BULLS GAP, TN - Oct. 13, 2007 - Steve Francis can taste the 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship.
 
A convincing $20,225 victory in Saturday night's 'Tennessee Fall Brawl 100' at Volunteer Speedway allowed Francis to pad his points lead, putting him on the brink of a first career title with the nation's premier dirt Late Model tour.
 
Francis, 40, of Ashland, Ky., holds a 62-point edge over Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who finished 11th, heading into the two A-Mains that comprise the 'Outlaws World Finals' on Nov. 1-3 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
 
"It ain't over yet," cautioned Francis, the WoO LMS points runner-up in 2004 and 2005. "I'm happy that we're finishing the season strong, but we still have to put together two more good nights to finish the points deal up."
 
Francis, who started from the outside pole, was flawless in the final event of the 'Race to the World Finals.' He passed polesitter Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., for the lead on lap 22 and never looked back in his Valvoline Rocket No. 15.
 
After Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., saw his bid to overtake Francis end with apparent mechanical trouble on lap 62, the 'Kentucky Colonel' was essentially home free. He handled late-race lapped traffic and beat Cook's MasterSbilt mount to the finish line by 2.473 seconds.
 
Randy Weaver of Crossville, Tenn., advanced from the ninth starting spot to finish a close third in the D&R Racing GRT car, followed by 10th-starter Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., in a 'Team Zero' chassis of his own design and third-starter Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., in the Childress Vineyards Rocket.
 
Francis's triumph was his fourth of the season on the WoO LMS and his first-ever at Volunteer Speedway, a four-tenths-mile, high-banked oval that he's struggled to master. He did capture a 12-car charity Super Late Model race (worth $5,000) at the track on Aug. 21, but his ninth-place finish in the 'Scorcher 100' two days later left him uncertain about his chances on Saturday night.
 
"I wasn't very confident coming here because I didn't run good last time," said Francis, who registered his 14th career WoO LMS victory. "I was just hoping to maintain what I had (as a points lead), so I'm just tickled to death to get something extra out of it.
 
"This is kind of the hometrack for Scott (Bloomquist), Jimmy (Owens) and those guys," he added. "They come in and beat us at our hometracks a lot of times, so it feels good to finally get a win at their place."
 
Francis was outgunned for the lead at the start of the 100 by Cook, but he soon realized that his Custom-powered machine wasn't going to fade.
 
"Ray fired out there and I thought he was gonna be really, really good," said Francis. "Then, all of a sudden, it looked like he got really loose. I got up to him and showed him the nose two or three times, and then he kinda moved down and gave me the top of (turns) one and two.
 
"My car was so good around the top of one and two, once I got out there we were able to clear him down the backstraightaway."
 
Owens, who started fifth in the Reece Monuments Bloomquist No. 20, passed Cook for second on lap 27 and was closing on Francis when the race's first of three caution flags flew on lap 45, for the stopped car driven by Knoxville, Tenn.'s Mark Douglas. The 'Newport Nightmare' continued to challenge Francis until shortly after a lap-58 caution period for Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, who slowed with a flat left-rear tire.
 
A wicked vibration in Owens's car caused him to cede second back to Cook on lap 60, and two circuits later he slowed to bring out the race's final caution flag. He pulled into the infield and didn't return, derailing his hopes of duplicating his victory over Francis in last month's UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
 
"The car just got real loose in the corners," said Owens, who came within five laps of winning the 'Scorcher 100' at Volunteer two months ago. "I thought it was the rearend, but it doesn't look like that was the problem. I'm not sure what happened yet."
 
Owens paused, and then jokingly added, "I've been known to pull in for no reason - and if I did it tonight, I'm gonna be sick. I think we had a good car and might've had a chance to get (Francis) in lapped traffic."
 
Francis never knew that Owens drew close to him, but he wasn't surprised to hear such a report following the race.
 
