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 News & Notes: Wrapping Up The 'Showdown on the Gulf' At Deep South Speedway
LOXLEY, AL - March 16, 2009 -
MILESTONE: Friday night's 40-lap 'Showdown on the Gulf' headliner at Deep South Speedway was the 200th A-Main contested since the World of Outlaws Late Model Series restarted in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner.
The 200 A-Mains have been run at 99 different tracks in 30 states and three Canadian provinces - which means another milestone will be reached with the running of the inaugural 'Lone Star 100' this weekend (March 20-21) at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas. The high-banked, three-eighths-mile oval outside Houston is poised to become the 100th track to host a WoO LMS event during the tour's WRG era.
FORGETTABLE: Rick Eckert still can't quite recapture his winning magic from the 2004-2006 WoO LMS seasons.
Coming off a strong southern trip in February that ended on Feb. 14 with a third-place finish in the tour's Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH finale at Florida's Volusia Speedway Park, the York, Pa., veteran seemed primed to rise all the way back to the top when he set fast time for Friday night's program at Deep South. It was, after all, just his second top-qualifier honor since April 2006.
But Eckert's hopes were dashed in the first heat faster than you can say, "Red clay oval." Aware that he would have to quickly get to the faster top lane of the track from his pole position start if he expected to win the preliminary, he attempted to move up but tangled between turns one and two with Shane Clanton and Brady Smith, breaking the left-front suspension of his Bloomquist Chassis machine and causing a chain-reaction pileup behind him. Later, in the first B-Main, he was involved in an opening-lap scrape that flattened both of his car's rear tires, but he returned to the race and moved forward to grab the third and final transfer spot.
Saddled with the 21st starting spot in the A-Main, Eckert managed to salvage a 12th-place finish. It was the first time in his 16 overall starts this season that he failed to place in the top 10.
"It's definitely frustrating," said Eckert. "We had a real fast car, but we just couldn't put it all together. You don't expect to get crashed out starting on the pole in a heat, but it happened to us and that put us behind for the rest of the night."
RARE SIGHT: Something that wasn't seen very often in 2008 happened during Friday night's first heat race - a flat tire on Darrell Lanigan's car.
The defending WoO LMS champion went through the entire '08 campaign without experiencing a flat tire, but it took just three races for the misfortune to strike him this season. He was running second to Clanton on the seventh lap of the preliminary when his machine's right-rear tire shredded, bringing out a caution flag and sending him to the pit area.
But Lanigan showed his championship mettle by charging back to qualify in the heat. He went on to advance from the 13th starting spot to an eighth-place finish in the A-Main, which saw him survive several laps of intense bump-and-run action with fellow WoO LMS regular Chub Frank.
CLOSE CALL: A sixth-place finish (after timing fourth-fastest in qualifying) didn't exactly thrill the 47-year-old Frank, but he gladly accepted it in the wake of his disappointing visit to Volusia last month.
Plus, 'Chubzilla' felt fortunate to see the checkered flag on Friday after one particularly scary scrape with Lanigan on lap 10.
"He thought he had me clear (entering turn three), but he hit me in the door," said Bear Lake, Pa.'s Frank. "It about crashed us both. I thought for a second that I was going right in the wall, but I held on.
"I was mad at the time and we'll talk about it, but I know he didn't mean it. He doesn't drive like that."
THE REPORTER: Clint Smith provided a pretty simple - and slightly humorous - analysis of Friday night's feature to a WoO LMS official.
"(Billy) Moyer jumped out to the lead, (Steve) Francis passed him (for the win) - and 'Cat Daddy' finished ninth in a World of Outlaws race," said Smith, pointing out his own performance. "The way we ran in Florida (last month), a top-10 is an accomplishment."
Senoia, Ga.'s Smith registered by far his best WoO LMS finish of the young season behind the wheel of a GRT car he debuted in Southern races during the tour's four-week break. He made an engine change following Thursday night's practice in search of more horsepower.
