Qualifying Feature Triumphs Worth $10,000 Go To World of Outlaws Rookie Pat Doar & West Virginia’s Steve Shaver
MIDDLEBOURNE, WV – Sept. 3, 2011 – Jared Hawkins lived a fairy tale on Saturday night.
Racing in front of his home-state fans on a track he knows well, the rising young star from Fairmont, W.Va., rolled to the biggest win of his career in the 45-lap ‘Sweet Sixteen’ finale of the second annual Black Diamond 125 at Tyler County Speedway.
Hawkins, 25, earned a huge $20,000 paycheck for his victory in the unique World of Outlaws Late Model Series event, which pitted the top-eight finishers from a pair of 40-lap Qualifying Features held earlier in the night. He placed third in the second preliminary (from the 12th starting spot) and then dominated the evening’s headline race after passing Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., for the lead on lap four.
Click here to watch a post-race interview with Hawkins.
The triumph capped a spectacular weekend at the quarter-mile oval for Hawkins, who also scored an $8,000 triumph in Friday night’s 51-lap UFO Series ‘West Virginia State Championship’ event. That stood as the richest win of his seven-year dirt Late Model career – for exactly 24 hours.
“This is unreal,” said Hawkins, who became the 43rd driver to win a WoO LMS A-Main since 2004. “I’m waiting to wake up from this. I’ve dreamed about (winning a major race) my whole life, and to win here in my home state at my favorite track with all these guys here – the 20-grand’s nice, but beating these guys feels so damn good.”
After WoO LMS Rookie of the Year leader Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., and veteran Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., bagged $10,000 victories in the Qualifying Features, Hawkins seized the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ spotlight. He quickly hustled his Bobby Lake Motorsports Rocket forward from the fourth starting position and was never seriously challenged en route to the checkered flag.
Hawkins did have to deal with a single caution flag – on lap 26 when Davey Johnson of Imperial, Pa., slowed in turn four – but he scarcely missed a beat following the restart. He spent the remainder of the distance maintaining an edge of about one second over Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who grabbed second from Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., on lap 28.
“I was just trying to protect,” Hawkins said of his steady run to the finish. “I figured at any minute somebody was gonna be rolling by me, so I just tried to run a smooth line. I got a little excited when I saw the two-to-go (signal) and almost threw (the race) away, but I was able to hold on.”
Hawkins was greeted in Victory Lane by his overjoyed car owner Bobby Lake, who in 11 years in the dirt Late Model business had never won a race paying more than $5,000 to win. The West Virginian praised his hired gun.
“I think I got me a gem here,” Lake said of Hawkins, who is in his seventh year behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model but first driving for Lake. “He’s doing a heck of a job.”
Stone, 34, settled for a $6,000 second-place finish in his family-owned car – four years and one day since his memorable upset WoO LMS victory at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. He thought he might have had a shot to battle Hawkins if not for the race’s lone caution flag.
“I think we had a different tire than just about everybody out there and that caution killed us,” said Stone, who started fifth. “Man, that thing was locked to the racetrack before that caution. It was effortless to drive.
“But I’ll tell you what – this is great for these guys,” he continued, gesturing toward the celebrating Hawkins and Lake team. “Hometown guys winning – it couldn’t happen to nicer people.”
Marlar finished third driving a new Rocket car owned by Norman Bryson. Two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., came from 12th to place fourth – and visited his good buddy Hawkins in Victory Lane to offer his congratulations – and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., completed the top five after starting 15th in the 16-car field.
Finishing in positions 6-10 was Tim Senic of Elkins, W.Va.; Doar, who started third but wasn’t a factor; Chris Meadows of Crab Orchard, W.Va.; Butch McGill of West Union, W.Va., and Shaver, who pitted on lap 26.
Shaver was flawless in the second Qualifying feature, leading the event from wire-to-wire in the K&L Rumley Rocket car. He survived four caution flags and turned back a late-race bid from Richards to secure the five-figure payday.
