’ I just told him, ‘God hates a coward.’
“Bob said, ‘You know, you can change (the tires) right now because everybody’s going with (harder) 1600s,’ but I said, ‘I don’t care. I’m going for it.’ We aren’t in a points battle for the championship (Fuller is fifth in the WoO LMS standings, 144 points behind leader Josh Richards), so you gotta know the top three guys (Richards, Steve Francis and Darrell Lanigan) are going a little on the conservative side. They don’t think they are, but they are.”
After decimating the field to equal Rick Eckert’s modern-era WoO LMS consecutive win record of four (set in 2006), Fuller was congratulated in Victory Lane by an obviously pumped Wirts.
“He was happy because (Hagerstown) has been known as an American Racer racetrack and he wants everybody to see that running a (Hoosier) 1450 can work,” said Fuller. “Guys haven’t dared (use a 1450) because they thought they’d get beat – and now I win on a 1450, so it’s kind of a selling point for him.”
PLEASING THE BOSS: Fuller’s 40-lap triumph last Thursday night at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., was extra special to him personally because his car owners, upstate New York trucking company magnate and major racing supporter John Wight and his wife Laura, were on hand for the event.
It marked the first time in three years of dirt Late Model racing that Fuller was victorious in front of the Wights, who also fielded Late Models at Grandview that were driven by DIRTcar big-block Modified superstar Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y. (he finished 15th after his night was set back by a broken right-front shock during heat action) and their 16-year-old son Larry Wight (DNQ after being involved in a B-Main tangle).
“Winning in front of our owners is a first,” Fuller said with a smile in Grandview’s pit area. “They have so much going on with their Modified teams (including cars for Decker, Wight and New Yorker Pat Ward) and the racetracks (they now own central New York’s Brewerton and Fulton speedways), the only time they really ever see me race (the Late Model) is on the (WoO LMS Great) Northern Tour and down in Florida (in February).
“It was great to have them here. They spend all their hard-earned money to see their car do something eventually, so it’s great to win one for them.”
Fuller had also expected to visit at Grandview with his former DIRTcar big-block Modified owner, Bob Faust, whose home is Slatington, Pa., is about 35 miles north of the track. But the animated Faust didn’t show up – and Fuller let his old boss have it for skipping the event. While still standing in Victory Lane, Fuller used a friend’s cell phone to leave a message that busted Faust’s stones.
“He said he was coming, but he got scared of the rain,” quipped Fuller, who drove for Faust from 1999-2005. “Of course, it stopped raining here by noon – the clear blue sky chased the rain out of here. You could’ve got a suntan today, but Bob was scared of the rain.”
HAGERSTOWN TURNAROUNDS: The performance of WoO LMS title contenders Josh Richards and Darrell Lanigan at Hagerstown Speedway last Saturday night was 180 degrees different than their previous tour appearance there on May 30.
For Richards, that was a good thing. For Lanigan, that was bad.
Back in the spring 50-lapper, Lanigan finished second and Richards struggled to a 17th-place finish (one lap down). They basically flipped fortunes on Saturday night – Richards was a solid runner-up in the A-Main, while Lanigan finished 17th (one lap down) after using a provisional to get in the headliner.
“I’m just ecstatic with second,” said Richards, who regained the points lead after Francis blew a right-rear tire running third with six laps remaining and settled for a 10th-place finish. “We struggled so bad with a new car in the last Outlaw race here, so we came in here tonight with our minds clear and did our own thing.
“That last time here was bad, probably our worst night of the year. I felt exactly the way Darrell does after leaving here tonight. We were just out to lunch.”
Lanigan experienced arguably his most frustrating outing of the season. His chief mechanic, Randall Edwards, said the team “got behind the eight-ball at the start of the night – and at a place like this, you’re not gonna catch up.”
SUCCESSFUL RELATIVES: While Edwards’s weekend ended on a sour note with Lanigan’s difficult night at Hagerstown, he received great family news the previous evening when he learned that his nephew by marriage, Brit Miller, enjoyed a spectacular NFL debut playing for the San Francisco 49ers in a pre-season game.
