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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (February 20) - There was something different about Josh Richards's victory in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series season opener on Feb. 14 at Volusia Speedway Park.
Even the 19-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., sensed it.
"This was the first time I won (a WoO LMS) race and the car didn't really feel that great," said Richards, who registered his seventh career triumph on the tour. "In all my other wins, I felt like we might have had the best car. Tonight I feel like we were good, but not great, and we were able to get a win.
"It just gives the whole team a boost of confidence to start the year off."
The win also ranked as arguably the most hard-earned of Richards's WoO LMS career, alongside the August 2006 score at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway that he bagged with a dramatic late-race pass of Tim McCreadie. He battled hard to get to second place behind Shane Clanton, who dropped out on lap 30 just as Richards was beginning to bid for the lead.
All four of Richards's WoO LMS victories last season came in dominant, flag-to-flag fashion, and his first career win, on Aug. 15, 2005, at New York's Lebanon Valley Speedway, came in an event that fell under his control just before the midway point when the two cars ahead of him (Scott Bloomquist and Rick Eckert) simultaneously experienced mechanical trouble.
Richards, who turns 20 on March 22, hopes his strong performance at Volusia (he also finished third in the WoO LMS on Feb. 16, sending him home tied for the points lead) is a harbinger of good things to come.
"I feel like we have a team that can contend for the championship," said Richards. "We have a new car chief this year - Matt Barnes - Jimmy Frey is the tire specialist, and my dad (Mark) is the crew chief and the car owner. Maybe we can keep it together this year, keep it going fast everywhere we go and win some races."
KARMA: Clint Smith would have preferred to win a WoO LMS A-Main during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals, but he still happily celebrated his victory in the 50-lap UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model finale on Feb. 15.
Besides, he might have been destined to pocket the night's $10,000 checkered flag.
Smith, 42, of Senoia, Ga., triumphed on his daughter Jenna's 15th birthday. "And I came from the 15th starting spot to win it, so that's pretty cool," he said.
Jenna wasn't on hand for her father's winning run, however. She remained back in the Peach State in order to attend her high-school classes and take the driving test for her learner's permit, which her proud papa said she earned with flying colors.
Smith's victory - and a fifth-place finish in the next night's WoO LMS finale - came after he began the week shuttling back-and-forth between Georgia and Volusia. After his step-father, Clint Roberts, passed away on Feb. 10, Smith immediately drove home that morning to be with his family, then got a ride back to Florida on Monday to compete in the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals opener for the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models. Smith flew home on Tuesday for the viewing - he didn't miss any action at Volusia because that night's action was rained out - and planned a return to Florida on a Wednesday flight, but a full plane forced him to jump in a car at 1 o'clock and make a banzai six-hour drive down to Volusia; he arrived just in time for his time-trial lap during the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned program.
MR. MISFORTUNE: As Smith talked with fellow Georgia driver Shane Clanton in the pit area following the Saturday-night WoO LMS finale of the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals, he perfectly pegged Clanton's downtrodden outlook.
"You got the 'dial' in that bad spot," quipped Smith, alluding to a racer's mythical 'luck' meter. "Fortunately, there's a whole season ahead to get it turned around."
The 32-year-old Clanton could only nod his head in agreement with Smith after experiencing two heartbreaking WoO LMS outings at Volusia. On Thursday night he was leading on lap 30 when a broken right-rear axle tube knocked him out, and on Saturday night he was racing for a top-five spot on lap 35 when a broken left-rear wheel ended his hopes.
Back-to-back DNFs for a WoO LMS regular who's become known for his ability to complete races - that's not the way Clanton envisioned opening his campaign. The bad luck put him in an immediate points hole on the tour, sitting 19th in the standings, 84 points out of the lead.
BREAKING THROUGH: There were plenty of people who wondered what former WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer was doing last summer when he hooked up with the Bakersfield, Calif.-based Victory Circle shop to debut a new Victory Circle M1 Chassis.
The 50-year-old Moyer, however, never had any doubts. His spectacular Alltel DIRTcar Nationals performance - three wins (two UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned, one WoO LMS), a second and a third - on top of three victories the previous week at East Bay Raceway Park was the kind of run he always felt was just around the corner.
"We had a bunch of seconds last year (with the Victory Circle car), just couldn't quite get over the hump," said Moyer. "I told these guys that build the cars, 'We're this close, and when it starts happening, it's gonna take off.' And I was right on the money, I guess."
HAPPY OWNER: Defending WoO LMS champ Steve Francis didn't take long to impress his new car owner Dale Beitler.
When Beitler looked at his No. 19 car upon the completion of the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he couldn't have hooked up with a better driver than Francis.
You see, the Rocket car that Francis steered to a ninth-place finish in the week's WoO LMS finale at Volusia was the same machine he ran in each of the 17 other events in Florida and Georgia over the past three weeks. Beitler was genuinely amazed that Francis had gotten through so many nights of rough-and-tumble action with only a couple minor dents in the nosepiece to show for it.
Despite ending the trip with a ninth-place WoO LMS outing that didn't meet Francis's expectations because a broken throttle spring hampered him throughout the A-Main, Beitler was so pumped up about '08 that he was ready to keep racing.
"If the World of Outlaws added a race down here next week," said Beitler, "I'd just stay all week and run it."
NICE SAVE: Coming off a career-high second-place finish in the 2007 WoO LMS points standings, Chub Frank didn't want to get off to a slow start on the '08 tour.
