Steve Francis became the winningest driver on the 2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series with a triumph in Friday night’s 50-lap A-Main at Bedford Speedway.
But the defending tour champion from
Francis, 40, still trails Lanigan by 140 points with just eight events remaining on the ’08 schedule – a hefty deficit that has him thinking more about checkered flags than defending his championship.
“Our goal is to win every race for the rest of the year,” said Francis, who has driven Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket No. 19 to victory in four of the last 10 WoO LMS shows. “That’s the only thing we can do. We’re not gonna catch (Lanigan) if he finishes right behind us every night, so we’re focusing on going for wins and having fun.”
Francis, who earned $10,150 for his fifth WoO LMS win of the season, broke a tie atop the 2008 victory list with four-time winners Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark. It was his 19th career WoO LMS win – the most of any driver on the tour since 2004.
It was a convincing win for Francis, who was never seriously challenged after passing Rick Eckert of
Eckert settled for third place after leading laps 1-16. Polesitter Shannon Babb of
A winner of a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at Bedford one month ago, Francis attributed his success at the facility to the rubber on his Cornett-powered machine.
“I think we had a tire advantage here tonight,” said Francis, who uses American Racer tires in a field dominated by drivers from the Hoosier camp. “These tires seem to really like this place.”
Lanigan, 38, didn’t dispute Francis’s assessment. The ultra-steady competitor managed to race toe-to-toe with Francis inside the top five early in the event with Hoosier shoes on his Rocket No. 29, but after losing second to his prime championship rival on a lap-10 restart he couldn’t keep pace.
“Tires were the difference,” said Lanigan, who started fifth and held the runner-up spot from lap 17 to the finish. “I ran with (Francis) a little bit early, but when the track got crusty the American Racers were better.”
Lanigan fell short of victory in his first start carrying sponsorship from Fusion Energy Drink. He will sport the product’s logo and colors on his car for the remainder of the 2008 season and is in negotiations to extend the pact to 2009.
“It would’ve been nice to win one for Fusion the first time out,” said Lanigan, who changed his car’s familiar look as part of the Fusion deal.
Francis, meanwhile, had some worries even as he was pulling away from Lanigan during the race’s late stages.
“We had something going on with the motor there,” said Francis, who started fourth. “It was getting real, real flat, so I ran a little conservative for the last 10 or 15 laps.
“It wasn’t something serious, but Kevin (Miller), Robby (Allen) and Dale (Beitler) will change motors and we’ll go after ‘em again tomorrow (Saturday) at Tri-City (
Francis hailed Bedford Speedway, which hosted the WoO LMS for the second consecutive year.
“Obviously I like this place this year because we’ve won twice,” grinned Francis. “But in general, the surface is so much better than it was (over 600 truckloads of new clay were applied prior to the 2008 season thanks to a state grant). There’s not even a comparison to last year. You can race two- or three-wide all the way around it, and that’s all you can ask for from a track.”
Eckert, 42, had hoped to keep his Raye Vest-owned GRT car in front of the field from flag-to-flag at a track where he won four consecutive Super Late Model titles from 1989-1992, but he couldn’t hold off Francis and Lanigan. He was strong racing off the outside pole to assume command at the initial green flag, but he lost a step after a multi-car tangle in turn one that triggered red-flag conditions on lap 10.
“I didn’t need that red flag,” said Eckert, who had a new Jay Dickens-built engine under the hood of his car. “I knew that the (Hoosier) tires we had on would cool off during the red and then seal up, and that’s what happened. I struggled for a few laps after the restart and that’s when Francis and Lanigan got by me.”
Babb, 34, couldn’t take advantage of starting from the pole position for the second straight WoO LMS A-Main and third time in the last four races. He slipped backward immediately and could never quite recover, leaving him a distant fourth at the finish in his Traeger Grills Rocket mount owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Clint Bowyer.
“I’m disappointed that we couldn’t finish better,” said Babb. “But this was our first time here and I know we got murdered on tires. I knew we were in trouble when I stepped on the gas for the original start and just spun my wheels all the way down the front straightaway.”