RALLYING: Brady Smith's first season with the WoO LMS as his primary focus didn't start off well (he failed to qualify for the opener at Volusia following a heat-race accident), but the 31-year-old from Solon Springs, Wis., has proven his talent with a pair of comeback top-fives.
Backing up his runner-up finish in the finale at Volusia, Smith registered a steady fourth-place finish on Friday at Deep South.
"We're very happy with fourth," said Smith, who started third in his Bloomquist Chassis car. "The outside was the preferred line to start in and we were on the inside (for the initial green flag), so I knew it would be tough to stay ahead of (Brian) Birkhofer and he was able to get in front of us. We never got another opportunity to get by him."
ONE FOR THE POINTS RACE: Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., entered the weekend as the country's hottest dirt Late Model driver - he scored his sixth overall win the previous week driving the Ernie Davis-owned No. 25 in the season opener at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway - but he settled for a solid fifth-place finish on Friday night.
"I think we were better than Brady (Smith)," Richards said of his Rocket Chassis house car, "but I ran behind him the whole race. I could get under him in (turns) one and two, but I couldn't carry enough speed off the corner to pass him."
Richards, by the way, will celebrate his 21st birthday the day after the Lone Star 100 at Battleground Speedway.
RACIN' & SIGHTSEEIN': Muscatine, Iowa's Brian Birkhofer made the long tow to Deep South Speedway to kick off his 2009 racing season with a third-place finish on Friday night.
The outing came after Birkhofer snuck away from the track on Friday afternoon to be a tourist, visiting the Battleship USS Alabama in nearby Mobile Bay. He no doubt enjoyed himself after Saturday night's rainout as well - Saturday, after all, was his 37th birthday.
PIT ACTION: The crews of several WoO LMS teams sported new faces at Deep South...
* Chris Burton, who won the 2008 WoO LMS Crew Chief of the Year Award working for Lanigan's championship operation but split with the Kentucky driver before the '09 campaign began, resurfaced with Steve Francis. Burton was hired by Francis to work on the Ashland, Ky., star's equipment (including the cars that will be driven in selected events by NASCAR Sprint Cup star Ryan Newman), and he'll also accompany Francis on the road to add manpower to car owner Dale Beitler's effort.
* Jonathan Owensby, who spent the past two seasons working for Shane Clanton, returned to the pit area as a member of Clint Smith's team. Owensby left Clanton's RSD Enterprises effort because he planned to relocate from Georgia to West Virginia and get a non-racing job, but the move fell through and Smith offered him an opportunity to go back out on the road.
* Lanigan's operation featured a brother act at Deep South - Randle Edwards, who returned as Lanigan's chief mechanic prior to last month's opener at Volusia after a one-year separation, was joined by his older Keith Edwards. Keith said he was recently laid off from his job working with dirt Late Model standout Earl Pearson Jr. on the North Carolina-based Bobby Labonte Motorsports team and agreed to help Lanigan and his brother for the remainder of the month.
STOP AT HOME: With the WoO LMS moving west from Deep South to Texas, the Edwards brothers were planning a mid-week visit with family and friends in their native Alexandria, La.
Lanigan was scheduled to fly home on Sunday, but the Edwards siblings were staying out with the Lanigan Autosports hauler. They headed for their other brother's home to spend several days working on Lanigan's equipment before going on to Battleground Speedway.
REINFORCEMENTS: Vic Coffey is relishing some extra help on the road - with his Sweeteners Plus Racing teammate Tim McCreadie sidelined indefinitely by the back injury he suffered two months ago in a Chili Bowl Midget Nationals wreck, the 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year has McCreadie's mechanics, Al Stevens and Mike Amell, assisting his regular wrench Johnny Coco.
The availability of Stevens, who doubles as McCreadie's hauler driver, has bought Coffey some time to find a fulltime truck driver for the season. His '08 truck driver, Dave ('Frog') Griepsma, is not planning to return this year.
