CONCORD, NC – Nov. 5, 2007 –
BLOCKBUSTER: The inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway – the first-ever event bring together the World of Outlaws Late Model and Sprint Cars on the same program – was a rousing success.
With fields of 82 Late Models and 48 Sprint Cars, nearly 1,000 recreation vehicles sprawled across the camping areas, grandstand attendance in the neighborhood of 14,000 for both the Friday- and Saturday-night cards, and a national television audience watching Saturday’s night action live on the SPEED cable network, the ‘World Finals’ had all the attributes of a mega-event.
And by the way – there was also some spectacular racing on the fast, four-tenths-mile oval, including a memorable Late Model A-Main on Saturday night in which the winner was in doubt until the checkered flag.
“It’s just a helluva show here,” said 2007 WoO LMS champion Steve Francis, who clinched the $100,000 title with finishes of fourth (Friday) and second (Saturday), “and a great way for us to end the year.”
Plans are in motion to make the second annual edition of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ even bigger and better. The event will return to The Dirt Track on Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2008, and again serve as the season finale for the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars.
Tickets are already on sale for the 2008 ‘Outlaws World Finals’ – and considering the huge pre-sale for this year’s inaugural, fans will want to purchase their seats early at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
FORMER WINNERS: The victors in the pair of Late Model ‘World Finals’ A-Mains – Scott Bloomquist and Donnie Moran – had a little more in common than their status as two of the most accomplished dirt Late Model drivers in the division’s stories.
Ironically, both Bloomquist and Moran won features during the first incarnation of the WoO LMS, which ran in 1988-89 under the direction of late WoO Sprint Car Series founder Ted Johnson. Bloomquist won once (June 9, 1988, at Wisconsin’s Superior Speedway) and Moran captured two events in the state of Missouri (Aug. 20, 1988, at the Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia and Aug. 26, 1988, at Highway 13 Speedway in Bolivar).
FAMILIAR FACE: Moran found it ironic that one of the drivers he shared the stage with during the post-race ceremonies on Saturday night was Kerry Madsen, who was honored for winning the 2007 WoO Sprint Car Rookie of the Year title.
Moran, 45, has known the 35-year-old Australian for more than two decades.
“I was on the USA Dirt Team in the early ‘80s and I actually stayed with Kerry Madsen’s family when I went over to Australia to race (during the North American off-season),” said Moran. “Kerry wasn’t even driving yet because he wasn’t old enough, but his Dad raced and he helped him.
“I raced two days during the week (in Australia) with the Late Model, and Kerry’s Dad raced two days during the week with the Sprint Car. Kerry and his Dad would crew on my car, and I’d crew on their car.
“We became good friends. I even remember going up through Sydney, Australia, with Kerry when he was getting his (driver’s) permit. I had to ride with him in the passenger seat!”
WEEKEND TO FORGET: Chub Frank entered the ‘World Finals’ with a chance to overtake Francis for the WoO LMS championship, but he had to finish at least five spots ahead of Francis in Friday night’s A-Main, eliminating him from contention in Saturday night’s finale.
Alas, Frank never got his green ‘Chubzilla’ themed car rolling at The Dirt Track. In Friday’s 50-lapper he was hampered by a blown right-rear tire and bent spindle and finished 14th, and he placed 24th in Saturday’s A-Main after completing only 19 laps because his car’s air cleaner flew off due to a broken stud.
Frank, 45, of Bear Lake, Pa., settled for a career-best WoO LMS points finish of second. He led all drivers with six victories this season and suffered only three DNFs in 44 A-Main starts, but he couldn’t quite match Francis’s consistency.
“That just shows you how competitive this deal is,” said Frank, who ended the season 126 points behind Francis. “You can struggle, but you better struggle running ninth, 10th or 11th, not further back or it’ll kill you.
“I would’ve rather won the championship, but second is the best we’ve ever done. We’ll just keep trying to better our program every year.”
ROUGH ENDING: Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., enjoyed his best season ever on the WoO LMS – he had a least a share of the points lead after 17 events, won four times and finished a career-high third in the points standings – but would have liked to close the 44-race schedule on a better note.
Smith, 42, experienced an especially miserable weekend at the ‘World Finals,’ finishing 26th (Friday) and 23rd (Saturday) after dropping out of both A-Mains (and using provisional spots to get in the events). He felt fortunate to hang on to third in the points standings over Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who fell 20 points short of erasing an 80-point deficit to Smith entering the weekend.
A terrible Friday-night outing for ‘Cat Daddy’ included a popped left-rear tire from contact with Jeep VanWormer during heat action and a losing run-in with the oval’s thick, unruly cushion in the A-Main (his car’s bellypan was knocked up into his pedals, forcing him out on lap 17). Smith didn’t fare much better on Saturday, becoming involved in a heat-race altercation and retiring from the A-Main early with smoke puffing from his car.
Smith fielded a second car in the ‘World Finals’ for his chief mechanic Johnny Cloer Jr. of Chatsworth, Ga., who does not expect to return as Smith’s crew chief in 2008 because he plans to concentrate on his driving career after landing a ride for the Southern All-Stars Series.
FALLING SHORT: Shane Clanton made a strong bid for his career-high third WoO LMS win of the season – and a third-place finish in the points standings – in Saturday night’s A-Main.