An All-Big 10 middle linebacker at the University of Illinois last season, Miller was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers but was cut on June 30. He was picked up off waivers one week later by the 49ers, converted to a fullback and played in the team’s pre-season opener last Friday night against the Denver Broncos. Miller promptly caught a pair of touchdown passes – a three-yard score in the second quarter and a 40-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter that gave the 49ers a 17-16 victory.
Miller, whose mother is a sister of Edwards’s wife Lauri, called Edwards on Sunday and said he had watched the telecast of Lanigan’s ‘Gopher 50’ victory at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., the previous day on SPEED. The conversation, of course, also moved to the details of Miller’s performance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
“I said to him, ‘Were you nervous?’” related Edwards, who watched Miller’s second touchdown run on the satellite television in Lanigan’s hauler after Friday night’s race at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway. “He told me, ‘I didn’t have enough time to be nervous. I thought I was supposed to only play the second half, but halfway through the first quarter they called my name and said, Brit, get your *** in there.’”
Edwards said that Miller, a native of Decatur, Ill., is a big race fan. This year, in fact, Miller attended the WoO LMS ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway along with several of his teammates from the University of Illinois.
Another familiar face on the WoO LMS scene this season, Rookie of the Year contender Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., also had a relative do some big things away from the racetrack in recent weeks. Bland’s 19-year-old sister, Jefra, finished sixth in the Miss Teen USA 2009 pageant held on July 31 at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
With the WoO LMS idle the week of the contest, Bland traveled to the Bahamas to see his sister compete. He said Jefra, a University of Kentucky student and aspiring auto racing broadcaster who gained entry to the national competition by winning the Miss Kentucky Teen USA pageant, threw out a dirt Late Model reference during the question-and-answer segment on stage.
“They asked her, ‘What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done?” said Bland. “She said, ‘Watch my brother make the World 100 (in 2008 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway).’”
MAJOR LETDOWN: The WoO LMS schedule seemed to favor Rick Eckert with back-to-back events at Bedford Speedway (where he won four consecutive dirt Late Model championships) and Hagerstown Speedway (where he’s scored many big wins, including two WoO LMS events).
But when the weekend was over, Eckert had finishes of 24th at Bedford and 14th at Hagerstown to his credit. He wasn’t a factor in either A-Main, leaving him very frustrated.
“The last two nights were definitely disappointing,” said Eckert, who entered the three-race swing 72 points out of first in the WoO LMS standings and ended it trailing points leader Richards by 138 points (and ahead of fifth-place Fuller by a mere six markers). “We were looking forward to running two places close to home that we know pretty well, but we weren’t any good both nights.”
Using a new-style engine at Bedford, Eckert struggled during qualifying and was an early A-Main retiree due to problems under the hood. He won a heat race at Hagerstown and drew the fifth starting spot for the A-Main, but he tumbled backward with an ill-performing machine and went down a lap to Fuller by lap 36.
YOUNGSTERS TO WATCH: Austin Hubbard and Gregg Satterlee – two up-and-coming drivers who are possible WoO LMS Rookie of the Year applicants in 2010 – flashed some of their vast potential during the Mid-Atlantic swing.
Hubbard, a 17-year-old from Seaford, Del., who will soon start his senior year of high school, registered his third top-five finish of the ’09 tour with a fifth-place run on Thursday night at Grandview. He scored his first career WoO LMS fast-time honor on Friday at Bedford Speedway and finished sixth in the A-Main, and then on Saturday night he placed a solid eighth at Hagerstown to join Fuller, Francis, Richards and Vic Coffey as drivers with a top-10 finish in all three events.
Satterlee, meanwhile, was impressive at Bedford, leading laps 1-27 and finishing a WoO LMS career-best fifth. The 24-year-old from Rochester Mills, Pa., was only slightly disappointed to slip backward after pacing more than half the distance.
“I’m real happy with a fifth,” said Satterlee, who competed at Bedford with his father as his only crewman. “I went a little too soft with my left-rear (American Racer tire) so the car didn’t stick as good in the turns as the race went on, but I’m still pretty satisfied. I haven’t really run that many 50-lappers yet so we’re still learning.”
