FRANKLIN, PA – Sept. 1, 2007 – Steve Francis padded his World of Outlaws Late Model   Series points lead over Chub Frank on Saturday night thanks to some assistance   from…Chub Frank.
 
Yes, Francis credited Frank with helping him win the 50-lap A-Main that opened the ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ weekend at Tri-City Speedway.
 
“We kinda had the ‘Chub’ setup in it tonight,” Francis said with a smile after driving his Valvoline Rocket No. 15 to his second WoO LMS victory of the 2007 season. “There’s a couple things that Chub does a little different to his cars. Tonight we tried the same stuff with our car, and it worked.
 
“Chub says everybody looks at him and says he’s dumb for doing some of the stuff he does, but it ain’t long before we’re all doing it.”
 
Francis, 39, of Ashland, Ky., drove by Bear Lake, Pa.’s Frank on his way to the front from the eighth starting spot, passing his prime championship rival for second place on lap 14. He then used the inside groove to overtake Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., for the lead on lap 20 and never looked back.
 
Frank finished a distant second, 2.419 seconds behind Francis in a race that ran non-stop after a lone caution flag negated the original start. He never got his Lester Buildings Rocket car close enough to challenge Francis.
 
Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who leads the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year chase, finished a straightaway behind Frank in third place driving the Gypsum Racing Rocket. The polesitting Clanton settled for fourth in his RSD Enterprises Rocket after leading laps 12-19, and Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., who started second and led laps 1-11, was fifth in another Rocket.
 
The night belonged to Francis, who registered his first-ever win at the half-mile Tri-City oval.
 
“The car was just so maneuverable,” said Francis, who earned $10,225 for his 12th career WoO LMS triumph. “We could run up-and-down the track. The car was so maneuverable, it was just easy to drive.”
 
Frank, 45, was in full agreement with Francis’s assessment.
 
“I don’t think that speed-wise he was any faster, but his car was more maneuverable than mine,” said the fourth-starting Frank, who leads the WoO LMS with five wins this season. “When we got to running, he could maneuver around traffic a lot better than I could.
 
“He could stick it right in there. I was just racing with somebody (early in the race) and slid up a little bit, and he got by me on the bottom.”
 
Despite his clear superiority, Francis didn’t rest easy in the race’s closing stages. He was constantly thinking about Frank, a bulldog in Nomex.
 
”The worst thing was, I didn’t know where Chub was,” Francis said of the final laps. “I know how Chub is – he’s never gonna quit – and that’s why I was running the lapped cars so hard at the end. I didn’t know how big a lead I had.
 
“With a few laps to go I came up on two or three cars racing together and I knew they were gonna slow me down, so I was waiting for Chub to do some big bonsai move on the last lap. Chub’s notorious for that – he’s gonna race every lap like it’s his last one.”
 
But Frank didn’t have anything for Francis, who won his first WoO LMS event since June 23 at Quebec’s Autodrome Drummond. That Canadian victory ended a frustrating 45-race WoO LMS losing streak for the ‘Kentucky Colonel’ and gave him confidence that more wins were coming, but he went another 10 races without a victory before breaking through on Saturday night.
 
Now Francis has a good vibe for the stretch run of the WoO LMS season.
 
“You kinda feel like if you don’t win (races), you don’t feel like you’re having a championship season,” said Francis. “If you win a championship with no wins, it kinda looks funny.
 
“But,” he added, “I’ll still take the ($100,000 champion’s) check any way we can get it.”
 
The victory gave Francis a 42-point lead over Frank in the WoO LMS standings and got him jazzed to hopefully “knock off about five or six wins in a row” – a prospect that alarms Frank.
 
“The problem with letting Francis win is that he gets it in his mind that he can do it more,” joked Frank, who often compares notes with Francis while at the track. “I don’t want him to do it more.”
 
Frank did put some distance between himself and third-place points man Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who finished 11th. He now trails Francis by 78 points with 10 events remaining.
 
Fuller, 39, made a strong run forward from the seventh starting spot to finish third. He slipped inside Blair for fourth on lap 30 and Clanton for third on lap 39.
 
Would a caution flag have given Fuller a shot at his second WoO LMS victory of the season? He didn’t think so.
 
“Maybe I would’ve had a chance to get Chub,” said Fuller, “but I wasn’t going to do anything with Francis.”
 
Clanton, who turned 32 on Aug. 29, second-guessed his decision to change his car’s left-rear tire just before going out for the feature.
 
“We went softer (with the left-rear tire compound) at the last minute,” said Clanton. “The problem was, all I had ready to go was a used tire, and I don’t know if putting it on was the right thing to do.
 
“I had on a worn-out tire, and I couldn’t go drive through the mud on the bottom like everybody else could.”
 
The race’s lone caution flag, on the opening lap, was for Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., whose car stopped with electrical problems.
 
Finishing in positions 6-10 was Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who started from the same spot; Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who came a half car-length short of overtaking Richards at the checkered flag but still recorded his career-best WoO LMS finish; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., who earned his best-ever finish in WoO LMS action; and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who started fifth.
 
Thirty-four cars were signed in for the event, which was completed by 9 p.m.
 
Clanton earned the $100 National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award for his qualifying lap of 18.611 seconds.
 
Heat winners were Robbie Blair, David Scott of Garland, Pa., and Frank, and Mike Johnson of Imperial, Pa., captured the B-Main.
 
The ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ continues on Sunday night (Sept. 2) a Tri-City Speedway. A 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main headlines the program, which kicks off with hot laps at 4 p.m.
 