Richards, who started sixth, reached second with a lap-22 pass of Stone but couldn’t find a way by Shaver. He crossed the finish line 0.201 of a second behind Shaver.
Hawkins placed third, fading slightly during the second half after appearing primed to glide straight to the front when he needed just 10 laps to move from 12th to fourth. McCreadie was fourth after starting 11th and Stone slipped to fifth at the checkered flag.
The 46-year-old Doar, meanwhile, was the lone driver from outside West Virginia’s borders to crack the winner’s circle during the Black Diamond 125. He pulled off the most dramatic win of the night, outdueling Davey Johnson and Marlar in a tense three-car shootout that had the big crowd howling.
Doar raced off the pole position to lead laps 1-23 before being overtaken by Johnson. The first-year WoO LMS traveler refused to give in, however, and found new life after a lap-30 caution flag, using the high side of the Bullring to regain command on lap 34.
Moments later Marlar, who started fifth but had fallen to seventh when the caution flag flew on lap 30, found a fast way around the outside of the track. He caught Doar and Johnson on lap 36 and for the next three circuits the trio ran three-wide at times for the lead.
The battle was stalled on the final lap when a caution flag was needed for a multi-car tangle in turn three – an incident that occurred directly in front of the on-rushing leaders. Doar had to spin to avoid the crashed machines, but his Mars car sustained only slight rear bodywork damage and he was permitted to restart at the front of the pack because the yellow lights were already on when he slid into the accident scene.
Doar took advantage of the second chance, firing off on the restart to defeat Johnson by 0.145 of a second. Marlar finished a close third, followed by McGill and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.
“We’ve been running all over the country this summer and we’ve run pretty ugly some nights,” said Doar. “Tonight it just went good. I like it here at Tyler County. It’s a pretty big moment for me.”
With 87 cars signed in for the action, Marlar was quickest in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials with a lap of 13.306 seconds. It was his second WoO LMS fast-time honor of 2011 and the third of his career.
The results of time trials were used to split the field for the two qualifying-feature programs – odd-numbered qualifiers to the first program, even-numbered timers to the second set of preliminaries.
Heat winners for the first qualifying program were Marlar, Tim Dohm of Cross Lanes, W.Va., Doar and Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga. The B-Mains were captured by Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and Cody Parker of Zanesville, Ohio.
Heats for the even-numbered time-trialers were claimed by Jacob Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., Stone, Richards and Chris Meadows of Crab Orchard, W.Va. The B-Mains were won by Corey Conley of Wellsburg, W.Va., and Chris Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va.
The WoO LMS will complete its Labor Day doubleheader on Sunday night (Sept. 4) at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa. A $10,000 top prize will be on the line in the three-eighths-mile track’s inaugural ‘Joy Mining Machinery 50.’
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Black Diamond 125 Sweet Sixteen Finale’ at Tyler County Speedway – 45 laps (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (4) Jared Hawkins/45 $20,000
2. (5) Dan Stone/45 $6,000
3. (6) Mike Marlar/45 $4,000
