CONCORD, NC – Sept. 5, 2007 – There’s no shame in being known as one of the “good guys” on the dirt Late Model scene.
 
Just ask Dan Stone, a friendly, hard-working racer who is impossible to dislike.
 
“Once in awhile,” said Stone, “the good guys finish first.”
 
And when they do, you get the kind of uplifting scene that swept over Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., on Sunday night (Sept. 2). Stone pulled off arguably the biggest upset in World of Outlaws Late Model Series history by winning the 50-lap ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ finale, and every fan, driver and crew member on hand was head-over-heels happy for him.
 
Stone, a 30-year-old, second-generation driver from the Northeast Pennsylvania hamlet of Thompson, authored a short-track Cinderella story for the ages. After achieving his best-ever finish in 17 career WoO LMS A-Main starts just 24 hours earlier – a seventh-place run in Saturday night’s opening 50-lap leg of the weekend doubleheader – he made a giant, shocking leap to Victory Lane. He overtook six WoO LMS stars on his way to the front from the ninth starting spot, completing the stirring charge on lap 38 with a powerful pass of points leader Steve Francis.
 
The large grandstand crowd exploded in cheers when Stone slid by Francis, who was the Goliath to Stone’s David in this fairy tale. The fans continued rooting him on to the checkered flag, fully aware that they were witnessing something rare, something special – a dedicated weekend warrior not only beating the best of the Outlaws with a family-owned team, but driving by them all to do it.
 
Stone certainly isn’t a newcomer to racing – he’s been driving since he was 16 – but most of his career has been spent racing the low-profile dirt Late Model division at tracks near his home. He won championships in 1997 at Penn-Can Speedway in Susquehanna, Pa., and 2000 at Skyline Raceway in Blodgett Mills, N.Y., but the steel-block Late Models are support divisions at both ovals, playing second-fiddle in big-block Modified country.
 
In 2001, Stone began traveling to dirt Late Model events across the region. He’s enjoyed success, winning at tracks such as Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, Clinton County Speedway in Lock Haven, Pa., Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway and Delaware International Speedway, but the biggest paycheck he had ever earned for a victory was a scant $2,000.
 
Stone pocketed a little more money for his efforts at Tri-City - $10,725, to be exact.
 
Not surprisingly, Stone’s underdog status made the post-race atmosphere as emotionally charged as any in recent WoO LMS history. After Stone’s win was certified by WoO LMS technical inspector Walter Burson at the scales, he rolled out of the pit area in turn four and was greeted by a long line of crew members who were crossing the track with the spare tires and pit carts they had brought to the infield; he stuck his hand out his window and accepted congratulatory high-fives like the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. after the 1998 Daytona 500. Then there was a joyous Victory Lane meeting with his wife, Jennifer, and crewmen Kevin Miluszusky and Jamie Bedford; a tear-tinged interview with WoO LMS announcer Rick Eshelman over the p.a. system; and a huge standing ovation from the rapt audience.
 
The spotlight didn’t leave Stone when the Victory Lane ceremonies ended. He was mobbed by fellow team members as he drove back to his hauler, where he was greeted by a clapping group of well-wishers. A few minutes later he headed over to the spectator area with his car – there were still two support-division races left – and signed autographs for nearly an hour.
 
The bearded, burly Stone, who earlier in the night had come to a post-time-trial autograph session carrying a bucket of Tootsie Rolls to hand out to kids, had become the darling of Tri-City’s fans. Young and old flocked to him, and his wife sold 40 of his t-shirts – four times as many as he’d ever sold in a single night.
 
As Stone chit-chatted with fans, he was periodically interrupted by the honking horns of WoO LMS regulars driving out the pit gate in their massive haulers. They all gave him a thumb’s up salute, a sign of respect that Stone took to heart.
 
“Everybody congratulated us,” said Stone. “It was awesome. That means a lot – it means as much as winning, really.”
 
The WoO LMS stars who race for a living were universally thrilled for Stone, a heavy-machinery operator at his father’s Stone Excavating firm when he’s not behind the wheel.
 
Francis started throwing hosannas Stone’s way: “Hey, I’d like to have won, but I don’t care a bit to run second to Dan. I know he needed it. He works hard and drives hard, and you gotta give him credit.”
 
Shane Clanton, who has gotten to know Stone personally this year, made a point of stopping by Victory Lane to congratulate Stone.
 
