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Kevin Kovac
BARBERVILLE, Fla. (February 16) - Billy Moyer put a cherry on top of his spectacular Alltel DIRTcar Nationals performance, winning Saturday night's 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at Volusia Speedway Park.
The $10,150 triumph gave Moyer three wins in five events during the busy week of racing - and, of course, the championship of the 37th annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals. He earned more than $30,000 over the five nights of competition.
"I don't know if we can ever top this," said Moyer, who also won UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Super Late Model features on Monday and Wednesday nights. "In this day and age, with the competition that's here, it's a big accomplishment to have a week like this. I don't know if I'll ever repeat this again."
Moyer, 50, of Batesville, Ark., worked harder than he had all week to secure his victory in the second of two WoO LMS events contested during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals. Though he started from the outside pole, the legendary driver known as 'Mr. Smooth' had to outduel Thursday-night WoO LMS winner Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., for the lead and outrun Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., following a late-race restart to put one more flourish on his 2008 trip to Florida.
"What a race tonight," said Moyer, who swapped the lead four times with Richards between laps 8-15. "That was fun.
"I can't see what's going on behind me, but Josh was on his game and we had a heckuva race. We ran each other clean and didn't put tire marks all down the side of each other's cars."
Driving the Banner Valley Hauling-sponsored Victory Circle M1 Chassis that he helped design, Moyer grabbed the lead from Richards for good on lap 15. His Clements-powered No. 21 flashed across the finish line 0.399 of a second in front of Frank, whose advance from the 11th starting spot in his Lester Buildings Rocket fell one position short.
Richards, who started from the outside pole, settled for third place in the Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket after nosing ahead of Moyer to lead laps 8 and 10-14. He lost the runner-up spot to Frank on lap 43 when he slid high in turn two.
Completing the top five was ninth-starter Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., in the Reece Monuments Bloomquist Chassis and eighth-starter Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., in his J.P. Drilling GRT mount.
"Everything is falling in line," said Moyer, whose visit to the Sunshine State also included three victories the previous week during the Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park, near Tampa. "The car has been exceptional, the motor has been exceptional, and my guys have done a great job.
"I guess all the midnight candles I've been burning all winter tinkering on this old car have paid off for me. This gives us that little shot in the arm that we needed."
Moyer, who also scored finishes of second (Friday's UMP DIRTcar event) and third (Thursday's WoO LMS 50) during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals, mastered the half-mile oval's tricky conditions to push his alltime-best WoO LMS win total to 32. Ten of his victories have come since 2004, with the remainder earned during the tour's first incarnation (1988-89).
"It's like ice out there off (turn) two, and if you just missed it a little bit you'd get wide that lap," said Moyer, a three-time WoO LMS champion whose last tour win came on March 24, 2007, at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway. "Josh did that (after exchanging the lead with Moyer) and I was able to get back underneath him.
"Early in the race I was trying to run above those holes, but it got to where it was so sticky in those holes that you had to run through 'em. You just had to grit your teeth and hang on and beat your car up. If you ran in the smooth part, it was just so much slower then running through the darn holes.
"If you could hit it just right, it was like a slot car," he added. "If you hit it wrong, you'd push and lose. You had to be on top of the wheel."
Richards, 19, gave Moyer everything he could handle early in the distance, but he couldn't match the veteran's pace to the finish.
"As good as I felt early, I thought we could've won the race," said Richards. "But early in the race he was having the same problem that I had later in the race - he was shoving the right-front a little bit. Late in the race I picked up that problem and started pushing up the track.
"I'm still happy with third," he added. "It was a fun race. I haven't had that much fun in awhile."
The run also gave Richards a great jump on his pursuit of a first career WoO LMS championship. He headed home tied for the points lead with Moyer.
The 46-year-old Frank, meanwhile, salvaged a frustrating week with a runner-up finish worth $5,100. A caution flag with three laps left event gave him an opportunity to steal a checkered flag.
"If I wouldn't have screwed up in turn one on the first corner (after the lap-47 restart), I thought I would've had a shot (to win)," said Frank, the tour's winningest driver in 2007. "I used the hole to turn the car, and instead it pushed that lap. I lost a few car lengths there and that killed me.
"(Moyer) did screw up on the last corner, but I just wasn't close enough to make a run on him."
The night brought more heartbreak for WoO LMS regular Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who was hoping to erase memories of the broken axle that knocked him from the lead in Thursday night's tour A-Main. He climbed as high as fourth from the 10th starting spot before a broken left-rear wheel ended his bid on lap 35.
Misfortune also struck 2006 WoO LMS champ Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who started from the pole position and was running fourth on lap 40 when a cut left-rear tire forced him to pit, and 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller, another resident of Watertown, N.Y., and also a victim of a cut left-rear tire (while running sixth on lap 47).
Rounding out the top 10 was 15th-starter Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; 18th-starter Darren Miller of Chadwick, Ill.; 20th-starter Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.; defending WoO LMS champ Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who was hampered for most of the distance by a broken throttle spring; and Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis.
