World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Amsoil Speedway
July 5, 2013
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McCreadie Gives His Boy A Long-Distance Present With Victory In Friday’s ‘Wild West Tour’ Opener At Amsoil Speedway
New Yorker Scores Fourth World of Outlaws Late Model Win Of Season On Son’s Third Birthday



by Kevin Kovac
SUPERIOR, WI (July 5) – Tim McCreadie was one very happy race car driver – and father – after holding off Rick Eckert to capture Friday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Wild West Tour’ opener at Amsoil Speedway.

Not only did the 39-year-old star from Watertown, N.Y., score his fourth WoO LMS triumph of 2013, it came on his son Gavin’s third birthday. The toddler was home in the Empire State with his mother, Karen, but McCreadie made sure he dedicated his 24th career win on the national circuit to the curly-haired boy.

“This one’s for you, Gavin,” McCreadie said after the checkered flag. “It’s cool to win on his birthday. I wish they could be here with me, but when I get home we’ll have (Gavin’s birthday) party next weekend.”

McCreadie, who started from the pole position but was outgunned for the lead at the initial green flag by his front-row mate Tim Fuller, kept up the pressure on his fellow New Yorker until gaining command on lap 15. T-Mac never looked back en route to a memorable victory that brought him $10,650 to buy presents for his kid.

York, Pa.’s Eckert, who started sixth, passed Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., for second on lap 43 and drew close to McCreadie during the final circuits but settled for second place, 0.669 of a second behind the victor. It was the fourth runner-up finish of the season for Eckert, who is still searching for his first WoO LMS win of 2013.

Lanigan finished third, Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., placed fourth and home-state favorite Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who lives 35 miles from Amsoil Speedway and raced regularly at the three-eighths-mile track early in his career, completed the top five. The 3-5 finishers ended the race in the same positions they started it, but each driver settled into their ultimate spots only late in the distance.

The race’s late stages were the most stressful for McCreadie, who scrapped to keep Lanigan, and then Eckert, at bay. McCreadie held firm control of the top spot for nearly 20 laps after sailing around the outside of Fuller off turn two to assume command on lap 15, but his edge shrunk as the finish neared.

After Eckert, 47, slipped underneath Lanigan to grab second, the 2011 WoO LMS champion appeared primed to make the final laps interesting. He pulled his Team Zero by Bloomquist car within a couple car lengths of McCreadie’s Sweeteners Plus Warrior but couldn’t summon quite enough speed to break into Victory Lane.

“You just gotta put a whole night together and we haven’t really done that yet,” Eckert matter-of-factly stated following the race when asked about falling just short of victory once again. “We’ve been close, but you gotta draw good too. You put five of these guys in front of you (for the start) like we did tonight and you’re in trouble.

“We got close there at the end, but we ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow night.”

McCreadie held on despite struggling with a car that was steadily becoming harder to drive.

“The more we ran the worse we got with fuel burn-off and stuff,” said McCreadie, who was victorious in the home state of his engine builder, Pro Power’s Bill Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis. “But I think a lot of it was just our tire was just dying, our right-rear was starting to give. I knew the tires (Eckert) had were gonna be better if we went a long green (flag) run. We were just a touch softer (on tire compound choice) than he was.

“I didn’t know (Eckert) was there,” he continued with his description of the final circuits. “I just tried to park (on the bottom groove) and not make a mistake. On the last lap the last thing I wanted to do was go up (off the bottom), slip across the middle and get in a push and have him drive under me (off turn four). These guys, (crewmen) Craig (McCrimmon) and Johnny Coco, they worked way too hard for me to make a mistake.

“They said he was close on the middle and the top, but it was just our night. We drew a good number and everything lined up for us tonight.”

Experiencing the other end of the racing-fortune spectrum was WoO LMS points leader Josh Richards, who could only manage a 15th-place finish after a nightmarish turn of events just before and after the start of the race.

First, Richards, who was scheduled to start 12th, was forced to take the green flag from the rear of the field because his team violated WoO LMS rules by changing a tire on their car after presenting it in the staging area. He then was swept up in an eight-car homestretch crash that brought out the red flag at the initial start – an incident that included local Late Model racers Todd Gehl, Roger Paolo, Aaron Lillo, Travis Budisalovich, Terry Lillo, Trevor Wilson and Zachary Wohlers and left Richards’s Rocket Chassis house car with extensive front-end damage.

Richards’s machine was towed to the pit area with its nosepiece completely ripped off. His crew was able to patch up the car enough for Richards to return to the race on lap 15, allowing him to turn a potentially devastating last-place finish into a 15th-place run that only cut his points lead over Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., who finished seventh, from 44 to 28 points.