Coffey, 37, recorded a morale-boosting finish in the Sweeteners Plus Rocket. His first top-five finish of the WoO LMS campaign came after he slid by Clint Smith of
“I felt like my car just kept getting better and better,” said Coffey, who started 11th in his first-ever start at
Finishing in positions 6-10 were Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who charged from the 22nd starting spot after qualifying through the B-Main because a malfunctioning ground wire caused his car to shut off during heat action; Smith, who ran fifth for much of the distance but was beaten in the final circuits by “two drivers (Coffey and Clanton) on harder tires”; Richards, who was hampered by a well-worn motor that was down on power; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., whose car sustained right-rear bodywork damage when he slapped the outside wall during the event; and Gary Stuhler of Greencastle, Pa., who earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main since 2004 and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the current points standings.
Tim McCreadie of
In addition to the red flag on lap 10, four caution flags slowed the event. Two were for D.J. Myers of Greencastle, Pa., who spun in turn two on the third lap while running sixth and later stopped with driveline problems on lap 37.
Thirty-two cars were signed in for the evening’s action, which ran under clear skies after Friday dawned with drizzle falling.
Eckert set a new track record in qualifying, blazing around
The fast time was Eckert’s first on the WoO LMS since April 18, 2006, at Lernerville Speedway in
Heat winners were Eckert, Lanigan and Babb. Stone captured the B-Main.
The WoO LMS will remain in
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Labor Day 50’ at
1. (4) Steve Francis/50 $10,150
2. (5) Darrell Lanigan/50 $5,100
3. (2) Rick Eckert/50 $3,100
4. (1) Shannon Babb/50 $2,500
5. (11) Vic Coffey/50 $2,250
6. (22) Shane Clanton/50 $1,700
7. (7) Clint Smith/50 $1,400
8. (10) Josh Richards/50 $1,300
9. (8) Chub Frank/50 $1,200
10. (13) Gary Stuhler/50 $1,600
11. (15) Devin Friese/50 $1,050
12. (12) Jeff Rine/50 $1,000
13. (17) Tim Fuller/50 $950
14. (23) Sean Beardsley/50 $900
15. (9) Joe Isabell/50 $850
16. (6) D.J. Myers/36 $800
17. (21) Scott Rhodes/32 $770
18. (20) Randy Burkholder/27 $750
19. (25) Steve Everhart/26 $730
20. (24) Jeff Isabell Jr./20 $700
21. (18) Tyler Hershey/15 $700
22. (14) Scott Haus/10 $700
23. (16) Nick Dickson/10 $700
24. (19) Dan Stone/10 $700
25. (3) Tim McCreadie/10 $700
Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 3, 10, 27, 37); 1 Red Flag (Lap 10)
Lap Leaders: Eckert (1-16); Francis (17-50)
Provisional Starters: Beardsley, Jeff Isabell Jr. (WoO); Everhart (track)
Rookie of the Race: Coffey ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Stuhler ($500)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($50): Johnny Cocco (Coffey)
Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Eckert (half-off tire warmers)
Super Clean ‘Start of the Race’: Eckert ($100)
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 24-Rick Eckert/
2. 19-Steve Francis/
3. 39-Tim McCreadie/
4. 70J-D.J. Myers/Greencastle, PA 19.799
5. 29-Darrell Lanigan/
6. 18-Shannon Babb/
7. 44-Clint Smith/
8. 32c-Vic Coffey/
9. 25-Shane Clanton/
10. 15E-Steve Everhart/
11. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear
12. 6J-Joe Isabell/
13. 1-Josh Richards/
14. 18J-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 20.141
15. 74-Tyler Hershey/
16. 90-Gary Stuhler/
17. 57-Jeff Miller/
18. 92-Jeff Rine/
19. 17-Nick Dickson/
20. 33-Scott Haus/
21. 12-Devin Friese/
22. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 20.450
23. 17J-Wayne Johnson/Hancock, MD 20.571
24. 77-Randy Burkholder/
25. M1-Andy Martz/
26. 83R-Scott Rhodes/
27. 15P-Matt Parks/
28. 20-Shawn Claar/
29. 7JR-Jeff Isabell Jr./
30. 6x-Jeff Isabell Sr./
31. 49-Eric Zembower/
32. 19-Tim Fuller/
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Eckert, Myers, C. Smith, Richards, Stuhler, Dickson, Stone, Everhart, Claar, Martz, Zembower
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Lanigan, Francis, Frank, Coffey, Haus, Fuller, W. Johnson,
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Babb, McCreadie, Joe Isabell, Rine, Friese, Hershey, Burkholder, Jeff Isabell Sr., Parks, Clanton
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Stone, Burkholder, Rhodes, Clanton, W. Johnson, Everhart, Beardsley, Claar, Parks, Martz, Jeff Isabell Jr., J. Miller, Zembower (DNS) Jeff Isabell Sr.