4. (12) Josh Richards/45 $3,000
5. (15) Tim McCreadie/45 $2,000
6. (13) Tim Senic/45 $1,800
7. (3) Pat Doar/45 $1,500
8. (7) Chris Meadows/45 $1,400
9. (11) Butch McGill/45 $1,300
10. (10) Steve Shaver/45 $1,200
11. (16) Shane Clanton/44 $1,150
12. (1) Zack Dohm/36 $1,100
13. (2) Chub Frank/32 $1,075
14. (14) Davey Johnson/25 $1,050
15. (8) Darrell Lanigan/24 $1,025
16. (9) Tim Fuller/19 $1,000
Time of Race: 12 Mins., 40.060 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.816 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (Lap 26)
Lap Leaders: Frank (1-3); Hawkins (4-45)
Results of WoO Late Model Series Black Diamond 125 Qualifying Feature No. 1 (odd-numbered time-trialers) – 40 laps/Top 8 Transfer to ‘Sweet Sixteen Finale’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (1) Pat Doar/40 $10,500
2. (5) Mike Marlar/40 $3,000
3. (2) Davey Johnson/40 $2,000
4. (9) Butch McGill/40 $1,200
5. (3) Darrell Lanigan/40 $1,600
6. (7) Shane Clanton/40 $1,300
7. (10) Tim Senic/40 $700
8. (16) Chub Frank/40 $1,100
9. (4) Rick Williams/40 $1,000
10. (17) Clint Smith/40 $1,500
11. (11) Keith Barbara/40 $1,000
12. (22) Freddie Carpenter/40 $1,000
13. (14) Jonathan Davenport/40 $1,000
14. (12) Mike Benedum/40 $1,000
15. (18) Cody Parker/40 $1,000
16. (13) Donnie Moran/40 $1,000
17. (15) Gregg Satterlee/40 $1,000
18. (21) John Lobb/39 $1,000
19. (23) John Garvin/39 $1,000
20. (8) Tim Dohm/38 $1,000
21. (6) Paul Wilmoth Jr./38 $1,000
22. (19) Austin Hubbard/38 $1,500
23. (20) Dwight Henry/34 $1,000
24. (24) Wayne Maffett Jr./28 $1,000
* Earnings include Winners Circle program
Time of Race: 17 Mins., 40.405 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.145 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 30, 39)
Lap Leaders: Doar (1-23); Johnson (24-33); Doar (34-40)
Provisional Starters: Garvin (WoO); Maffett (track)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Marlar, Williams, McGill, Donnie Moran, Hubbard, Garvin, Devin Moran, Delano, S. Merkel, Armstrong, T. Carpenter
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): T. Dohm, Johnson, Senic, Davenport, Smith, Hitt, Lobb, Prosser, Brown, Coffman, Thomas
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Doar, Lanigan, Barbara, Satterlee, Bradsher, S. Wilmoth, Henry, Rogers, Tish, Baumberger, Klepinger
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Clanton, P. Wilmoth, Benedum, Frank, Parker, F. Carpenter, Corbett, R. Conley, Southern, Lily (DNS) Miley
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Smith, Hubbard, Lobb, Devin Moran, Garvin, Hitt, Brown, Delano, S. Merkel, T. Carpenter, Armstrong, Prosser, Coffman, Thomas
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 1): Parker, Henry, F. Carpenter, Corbett, R. Conley, Southern, Tish, Lily, Klepinger, Rogers, S. Wilmoth, Baumgardner (DNS) Bradsher, Miley
Results of WoO Late Model Series Black Diamond 125 Qualifying Feature No. 2 (even-number time-trialers) – 40 laps/Top 8 Transfer to ‘Sweet Sixteen Finale’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Steve Shaver/40 $10,000
2. (6) Josh Richards/40 $3,600
3. (12) Jared Hawkins/40 $2,000
4. (11) Tim McCreadie/40 $1,800
5. (3) Dan Stone/40 $1,000
6. (4) Chris Meadows/40 $800
7. (19) Tim Fuller/40 $1,200
8. (1) Zack Dohm/40 $600
9. (8) Rick Eckert/40 $1,500
10. (9) Devin Friese/40 $1,000
11. (18) Chris Carpenter/40 $1,000
12. (17) Corey Conley/40 $1,000
13. (7) Jacob Hawkins/40 $1,000
14. (16) Jason Covert/40 $1,000
15. (23) Vic Coffey/40 $1,500
16. (10) Steve Weigle/40 $1,000
17. (14) Dusty Hamrick/40 $1,000
18. (13) Harold Redman Jr./39 $1,000
