A mid-September fixture for the last 15 years at the Illinois State Fairgrounds one-mile dirt oval in Springfield, Ill., the event will enter a new era when it's contested on the quarter-mile, high-banked La Salle bullring as part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

 

The 40-lap, $7,000-to-win A-Main will cover only a third of the mileage that previous 30-lap 'Illinois Fall Nationals' features ran on the sprawling Springfield Mile, but the close-quarters action should infinitely increase on a classic short-track layout.

 

Bob Sargent's Macon, Ill.-based Track Enterprises, Inc. is continuing its longtime promotion of the 'Illinois Fall Nationals,' which has been run annually at the Springfield track since 1992. An all-star list of drivers has won the prestigious event, including 2005 WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer (four times), Brian Birkhofer (three times), Scott Bloomquist (twice), John Mason (twice), Charlie Swartz, Shannon Babb, Darrell Lanigan and Darren Miller.

 

Seeking to reinvigorate the event, Sargent decided earlier this year to move it to La Salle – a well-equipped facility that sits in a prime geographic location in north-central Illinois – and make it the anchor leg of an attractive three-race Midwest weekend for the WoO LMS. The tour will visit Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway, which Sargent co-owns with NASCAR stars Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ken Schrader and Tony Stewart, on Friday night (Sept. 14) and Schrader's I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., on Saturday night (Sept. 15).

 

"Being a mile in length," Sargent said of the Springfield facility when he announced the move of the 'Fall Nationals' to La Salle, "the track came under some scrutiny (from dirt Late Model teams) for its wear-and-tear on equipment and the safety of the drivers. So we felt it was time to try running the Illinois Fall Nationals somewhere else. Maybe we’ll even look to rotate it to different tracks every few years."

 

The WoO LMS points battle will certainly be an intriguing subplot at La Salle, a track at which virtually all of the tour's regulars do not have an extensive track record. None of the top-seven drivers in the points standings – points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. – have won a major touring series event at La Salle.

 

La Salle isn't totally foreign to the WoO LMS standouts, however. In fact, the current one-lap dirt Late Model track record is held by Eckert (12.232 seconds on Aug. 2, 2003), and just last year second-place points driver Frank finished third in an event at the Izzo family's speedway.

 

And WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., has made a handful of starts at La Salle – though his rival for the Rookie crown, Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., will make his first-ever appearance at the track.

 

Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who won four WoO LMS A-Mains while following the first half of this year's tour, figures to be a pre-race favorite. He has shown an affinity for La Salle, winning UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals events there in 2003 and 2006.

 

Other talented drivers expected to participate in the event include 2005 WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.; two-time ’07 WoO LMS winner Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., who enters the weekend ranked second in the UMP DIRTcar Racing Late Model national points standings; current UMP Late Model national points leader Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill.; recent Topless 100 winner Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis.; Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill., who won La Salle's UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals feature on July 12; Don O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., who finished second in this year's Summernationals A-Main at La Salle; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis.; and Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.

 

La Salle's pit gates will open at 2 p.m. and the grandstand gates open at 4 p.m. Practice is scheduled to get the green flag at 5 p.m., followed by WoO LMS time trials at 5:30 p.m. and racing action at 6 p.m.

 

Grandstand admission for adults is $25 and $5 for children 11 and under. Pit passes will be $35.

 

For more details about La Salle's 'Illinois Fall Nationals,' contact Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200; La Salle Speedway at 815-223-6939; or visit www.trackenterprises.com or www.lasallespeedway.com.

 

La Salle Speedway is centrally located on US Rt. 6 in the 'Land of Lincoln,' 60 miles west of Joliet, 80 miles east of the Quad Cities, 70 miles south of Rockford and 60 miles north of Bloomington.

 

Additional info on the WoO LMS can be obtained by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.