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
 
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ Night 1: (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
 
1. (8) Steve Francis/50 $10,225
2. (4) Chub Frank/50 $5,125
3. (7) Tim Fuller/50 $3,250
4. (1) Shane Clanton/50 $2,600
5. (2) Robbie Blair/50 $2,500
6. (6) Josh Richards/50 $1,700
7. (13) Dan Stone/50 $1,400
8. (9) Rick Eckert/50 $1,300
9. (17) Mike Knight/50 $1,200
10. (5) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,100
11. (15) Clint Smith/50 $1,050
12. (3) David Scott/49 $1,000
13. (10) Dick Barton/49 $950
14. (11) Dutch Davies/49 $900
15. (19) Mike Johnson/49 $850
16. (22) Dave Hess Jr./49 $800
17. (18) Chad Ruhlman/49 $770
18. (20) Gregg Satterlee/49 $750
19. (16) Alex Ferree/49 $730
20. (21) Chris Hackett/49 $700
21. (24) Brent Rhebergen/48 $700
22. (14) Rick Briggs/32 $700
23. (23) Roy Mitchell/12 $700
24. (12) Jeremy Miller/0 $750
 
Time of Race: 17 Mins., 28.540 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 2.419 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (original start)
Lap Leaders: R. Blair (1-11); Clanton (12-19); Francis (20-50)
Provisional Starters: Mitchell, Rhebergen
Rookie of the Race: Tim Fuller ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Robbie Blair ($500)
National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award: Shane Clanton ($100)
National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award: Jeremy Miller ($50)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Lee Logan (Steve Francis)
 
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
 
1. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 18.611
2. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 18.638
3. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 18.743
4. won11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 18.852
5. 3-David Scott/Garland, PA 18.862
6. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 18.931
7. 28B-Dick Barton/Ashville, NY 18.949
8. 40-Dutch Davies/Warren, PA 19.008
9. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 19.022
10. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 19.132
11. 2J-Mike Johnson/Imperial, PA 19.140
12. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 19.149
13. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 19.154
14. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 19.215
15. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 19.217
16. 33-Chris Hackett/Erie, PA 19.243
17. 99B-Rick Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 19.259
18. 10-Gary Lyle/Hyde Park, PA 19.315
19. 4-Alex Ferree/Saxonburg, PA 19.323
20. 9K-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 19.336
21. 3H-Stephen Hollabaugh/Guys Mills, PA 19.759
22. 27-Jim Yoder/Selinsgrove, PA 19.792
23. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 19.842
24. 1U-Matt Urban/North East, PA 19.845
25. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 19.854
26. 111-Max Blair/Titusville, PA 19.871
27. 20-Chad Ruhlman/Bemus Point, NY 19.903
28. 07R-Brent Rhebergen/Clymer, NY 19.931
29. 90-Wally Fox/Cooperstown, PA 20.084
30. M1-Mickey Wright/Albion, PA 20.384
31. 00-Daniel Maxim/Erie, PA 20.593
32. 0-Ryan Scott/Garland, PA 20.731
33. 93-Roy Mitchell/Rensselaer, IN 21.526
34. 1D-Ronnie DeHaven Jr./Winchester, VA 21.892
 
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): R. Blair, Clanton, Fuller, Barton, Stone, Ferree, Hackett, Hess, Rhebergen, Yoder, Maxim (DNS) DeHaven
 
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): D. Scott, Lanigan, Francis, Davies, Briggs, Knight, Satterlee, M. Johnson, M. Blair, R. Scott, Fox
 
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Frank, Richards, Eckert, Miller, C. Smith, Ruhlman, Hallabaugh, Lyle, Wright, Urban, Mitchell
 
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 4 Transfer): M. Johnson, Satterlee, Hackett, Hess, Yoder, M. Blair, Hollabaugh, DeHaven, Rhebergen, R. Scott, Urban, Wright, Lyle, Fox, Maxim, Mitchell
 
2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 1 - 33 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
 
1. Steve Francis 2-18-30-$89,775-4,676 (-0)
2. Chub Frank 5-15-27-$104,455-4,634 (-42)
3. Clint Smith 3-14-25-$98,400-4,598 (-78)
4. (tie) Shane Clanton 2-12-23-$78,697-4,542 (-134)
4. (tie) Josh Richards 3-9-21-$82,732-4,542 (-134)
6. Rick Eckert 0-10-20-$66,410-4,522 (-154)
7. Darrell Lanigan 2-7-22-$71,290-4,319 (-357)
8. Tim Fuller 1-8-12-$63,805-3,835 (-841)
9. Brian Shirley 1-3-9-$43,884-3,294 (-1382)
10. Shannon Babb 4-11-14-$75,035-3,190 (-1486)
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-2-5-$23,720-2,571 (-2105)
12. Chris Madden 2-8-12-$89,215-2,379 (-2297)
13. Billy Moyer 1-9-11-$41,175-2,237 (-2439)
14. Brian Birkhofer 0-1-5-$20,910-1,738 (-2938)
15. Roy Mitchell 0-0-0-$7,330-1,690 (-2986)
16. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$10,720-1,663 (-3013)
17. Jimmy Mars 0-4-6-$22,830-1,397 (-3279)
18. Dennis Erb Jr. 2-4-6-$31,700-1,295 (-3381)
19. Billy Decker 0-0-1-$7,390-1,267 (-3409)
20. Dan Stone 0-0-2-$6,580-1,190 (-3486)
 
LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.
 
To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.
 
Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail [email protected].
 
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including National Interstate Insurance Company and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Hawk Brake, MSD Ignitions, Eibach Springs and Integra Shocks.