By Kevin Kovac - World of Outlaws Late Models Series PR
(Concored, NC) The stars of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will be rested and ready when the national tour ends a two-and-a-half-week mid-summer break on Tues., July 27, with a first-ever visit to Central PA Speedway.
And they know they better be – because when the green flag flies at Tim Bainey Sr.’s four-tenths-mile oval in Clearfield, Pa., the series will commence a busy stretch of five races in six nights that figures to loom large in the 2010 points battle.
Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek – a late-July staple of the WoO LMS since 2007 – will begin pushing the tour down its homestretch. Just 14 of the season’s 47 scheduled A-Main will remain on the series slate after the flurry of activity in the Buckeye and Keystone states.
Defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., leads the points standings entering Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek – a position he’s held outright after the last 16 events. But he hasn’t added to his series-leading win total of five since June 24 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and his season-high edge of 56 points (after race No. 14) has dwindled to just 18 points over Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and 46 points over Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., so he knows he needs to be at the top of his game when he returns to Outlaw grind.
“We struggled a little bit (on the recent ‘Wild West Tour’), but there’s still a long way to go,” said Richards, who has had at least a share of the points lead after 24 of this season’s 28 A-Mains completed to date. “Timmy and Darrell have been tough, so I guess we just have to get back up on the wheel. We’re gonna use our two weeks off to regroup and try to hold them off.”
McCreadie and Lanigan have materialized into the prime challengers for the 22-year-old Richards. And both former champions will roll into Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek with more momentum than Richards. McCreadie, 36, has won three of the last eight WoO LMS events, while Lanigan, 40, has finished second in six of the last 10 A-Mains, including the last four in a row.
Lanigan is actually in the midst of a streak unprecedented in the annals of the WoO LMS, though it’s one that has the 2008 titlist shaking his head in frustration. With his four consecutive runner-up finishes during the ‘Wild West Tour,’ he became the first driver in tour history to place second in more than three straight A-Mains.
The only other driver who appears to still have a shot at upstaging Richards, McCreadie and Lanigan for the WoO LMS championship is 2007 titlist Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who sits fourth in the points standings, 116 points behind Richards. His hopes for the $100,000 crown wrest on making up ground during Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek, which features events at:* Central PA Speedway, a specials-only track that will play host to the richest dirt Late Model race in its history when the WoO LMS arrives on Tues., July 27, for a 40-lap, $8,000-to-win A-Main. The speedway, which had its paved surface covered with clay prior to the 2006 season, is in its third season under the stewardship of former racer and asphalt stock team owner Tim Bainey Sr. The only WoO LMS regular who has won on Central PA’s dirt is Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., who invaded the track in 2007 to win the ‘Yankee Doodle 50.’
* Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, the three-eighths-mile oval co-owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran and former WoO Sprint Car Series champion Dave Blaney. One of three tracks that has presented a WoO LMS event every year since the tour was reincarnated in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner, Sharon is shifting its 50-lap, $10,000-to-win Outlaw show to a mid-week date – on Wed., July 28 – after hosting Saturday-night events for the last four years. Sharon’s past WoO LMS winners include current regulars McCreadie (2005), Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (2007) and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (2009) as well as Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio (2008) and Davey Johnson of Latrobe, Pa. (2004).
* Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio, which returns to the WoO LMS schedule for the third straight season on Fri., July 30, with a 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win. Previous winners include Richards (2008) and Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., who won the 2009 event that was highlighted by a titanic, three-wide battle for second place just behind Shaver between championship contenders Richards, Francis and Lanigan.
* Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio, a three-eighths-mile oval owned by Ronnie Moran – the father of dirt Late Model superstar Donnie Moran – that will welcome the WoO LMS on Sat., July 31. The 50-lap, $10,000-to-win program will mark the first time that the Outlaws pay a Saturday-night visit to the semi-banked track, which previously presented mid-week shows won by Frank (2009) and Francis (2008).
* Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., the Bob Rohrer-promoted facility near Lake Erie that will be rocked by the WoO LMS for the fourth consecutive year on Sun., Aug. 1. There has yet to be a repeat winner in the one-third-mile oval’s three tour events, which were captured by Richards (2007), Francis (2008) and current series traveler Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who topped last year’s A-Main after it was finally completed on Sept. 1 following two rainouts.
Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek will pit the WoO LMS standouts – a group that also includes Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, rookie sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., and rookie Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa – against some of the toughest regional and local competition they’ll face all season.
For more information on Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek:
* Central PA Speedway on Tues., July 27: Visit www.thebigtrack.com or call 814-768-3524.
* Sharon Speedway on Wed., July 28: Visit www.sharonspeedway.com or call 330-772-5481 (info) or 330-772-1186 (tickets).
* Attica Raceway Park on Fri., July 30: Visit www.atticaracewaypark.com or call 419-680-5606.
* Muskingum County Speedway on Sat., July 31: Visit www.themuskingumcountyspeedway.com or call 740-754-9199.
* Eriez Speedway on Sun., Aug. 1: Visit www.eriez-speedway.com or call 814-434-4370 or 814-440-2859.
Additional information on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award) and Chizmark Larson Insurance; in addition to contingency sponsors Eibach Springs, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pink Carburetors, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance and Wrisco Aluminum.