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

Robbie Blair Ready To Take Another Shot At Outlaws In ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ This Weekend At PA’s Tri-City Speedway

FRANKLIN, PA - Sept. 3, 2010 - Most observers rank Robbie Blair as the western Pennsylvania driver most likely to upset the World of Outlaws Late Model Series stars in the sixth annual Oil Region Labor Day Classic presented by Armstrong Cable this Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 4-5) at Tri-City Speedway.

But does Blair have as much confidence in his chances of pulling off a career-first triumph on the national tour in one of the 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Mains that comprise the blockbuster doubleheader? Well...not quite.

Blair, 40, of Titusville, Pa., modestly downplays any suggestion that he can shoot down the big-name invaders at the half-mile oval located just a half-hour from his home – even though he’s a former dirt Late Model champion at Tri-City and has seriously contended for a WoO victory three times since the series began making annual visits to the track in 2005.

“Every time I think I have a shot to win an Outlaw show I end up being out to lunch, so I’m not getting my hopes up,” said the low-key Blair, who captured his Tri-City title in 1997 when full-blown dirt Late Models last ran regularly at the track. “Last year I won every Late Model show at Tri-City (three races) before the Outlaws came in so I thought I had a great shot, but I was terrible. And at Clearfield (Central PA Speedway) this year I thought I had my best shot ever at winning an Outlaw show (he entered the July 27 event undefeated in four starts there) and I was a turd.

“For some reason, I just haven’t run good lately in Outlaw shows. It’s not because all the (WoO) guys are there; my stuff just wasn’t as good for the Outlaw shows as it was when I won those races (at Tri-City and Central PA) earlier in the year.”

Indeed, Blair has struggled through disappointing runs in his most recent WoO LMS starts at tracks he knows well, finishing 15th (after starting fourth) and 14th in last year’s A-Mains at Tri-City and placing 11th in this year’s inaugural series event at Central PA. The reigning O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series champion and current tour points leader needs a return to the form he flashed at Tri-City during the 2006 and 2007 Oil Region Labor Day Classics, when he registered a top-five finish in three of the four 50-lappers.

Blair came closest to a WoO LMS victory at Tri-City in the 2006 weekend’s wild finale, finishing second to Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., who survived a 360-degree spin on lap 39 and grabbed the lead after Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., tangled with a lapped car on the final circuit. It was a career-best tour finish for Blair, but to this day he feels like a win might have slipped through his fingers.

“It doesn’t matter now, but I think we could’ve won that one,” said Blair, who has seven overall feature wins this season. “If the yellow doesn’t come out (inadvertently) when Clanton spun (after contact while battling for the lead with Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.), we could’ve been in the lead. Clanton was spun out and I was going by Chub, but the yellow came out and they put Clanton back in the lead (it was ruled he never stopped).”

Blair also enjoyed strong Oil Region Labor Day Classic runs in the opening-night A-Mains in 2006 (set fast time and finished third) and 2007 (finished fifth after starting from the outside pole and leading laps 1-11). But he has just one top-10 finish in the four features contested at Tri-City over the past two years, and he doesn’t have a single top-10 performance to his credit in the seven WoO LMS A-Main starts he’s made this season.

“Honestly, I think I’m a little behind,” conceded Blair, explaining the difficulties he’s experienced with his self-owned equipment in recent WoO LMS competition. “My stuff’s pretty much from 1932 compared to some of these guys – well, you know what I mean. I have one (Rocket) car that’s two years old and the rest are six or seven years old, and the newest motor I have (he runs Draime and Custom powerplants) is five years old.

“Running my own deal – and with my boy (19-year-old Max) racing now too – there’s no way I can update enough to be where we need to be. We just do what we can and try our best.

“I’m not getting down about it though,” he continued. “I’m still looking forward to (the Oil Region Labor Day Classic). I’m not saying I can’t win an Outlaw show, but I just know everything has to go right for me to do it.”

