CONCORD, NC - Oct. 10, 2007 - Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., returned to the spotlight with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series on Wednesday night, capturing the 50-lap Jani-King Southern Showdown Presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
 
A winner four times while running the first half of the 2007 WoO LMS schedule, the 33-year-old standout scored his first triumph on the tour since June 2 at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
 
Babb's sixth career WoO LMS win was worth $18,225, including an $8,000 bonus for winning the A-Main from the eighth starting spot. Under the event's unique bonus program, drivers who entered the race prior to Sept. 15 and then qualified through a heat or by winning a B-Main were eligible to receive the base $10,000 first-place prize along with an amount equal to $1,000 multiplied by their starting position.
 
"That money is great," said Babb, who topped the $100,000 mark in WoO LMS earnings this season with his first-ever victory at The Dirt Track. "It's really cool that a promoter would put that kind of deal on for us."
 
Early in the race, however, it appeared that Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., might be the driver in line for a huge payday. After a B-Main victory gave him a chance for the maximum $30,000 first-place check, the 19-year-old sensation advanced from the 21st starting spot to pass Babb for the lead on lap nine.
 
But shortly thereafter Richards hit the four-tenths-mile track's ample cushion in turn two, forcing him to retire with damage to his car's right-front corner and handing to top spot back to Babb on lap 13.
 
The remainder of the distance belonged to Babb, who crossed the finish line 1.914 seconds ahead of Parkersburg, W.Va.'s Mike Balzano. Balzano, who started from the pole position but went to the rear when he spun with a left-rear flat tire on lap nine, passed Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., for second place off the race's final corner.
 
Lanigan, who started 28th after getting in the feature thanks to a provisional spot, finished third. WoO LMS points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who also used a provisional to start the A-Main after being involved in a heat-race crash, placed fourth in Tim Logan's No. 11 and 2006 WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., finished fifth after pitting to change a flat left-rear tire on his Sweeteners Plus No. 39 that he suffered in a massive lap-13 tangle.
 
Only 12 of 28 starters were running at the end of the rough-and-tumble event, which was slowed by five caution flags and one red flag. Heavy, fast track conditions produced a test of man and machine.
 
Two multi-car wrecks involved several pre-race favorites. The first, an original-start mess set off when Tim Dohm of Charleston, W.Va., slid sideways in turn two, eliminated Circle K Colossal 100 winner Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., and Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va. Later, on a lap-13 restart, Jackie Boggs of Grayson, Ky., and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., tangled near the front of the field, triggering a wreck that knocked out, among others, Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, and, several laps after the incident, Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C.
 
"I'm happy just to survive that thing and come out with a win," said Babb, who is 10th in the 2007 WoO LMS points standings. "You gotta be there at the end of these things, so I just tried to take it as easy as I could and run around the (inside) tires as close as I could. That was the smoothest spot I could find."
 
Babb certainly had the right horse to tame the tough speedway.
 
"The old Rayburn (chassis) swing-arm suspension deal always runs good on this type of track," Babb said of his Billy Moyer Sr.-owned Car City No. 18. "It wasn't the best there at times tonight, but the Rayburn is a lot more consistent and friendly in the rough."
 
It was the track's thick cushion that claimed Richards's Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket car. The young star turned laps nearly a full second faster than anyone else when he surged around the extreme outside of the speedway to grab the lead from Babb, but he couldn't avoid trouble running the unruly lane.
 
"I hit the cushion off of two with the right front," Richards said of the problem that abruptly ended his bid. "I was trying to run around it with the right-rear, but that time (on lap 12) I just pushed a little bit and then I just dug in the ground and the nose rolled under. You can't steer like that, so we were done."
 
Richards, who failed to qualify in his heat race because his car's driveshaft dropped out during an opening-lap caution period, could only mourn his lost opportunity for a $30,000 victory.
 
"After the third or fourth lap, I knew this car was gonna be awesome," said Richards. "I could just get up on the top and roll. I think I just got a little too excited because we were so fast.
 
"I think if I would've slowed down a little bit and paced myself, we would've been better off. But it was just so much fun running up around there so fast."
 
Babb wasn't surprised about Richards's ultimate fate.
 
"I was wondering if anybody was gonna run the top," said Babb. "On the bottom, we were really slowing down and killing our momentum. When Josh went by me, he was way up above the cushion and had his RPMs up. He was just blasting around up there and drove away.
 
"I thought that was gonna work, but it eventually got dirtier from everybody throwing stuff up there. And usually you're gonna self-destruct if you sit up there and run wide-open like that."
 