"When you get in lapped traffic at a high-speed place like this, I knew somebody had to be close to me," said Francis. "I was just trying to make sure I never gave the bottom of (turns) three and four up."
 
Actually, after Owens's departure, no one threatened Francis. Cook spent the final laps holding off Weaver and Bloomquist, who slid by McDowell for fourth on lap 94 after spending more than 10 circuits battling for the position.
 
Cook, 36, earned $10,625 for his career-best WoO LMS finish, including the tour's $500 'Bonus Bucks' prize for being the highest-placing driver who isn't ranked among the top 12 of the points standings and has never won a series event.
 
"It means a lot to get a good finish in one of these big shows," said Cook, who used American Racer tires in a field dominated by Hoosier-shod cars. "We ran good in the Scorcher, and we brought that setup back and tried to build off of it.
 
"We got off to a good start, but I was getting a little loose in after a few laps. I just couldn't drive up in there as hard as I wanted to, and of course, when you're loose in, it makes you tight off.
 
"I feel like we had a third-place car," he continued, "but a little luck got us into second."
 
The 38-year-old Weaver also registered a career-high finish in WoO LMS competition.
 
"Halfway through the race I felt like we were better (than Cook), but I got together with another car trying to make a move on the outside and that messed up the tow on the car," said Weaver. "I had to fight a little ill-handling car at the end. I could get to Ray, but unless he messed up, I wasn't gonna get him."
 
Bloomquist, meanwhile, felt he had a winning car, but he couldn't get through traffic on the difficult track.
 
"Every time we had a lap in the clear, we were considerably quicker than the leader," said Bloomquist, the 2004 WoO LMS champion. "I think Jimmy (Owens) and I were definitely the two fastest cars, but we just didn't have a racetrack to prove it.
 
"You've never had to hook your left-side tires on the bottom in (turns) three and four at this place. It didn't matter how good you were (running) high in one and two - if you got outside a guy, you couldn't do nothing with him in three and four.
 
"It's kinda hard to go from behind a guy to all the way in front of him in one end. You need the other end to at least be able to stay beside him."
 
McDowell settled for fifth after running in fourth place for most of the distance. He flashed under the checkered flag several car lengths ahead of Chatham, Ill.'s Brian Shirley, the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender who enjoyed a strong run after failing to qualify for the 'Scorcher 100.'
 
Shirley, 26, moved forward from the 14th starting spot to reach sixth at the finish.
 
"The bottom line is, we had a good car that was capable of running there until somebody made a mistake," said Shirley, who drove Ed Petroff's Rocket No. 3s. "If you didn't have a real good handling car, you couldn't hit the same line that you needed to every lap. My car was good enough that I could hit that line every lap and take advantage of other guys slipping up."
 
Rounding out the top 10 was Rick Rogers of Knoxville, Tenn., who earned the National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award on Friday night; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who started and finished in the same position; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; and Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who started 22nd after grabbing the final transfer spot in the second B-Main on the last lap.
 
Frank, who qualified through a B-Main after battling handling problems in Friday night's heat action, settled for an 11th-place finish.
 
"We weren't very good all night," said Frank. "I don't know what to do at this place."
 
Three drivers - Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Ricky Arms of Moss., Tenn., and Roy Mitchell of Hobart, Ind. - pulled into the infield with mechanical trouble during the race's pace laps. Only Richards was able to get back on the track - but after his crew hastily installed a new driveshaft in his car, he slid onto the track in turn one as the leaders completed the first lap and was immediately put down one lap.
 
After time trials and heats were contested on Friday night, Moran and Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C. (the 16-year-old grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress) won Saturday night's 20-lap B-Mains.
 