19. (21) Kyle Thomas/23 $1,000
20. (5) Ron Davies/4 $1,500
21. (20) Sonny Conley/4 $1,000
22. (15) Jamie Lathroum/4 $1,000
23. (22) Mark Banal/3 $1,000
24. (24) Steve Wilmoth/3 $1,000
* Earnings include Winners Circle program
Time of Race: 17 Mins., 08.648 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.201 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 0, 4, 4, 29)
Lap Leaders: Shaver (1-40)
Provisional Starters: Coffey (WoO); S. Wilmoth (track)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Jacob Hawkins, Davies, Friese, Redman, Coffey, Brunty, Fuller, Frazier, Cline, Powers, Ferguson
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Stone, Eckert, Weigle, Hamrick, C. Conley, Thomas, K. Merkel, Beck, Sampson, D. Conley, Bostic
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Richards, Shaver, McCreadie, Lathroum, Watts, Mitchell, Maffett, Jeff, Dobnak, Watson, Maloney
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): Meadows, Z. Dohm, Jared Hawkins, Covert, C. Carpenter, Banal, S. Conley, Dodd, Wilbin, Clevenger
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): C. Conley, Fuller, Thomas, Cline, Brunty, K. Merkel, Beck, Powers, Frazier, Sampson, Ferguson, D. Conley (DQ) Coffey (DNS) Bostic
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer to Qualifying Feature No. 2): C. Carpenter, S. Conley, Banal, Jett, Watts, Wilbin, Watson, Maffett, Dobnak, Mitchell, Maloney, Clevenger (DNS) Dodd
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 5B-Mike Marlar/Winfield, TN 13.306
2. 28R-Harold Redman Jr./Cross Lanes, WV 13.427
3. s2-Tim Senic/Elkins, WV 13.436
4. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.506
5. 17B-Keith Barbara/South Park, PA 13.507
6. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 13.520
7. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 13.538
8. 33-Chris Meadows/Crab Orchard, WV 13.584
9. 99M-Devin Moran/Dresden, OH 13.589
10. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, OH 13.597
11. 1J-Davey Johnson/Latrobe, PA 13.617
12. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 13.627
13. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 13.639
14. 6s-Steve Shaver/Vienna, WV 13.642
15. B1-Paul Wilmoth Jr./Clarksburg, WV 13.646
16. 43A-Jason Covert/York Haven, PA 13.652
17. 12W-Rick Williams/Beckley, WV 13.653
18. 20H-Jacob Hawkins/Fairmont, WV 13.696
19. 6T-Tim Dohm/Cross Lanes, WV 13.705
20. 14-Corey Conley/Wellsburg, WV 13.710
21. 32-Greg Baumberger/Jacksonburg, OH 13.722
22. 39-Tim McCeadie/Watertown, NY 13.760
23. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 13.764
24. 17z-Zack Dohm/Cross Lanes, WV 13.766
25. 1MC-Butch McGill/West Union, WV 13.782
26. 30-Josh Brunty/Beckley, WV 13.792
27. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 13.793
28. 117-Kyle Merkel/Gilbertsville, PA 13.798
29. s1-Steve Wilmoth/Clarksburg, WV 13.809
30. 6L-Jamie Lathroum/Mechanicsville, MD 13.813
31. 25B-Mike Benedum/Salem, WV 13.813
32. 18CC-Chris Carpenter/Parkersburg, WV 13.819
33. 0d-Ron Delano Jr./Stoystown, PA 13.826
34. 4c-D.J. Cline/St. Clairsville, OH 13.831
35. 54-Billy Brown/Clarksburg, WV 13.843
36. 75-Steve Weigle/Middlebourne, WV 13.856
37. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 13.861
38. 88M-Charley Maloney/Belmont, OH 13.884
39. C4-Freddie Carpenter/Parkersburg, WV 13.886
40. 5*-Mark Banal/St. Clairsville, OH 13.889
41. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 13.891
42. 0F-Richard Frazier/Mt. Claire, WV 13.893
43. 49-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 13.897
44. X-Dusty Hamrick/Clarksburg, WV 13.902