Babb shied away from such daredevil antics. He played it as conservative as possible, but he still tangled with Brady Smith (contact while lapping Smith punched a hole in Babb's right-side door) and nearly was swept up in a chain-reaction jingle in turn four on lap 45 that was triggered by the slowing car of Chatham, Ill.'s Brian Shirley.
 
"That was a real close call when Shirley broke," said Babb. "It might have ended my day if it turned out another way."
 
Babb wasn't hampered by the late caution flag for Shirley, who had climbed as high as third after taking the green flag at the rear of the field (he relinquished his scheduled outside-pole starting spot when he returned to the pits with his Petroff Towing No. 3s during the pace laps). The Moweaqua Missile wasn't challenged after the final restart.
 
But the caution was a big help to Balzano, who took advantage of the restart to steal an unlikely runner-up finish in his Rocket car.
 
"After we got hit, busted the tire and spun (on lap nine), I thought maybe we could get a top 10," said Balzano, a former winner at The Dirt Track. "Well, we got back to third and we were gonna settle for that, but we got that last caution and got lucky enough to pass Darrell for second."
 
Lanigan couldn't be disappointed with falling to third on the final lap in his Rocket No. 29. After all, after failing to qualify in a B-Main, he had his car loaded up when officials informed him that he had a provisional starting spot for having sent in the second-earliest post-marked entry form among the evening's DNQs.
 
Starting last in the field, Lanigan was marginally involved in the opening-lap tangle but continued. He leaped into the top five when he avoided the huge lap-13 crash, then surged to second on lap 17.
 
Bidding to join McCreadie as just the second driver in WoO LMS history to win a tour feature from the last starting spot, Lanigan cut Babb's lead from a full straightaway to 1.4 seconds by lap 42. But he couldn't stay with Babb after the final restart, and a jump of the turn-four cushion on the last lap cost him second to Balzano.
 
Francis, meanwhile, rallied from the 25th starting spot to finish fourth in a car that was still bent significantly from a heat-race incident. He also pitted early in the distance to replace his machine's air cleaner, which had been knocked off by a large clod of mud.
 
"I think I got damage everywhere on the car," said Francis, who maintained his 40-point lead in the WoO LMS standings on Bear Lake, Pa.'s Chub Frank because the Jani-King Southern Showdown offered only show-up points. "You couldn't stay out of trouble out there. We're lucky to get what we got."
 
Finishing in positions 6-10 were Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who used a WoO LMS provisional to start the A-Main; Frank, who finished the race with his car's air cleaner missing and rear spoiler hanging off; Boggs, who led laps 1-8; Eric Jacobsen of Sea Cliff Beach, Calif., who was fourth on the final restart but lost several positions because he jumped the turn-two cushion; and Brady Smith.
 
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver Ryan Newman finished 11th in a No. 39 fielded by Francis. He qualified through a B-Main.
 
Fifty-eight cars entered the event, which was attended by a huge crowd to kick off Lowe's Motor Speedway's Bank of America 500 Week.
 
Heat winners were Moran, Boggs, Chuck Harper of Beverly, W.Va., Bloomquist, Jacobsen and Babb. The B-Mains were captured by Shaver, Richards and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who pulled out of the A-Main on lap seven after a bout with an inside tire damaged his car's left-front corner.
 
With time trials not being run, the heat races were lined up by a draw.
 
The WoO LMS continues its 'Race to the World Finals' this weekend (Oct. 12-13) with the 'Tennessee Fall Brawl 100' at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. Time trials and heat races are scheduled for Friday night, followed by the $20,000-to-win A-Main on Saturday night.
 
For more info on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
 
Results of WoO Late Model Series (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
 
1. (8) Shannon Babb/50 $18,225
2. (1) Mike Balzano/50 $5,625
3. (28) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,000
4. (25) Steve Francis/50 $2,500
5. (9) Tim McCreadie/50 $2,000
6. (26) Rick Eckert/50 $1,700
7. (11) Chub Frank/50 $1,400
8. (3) Jackie Boggs/50 $1,300
9. (17) Eric Jacobsen/50 $1,200
10. (12) Brady Smith/49 $1,100
11. (24) Ryan Newman/49 $1,050
12. (16) Damon Eller/48 $1,000
13. (2) Brian Shirley/43 $1,200
14. (7) Jimmy Owens/38 $900
15. (10) Tim Dohm/29 $850
16. (15) Chris Madden/22 $800
17. (13) Donnie Moran/13 $770
18. (4) Chuck Harper/13 $750
19. (14) Earl Pearson Jr./13 $730
20. (21) Josh Richards/13 $750
21. (27) Tim Allen/13 $700
22. (20) Clint Smith/7 $700
23. (23) Steve Lucas/6 $700
24. (5) Shane Clanton/4 $700
25. (6) Jayme Zidar/4 $700
26. (22) Eddie Carrier Jr./4 $700
27. (18) Scott Bloomquist/0 $700
28. (19) Steve Shaver/0 $700
 