2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Aug. 23 - 35 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 2-23-33-$115,717-4991 (-0)
2. Steve Francis 5-18-29-$155,350-4851 (-140)
3. Josh Richards 4-16-24-$104,860-4805 (-186)
4. Shane Clanton 2-17-27-$91,540-4779 (-212)
5. Chub Frank 1-10-23-$70,680-4731 (-260)
6. Shannon Babb 2-15-24-$97,150-4703 (-288)
7. Rick Eckert 1-11-22-$72,230-4671 (-320)
8. Clint Smith 1-10-20-$61,020-4641 (-350)
9. Tim Fuller 2-7-16-$64,250-4496 (-495)
10. John Blankenship 0-0-6-$34,680-4013 (-978)
11. Vic Coffey 0-1-8-$35,050-3817 (-1174)
12. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$16,300-3198 (-1793)
13. Sean Beardsley 0-0-0-$11,010-2704 (-2287)
14. Tim McCreadie 1-8-14-$53,800-2363 (-2628)
15. Danny Johnson 0-0-1-$13,620-2187 (-2804)
LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour 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 customerservice@dirtvision.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, Qwikliner and Super Clean.
Steve Francis was simply unbeatable on Saturday night at Tri-City Speedway.
The defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion romped to his second consecutive victory on the national tour, dominating the 50-lap opener of the Oil Region Labor Day Classic Weekend presented by Armstrong Cable.
“This car was just unbelievable tonight,” said Francis, who earned $10,250 for his series-leading sixth triumph of the 2008 season. “This is the car that I got to the point I didn’t like a little while ago, and now all of a sudden it’s become unbelievable.”
Francis, 40, of
With the final 41 laps running without a caution flag, Francis drove his Dale Beitler-owned Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket No. 19 to a resounding 8.276-second victory over Shane Clanton of
Clint Smith of
“We just had one of those nights that you can’t wait to have,” said Francis, who captured the opening half of Tri-City Speedway’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic for the second consecutive year. “I just had an unbelievably comfortable race car. You could do anything in the world you wanted to do with it.
“As a race car driver, you look for nights like this because they don’t happen too often.”
Francis and Co. hit on a perfect combination for the half-mile oval, meshing a well-handling car with a powerful Cornett engine and American Racer tires.
“We’re not doing too much drastically different from when we were so bad a couple months ago,” said Francis, who has won five of the last 11 WoO LMS events. “We’ve just fine-tuned and gotten comfortable with everything, and we’re just going out and trying to win every race because we’ve fallen so far behind Darrell in the points.
“We’re not being conservative at any point with anything. Like tonight, we had different tires on from anybody else here on American Racers – a completely different tire. It’s the same (compound) tire we won on at
The rubber helped propel Francis to one of the most convincing triumphs of the ’08 WoO LMS campaign. McCreadie and Clanton drew within a few car lengths of Francis when lapped traffic came into play around lap 30, but Francis proceeded to find a higher lane and used it to effortless glide away late in the distance.