A field of 57 cars was assembled for the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals finale.
Schlieper recorded the night's fastest lap in time trials, touring the oval in 16.543 seconds.
Heat winners were Schlieper, McCreadie, Moyer, Richards, Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill. The B-Mains were captured by Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., Shirley and Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa.
Qualifying was marred by a spectacular crash involving Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., a 2006 WoO LMS winner at Volusia. During the first heat his Bobby Labonte-owned car dug into the cushion between turns three and four and flipped wildly, coming to rest upside down.
Safety crews carefully extricated a shaken Pearson, 36, from the car's cockpit and transported him to a hospital in nearby Deland for observation. He was released several hours later, extremely sore but otherwise uninjured after x-rays and a CAT scan were negative.
The WoO LMS will be idle until March 28-29, when the tour visits Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., for the first time to contest the $20,000-to-win 'March Through Dixie 100.'
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series A-Main (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Billy Moyer/50 $10,150
2. (11) Chub Frank/50 $5,100
3. (4) Josh Richards/50 $3,000
4. (9) Jimmy Owens/50 $3,000
5. (8) Clint Smith/50 $2,000
6. (15) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,700
7. (18) Darren Miller/50 $1,400
8. (20) Brian Shirley/50 $1,300
9. (14) Steve Francis/50 $1,200
10. (6) Dan Schlieper/50 $1,100
11. (19) Eddie Carrier Jr./50 $1,050
12. (1) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,000
13. (25) Rick Eckert/50 $950
14. (26) John Blankenship/50 $900
15. (12) Tim Fuller/50 $850
16. (17) Ivedent Lloyd/49 $800
17. (5) Billy Decker/49 $770
18. (13) Jackie Boggs/49 $750
19. (24) Austin Dillon/48 $730
20. (23) Vic Coffey/48 $950
21. (21) Dan Stone/48 $700
22. (3) Shannon Babb/47 $700
23. (16) Steve Shaver/42 $700
24. (10) Shane Clanton/35 $700
25. (27) Dennis Erb Jr./29 $700
26. (22) Ricky Elliott/26 $700
27. (7) Justin Rattliff/23 $700
28. (28) Mike Hammerle/13 $700
Time of Race: 33 Mins., 19.692 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.399 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 1, 35, 40, 47)
Lap Leaders: Moyer (1-7); Richards (8); Moyer (9); Richards (10-14); Moyer (15-50)
Provisional Starters: Eckert, Blankenship (WoO); Erb (Alltel DIRTcar Nationals); Hammerle (UMP DIRTcar national points)
Rookie of the Race: Coffey ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Owens ($500)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($50): Steve Norris (Moyer)
Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Moyer (half-off tire warmers)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 3 Transfer): Schlieper, Rattliff, Boggs, Kinzer, Scheffler, Mantha, Leonard, Pearson, Redetzke, Hartman
Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 3 Transfer): McCreadie, C. Smith, Francis, Carrier, Elliott, O'Neal, Eckert, Erb, Geiger (DNS) Sheltra
Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 3 Transfer): Moyer, Owens, Lanigan, Shirley, Coffey, Briggs, D. Johnson, McBride, McKay, Millard
Heat No. 4 (10 laps - Top 3 Transfer): Richards, Clanton, Shaver, Purkey, M. Miller, VanWormer, Hackett, Groves (DNS) Wood
Heat No. 5 (10 laps - Top 3 Transfer): Decker, Frank, Lloyd, England, Knight, Heckenast, Chinn, Santel, Hammerle
Heat No. 6 (10 laps - Top 3 Transfer): Babb, Fuller, D. Miller, Dillon, Stone, Hawkins, Fitzgerald, Blankenship, Isabell
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): Carrier, Elliott, Eckert, Kinzer, O'Neal, Erb, Scheffler, Mantha, Leonard, Geiger (DNS) Pearson, Redetzke, Hartman, Sheltra
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): Shirley, Coffey, M. Miller, Purkey, D. Johnson, VanWormer, Briggs, Hackett, Millard, McKay, Groves (DNS) McBride, Wood
B-Main No. 3 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): Stone, Dillon, Knight, Hawkins, England, Blankenship, Chinn, Fitzgerald, Heckenast, Isabell, Santel, Hammele
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Points Standings (after 2 events):
1. (tie) Billy Moyer 294
1. (tie) Josh Richards 294
3. Jimmy Owens 276
4. (tie) Steve Francis 274
4. (tie) Darren Miller 274
6. Rick Eckert 270
7. Darrell Lanigan 268
8. Chub Frank 266
9. Eddie Carrier Jr. 264
10. Clint Smith 262
11. (tie) John Blankenship 254
11. (tie) Tim McCreadie 254
11. (tie) Dan Schlieper 254
14. Brian Shirley 252
15. Shannon Babb 246
16. (tie) Ivedent Lloyd 232
16. (tie) Tim Fuller 232
18. Billy Decker 220
19. Shane Clanton 210
20. Steve Shaver 206
LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can't get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series 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 and Qwikliner.
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