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
 
Results of WoO Late Model Series (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
 
1. (2) Steve Francis/100 $20,225
2. (1) Ray Cook/100 $10,625
3. (9) Randy Weaver/100 $6,000
4. (10) Scott Bloomquist/100 $5,000
5. (3) Dale McDowell/100 $4,000
6. (14) Brian Shirley/100 $3,250
7. (7) Rick Rogers/100 $2,850
8. (8) Shane Clanton/100 $2,500
9. (22) Rick Eckert/100 $2,300
10. (13) Clint Smith/100 $2,100
11. (20) Chub Frank/100 $1,900
12. (17) Donnie Moran/100 $1,800
13. (18) Austin Dillon/100 $1,700
14. (16) Josh Richards/98 $1,650
15. (12) Dan Schlieper/97 $1,600
16. (6) Vic Hill/70 $1,580
17. (5) Jimmy Owens/62 $1,560
18. (11) Darrell Lanigan/58 $1,540
19. (4) Michael England/52 $1,520
20. (15) Mark Douglas/47 $1,500
21. (23) Eddie Carrier Jr./43 $1,500
22. (21) Anthony White/29 $1,500
23. (19) Ricky Arms/0 $1,500
24. (24) Roy Mitchell/0 $1,500
 
Time of Race: 32 Mins., 59.858 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 2.473 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 45, 58, 62)
Lap Leaders: Cook (1-21); Francis (22-100)
Provisional Starters: Carrier, Mitchell
Rookie of the Race: Brian Shirley ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Ray Cook ($500)
National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award: Rick Rogers ($100)
National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award: Jimmy Owens ($50)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Lee Logan (Steve Francis)
 
B-Main No. 1 (20 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Donnie Moran, 2. Ricky Arms, 3. Anthony White, 4. Bryan Hendrix, 5. Dan Stone, 6. Shane Roberts, 7. Michael Smith, 8. Herman Goddard, 9. Brandon Kinzer, 10. Shannon Buckingham (DNS) Roy Mitchell, Shannon Babb, Skip Arp, Damon Eller, Mike Jackson, Eric Wells, Jeff Neubert, Clint Solomon
 
B-Main No. 2 (20 laps - Top 3 Transfer): 1. Austin Dillon, 2. Chub Frank, 3. Rick Eckert, 4. Brady Smith, 5. Billy Ogle Jr., 6. Kerry Jones, 7. Brett Miller, 8. Eddie Carrier Jr., 9. Randy Davidson, 10. Chad Ogle, 11. John Blankenship, 12. Van Lester (DNS) Brad Neat, Brett Wyatt, Travis Fultz, David Crabtree, Steve Smith, Bobby Giffin
 
2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Oct. 13 - 42 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
 
1. Steve Francis 4-25-38-$135,950-5,688 (-0)
2. Chub Frank 6-19-34-$128,180-5,626 (-62)
3. Clint Smith 4-17-30-$119,625-5,576 (-112)
4. Shane Clanton 2-13-28-$89,747-5,496 (-192)
5. Rick Eckert 0-12-26-$79,110-5,480 (-208)
6. Josh Richards 4-11-25-$102,657-5,470 (-218)
7. Darrell Lanigan 2-10-27-$86,105-5,204 (-484)
8. Tim Fuller 1-10-15-$70,705-4,259 (-1429)
9. Brian Shirley 1-5-13-$61,754-4,070 (-1618)
10. Shannon Babb 5-13-17-$100,885-3,732 (-1956)
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-2-5-$25,920-2,752 (-2936)
12. Roy Mitchell 0-0-0-$13,290-2,456 (-3232)
13. Chris Madden 2-8-12-$90,015-2,454 (-3234)
14. Billy Moyer 1-9-12-$42,575-2,448 (-3240)
15. Brian Birkhofer 0-1-8-$24,810-2,079 (-3609)
16. Jimmy Mars 0-5-7-$27,930-1,773 (-3915)
17. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$10,830-1,738 (-3950)
18. Dan Stone 1-1-3-$18,335-1,640 (-4048)
19. Brady Smith 0-2-5-$14,450-1,434 (-4254)
20. Dennis Erb Jr. 2-4-7-$33,000-1,433 (-4255)
 
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.