ETCETERA:
* All the cars in action Friday at Bedford carried stickers that read ‘Get Well Soon Mary Ann’ in honor of Bedford co-promoter J.R. Keifer’s wife, who was seriously injured in a highway motorcycle crash on Aug. 9. With Mary Ann in a Pittsburgh hospital recovering from leg, wrist, elbow and back injuries, J.R. was by her side and missing from Bedford’s program.
Drivers collected over $5,100 for Mary Ann’s recovery when they went through the stands with their helmets prior to the start of the A-Main, and several competitors donated such items as race car doors and firesuits that will be auctioned off to raise more money for Mary Ann’s medical treatment.
* Four-time Bedford Speedway champion and current points leader Jack Pencil saw his hopes for a magical night at his hometrack evaporate with the wave of his heat race’s green flag. After timing sixth-fastest to earn an outside-pole starting spot in the second heat, Pencil pulled up lame in turn two on the opening lap with terminal motor trouble.
Pencil did get a chance to start the A-Main using a track provisional thanks to WoO LMS regular Chub Frank, who pulled out his backup car for Pencil to use. Ironically, both Pencil and Frank have experienced shop fires that leveled their garages – Frank in 2005, and Pencil five months ago.
* Brady Smith was still searching for his first win as a WoO LMS regular in 2009 after lagging through a three-race Mid-Atlantic swing that he called “a trip from hell.” His only top 10 was a ninth at Grandview, and he had to change motors after breaking a powerplant at Bedford.
UP NEXT: The WoO LMS returns to action on Thursday night (Aug. 20), contesting the rescheduled Pepsi 40 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio. Then the tour moves to K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio, for the $20,000-to-win Buckeye 100 on Friday and Saturday nights (Aug. 21-22) and runs a rescheduled 50-lap event on Sunday night (Aug. 23) at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.
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.
WINNING DECISION: Tim Fuller has made plenty of on-the-money decisions during his current World of Outlaws Late Model Series win streak, which swelled to a record-tying four in-a-row with his sweep of last weekend’s three-race Mid-Atlantic Region swing.
But the Watertown, N.Y., star’s shrewdest call might have come before Saturday night’s 50-lap A-Main at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway – when he made a Hoosier tire choice that ultimately helped propel him to a runaway victory.
Fuller, 41, carefully considered his options before finally going with a softer tire-compound selection that snookered his competition.
“We had 40s (compound tires) ready for the right side and a 1450 and 1425 (compounds) ready for the right side,” Fuller said of his pre-race thought process for the half-mile oval. “We finally put the (softer) 1450 and 1425 on. After we dropped the car down (off the jack), Bob (Wirts of Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic) came over to me and said, ‘What did you go with?’ I said, ‘1450 and 1425,’ and then he said, ‘You sure?’ I just told him, ‘God hates a coward.’
“Bob said, ‘You know, you can change (the tires) right now because everybody’s going with (harder) 1600s,’ but I said, ‘I don’t care. I’m going for it.’ We aren’t in a points battle for the championship (Fuller is fifth in the WoO LMS standings, 144 points behind leader Josh Richards), so you gotta know the top three guys (Richards, Steve Francis and Darrell Lanigan) are going a little on the conservative side. They don’t think they are, but they are.”
After decimating the field to equal Rick Eckert’s modern-era WoO LMS consecutive win record of four (set in 2006), Fuller was congratulated in Victory Lane by an obviously pumped Wirts.
“He was happy because (Hagerstown) has been known as an American Racer racetrack and he wants everybody to see that running a (Hoosier) 1450 can work,” said Fuller. “Guys haven’t dared (use a 1450) because they thought they’d get beat – and now I win on a 1450, so it’s kind of a selling point for him.”
PLEASING THE BOSS: Fuller’s 40-lap triumph last Thursday night at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., was extra special to him personally because his car owners, upstate New York trucking company magnate and major racing supporter John Wight and his wife Laura, were on hand for the event.
It marked the first time in three years of dirt Late Model racing that Fuller was victorious in front of the Wights, who also fielded Late Models at Grandview that were driven by DIRTcar big-block Modified superstar Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y. (he finished 15th after his night was set back by a broken right-front shock during heat action) and their 16-year-old son Larry Wight (DNQ after being involved in a B-Main tangle).