But when the Bear Lake, Pa., veteran entered the Saturday-night finale riding a string of bad luck - a 15th-place finish in Thursday night's WoO LMS opener due to body and suspension damage, plus two DNQs and a 27th-place run in the three UMP DIRTcar shows - he was facing the very real possibility of falling into a big points hole.
Frank flashed the stuff of a champion, however, salvaging his visit to Volusia with a strong second-place finish from the 11th starting spot in Saturday night's 50-lapper. The run put him eighth in the WoO LMS standings, just 28 points out of the lead.
"At least it'll make the ride home a little easier," said Frank, who expects to have a new hauler and trailer ready to transport his equipment to the next WoO LMS show, the 'March Through Dixie 100' on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss.
UP-AND-DOWN: Rick Eckert's mystifying winless streak on the WoO LMS reached 59 races after he failed to crack Victory Lane in two tries at Volusia, but he did enjoy arguably his strongest run on the tour since his last triumph (July 8, 2006, at Ohio's Sharon Speedway) when he charged to a runner-up finish from the 24th starting spot on Thursday night.
The York, Pa., star was unable to duplicate his impressive performance on Saturday night, however. He finished a quiet 13th after using a provisional spot to start the A-Main.
CHASING THE CROWN: Shannon Babb proved at Volusia that he has a 2008 WoO LMS championship on his mind.
Committed to follow the tour for the first time after joining NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer's new dirt Late Model team during the off-season, Babb understands that winning the big-money title will take smarts as well as speed. He demonstrated that on Thursday night when he accepted a fifth-place finish in the 50-lap A-Main.
"We were looking at the big picture," said the standout from Moweaqua, Ill. "We weren't that good, so we took what we could get. That's how you win a championship - even on a night when you're not that good, you have to find a way to come out with a good finish.
"In the past, I probably would've just kept hammering the cushion to try to win the race and ended up breaking something because my car wasn't good enough."
Babb was looking down the road again on Saturday night, when he continued turning laps at reduced speed after an apparent electrical problem caused his car to sputter for much of the distance. He finished only 22nd, but he picked up probably five spots by staying on the track to complete 47 laps.
MUCH BETTER: Darrell Lanigan unloaded his Rocket No. 29 in Florida focused on getting off to a better start on the 2008 WoO LMS than he did a year ago.
Mission accomplished.
One of six drivers to score a top-10 finish in both WoO LMS A-Mains (10th on Thursday, sixth on Saturday), the Union, Ky., racer ended the week a solid seventh in the points standings, 26 points out of the lead. He departed Volusia last season ranked 19th in the standings after having to use a provisional in the opener.
I'M GOING TO…: Tim Fuller didn't win a WoO LMS event during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals, but he still headed for Disney World after Saturday night's finale.
The 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year experienced horrible luck at Volusia. On Thursday he was beginning to bid for the lead in the A-Main when a broken right-front shock forced him to the pits on lap seven (he returned laps down), and on Saturday a cut left-rear tire knocked him out of sixth place with just three laps remaining.
Fuller put the frustrating nights behind him by staying in Florida for the remainder of the week to vacation with his family at Disney World. It was to be the first Disney visit for his three-year-old daughter Ainsley.
FIRST-TIMER: The first-ever Alltel DIRTcar Nationals appearance for 26-year-old WoO LMS traveler Brian Shirley wasn't spectacular, but he escaped the tough week with a pair of B-Main victories and a solid eighth-place finish (from the 20th starting spot) on Saturday night.
After making the steady climb forward to nab a top-10 in Saturday's 50-lapper, the Chatham, Ill., standout with one of the sharpest-appearing cars in the field sat 14th in the points standings.
TOUGH WEEK: Tim McCreadie, the 2006 WoO LMS champ, was back on the dirt Late Model scene for the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals driving his familiar Carl Myers-owned Sweeteners Plus No. 39, but he didn't have a wonderful time.
Racing with his left hand wrapped in a bandage after injuring it in a tangle the previous week at East Bay, the Watertown, N.Y., star never quite found his usual form. He did get going better on Saturday night - winning a heat race and starting from the pole in the WoO LMS 50 - but a flat left-rear tire on lap 40 knocked him from a potential top-five finish.
With McCreadie still unsure about whether he'll make any NASCAR Nationwide Series starts as a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver this season due to a lack of sponsorship, he said he's considering his options for more dirt Late Model racing in '08.
BACK ON TOUR: John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., who followed the WoO LMS from 2004 until the early portion of 2007, is looking to return to the trail this season.
Driving Bloomquist Chassis cars owned by his father, Blankenship got off to a good start at Volusia, finishing ninth in the opener. It was his first WoO LMS top-10 since July 2, 2006, at Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y.
ROOKS: Four drivers submitted WoO LMS Rookie of the Year applications at Volusia.
The list includes Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan., a well-respected Midwestern veteran who is planning to tour nationally for the first time in his career; Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., a DIRTcar big-block Modified standout (and Sweeteners Plus Racing teammate of McCreadie) who wants to step up his dirt Late Model efforts in '08; Danny Johnson of Rochester, N.Y., one of the alltime DIRTcar big-block Modified greats who is entering dirt Late Model action this season; and Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y., a teenage Modified racer from the Northeast and teammate of Johnson's.
Of the four, only Coffey qualified for a WoO LMS A-Main, finishing 20th on Saturday night.
UP NEXT: The WoO LMS is idle until March 28-29, when the inaugural 'March Through Dixie 100' takes center stage at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss. The early-season blockbuster will pay $20,000 to win.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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