“I gotta give Kevin (Miller, who received the Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race Award) and Robby (Allen) a lot of credit,” said Francis, whose 20th career WoO LMS victory increased his lead atop the tour’s win list since 2004. “I drove us over here last night (after a Friday-night win at
Clanton, 32, made a steady advance forward from the ninth starting spot in his RSD Enterprises Rocket car, finally reaching second place on lap 36 when he used the outside lane off turn four to overtake McCreadie. But he never threatened Francis.
“I would’ve liked to have had a caution with about five (laps) to go to cool the tires off and make a run at (Francis) one more time,” said Clanton. “I don’t know if we could’ve got him or not, but I would’ve liked to see if I could’ve run with him.”
A WoO LMS winner at Tri-City in 2006, Clanton acknowledged that Francis likely had a tire advantage.
“The American Racers are good in this area and his car is good,” said Clanton, who used Hoosier tires. “If his tires are a tenth of a second better than everybody else’s and he also has a good car, it makes him look like a hero like he’s been the last two nights.
“The bottom line is that he works his butt off and we work our butt off – and he’s just a little better right now, so we gotta work a little harder.”
The 43-year-old Smith, meanwhile, was very satisfied with a third-place finish after starting sixth in his J.P. Drilling/Cliburn Tank Lines GRT car. He passed McCreadie for third on lap 37 and spent the remainder of the distance trying to find a way past Clanton.
“I slipped back to seventh but got back up to third, so I’m tickled to death,” said Smith. “We passed some good cars – (Tim) Fuller, Josh (Richards), Lanigan and McCreadie. I found that bottom (lane) lower than everybody else was running in (turns) one and two and when they slipped down there, I did all my passing.”
McCreadie, 34, slid from the fourth starting spot to second at the initial start of the race and chased Francis for more than 30 laps. He watched Clanton and Smith drive by him in the span of a lap, however, and felt fortunate to hold off Lanigan for a fourth-place finish.
“I just got tight once the track wasn’t icy-slick anymore,” McCreadie said of his Sweeteners Plus Rocket car. “When it started taking some spotty rubber I just couldn’t steer anymore.”
Lanigan, 38, settled for his series-best 24th top-five finish of the season, continuing his march to a first career WoO LMS title. He started and finished fifth, but his hard tires came on too late for him to make a serious bid for his third victory of 2008.
Finishing in positions 6-10 were Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who struggled with a car that was “too free” entering the corners; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who made little headway from the 10th starting spot; Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., who earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main since 2004 and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the current points standings; and Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who returned to the site of his emotional upset victory in last year’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic finale.
Two caution flags slowed the event. The first came on the opening lap when Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., spun between turns three and four while battling for third place, and on lap nine Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who used a provisional to start the A-Main after cutting a tire while leading the first B-Main, stopped in turn two with what he thought was a deflating tire.
Forty-three cars were signed in for the first night of the Oil Region Labor Day Classic Weekend.
Dutch Davies of Warren, Pa., was fastest in time trials with a lap of 19.365 seconds. It was his second career WoO LMS fast time honor.
