Contact: World Racing Group Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director 704-254-7929 * [email protected][email protected]>
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Firmly Entrenched As Headliner Of Oil Region Labor Day Classic Weekend At Pennsylvania's Tri-City Speedway
Tour Visits Half-Mile Oval For Fourth Straight Year This Saturday & Sunday (Aug. 30-31)
FRANKLIN, PA - Aug. 27, 2008 - When Tri-City Speedway co-promoters Mike Graham and Roger Crick were looking for an act to headline a big holiday weekend spectacular at their Keystone State oval in 2005, they discovered a Labor Day opening on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series schedule.
Though Super Late Models ceased being a regular division at the half-mile oval in 1997, Graham and Crick jumped at the chance to bring in the WoO LMS - and with that, a new end-of-summer tradition was born for western Pennsylvania race fans.
The WoO LMS has become firmly entrenched atop the marquee of Tri-City Speedway's Oil Region Labor Day Classic presented by Armstrong Cable, a steadily-growing event that will grab the region's spotlight this Saturday (Aug. 30) and Sunday (Aug. 31). A 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Main will be the main attraction each night of the fourth annual program.
"We always looked at Labor Day weekend as the perfect time for us to have a special show because we could run on our regular Sunday-night date and everyone would have off from work and school on Monday," said Graham, who is in his 13th season operating the track with Crick. "Once we saw an opportunity to get on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series schedule on Labor Day weekend (in 2005), we decided to build a big weekend around them.
"It seemed like people were really happy for the World of Outlaws to come in here. A Late Model race is something different for the fans, and with the drivers nobody has a real hometrack advantage because it's been so long since we ran (Super) Late Models weekly."
After debuting at Tri-City in 2005 with a one-day show won by Rick Eckert of York, Pa., the WoO LMS was invited back in 2006 for two full programs. The expansion to a two-day show - and the memorable WoO LMS races that have been contested for the past two years - have combined to quickly establish the Oil Region Labor Day Classic as one of the select red-circle "events" on the Northeast short-track calendar.
"We're real pleased with the growth of the weekend," said Graham. "We can tell how it's grown just by looking at the number of campers we've had each year. We had 75 camping units with us the first year, 225 the second year and 250 last year - and this year we're expecting even more with the response we've been getting."
Helping to draw all those campers - and thousands of additional fans - to the Oil Region Labor Day Classic is the off-track entertainment and excitement that makes the weekend stand out from the crowd. For starters, there's the big-race aura created by the presence of the SPEED television cameras, which will surround the track to tape Saturday night's WoO LMS program for a tentative air date of Sept. 21 from 6-7 p.m. ET. There's also a WoO LMS driver autograph session in front of the grandstand following time trials each evening; an expanded kids' fun area; and the wildly popular Engles Trucking/Ray's Racing Specialties 'South Ghetto Party,' a parking-lot bash following Saturday night's racing program that features a huge bonfire, a live band and - new this year - a mechanical bull.
And of course there's the WoO LMS competition to lure the fans to western Pennsylvania. The last two Oil Region Labor Day Classics have produced some unforgettable A-Mains - witness Bear Lake, Pa., WoO LMS star Chub Frank's final-lap pass of Billy Moyer to win a 2006 headliner; a last-circuit run-in with a lapped car that stole a 2006 win from Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and handed it to Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; and last year's upset-for-the-ages authored by Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., in the Sunday-night finale.
Tri-City's bleachers are still shaking from the multiple standing ovations the crowd gave Stone, an unheralded good-guy racer who passed every WoO LMS regular in the field en route to a smashing triumph last year. Stone's victory created a festive post-race atmosphere, with crews rushing forward to congratulate the driver known as 'Big Brother' and fans clamoring for his autograph and a t-shirt.
"I knew something special was happening when I saw all the fans moving around and pointing at (Stone) moving up," Graham said of last year's Sunday-night race. "It was pretty exciting watching the crowd get into rooting for him. I was cheering for him up in the tower!"
Stone will be back this weekend to try to catch lightning in a bottle once again. He'll face off with the tough roster of WoO LMS regulars that includes Lanigan, who leads the points standings; Eckert, Frank, Clanton and defending champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who have all won at Tri-City; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.; Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; 2007 Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.; and Rookie of the Year contenders Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., and Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y.
Regional standouts expected to enter the weekend doubleheader include Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., who won his first career WoO LMS A-Main earlier this year at Virginia Motor Speedway; 1997 Tri-City Super Late Model champion Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., who has finished as high as second in WoO LMS action at the oval; Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., who leads the Alltel Ohio Speedweek All-Star voting (www.AlltelAllStar.com<http://www.alltelallstar.com/>); Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, Pa.; David Scott of Garland, Pa.; and Rick 'Boom' Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa.
The WoO LMS will run a complete program - time trials, heat races, B-Mains and a 50-lap A-Main - on both Saturday and Sunday. Support divisions include the crate Late Models (heats on Saturday, B-Mains and 30-lap FASTRAK Northeast Series feature on Sunday), ULMS E-Mods (20 laps on Saturday, All-Star 30 on Sunday) and Pro Stocks (20-lappers both nights).
Gates open each day at 2 p.m. No fans will be allowed to reserve seats with blankets until Saturday at that time.
On-track action will begin daily with hot laps for the WoO LMS at 4 p.m., followed immediately by time trials. Once time trials are completed the track crew plans to work on the surface before hot laps are held for the crate Late Models, E-Mods and Pro Stocks, and then the first heat races are scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Adult grandstand admission will be $30 each night, with a cost-saving two-day ticket available for $50. Pit admission will be $35 each night or $60 for a two-day combo ticket.
Camping is free all weekend for those attending the races.
For more information, contact the track office at 814-473-4038 or visit www.tricityspeedway.com<http://www.tricityspeedway.com/>.
Tri-City Speedway is located seven miles north of Franklin, Pa., off State Route 417.
Additional info on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com<http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/>.