FRANKLIN, PA – Sept. 2, 2007 – Dan Stone had a hard time grasping the magnitude of his win in Sunday night’s 50-lap ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ finale at Tri-City Speedway.
“I’m in shock,” said the modest driver from Thompson, Pa., searching for the right words to describe his emotions. “I don’t know how I did it.”
Stone, 30, pulled off arguably the most monumental upset in the history of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. He did it in grand style, driving by six of the tour’s brightest stars en route to a career-high $10,725 paycheck and an emotional post-race celebration.
A true underdog who is universally well-liked by his fellow competitors, Stone was showered in adulation following the race. He received a loud standing ovation from the appreciative fans after conducting a heartfelt interview over the p.a. system in Victory Lane, and he was mobbed by drivers and team members offering congratulatory handshakes and high-fives upon returning to the pit area.
“I can’t believe we hit it that good with the car,” said an awed Stone, who completed his march forward from the ninth starting spot by passing WoO LMS points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., for the lead on lap 38. “I knew it was close last night (he finished a then-WoO LMS personal-best seventh in Saturday night’s 50-lapper) and we made a little adjustment today, but I never thought it would be so perfect.
“I mean, we definitely weren’t planning on this outcome.”
Stone simply sailed away from Francis once in command, beating Saturday night’s feature winner to the finish line by a commanding margin of 3.791 seconds.
An army of WoO LMS regulars followed Stone and Francis under the checkered flag in positions 3-7 – in order, Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; 16th-starter Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; polesitter Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who led laps 1-7 before yielding to Francis; and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.
It was by far the biggest win ever for Stone, who had never collected more than $2,000 for capturing a race behind the wheel of his family-owned equipment.
A Late Model champion in 1997 at Penn-Can Speedway in Susquehanna, Pa., and 2000 at Skyline Raceway in Blodgett Mills, N.Y., Stone has spent recent years competing in dirt Late Model events at numerous tracks across the Northeast. He’s enjoyed some success and even shown some flashes in WoO LMS action, but nothing prepared him for what he experienced on Sunday night.
“I didn’t think we were ready to win a World of Outlaws show,” conceded Stone, who has entered 13 WoO LMS events this season and qualified for seven A-Mains. “It’s just an honor to win a World of Outlaws race, and it’s real hard. But our car was just so good, and we passed some great cars.
“And to win my first race legitimately like this means a lot,” added Stone, who became the 17th different winner in 35 WoO LMS events this season. “Everybody didn’t break down. There wasn’t a big crash. We earned it.”
With American Racer tires on his Stone Excavating/NEP Telephone BRC Lazer III No. 21d in a field filled predominantly with Hoosier-shod machines, Stone hit on a combination that clicked. But he had his doubts about his tire selection before taking the green flag.
“I thought I was in trouble, because when we were out there on the frontstretch (for driver introduction) I saw I was a little bit harder (with tire compound) than everybody,” said Stone. “I didn’t think we’d be able to keep up at the beginning the way we did.”
Stone was in sixth place when the race’s second and final caution flag flew on lap 18 for the stopped car driven by outside-polesitter Mike Johnson of Imperial, Pa. Then he went to work using the inside lane, passing David Scott of Garland, Pa., for fifth on the restart; Richards for fourth on lap 26; Smith for third on lap 29; and Clanton for second on lap 31.
“There was a little more moisture down low than there was last night, and if I stayed right in that moisture we got a good drive off the corner,” Stone said of his stirring march forward. “The car was free enough off the corner for me to just come off there nice.”
Stone quickly erased his half-straightaway deficit to Francis, who had appeared headed to a second straight victory after hustling his Valvoline Rocket car from the fifth starting spot to the lead by lap eight. Stone made his winning move on lap 38, ducking under the lapped car of Waterford, Pa.’s Dave Hess Jr. and Francis in turn two to assume command.
“Francis went around that lapped car, and the lapped car left that bottom open,” said Stone. “I don’t think Francis realized the lapped car was gonna slide up like that. That held Francis up enough for me to get by him and the lapped car.
“It would’ve been hard to pass Francis in open track. That lapped car just really helped us out, and after that I could just really run a smooth race. I didn’t have to push the car.
“I knew the bottom was the place to be, so I knew Francis was gonna have to be awful good to pass me,” asserted Stone. “The top just wasn’t coming in, so I just tried to not screw up in lapped cars and keep the car straight and low.”
The final circuits were nerve-racking for Stone, who didn’t know he was pulling away from Francis.
“You’re just kinda waiting for the other shoe to fall, for something to happen, for the tires to go away,” described Stone, whose used a powerplant built by Edge Racing Engines in Windber, Pa. “I swear to God that I could hear somebody there behind me the whole time, but they said Francis wasn’t close enough for me to hear him.”
Francis, who turns 40 on Sept. 10, conceded that he was no match for Stone.
“When he come by me I went, ‘Wow, this is impressive!’” said Francis, who extended his points lead to 52 markers over Frank with nine events remaining in the 2007 season. “I just watched his car, and it was working great. I had nothing for what he had going on.
“I’m telling you, Dan’s car, his tires – he was dead-on. I know he was on the American Racers, and they just had a combination that hit in between everything we had; everything Hoosier’s got for (Sunday night’s track) condition is either too hard or too soft. But I’m not taking anything away from him. It’s not all tires – he had everything going.
“Congratulations to him and his guys,” added Francis. “I know how much and how hard they work. It’s good to see a guy like that win a race.
“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.”
Stone’s first career WoO LMS victory also earned him the tour’s ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash -- $500 that goes to the highest-finishing driver who isn’t ranked among the top 12 in series points and hasn’t won a WoO event.