Heat winners were Richards, Fuller, McCreadie and Lanigan. The B-Mains were captured by Davies and Russell King of
The WoO LMS will remain at Tri-City Speedway to complete the fourth annual Oil Region Labor Day Classic on Sunday night (Aug. 31). Another 50-lap A-
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ Night 1 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Steve Francis/50 $10,250
2. (9) Shane Clanton/50 $5,100
3. (6) Clint Smith/50 $3,000
4. (4) Tim McCreadie/50 $2,500
5. (5) Darrell Lanigan/50 $2,000
6. (1) Josh Richards/50 $1,700
7. (7) Tim Fuller/50 $1,400
8. (10) Chub Frank/50 $1,300
9. (12) Matt Lux/50 $1,700
10. (11) Dan Stone/50 $1,100
11. (16) Rick Eckert/50 $1,050
12. (8) Doug Dodd/50 $1,000
13. (15) Dave Hess Jr./49 $950
14. (22) Jason Covert/49 $900
15. (20) Mike Knight/49 $850
16. (21) Dick Barton/49 $800
17. (24) Vic Coffey/49 $1,020
18. (23) Shannon Babb/49 $750
19. (18) Russell King/32 $730
20. (13) Doug Drown/22 $700
21. (17) Dutch Davies/17 $700
22. (25) Max Blair/16 $700
23. (3) Robbie Blair/12 $700
24. (19) Todd Andrews/9 $700
25. (14) Rick Briggs/3 $700
Time of Race: 20 Mins., 02.909 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 8.276 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 0, 9)
Lap Leaders: Francis (1-50)
Provisional Starters: Babb, Coffey (WoO); Max Blair (track)
Rookie of the Race: Coffey ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Lux ($500)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($50): Kevin Miller (Francis)
Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Francis (half-off tire warmers)
Super Clean ‘Start of the Race’: Francis ($100)
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 40-Dutch Davies/Warren, PA 19.365
2. 19T-Tim Fuller/
3. 43A-Jason Covert/York Haven, PA 19.540
4. 29-Darrell Lanigan/
5. 1-Josh Richards/
6. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear
7. 44-Clint Smith/
8. 12-Doug Dodd/
9. won11-Robbie Blair/
10. 19-Steve Francis/
11. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 19.765
12. 24-Rick Eckert/
13. 79-Doug Drown/
14. 18-Shannon Babb/
15. 18J-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 20.034
16. M1-Mickey Wright/
17. 25-Shane Clanton/
18. 42-Todd Andrews/
19. 39-Tim McCreadie/
20. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 20.215
21. 28b-Dick Barton/
22. 99B-Rick Briggs/
23. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./
24. 32c-Vic Coffey/
25. 8H-Sheetz McGarvey/Colport, PA 20.605
26. 04-Bob Close/
27. 5B-Kirk Bradley/Great Valley, NY 20.649
28. 56-Russell King/
29. 111-Max Blair/
30. 10-Gary Lyle/
31. 9K-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 20.809
32. 00H-Chuck Harper/Beverly, WV 20.900
33. 6x-Jeff Isabell Jr./
34. 21*-Billy Henry/Conneautville, PA 20.933
35. 90-Wally Fox/
36. 17L-Dennis Lunger/
37. 53-Chris Farrell/
38. 07R-Brent Rhebergen/
39. 02-Tony Lombardi/
40. 6J-Joe Isabell/
41. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker/
42. 32R-Jim Rasey/
43. 6x-Jeff Isabell Sr./
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, R. Blair, Clanton, Drown, Davies, Barton, M. Blair, Jeff Isabell Jr., McGarvey, Farrell (DNS) Shingledecker
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Fuller, Francis, Frank, Briggs, Babb, Andrews, Close, Rhebergen, Henry, Lyle (DNS) Rasey
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): McCreadie, C. Smith, Stone, Hess, Knight, Covert, Beardsley, Bradley, Fox, Lombardi (DNS) Jeff Isabell Sr.
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lanigan, Dodd, Lux, Eckert, King, Harper, Coffey, Joe Isabell, Wright, Lunger
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Davies, Andrews, Barton, Close, M. Blair, Lyle, McGarvey, Rhebergen, Henry, Babb, Jeff Isabell Jr., Farrell (DNS) Shingledecker, Rasey
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): King, Knight, Covert, Coffey, Harper, Wright, Joe Isabell, Bradley, Lunger, Beardsley, Fox, Lombardi (DNS) Jeff Isabell Sr.
2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Aug. 30 - 37 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 2-24-34-$117,717-5131 (-0)
2. Steve Francis 6-19-30-$165,600-5001 (-130)
3. Josh Richards 4-16-25-$106,560-4943 (-188)
Hats Off to Brian Tyler
A great big thank-you to Brian Tyler and Team 6R. The USAC Silver Crown Series, when racing on dirt surfaces, is the only dirt racing for USAC where the American Racer tires can be used on all four corners of the car. Brian and Team 6R took the checkered flag on Aug. 16 th, 2008 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and did so on the American Racer™ tires. Just to prove it was no fluke, Brian and Team 6R repeated the win at DuQuoin. We are proud to be part of that team!