“Me and (Rick) Eckert started traveling with him some this year, and heck, he’s a pretty nice guy,” Clanton said of Stone. “I mean, heck, he’ll do anything for you – I know he would – and I’m glad to see him win.
 
“Any time you can win a World of Outlaws race it’s a big deal, and for him to do it the way he did here in his homestate – man, that’s pretty cool.”
 
Eckert, who finished fifth, became a Dan Stone fan as the laps clicked off.
 
“After he passed me, he kinda just snuck away,” said Eckert. “I kept watching him up there as he picked everybody off. I seen him in second, then I seen him go ahead of Francis. I was like, ‘----, Stoney’s gotta be up in the lead!’ I couldn’t get up there, so I was cheering for him to win.
 
“That’s like a storybook ending right there,” added Eckert. “I’ve been parking with him and hanging out with him this year, and you can’t meet a nicer guy than him. It’s great that he won.”
 
Chub Frank also hailed Stone after his seventh-place run – and busted his stones a little as well.
 
“I know where he came from, so I’m happy for him,” said Frank. “He did a great job. He deserved it.”
 
Frank paused, and then joked, “Maybe now he’ll go out and buy a new body for his car.”
 
Stone laughed when he heard that barb from Frank, but don’t expect him to follow through. The well-worn sheet metal on his 2007 BRC Lazer III car has served him well.
 
“This body is what makes us fast,” laughed Stone, pointing at the dents and tire marks on his bodywork.
 
Stone is a no-frills racer, a guy who until this year did all his traveling using an open trailer. He now hauls down the road in a toter home and stacker trailer; he’s making the payments on the rig while his father, Warren, handles the bills for the team’s racing equipment.
 
Unfortunately, Stone’s father wasn’t on hand to witness his son’s crowning moment in person. The former racer had made a six-hour drive to watch his son race at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., on Friday night and then headed straight home, and he made a similar-length round-trip to take in Dan’s Saturday-night action at Tri-City. Tired from so many hours on the road, Warren couldn’t find any co-drivers to return to Tri-City on Sunday, so he stayed home.
 
Warren got word of his boy’s accomplishment by cell phone minutes after the checkered flag fell. He gave Dan a pat on the back the following day, when Dan returned to the Stone compound for a Labor Day family barbeque that turned into a victory party. Many of the people whom Stone raced against on the local circuit early in his career stopped by the gathering to help celebrate his huge triumph.
 
“They said I had to bring the trophy home so everybody could look at it,” said Stone, who received a unique gas-pump-shaped trophy for his win. “We had it out right there at the barbeque.”
 
The victory brought Stone an endless series of congratulatory phone calls – everyone from his car builder (Jim Bernheisel, whose chassis won a WoO LMS event for the first time) to his engine builder (Edge Racing Engine’s Chris Rhodes, who claimed his initial WoO LMS triumph) to his tire manufacturer (American Racer, which captured its first WoO LMS win since 2004) to his fellow racers. A television station in Scranton, Pa., even expressed interest in doing a feature on his major-event win.
 
Stone also found time to place a call to WoO LMS standout Rick Eckert, one of the Outlaws who has provided Stone valuable setup assistance.
 
“I wanted to thank him for all his help,” said Stone. “All these Outlaw guys have been great when we’ve asked them questions, especially Eckert. They don’t have a problem helping you.
 
“It might not sound like much, but (the Outlaws) give you all these hints when you talk to them – and when you put ‘em all together, they make a big difference.”
 
Stone, who ranks 18th in the WoO LMS points standings after entering 13 events and qualifying for seven A-Mains this year, has six of the season’s final nine tour shows on his upcoming schedule. The list includes Bedford (Pa.) Speedway on Sept. 21; Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway on Sept. 22; The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on Oct. 10; Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., on Oct. 12-13; and the Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track on Nov. 1-3.
 
Stone will enter the events with a new-and-improved stature – he’s now one of only 27 drivers who have won a WoO LMS event since 2004.
 
“We’re kinda excited,” he said. “Now we have something big to put on our resume when we go out looking for sponsors, something that really matters everywhere.”
 
But you can bet he’ll remain the same down-home, fun-loving guy who has endeared himself to the tour’s standouts.
 
Heck, at those multi-day programs, he’ll still be whipping up strawberry daiquiris after the races on the high-powered blender in his trailer for anyone who’d like one.
 
That’s good-guy Dan Stone.
 
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.