Finishing in positions 8-10 were western Pennsylvania racers Scott; Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, who recorded a career-best WoO LMS finish; and Alex Ferree of Saxonburg.
Thirty-three cars were signed in for the event, which closed the two-day ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ weekend.
Richards earned his second $100 National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award of the season after turning a lap of 18.474 seconds in qualifying.
Heat winners were Scott, Clanton and Smith, and Dutch Davies of Warren, Pa., captured the B-Main.
The next action for the WoO LMS is a three-day weekend in the Midwest -- Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway on Sept. 14; I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., on Sept. 15; and La Salle (Ill.) Speedway on Sept. 16.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ Night 2 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won): 1. (9) Dan Stone/50 $10,725
2. (5) Steve Francis/50 $5,125
3. (7) Josh Richards/50 $3,100
4. (3) Shane Clanton/50 $2,500
5. (16) Rick Eckert/50 $2,000
6. (1) Clint Smith/50 $1,700
7. (8) Chub Frank/50 $1,400
8. (4) David Scott/50 $1,300
9. (12) Gregg Satterlee/50 $1,200
10. (13) Alex Ferree/50 $1,100
11. (6) Robbie Blair/50 $1,050
12. (20) Dick Barton/50 $1,000
13. (19) Dutch Davies/50 $950
14. (14) Jared Miley/49 $900
15. (11) Dave Hess Jr./49 $850
16. (18) Rick Isadore/49 $800
17. (21) Rick Briggs/49 $770
18. (17) Jim Rasey/49 $750
19. (15) Chris Hackett/48 $730
20. (25) Wally Fox/47 $700
21. (2) Mike Johnson/21 $750
22. (24) Brent Rhebergen/18 $700
23. (10) Jeremy Miller/ 16 $700
24. (22) Paul Briggs/14 $700
25. (23) Roy Mitchell/1 $950
Time of Race: 24 Mins., 38.219 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 3.791 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 2, 18)
Lap Leaders: C. Smith (1-7); Francis (8-37); Stone (38-50)
Provisional Starters: Mitchell, Rhebergen (WoO); Fox (track)
Rookie of the Race: Roy Mitchell ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Dan Stone ($500)
National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award: Josh Richards ($100)
National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award: Mike Johnson ($50)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Jamie Bedford (Dan Stone)
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap): 1. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 18.474
2. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 18.675
3. 32-Jeff Hoffman/Clarendon, PA 19.005
4. 4-Alex Ferree/Saxonburg, PA 19.144
5. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA 19.160
6. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 19.287
7. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 19.301
8. won11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 19.330
9. 2J-Mike Johnson/Imperial, PA 19.450
10. 3-David Scott/Garland, PA 19.487
11. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 19.514
12. 111-Max Blair/Titusville, PA 19.538
13. 07R-Brent Rhebergen/Clymer, NY 19.554
14. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 19.563
15. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 19.590
16. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 19.605
17. 9b-Paul Briggs/Ashville, NY 19.771
18. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 19.808
19. 22b-Darrell Bossard/Centerville, PA
20. 32R-Jim Rasey/Southington, OH 19.944
21. 9i-Rick Isadore/Cyclone, PA 20.057
22. 1D-Ronnie DeHaven Jr./Winchester, VA 20.132
23. 28b-Dick Barton/Ashville, NY 20.225
24. 33-Chris Hackett/Erie, PA 20.358
25. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 20.360
26. 3H-Stephen Hollabaugh/20.390
27. 40-Dutch Davies/Warren, PA 20.537
28. 99B-Rick Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 20.859
29. 90-Wally Fox/Cooperstown, PA 21.463
30. 93-Roy Mitchell/Rensselaer, IN 21.994
31. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY N/T
32. M1-Micky Wright/Albion, PA N/T
33. 1U-Matt Urban/North East, PA N/T
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): D. Scott, Francis, Richards, Miller, Ferree, Eckert, DeHaven, Bossard, R. Briggs, Rhebergen (DNS) Lanigan
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Clanton, R. Blair, Frank, Hess, Miley, Rasey, Barton, P. Briggs, Hollabaugh, Fox (DNS) Wright
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Smith, Johnson, Stone, Satterlee, Hackett, Isadore, Davies, M. Blair, Hoffman, Mitchell (DNS) Urban
2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 2 - 35 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader): 1. Steve Francis 2-19-31-$94,900-4,822 (-0)
2. Chub Frank 5-15-28-$105,855-4,770 (-52)
3. Clint Smith 3-14-26-$100,100-4,736 (-86)
4. Josh Richards 3-10-22-$85,832-4,686 (-136)
5. Shane Clanton 2-13-24-$81,197-4,684 (-138)
6. Rick Eckert 0-11-21-$68,410-4,662 (-160)
7. Darrell Lanigan 2-7-22-$71,290-4,394 (-428)
8. Tim Fuller 1-8-12-$63,805-3,835 (-987)
9. Brian Shirley 1-3-9-$43,884-3,294 (-1528)
10. Shannon Babb 4-11-14-$75,035-3,190 (-1632)
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-2-5-$23,720-2,571 (-2251)
12. Chris Madden 2-8-12-$89,215-2,379 (-2443)
13. Billy Moyer 1-9-11-$41,175-2,237 (-2585)
14. Roy Mitchell 0-0-0-$8,280-1,790 (-3032)
15. Brian Birkhofer 0-1-5-$20,910-1,738 (-3084)
16. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$10,720-1,663 (-3159)
17. Jimmy Mars 0-4-6-$22,830-1,397 (-3425)
18. Dan Stone 1-1-3-$17,305-1,340 (-3482)
19. Dennis Erb Jr. 2-4-6-$31,700-1,295 (-3527)
20. Billy Decker 0-0-1-$7,390-1,267 (-3555)
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.