LOCAL CONNECTION: Former WoO LMS champion Scott Bloomquist didn't make the haul to Deep South Speedway merely to race. The event actually afforded him an opportunity for a couple days of R&R.
Bloomquist's wife, Katrina, has ties to the area, having lived just south of the track for about 10 years and worked at the famed Live Bait bar and restaurant in Orange Beach, Ala. She still has family and friends in southern Alabama, and many of them met her at Deep South Speedway to attend Friday night's event. The Bloomquists also planned to stick around the area after the weekend to enjoy a quick vacation with their daughter, Ariel, in a family member's condo on the beach.
FLEEING THE NORTH: No one was happier to spend time in 70-degree temperatures along the Gulf Coast than Dustin Hapka, who earned the WoO LMS Rookie of the Race bonus with a 16th-place finish on Friday night.
When Hapka left his hometown of Grand Forks, N.D., to begin the 1,525-mile journey to Deep South Speedway, the temperature was slightly below zero. He also was barely an hour ahead of a snowstorm that ended up closing many roads in the Upper Midwest.
Hapka, who celebrated his 26th birthday on March 9, expects to be away from home until at least the completion of the Illini 100 weekend on April 3-4 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway.
PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS: Rookie of the Year candidate Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., couldn't help but feel snakebitten at Deep South.
First, during Thursday night's practice session, he had to replace his car's radiator after the fan went through it. Then, at the start of his qualifying lap on Friday night, a left-rear flat tire left him without a time and a starting spot at the rear of a heat. The 21-year-old rallied to win a B-Main, but he retired 20 laps into the A-Main with what he thought was engine trouble.
After Saturday's rainout Robinson and his traveling companions, which included his mother and father, headed west to park their hauler at Gulf Coast star Chris Wall's shop in Holden, La. They arranged to leave the rig there, fly home for the week (Robinson has classes to attend at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.), and then return on Thursday to retrieve the equipment and head to Texas.
THE INTIMAGATOR: Wall's first career appearance at Deep South Speedway was a short one. After taking an unplanned trip through the track's infield early in his heat, engine problems several circuits later ended his night.
Wall, who is planning to enter this weekend's Lone Star 100 at Battleground Speedway, is still feeling the effects of the broken right hand he suffered in an accident earlier this year. He only wears a brace on the hand while racing, but he made sure to offer his left hand to greet people because he didn't "want to take the chance that somebody will have a strong grip," he said.
FRESH LOOK: Teenage Rookie of the Year contender Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif., debuted a new Rocket car that carried prominent sponsorship from Gatorz Precision Built Eyewear.
There was one problem: when Reddick climbed into the machine for the first time (it was put together in upstate New York and hauled south by WoO LMS regular Tim Fuller), he found the seat to be too close to the steering wheel. The 14-year-old lost some practice time on Thursday while the seat was repositioned.
Reddick missed qualifying for Friday night's A-Main by one position in a B-Main.
ON THE ROAD WITH MOM: Rookie of the Year candidate Russ King made the long haul from Bristolville, Ohio, to Deep South accompanied only by his mother Sis, who also drove the team's hauler.
King's brother and chief mechanic, Bobby Bachman, flew down on Friday to meet up with the team. They watched King, who turns 20 on March 18, qualify for his first A-Main of '09, but an overheating engine forced him to retire.
A GOOD CAUSE: Two fans -Vernon Johnson, 63, of Hammond, La., and Cameron Paul, 18, of Pensacola, Fla. - won once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience the start of Friday night's A-Main from inside the cockpit of two-seat dirt Late Models.
Local racers Frank Wilson and Nathan Ingersoll drove the cars that were used in the unique raffle/promotion, which raised $486 for the families of the victims in last week's tragic shootings in a nearby Alabama county. They thrilled Johnson and Paul by participating in the four-wide parade lap and taking the green flag from the back of the pack before immediately pulling into the infield.
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.