Contact: Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series PR Director
kkovac@dirtcar.com | 704-254-7929

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Stars Prepare To Tackle Tazewell Speedway’s Jaw-Dropping Banking On Saturday Night

TAZEWELL, TN - July 1, 2010 - Amazing. Awesome. Unbelievable. Jaw-dropping.

Those are some of the words regularly used to describe the steep banks that are the trademark of Tazewell Speedway, the rocket-fast one-third-mile oval that hosts the World of Outlaws Late Model Series for the first time in its storied history this Saturday night (July 3).

Several WoO LMS travelers have visited the intimidating ‘Taz’ in the past. Others will be making their first-ever appearances at the famed track on Saturday night.

All of the Outlaws, of course, understand the unique challenge facing them in Saturday’s $10,000-to-win ‘Coca-Cola 50.’

“Tazewell has more banking than any place I’ve ever seen,” said Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., a 45-year-old racing veteran and the WoO LMS follower with the most career starts at the track known as the ‘Taz.’ “There’s nothing else like it (in dirt-track racing). You carry so much speed because of those banks, nobody gets time to rest. You’re just on the edge the whole time you’re out there.”

Pitched at a Daytona-like 31 degrees in the turns and at least 15 degrees on the straightaways, Tazewell Speedway’s banks make it appear that 24 dirt Late Models are zipping around inside a bowl at supersonic speed. The divisional track record, established in 2009 by Jeff Wolfenbarger of Knoxville, Tenn., is a blazing 10.947 seconds.

“It’s a real good track for the fans,” said Tazewell Speedway owner Gary Hall, a former racer who has operated the facility for the past five years. “The straightaways here are banked more than the turns at most tracks, so it’s definitely an interesting place. You know when you come to Tazewell that you’re gonna see a lot of action.”

And that’s hard, all-out, full-throttle competition.

“One lap or 50 laps (at Tazewell), it’s the most intense laps you’ll ever run,” said WoO LMS stalwart Rick Eckert of York, Pa., whose handful of Tazewell starts include Hav-A-Tampa/Xtreme series events in the early 2000s. “You have to drive around there on the gas, so it’s a good show for the fans.”

There’s no room for error at Tazewell – and that goes for drivers racing for position or the track-prep crew trying to work the clay surface into condition.

Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky. – the 2007 WoO LMS champion who last raced at Tazewell in a 2003 Hav-A-Tampa/Xtreme show – describes the track this way: “You go so fast there, you’re always on the edge. There’s the possibility of a lot of sheet-metal work (after a race there) if anybody makes a mistake.”

As for preparing the track...

“It’s not easy getting the grader to top of those banks,” said Hall. “The guy who built the track still prepares it for us and he can do it, but he has a lot of practice. I’ve seen him get the grader up there to the top, have it slide and come around backwards, and then get it right back up there to keep working on the track.”

Those imposing banks will certainly turn the heads of the World of Outlaws regulars who roll onto them for the first time on Saturday night. Just ask Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., the Outlaw who’s made the most recent stop at Tazewell (a DNF outing one month ago).

“When you first go there and see the place, it’s a little freaky,” said Clanton, who is coming off a $30,000 victory on June 26 in the national tour’s Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. “You wonder how you’re gonna get around there with so much banking, but after a little while you get used to it like any other track. Everybody (from the WoO LMS) who hasn’t run there is good and will figure it out.”

That group of Outlaws ready to make first-time Tazewell starts includes defending champion and current points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who watched the 2003 Hav-A-Tampa/Xtreme event there (his father’s Rocket Chassis house car was then driven by Francis) but hasn’t returned since beginning his career the following season.

Other WoO LMS travelers with no Tazewell experience on their resumes are former champions Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who won two times during the recent ‘Great Northern Tour’; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; 2009 Rookie of the Year Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio; 18-year-old rookie sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del.; Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va.; and rookie Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Outlaws will face a talented array of regional standouts who possess plenty of Tazewell knowledge, including Wolfenbarger, Vic Hill of Morristown, Tenn., Rick Rogers of Knoxville, Tenn., who owns 76 career wins at Tazewell, Tommy Kerr of Maryville, Tenn., and Steve Smith of Powell, Tenn..

Saturday night’s program, which also includes Tazewell’s Late Model division, Modified Streets and Classic Cars, is scheduled for a 7:30 start to racing. Pit gates will open at 3 p.m. and grandstand gates will be unlocked at 4 p.m.

Tickets are $27, with children 10-and-under admitted free. Pit passes are $35.

A fireworks show celebrating the Independence Day holiday will also be part of Saturday evening’s activities.

Tazewell Speedway is located just two miles northwest of Tazewell, Tenn. Going north on US 25-E, turn right and then left onto Bacchus Rd, head 1.8 miles north and then .8 miles west. The racetrack is located on the left.

For additional information, visit www.TazewellSpeedway.net or call 865-626-2222.

Tazewell’s event will conclude a Volunteer State doubleheader for the WoO LMS, which visits Wartburg (Tenn.) Speedway on Fri., July 2.

More info on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.