The 32-year-old found some traction in the track’s top lane and soared by Moran for the lead on lap 28, but he couldn’t maintain enough speed running the outside and lost the catbird’s seat to Moran on lap 37. One lap later Clanton banged together with Darrell Lanigan in turn two while battling for second, bouncing him back to seventh and, ultimately, a disappointing ninth-place finish.
If Clanton had held on to win the race, he would have finished a mere two points behind Smith for third in the WoO LMS points standings.
IN A NUTSHELL: Rick Eckert of York, Pa., experienced his first winless season in four years of following the WoO LMS after failing to capture one of the ‘World Finals’ A-Mains, but he managed to hold on to fifth in the final points standings.
Eckert provided a microcosm of his frustrating campaign on Saturday night. On lap five of the fourth heat he drove by Moran to take the lead in turn four – a strong move that seemed to signal a good night was in the cards – but moments later he nearly spun in turn two, handing the top spot back to Moran. Eckert ended up sliding out of a transfer spot, qualified through a B-Main, and finished 12th in the A-Main.
HOLDING ON: Josh Richards fell just short realizing his pre-season goal of a top-five finish in the WoO LMS points standings, placing sixth after finishes of fifth (Friday) and 11th (Saturday).
The 19-year-old never quite got his Rocket No. 1 handling to his liking over the weekend. He was “way too loose” on Friday, and a pre-feature switch to a four-link suspension on Saturday left the car “too tight for (running) the top and a little bit too free for the bottom (lane).”
Richards did match one goal he set for himself at the start of the 2007 season: he won four WoO LMS A-Mains, including events at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway and Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
MISCALCULATION: Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who entered all but one of this season’s WoO LMS events, was a serious contender in both ‘World Finals’ A-Mains. He finished 11th in Friday’s headliner despite pitting twice (laps 23 and 32) to change flat tires, and he got up to third late in Saturday’s feature but stayed in the top groove a bit too long and finished fifth.
Lanigan ended the season ranked seventh in the WoO LMS points standings, matching his second-best finish (2005) in four seasons on the tour.
GOOD-LOOKING ROOKIES: The ‘World Finals’ provided further proof that first-year WoO LMS travelers Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., are quick studies.
Fuller, who had the 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year title clinched before the weekend, failed to qualify on Friday night but came back strong on Saturday. He made the cut with a powerful B-Main effort, then charged forward from the 22nd starting spot to finish third in the A-Main.
The 26-year-old Shirley, meanwhile, advanced from the 22nd starting spot to finish eighth on Friday night in Ed Petroff’s No. 3s, and he won a heat race and led laps 1-3 of Saturday night’s A-Main.
BAD START, DECENT FINISH: Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who won five WoO LMS A-Mains in 2007 and finished 10th in the points standings, followed his Jani-King Southern Showdown victory on Oct. 10 at The Dirt Track with an up-and-down weekend.
Babb got off to a horrible start Thursday when he clipped the wall between turns one and two on his first-round time-trial lap. His top-10 status in the points standings allowed him to start a heat race on Friday night without having to run the C-Main, but he spun in the heat and pulled off one lap later, leaving him a non-qualifier for the A-Main.
The 33-year-old standout came back to win a heat race on Saturday night in dominating fashion and run in the top five early in the A-Main, but he faded to an eighth-place finish.
NOTABLE…
* Saturday night’s track surface was generally hailed by all racers.
“The track was excellent,” raved Steve Francis after falling just short of victory in the A-Main. “It’s as good as I’ve ever seen this place – just excellent, excellent.”
Randy Grove of Hagerstown, Md., once again headed the track-prep team at The Dirt Track, but he had some notable assistance for the ‘World Finals.’ Canadian DIRTcar 358-Modified star and Merrittville (Ont.) Speedway owner Pete Bicknell, who spent the past month in Charlotte tending to business associated with his Bicknell Racing Products company, helped work the track, as did Bicknell’s wife Nancy and Merrittville’s track-prep chief Howard Schram.
* As Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., led the first 30 laps of Friday night’s A-Main, there was a building party going on in one of The Dirt Track’s suites. Miller’s car owner, Charles Buckler, rented one of the boxes for the weekend and had more than two dozen people cheering Miller on from behind the glass.
Unfortunately, Miller was knocked out of the lead by a broken right-rear axle. Then he failed to qualify for Saturday night’s A-Main after being unable to overcome a last-row starting spot in his heat.
* Ricky Elliott’s second-place run in Friday night’s A-Main came with American Racer tires on his Charles Jarvis-owned No. 45 rather than the Hoosiers that dominated the weekend scene.
Elliott is an American Racer guy, but when asked about his tire choice he noted: “If you’re ever gonna have a chance to beat Scott (Bloomquist, who passed Elliott late in the distance to win the A-Main), you can’t be on the tires he’s on. He’s always gonna have the tire advantage on you. You might have the same stuff, but you’ll never have the advantage on him.”
* Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis., and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., executed almost identical flips in turn one during Friday’s heat action, drawing amazed looks from the open-wheel set in the Sprint Car pits.
Schlieper came back to race on Saturday night and qualified for the A—Main, but he competed with his left hand wrapped in a bandage. The track safety crew told him he likely fractured his wrist in the accident, but he planned to wait until after the weekend was completed to seek medical attention.
O’Neal, meanwhile, gingerly climbed out of his Rattliff Racing No. 16 after barrel-rolling hard, but he was transported to a local hospital for observation after complaining of head and neck pain. No problems were found and O’Neal returned to the track shortly after Friday’s program was completed, but he did enter Saturday’s show.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