Finishing in positions 6-10 was Fuller, who faded after leading laps 1-14; Clanton, who nearly overtook his Kennedy Motorsports teammate Fuller on the final circuit; Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., who fell from sixth to eighth on the last lap because a broken oil-pump belt caused him to slow; Jeff Provinzino of Hibbing, Minn., who earned the $500 WoO LMS Bonus Bucks cash for being the highest-finishing non-regular driver who hasn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main; and WoO LMS rookie Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky.

After the red flag on the opening lap, the A-Main was slowed by only a single caution period. That came on lap 19 when Wohlers slowed between turns three and four.

Eckert topped the 27-car field in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials with a lap of 16.543 seconds. It was his second WoO LMS fast-time honor of 2013 and the 35 th of his career, moving him back into a tie with Richards for the most fast times on the tour since 2004.

Heat winners were Eckert, Fuller and Frank, and Wells captured the B-Main.

The WoO LMS Wild West Tour continues on Saturday night (July 6) with the 34th annual NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.

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

Results of World of Outlaws Late Model Series at Amsoil Speedway
(Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (1) Tim McCreadie/50 $10,650
2. (6) Rick Eckert/50 $5,700
3. (3) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,650
4. (4) Chub Frank/50 $3,050
5. (5) Brady Smith/50 $2,000
6. (2) Tim Fuller/50 $2,200
7. (10) Shane Clanton/50 $1,950
8. (8) Bub McCool/50 $1,950
9. (7) Jeff Provinzino/50 $1,750
10. (19) Eric Wells/50 $1,900
11. (14) Morgan Bagley/50 $1,600
12. (11) Clint Smith/50 $1,550
13. (9) Pat Doar/49 $1,000
14. (15) Harry Hanson/49 $1,200
15. (12) Josh Richards/34 $1,500***
16. (13) Tim McMann/26 $1,050
17. (20) Zachary Wohlers/19 $870
18. (21) Chris Olson/13 $800
19. (16) Trevor Wilson/0 $730
20. (17) Terry Lillo/0 $700
21. (18) Travis Budisalovich/0 $700
22. (22) Aaron Lillo/0 $700
23. (23) Roger Paolo/0 $725
24. (24) Todd Gehl/0 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
***Richards was scheduled to start 12th, but he was penalized to the rear of the field for the initial green flag after breaking WoO LMS rules by changing a tire after presenting his car in the staging area
Time of Race: 26 Mins., 39.138 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.669 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (lap 19); 1 Red Flag (original start)
Lap Leaders: Fuller (1-14); McCreadie (15-50)
Provisional Starters: Paolo, Gehl
Rookie of the Race: Wells ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Provinzino ($500)

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Eckert, McCreadie, Provinzino, Clanton, McMann, Wilson, Wells, Olson (DNS) A. Lillo
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Fuller, B. Smith, McCool, C. Smith, Bagley, T. Lillo, Wohlers, Hill, Gehl
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Frank, Lanigan, Doar, Richards, Hanson, Budisalovich, Jorgensen, Paolo, T. Lillo
B-Main (12 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Wells, Wohlers, Olson, A. Lillo, Gehl, Jorgensen, Paolo, Hill, T. Lillo

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.543
2. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.743
3. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.789
4. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.815
5. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 16.838
6. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 16.842
7. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, GA 16.867
8. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 17.065
9. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 17.076
10. 18-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 17.095
11. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 17.277
12. 7-Harry Hanson/Evelith, MN 17.284
13. 11d-Tim McMann/Duluth, MN 17.291
14. 14M-Morgan Bagley/Longview, TX 17.328
15. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 17.343
16. 28-Jeff Provinzino/Hibbing, MN 17.372
17. 71-Zachary Wohlers/Kelly Lake, MN 17.460
18. 31-Travis Budisalovich/Minneapolis, MN 17.606
19. 87-Trevor Wilson/Superior, WI 17.632
20. UP1-Terry Lillo/Duluth, MN 17.669
21. 13-Roger Paolo/Hibbing, MN 17.881
22. 18c-Chris Olson/Hibbing, MN 17.906
23. 71T-Todd Gehl/Solon Springs, WI 18.063
24. 16-Cory Jorgensen/Hermantown, MN 18.071
25. 8-Gregg Hill/Evelith, MN 18.404
26. 42-Tim Lillo/Superior, WI 18.793
27. 24A-Aaron Lillo/Duluth, MN N/T

2013 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 5
26 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 3660
2. Shane Clanton 3632 (-28)
3. Darrell Lanigan 3610 (-50)
4. Rick Eckert 3548 (-112)
5. Tim McCreadie 3366 (-294)
6. Tim Fuller 3364 (-296)
7. Eric Wells 3340 (-320)
8. Bub McCool 3302 (-358)
9. Morgan Bagley 3294 (-366)
10. Chub Frank 3272 (-388)
11. Clint Smith 3128 (-532)
12. Scott James 1958 (-1702)
13. Gregg Satterlee 1590 (-2070)
14. Dan Stone 1572 (-2088)
15. Dillon Wood 1426 (-2234)