“Winning in front of our owners is a first,” Fuller said with a smile in Grandview’s pit area. “They have so much going on with their Modified teams (including cars for Decker, Wight and New Yorker Pat Ward) and the racetracks (they now own central New York’s Brewerton and Fulton speedways), the only time they really ever see me race (the Late Model) is on the (WoO LMS Great) Northern Tour and down in Florida (in February).
“It was great to have them here. They spend all their hard-earned money to see their car do something eventually, so it’s great to win one for them.”
Fuller had also expected to visit at Grandview with his former DIRTcar big-block Modified owner, Bob Faust, whose home is Slatington, Pa., is about 35 miles north of the track. But the animated Faust didn’t show up – and Fuller let his old boss have it for skipping the event. While still standing in Victory Lane, Fuller used a friend’s cell phone to leave a message that busted Faust’s stones.
“He said he was coming, but he got scared of the rain,” quipped Fuller, who drove for Faust from 1999-2005. “Of course, it stopped raining here by noon – the clear blue sky chased the rain out of here. You could’ve got a suntan today, but Bob was scared of the rain.”
HAGERSTOWN TURNAROUNDS: The performance of WoO LMS title contenders Josh Richards and Darrell Lanigan at Hagerstown Speedway last Saturday night was 180 degrees different than their previous tour appearance there on May 30.
For Richards, that was a good thing. For Lanigan, that was bad.
Back in the spring 50-lapper, Lanigan finished second and Richards struggled to a 17th-place finish (one lap down). They basically flipped fortunes on Saturday night – Richards was a solid runner-up in the A-Main, while Lanigan finished 17th (one lap down) after using a provisional to get in the headliner.
“I’m just ecstatic with second,” said Richards, who regained the points lead after Francis blew a right-rear tire running third with six laps remaining and settled for a 10th-place finish. “We struggled so bad with a new car in the last Outlaw race here, so we came in here tonight with our minds clear and did our own thing.
“That last time here was bad, probably our worst night of the year. I felt exactly the way Darrell does after leaving here tonight. We were just out to lunch.”
Lanigan experienced arguably his most frustrating outing of the season. His chief mechanic, Randall Edwards, said the team “got behind the eight-ball at the start of the night – and at a place like this, you’re not gonna catch up.”
SUCCESSFUL RELATIVES: While Edwards’s weekend ended on a sour note with Lanigan’s difficult night at Hagerstown, he received great family news the previous evening when he learned that his nephew by marriage, Brit Miller, enjoyed a spectacular NFL debut playing for the San Francisco 49ers in a pre-season game.
An All-Big 10 middle linebacker at the University of Illinois last season, Miller was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers but was cut on June 30. He was picked up off waivers one week later by the 49ers, converted to a fullback and played in the team’s pre-season opener last Friday night against the Denver Broncos. Miller promptly caught a pair of touchdown passes – a three-yard score in the second quarter and a 40-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter that gave the 49ers a 17-16 victory.
Miller, whose mother is a sister of Edwards’s wife Lauri, called Edwards on Sunday and said he had watched the telecast of Lanigan’s ‘Gopher 50’ victory at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., the previous day on SPEED. The conversation, of course, also moved to the details of Miller’s performance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
“I said to him, ‘Were you nervous?’” related Edwards, who watched Miller’s second touchdown run on the satellite television in Lanigan’s hauler after Friday night’s race at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway. “He told me, ‘I didn’t have enough time to be nervous. I thought I was supposed to only play the second half, but halfway through the first quarter they called my name and said, Brit, get your *** in there.’”
Edwards said that Miller, a native of Decatur, Ill., is a big race fan. This year, in fact, Miller attended the WoO LMS ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway along with several of his teammates from the University of Illinois.
Another familiar face on the WoO LMS scene this season, Rookie of the Year contender Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., also had a relative do some big things away from the racetrack in recent weeks. Bland’s 19-year-old sister, Jefra, finished sixth in the Miss Teen USA 2009 pageant held on July 31 at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
With the WoO LMS idle the week of the contest, Bland traveled to the Bahamas to see his sister compete. He said Jefra, a University of Kentucky student and aspiring auto racing broadcaster who gained entry to the national competition by winning the Miss Kentucky Teen USA pageant, threw out a dirt Late Model reference during the question-and-answer segment on stage.
