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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (January 10) - Brad Baum was in near total shock when he received the big news from his boss Chub Frank.
But as hard as it was for him to believe, it was true. Baum had been announced as the winner of the 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Crew Chief of the Year Award, which is voted upon by the chief mechanics of the tour's traveling teams and WoO LMS officials.
"I was very surprised when Chub called and told me I won it," said a still-amazed Baum, Frank's right-hand man on the grueling WoO LMS. "I thought somebody like Lee (Logan, chief mechanic for 2007 WoO LMS champ Steve Francis) would get it.
"If I thought I had a really good chance of winning it, I would've been in Florida for the banquet."
Indeed, Baum opted to stay home and work on Frank's racing equipment rather than attend the 2007 WoO LMS Awards Banquet, held on Dec. 6 in Orlando, Fla., and the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show that ran simultaneously. Frank accepted Baum's award on stage at the gala and phoned his mechanic shortly thereafter.
"It's a real honor to win the Crew Chief award," said Baum, who helped guide Frank to the most wins (six) on the 2007 WoO LMS and a second-place finish in the points standings. "I think anybody who works on one of these (dirt Late Models) fulltime deserves an award, so to have the other crew chiefs vote for me as their choice for this is a pretty good feeling."
Baum, 31, has been Frank's fulltime mechanic for the last two seasons. He's been around dirt Late Model racing all his life, however.
A native of Sherman, N.Y., Baum "grew up watching Chub race" at local tracks like Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., and Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa. He wasn't a 'Chubzilla' fan, though, especially after he began working on a dirt Late Model owned by his neighbor, Larry Fardink, as a teenager.
"For the people I worked with back then," pointed out Baum, "Chub was always the guy to beat, everybody's rival."
Baum took his first fulltime job in the dirt-track game in 1999, working for dirt Late Model driver Dale Applebee of Clymer, N.Y., who ran locally and on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Series (MACS) and also built Street Stocks at his shop.
In 2000, Baum spent time on the old Hav-A-Tampa/UDTRA Series helping both Wisconsin's Dan Schlieper and St. Louis-area driver Dewayne Keifer. After moving on to provide off-and-on assistance in 2001 to Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and then a job at Bob Pierce Race Cars in Oakwood, Ill., in 2002, Baum relocated to Wisconsin and spent the 2003 campaign away from the circuit. He returned to the sport in 2004 as a crewman for Illinois's Randy Manos before moving back to New York in 2005.
Following a year working construction at home, Baum decided he wanted to get back into racing. So one day he made a short trip over to Frank's shop in Bear Lake, Pa., and asked Frank if he knew of anyone local that was looking for help.
That inquiry ultimately led Frank to ask Baum if he'd like to accompany him to the February 2006 dirt Late Model Speedweeks in Florida. Baum gladly went along, and upon returning home Frank offered Baum a fulltime job that he immediately accepted.
"Chub gave me a chance when nobody else would," said Baum. "He didn't even know me when I went to his shop, so I owe a lot of thanks to him.
Baum paused, and then added with a smile: "Once he said I had a job if I wanted it, I had to take back all the bad things I ever said about Chub."
Now Baum is Frank's trusted assistant. In fact, more often than not, Baum is the only crewman that Frank has along with him on extended road trips; Frank's wife, Mary, and his two Chihuahuas usually comprise the remainder of the team's regular travel group.
"That's what makes me pretty proud about what we were able to accomplish this year," said Baum. "We won the most races (on the WoO LMS) and Chub had his best finish ever in the points.
"Some other teams have more guys, but most of the time it's just us two working on the car out on the road. And we pretty much ran all but nine or 10 races (in 2007) with the same car, so the success we had definitely shows that hard work pays off."
Baum feels that he's found a home with Frank, who has had the WoO LMS Crew Chief of the Year on his side for two of the past four years. Rick 'Boom' Briggs also won the award while working for Frank in 2004.
"As a boss, Chub can really bring the best out of you," said Baum. "If you ever doubt yourself, he'll tell you, 'You can do it.'
"He has a unique way of keeping you motivated when you work for him, and he really takes care of his help."
Baum is currently working alongside Frank in the team's shop, preparing for another busy season of competition. They're putting together one complete new car to add to Frank's stable, though they plan to take Frank's 'Old Faithful'- the primary Rocket machine he used in 2007 - south for the 'Super Bowl of Racing' events from Jan. 23-Feb. 2 at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga., and the 37th annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals from Feb. 11-16 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
Seven of the 10 'Super Bowl' shows at Golden Isles are sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar Racing (Jan. 23, Jan. 24, Jan. 25, Jan. 26, Jan. 28, Jan. 29 and Feb. 2), while Volusia will host four nights of UMP DIRTcar Racing competition (Feb. 11, 12, 13, 15) and the opening two events of the 2008 WoO LMS (Feb. 14 and 16).
Baum is looking forward to the 2008 WoO LMS season, which will see the tour visit more than a dozen tracks for the first time, including speedways in new territory for the tour like Wyoming, Nebraska, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
"I like going to new tracks - that means my t-shirt collection will grow," smiled Baum, who makes a habit of buying a shirt upon his first trip to a track.
And he's also hoping he can help push Frank to his first career WoO LMS title.
"We had a good year (in 2007)," said Baum, "but we have to work harder this year to win that championship."
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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