45. 22s-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 13.902
46. 04-David Watts/Buchanan, VA 13.918
47. 63-Cody Parker/Zanesville, OH 13.920
48. 1X1-Sonny Conley/New Martinsville, WV 13.940
49. J4-John Garvin/Sarver, PA 13.955
50. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 13.957
51. 2*-Shane Hitt/Buchannon, WV 13.964
52. 57T-Kyle Thomas/Pennsboro, WV 14.002
53. 93-Donald Bradsher/Burlington, NC 14.009
54. 18d-Danny Mitchell/Clarksburg, WV 14.022
55. 18RC-Rick Conley Jr./Wellsburg, WV 14.043
56. 37-Jared Hawkins/Fairmont, WV 14.047
57. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 14.083
58. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 14.121
59. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 14.224
60. 91-Tommy Beck/Jeanette, PA 14.246
61. 60-Dwight Henry/Marietta, OH 14.259
62. 42b-Matt Dobnak/W. Mifflin, PA 14.266
63. 45-Nick Corbett/Waverly, WV 14.268
64. 12d-Doug Dodd/Cambridge, OH 14.293
65. 21A-Rick Armstrong/Bloomingdale, OH 14.313
66. 50-L.C. Powers/Mt. Morris, PA 14.319
67. 88c-Josh Coffman/Grafton, WV 14.347
68. 24R-Robbie Bostic/Kenna, WV 14.361
69. 23R-Derek Rogers/Spelter, WV 14.430
70. 137-Shawn Jett/Pennsboro, WV 14.458
71. K2-Kris Southern/Janelew, WV 14.530
72. 64-Marshall Wilbin/Charleston, WV 14.544
73. 28c-Tyler Carpenter/Parkersburg, WV 14.456
74. 4M-Melvin Ferguson/Proctor, WV 14.551
75. 7JR-Danny Thomas/Middlebourne, WV 14.566
76. 12s-Tracie Sampson/Lumberport, WV 14.726
77. 77T-Keith Tish/Millersburg, OH 14.750
78. 51-John Watson/Middlebourne, WV 14.835
79. 17L-Jeff Lily/Beckley, WV 14.946
80. 2P-Ron Clevenger/Clarksburg, WV 15.009
81. 118M-Sean Merkel/Pottstown, PA 15.088
82. 12F-Devin Friese/Chambersburg, PA 15.104
83. 77-Joel Prosser/New Martinsville, WV 15.293
84. 57C-Don Conley/Navarre, OH 15.732
85. 28-Tom Klepinger/Salem, WV 16.398
86. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr./Mansfield, OH 14.298 (DQ – light)
87. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA N/T
2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 3 – 27 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Rick Eckert 3730
2. Josh Richards 3702 (-28)
3. Darrell Lanigan 3610 (-120)
4. Tim McCreadie 3532 (-198)
5. Chub Frank 3452 (-278)
6. Shane Clanton 3442 (-288)
7. Austin Hubbard 3432 (-298)
8. Clint Smith 3414 (-316)
9. Vic Coffey 3290 (-440)
10. Tim Fuller 3286 (-444)
11. Pat Doar 3184 (-546)
12. Ron Davies 3040 (-690)
13. John Lobb 2902 (-828)
14. Jill George 2122 (-1608)
15. Jason Feger 1552 (-2178)
FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via Twitter, the internet’s fast-growing social-networking and micro-blogging website. Updates are provided to Twitter ‘followers’ of the WoO LMS throughout each race night, and fans also receive breaking news and interesting notes from the tour.
Over 5,000 fans are now WoO LMS ‘followers’ on Twitter. To sign-up and receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.
LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.
To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to http://www.dirtvision.com/welcome.php and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.
BLOGGING: WoO LMS fans can now read interesting stories from the road by checking out two blogs –‘Life As An Outlaw’ by series announcer Rick Eshelman and ‘The Scoop With Scoop’ by tour P.R. director Kevin Kovac. Both blogs can be accessed by clicking on the preceding links or the specific ‘Blog’ buttons on the right-hand side of http://www.woolms.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), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.