Those optimum conditions for Blair start with a slick track surface – as he says, “The more slippery it gets, the better chance I’ll have.” Give him that type of clay, a solid qualifying effort, a prime starting spot in an A-Main and a little local-favorite magic, and maybe, just maybe, Blair will be able to join Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who upset the national travelers with a stirring victory in the 2007 Oil Region Labor Day Classic finale, as a non-Outlaw winner at Tri-City.

And just what would Blair’s reaction be if he reaches Victory Lane this weekend?

“I’ve said that I think I’m gonna retire when I win an Outlaw show,” joked Blair, who has been racing since he was 14 and in the dirt Late Model division since 1996.

Blair leads a talented group of regional racers who figure to give the WoO LMS stars all they can handle this weekend at Tri-City. The challengers expected include Stone; Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., who has qualified for all nine WoO LMS A-Mains that Tri-City has presented but owns only one top-10 finish (sixth in 2006); Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa. (top-five runs in both Classic features last year); former Outlaw winner Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa.; Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., who finished second in a WoO LMS event on Aug. 1 at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.; Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa.; Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa.; and Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y.

Defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., enters this weekend’s action riding high, leading the points standings after winning his first-ever 100-lap A-Main in Wednesday night’s ‘Battle At Eastern Door’ at Mohawk International Raceway in Akwesasne, N.Y. He has never won an Outlaw event at Tri-City, but he has finished second twice (2006 and 2009).

Richards’s pursuers in the dramatic WoO LMS points battle, 2008 champion Lanigan (-8 points) and 2006 titlist Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (-46 points), also will be searching for first career tour victories at Tri-City. Lanigan, of course, nearly won the 2006 finale and was the runner-up in last year’s second 50-lapper, while McCreadie has finished as high as fourth and never worse than eighth in his seven career Oil Region Labor Day Classic A-Main starts.

Other WoO LMS regulars headed for Tri-City included former Classic feature winners Clanton (2006 and 2008), Frank (2006), Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky. (2009 and 2008), Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (2009) and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (2005), as well as Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, rookie sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., and rookie Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

This year’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic is bigger – and a bigger bargain for fans – than ever. The DIRTcar winged Sprint Cars have been added to both nights of racing for the first time, providing spectators four divisions of competition for an admission price that has been lowered from past years.

Two-day adult passes are available for $55 (grandstands) and $75 (pits). Weekend grandstand passes for students (ages 11-16) are $27, with kids 10-and-under admitted free.

One-day ticket adult prices are $29 (grandstands) and $45 (pits). Students (ages 11-16) will be charged $14 each day and kids 10-and-under will receive free admission.

The program on Sat., Sept. 4, features a full card for the WoO LMS plus a DIRTcar Sprint Car event paying $1,500 to win, a regular show for the FASTRAK crate Late Models and the United E-Mod Series presented by William Southwell & Son Oil.

On Sun., Sept. 5, the WoO LMS headlines another full evening of racing that includes a $2,000-to-win DIRTcar Challenge Sprint Car Series event, the FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series ($1,200 to win) and the United E-Mod Series in a program topped by a $1,000-to-win feature.

Blair is considering pulling double-duty and running the FASTRAK crate Late Model events as well, joining his son Max, who is competing for the organization’s regional and national titles. The elder Blair has run enough crate Late Model races this season to put him in position to earn some points-fund money.

Gates are scheduled to open on Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. and racing is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Oil Region Labor Day Classic has developed into a true destination event, drawing a record total of more than 300 campers last year. A similar turnout is expected this weekend and Tri-City officials have plenty of off-track fun planned to keep the fans and race teams entertained, including the annual Labor Day Kick-Off Party presented by Engles Trucking Services & Rays Racing following a Test-and-Tune session on Friday night; a D.J. for dancing on Saturday night; a Corn Hole tournament in the parking lot; and special activities for kids. In addition, the Spears Golf Course, which sits just behind the speedway’s backstretch, is offering a special deal ($13 including cart and greens fees) for any Classic attendees who would like to play a round during the afternoon.

More info on the Oil Region Labor Day Classic is available by logging on to www.tricityspeedway.com or calling 814-676-3000.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.