BEAR LAKE, PA – March 24, 2010 – Once Chub Frank figures out how to be consistently fast from the start of a night to the finish, he'll be smiling broadly.
But at the moment, that's still an elusive goal for the veteran driver from Bear Lake, Pa.
Frank, 48, registered a pair of top-10 finishes during last weekend's World of Outlaws Late Model Series doubleheader in the Southeast, but he wasn't quite satisfied with his performance in the pair of 50-lap A-Mains. He chalked up his fifth-place finish on March 19 at Ocala (Fla.) Speedway and a ninth-place run on March 20 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., as simply steps in the right direction.
"It wasn't a bad weekend," said Frank, who sits eighth in the WoO LMS points standings through four events of the long, grueling schedule. "We got our first top-five of the season (at Ocala) and we got out of (Screven) with a top 10 after being so bad early (during the night), but we have to figure some things out. Our car is not responding the way it should be yet."
Frank was a solid contender in Ocala's inaugural WoO LMS event, marching forward from the 13th starting spot to run as high as fourth. He settled for fifth in his Custom-powered Rocket Chassis Chevrolet Impala SS-bodied No. 1*, which carries sponsorship from Corry Rubber, Lake Shore Paving, Hino Toyota, Crown Drilling, Sorbera Family Chiropractic, All-Star Performance, Slavic Corporation, Custom Race Engines, GW Performance, Integra Shocks and Hoosier Tire.
"I couldn't run up there on the top like those guys who finished ahead of us could," said Frank. "I was too tight. I could get on that bottom and pick up spots on every restart, but those guys would get up top and build too much momentum."
Frank struggled the next night at Screven, timing 19th-fastest out of 33 cars and failing to qualify through a heat race and B-Main. He used a points provisional to start 23rd in the A-Main and was nearly lapped midway through the headliner, but a timely caution flag kept him in contention and he rallied to finish ninth.
"I struggled for the first half of the race," said Frank. "(Steve) Francis actually lapped me, but I got back by him and then a caution came out. The car actually fired right then and got pretty good and we really came. We got going so good, I would've liked to have a seen a little bit longer race.
"We gotta figure out what we gotta do early (to be fast). Once the track dries out and gets slicker these cars seem to get better, but we need to find a way to be good early too."
Frank stayed on the road after the Southeastern events to head for this weekend's WoO LMS doubleheader in Texas, on Fri., March 26, at Battleground Speedway outside Houston and Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore.
For more information on Chub Frank, visit his completely redesigned Web site at www.chubfrank.com.
But at the moment, that's still an elusive goal for the veteran driver from Bear Lake, Pa.
Frank, 48, registered a pair of top-10 finishes during last weekend's World of Outlaws Late Model Series doubleheader in the Southeast, but he wasn't quite satisfied with his performance in the pair of 50-lap A-Mains. He chalked up his fifth-place finish on March 19 at Ocala (Fla.) Speedway and a ninth-place run on March 20 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., as simply steps in the right direction.
"It wasn't a bad weekend," said Frank, who sits eighth in the WoO LMS points standings through four events of the long, grueling schedule. "We got our first top-five of the season (at Ocala) and we got out of (Screven) with a top 10 after being so bad early (during the night), but we have to figure some things out. Our car is not responding the way it should be yet."
Frank was a solid contender in Ocala's inaugural WoO LMS event, marching forward from the 13th starting spot to run as high as fourth. He settled for fifth in his Custom-powered Rocket Chassis Chevrolet Impala SS-bodied No. 1*, which carries sponsorship from Corry Rubber, Lake Shore Paving, Hino Toyota, Crown Drilling, Sorbera Family Chiropractic, All-Star Performance, Slavic Corporation, Custom Race Engines, GW Performance, Integra Shocks and Hoosier Tire.
"I couldn't run up there on the top like those guys who finished ahead of us could," said Frank. "I was too tight. I could get on that bottom and pick up spots on every restart, but those guys would get up top and build too much momentum."
Frank struggled the next night at Screven, timing 19th-fastest out of 33 cars and failing to qualify through a heat race and B-Main. He used a points provisional to start 23rd in the A-Main and was nearly lapped midway through the headliner, but a timely caution flag kept him in contention and he rallied to finish ninth.
"I struggled for the first half of the race," said Frank. "(Steve) Francis actually lapped me, but I got back by him and then a caution came out. The car actually fired right then and got pretty good and we really came. We got going so good, I would've liked to have a seen a little bit longer race.
"We gotta figure out what we gotta do early (to be fast). Once the track dries out and gets slicker these cars seem to get better, but we need to find a way to be good early too."
Frank stayed on the road after the Southeastern events to head for this weekend's WoO LMS doubleheader in Texas, on Fri., March 26, at Battleground Speedway outside Houston and Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore.
For more information on Chub Frank, visit his completely redesigned Web site at www.chubfrank.com.