Time of Race: 40 Mins., 24.732 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.914 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 6 (Laps 0, 4, 8, 9, 13, 45); 1 RED (Lap 13)
Lap Leaders: Boggs (1-8); Babb (9); Richards (10-12); Babb (13-50)
Provisional Starters: Francis, Eckert (WoO); Allen, Lanigan (track)
Rookie of the Race: Shirley ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Balzano ($500)
National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award: Richards ($50)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Chris Rogers (Darrell Lanigan)
 
Heat No. 1 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Donnie Moran, 2. Brian Shirley, 3. Damon Eller, 4. Dan Stone, 5. Austin Dillon, 6. Billy Hicks, 7. Chesley Dixon, 8. Steve Francis, 9. Rick Eckert, 10. Tre Martin
 
Heat No. 2 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jackie Boggs, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Brady Smith, 4. Eddie Carrier Jr., 5. Darrell Lanigan, 6. Steve Shaver, 7. Ronnie Hoover, 8. Brian Ledbetter, 9. Corey Conley (DNS) Jonathan Davenport
 
Heat No. 3 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Chuck Harper, 2. Tim Dohm, 3. Jayme Zidar, 4. Audie Swartz, 5. Jeff Smith, 6. Kirk Baker, 7. Luke Roffers, 8. Keith Jacobs, 9. Billy Moyer, 10. Jordan Bland
 
Heat No. 4 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Scott Bloomquist, 2. Mike Balzano, 3. Chub Frank, 4. Clint Smith, 5. Dennis Franklin, 6. Steve Lucas, 7. G.R. Smith, 8. Kenny Wallace, 9. Kenny Christy, 10. Roy Mitchell
 
Heat No. 5 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Eric Jacobsen, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Jimmy Owens, 4. Shane Tankersley, 5. Furman Parton, 6. Ryan Newman, 7. Joe Ramey, 8. Tim Allen, 9. Ricky Weeks
 
Heat No. 6 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Shannon Babb, 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Shane Clanton, 4. Larry Blankenship, 5. Mike Duvall, 6. Josh Richards, 7. Brent Robinson, 8. Jared Hawkins, 9. Anthony Huber
 
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): Shaver, Carrier, Eckert, Lanigan, Stone, Hoover, Ledbetter, Francis, Conley, Martin, Davenport (DNS) Dillon, Hicks, Dixon
 
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): C. Smith, Lucas, Swartz, Roffers, Christy, G.R. Smith, Baker, Bland, Mitchell, J. Smith (DNS) Franklin, Jacobs, Wallace, Moyer
 
B-Main No. 3 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): Richards, Newman, Allen, Tankersley, Ramey, Blankenship, Parton, Huber (DNS) Duvall, Robinson, Hawkins, Weeks
 
2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Oct. 10 - 41 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
 
1. Steve Francis 3-24-37-$115,725-5,538 (-0)
2. Chub Frank 6-19-34-$126,280-5,498 (-40)
3. Clint Smith 4-17-29-$117,525-5,446 (-92)
4. Shane Clanton 2-13-27-$87,247-5,362 (-176)
5. Josh Richards 4-11-25-$101,007-5,350 (-188)
6. Rick Eckert 0-12-25-$76,810-5,348 (-190)
7. Darrell Lanigan 2-10-27-$84,565-5,092 (-446)
8. Tim Fuller 1-10-15-$70,705-4,259 (-1279)
9. Brian Shirley 1-5-12-$58,504-3,932 (-1606)
10. Shannon Babb 5-13-17-$100,885-3,657 (-1881)
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-2-5-$24,420-2,646 (-2892)
12. Chris Madden 2-8-12-$90,015-2,454 (-3084)
13. Billy Moyer 1-9-12-$42,575-2,448 (-3090)
14. Roy Mitchell 0-0-0-$11,790-2,356 (-3182)
15. Brian Birkhofer 0-1-8-$24,810-2,079 (-3459)
16. Jimmy Mars 0-5-7-$27,930-1,773 (-3765)
17. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$10,720-1,663 (-3875)
18. Dan Stone 1-1-3-$18,225-1,565 (-3973)
19. Dennis Erb Jr. 2-4-7-$33,000-1,433 (-4105)
20. Brady Smith 0-2-5-$14,340-1,359 (-4179)
 
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.