CONCORD, NC – Dec. 29, 2007 – It was a very, very good year on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series for Custom Race Engines.
A stalwart on the dirt Late Model scene for 23 years, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based business shined brighter than ever in 2007. Three of the top-four finishers in the WoO LMS points standings used Custom power in ’07, propelling the well-respected company to the tour’s ‘Engine Builders Challenge’ Award.
Led by founder Larry Clark and his 28-year-old son Jeremy, Custom Race Engines provided the Chevy motors that were bolted inside the cars of WoO LMS champion Steve Francis, runner-up Chub Frank and fourth-place Shane Clanton. Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller also utilized a Custom engine periodically throughout his campaign, adding to the Clarkes’ ’07 WoO LMS success story.
“Winning this award with the World of Outlaws brings us a lot of satisfaction,” Larry Clark said after being honored during the 2007 WoO LMS Awards Banquet on Dec. 6 in Orlando, Fla. “Not only for myself and Jeremy, but for the guys at the shop too.”
Indeed, constructing the engines that laid claim to a dozen highly-competitive WoO LMS A-Main wins – including Frank’s series-leading six victories – was a team effort by the close-knit Custom gang.
“We’ve got a small group of people (working at Custom), five guys, and that makes the success we’ve had even more satisfying,” said Larry Clark, 54. “It’s fun when you run an engine on the dyno and every one of (the employees) will cycle through and look at the numbers. It just shows that everybody pulls in the right direction, nobody’s fighting, and nobody’s above doing anything, including me.
“I’m right in there and work as many or more hours as anybody. I tease them all – I say, ‘I’m the cheapest help I’ve got.’”
Francis brought Custom its seventh national dirt Late Model points championship in the last 12 years. The shop previously captured Hav-A-Tampa/UDTRA/Xtreme series titles with Freddy Smith (1996), Billy Moyer (1997), Dale McDowell (1999) and Scott Bloomquist (2000 and 2003), and Bloomquist also collected the 2004 WoO LMS crown using Custom power.
The would-be championship pairing of Francis and Custom Race Engines developed barely two months before the start of the 2007 WoO LMS season. In search of a new engine program after his long-running deal with Mopar ended in December 2006, Francis looked to Custom after crossing paths with Jeremy Clark during the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Orlando, Fla.
“Jeremy bumped into Steve in the aisles at PRI (in 2006),” said Larry Clark. “I had actually gone back to the hotel on the first day, and when Jeremy got back he said, ‘I talked to Steve Francis today and he wants to talk to you about engines.’ I said, ‘Really? What about his Mopar deal?’ Jeremy said that was gone, so we put a deal together and it worked out well for everybody.
“It was a real honor this year to win the World of Outlaws championship with Steve coming on board.”
Clark paused, and then said, “I’ve watched the Outlaws transition – for the better – and I’m proud to be doing engines for guys that run in this series. Like what I said when I was up on stage (accepting his WoO LMS ‘Engine Builders Challenge’ Award’) – I believe this really is the greatest show on dirt.
“I’ve seen how the series has evolved and brought more people in, how the T.V. races like the (live SPEED broadcast) show at Charlotte (of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’) is bringing a lot of fans in.
“You’ll never believe how many people I talked to after Charlotte who said to me, ‘Hey, I saw Steve Francis was running your stuff at Charlotte.’ I said, ‘You were there?’ and they said, ‘No, I watched it on T.V.’”
Unfortunately for Clark, Francis won’t chase a second consecutive WoO LMS title using Custom power. That’s because Francis is moving to Maryland team owner Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting No. 19 machine for the 2008 season and will utilize the Jack Cornett-built engines that Beitler already has in his arsenal.
But Custom will continue to handle the engine program for Francis’s own No. 15 team, which will see action in selected major events with 2006 WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie behind the wheel. Custom will also have Frank, Clanton and Fuller among its clients in ’08, and WoO LMS star Rick Eckert has announced that he will switch to Custom Chevy engines for the 2008 season after several years using Cornett Fords.
Clark understands Francis’s situation and wishes him well with the Beitler deal and engines constructed by Cornett, the 2006 WoO LMS ‘Engine Builder of the Year’ and a friendly rival of Clark’s.
“Jack Cornett is my friend, and we’re good competitors,” said Clark. “I told Jack, ‘We’re just switching (drivers). You’re taking one of mine (Francis), and I’m taking one of yours (Eckert).’”
Clark is confident of continued success for Custom Race Engines on the WoO LMS in 2008 and beyond.
“We’re looking forward to (2008),” said Clark. “We’ve already got new 2008 projects we’re testing now, and we should be better.
“It’s a challenge to make power, but it’s a challenge we enjoy.”
The future is certainly bright at Custom Race Engines. With a new facility to house the business in the process of being built about 10 minutes away from the current shop and success enveloping the firm, Clark couldn’t be happier.
“I’m really blessed with the fact that Jeremy, my son, is there with me in the middle of the business and does a great job with it as well,” said Clark, who expects to begin operating out of the new shop within a year. “Jeremy has done it all at the business, and I want him to take over more of it – and he is.”
The 2008 WoO LMS kicks off on Feb. 14 and 16 with two events that are part of the 37th annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