“They asked her, ‘What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done?” said Bland. “She said, ‘Watch my brother make the World 100 (in 2008 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway).’”
MAJOR LETDOWN: The WoO LMS schedule seemed to favor Rick Eckert with back-to-back events at Bedford Speedway (where he won four consecutive dirt Late Model championships) and Hagerstown Speedway (where he’s scored many big wins, including two WoO LMS events).
But when the weekend was over, Eckert had finishes of 24th at Bedford and 14th at Hagerstown to his credit. He wasn’t a factor in either A-Main, leaving him very frustrated.
“The last two nights were definitely disappointing,” said Eckert, who entered the three-race swing 72 points out of first in the WoO LMS standings and ended it trailing points leader Richards by 138 points (and ahead of fifth-place Fuller by a mere six markers). “We were looking forward to running two places close to home that we know pretty well, but we weren’t any good both nights.”
Using a new-style engine at Bedford, Eckert struggled during qualifying and was an early A-Main retiree due to problems under the hood. He won a heat race at Hagerstown and drew the fifth starting spot for the A-Main, but he tumbled backward with an ill-performing machine and went down a lap to Fuller by lap 36.
YOUNGSTERS TO WATCH: Austin Hubbard and Gregg Satterlee – two up-and-coming drivers who are possible WoO LMS Rookie of the Year applicants in 2010 – flashed some of their vast potential during the Mid-Atlantic swing.
Hubbard, a 17-year-old from Seaford, Del., who will soon start his senior year of high school, registered his third top-five finish of the ’09 tour with a fifth-place run on Thursday night at Grandview. He scored his first career WoO LMS fast-time honor on Friday at Bedford Speedway and finished sixth in the A-Main, and then on Saturday night he placed a solid eighth at Hagerstown to join Fuller, Francis, Richards and Vic Coffey as drivers with a top-10 finish in all three events.
Satterlee, meanwhile, was impressive at Bedford, leading laps 1-27 and finishing a WoO LMS career-best fifth. The 24-year-old from Rochester Mills, Pa., was only slightly disappointed to slip backward after pacing more than half the distance.
“I’m real happy with a fifth,” said Satterlee, who competed at Bedford with his father as his only crewman. “I went a little too soft with my left-rear (American Racer tire) so the car didn’t stick as good in the turns as the race went on, but I’m still pretty satisfied. I haven’t really run that many 50-lappers yet so we’re still learning.”
ETCETERA:
* All the cars in action Friday at Bedford carried stickers that read ‘Get Well Soon Mary Ann’ in honor of Bedford co-promoter J.R. Keifer’s wife, who was seriously injured in a highway motorcycle crash on Aug. 9. With Mary Ann in a Pittsburgh hospital recovering from leg, wrist, elbow and back injuries, J.R. was by her side and missing from Bedford’s program.
Drivers collected over $5,100 for Mary Ann’s recovery when they went through the stands with their helmets prior to the start of the A-Main, and several competitors donated such items as race car doors and firesuits that will be auctioned off to raise more money for Mary Ann’s medical treatment.
* Four-time Bedford Speedway champion and current points leader Jack Pencil saw his hopes for a magical night at his hometrack evaporate with the wave of his heat race’s green flag. After timing sixth-fastest to earn an outside-pole starting spot in the second heat, Pencil pulled up lame in turn two on the opening lap with terminal motor trouble.
Pencil did get a chance to start the A-Main using a track provisional thanks to WoO LMS regular Chub Frank, who pulled out his backup car for Pencil to use. Ironically, both Pencil and Frank have experienced shop fires that leveled their garages – Frank in 2005, and Pencil five months ago.
* Brady Smith was still searching for his first win as a WoO LMS regular in 2009 after lagging through a three-race Mid-Atlantic swing that he called “a trip from hell.” His only top 10 was a ninth at Grandview, and he had to change motors after breaking a powerplant at Bedford.
UP NEXT: The WoO LMS returns to action on Thursday night (Aug. 20), contesting the rescheduled Pepsi 40 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio. Then the tour moves to K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio, for the $20,000-to-win Buckeye 100 on Friday and Saturday nights (Aug. 21-22) and runs a rescheduled 50-lap event on Sunday night (Aug. 23) at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.
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.
