|
Chub Frank Racing
BEAR LAKE, Penn. (May 19) - All is well again with Chub Frank's racing fortunes.
The veteran star from Bear Lake, Pa., pressed his favorite car - the machine he calls 'Old Faithful' - back into service over the weekend and returned to his usual form. He won his first World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main of the 2008 season on Sunday night at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway and finished second in the tour's Friday-night stop at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park.
"It was a good weekend," smiled Chub, who moved into a tie for second (with Darrell Lanigan) in the WoO LMS points standings, just six points behind leader Steve Francis through 11 events. "We needed a weekend like this bad."
Chub actually came close to sweeping the WoO LMS Midwestern doubleheader. He came off the outside pole to lead the first 43 laps of Friday's first-ever WoO LMS event at the one-third-mile Attica oval before watching young Josh Richards drive by him on the outside with six laps remaining en route to victory in the 50-lap A-Main.
After settling for runner-up money to Richards, Chub turned the tables on 'Kid Rocket' Sunday night. Chub roared off the outside pole at the quarter-mile Lincoln oval to lead the 'Land of Lincoln 40' from flag-to-flag - with the 20-year-old Richards chasing him from lap 14 to the finish and finishing second.
"I wasn't giving up the top this time," Chub quipped after repelling Richards's challenges at Lincoln. "Losing two nights in a row would've been real tough to take."
Chub's $7,000 victory came exactly one year to the day since he won his first WoO LMS A-Main of 2007, at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. Chub got rolling after that first tour win last season and ended up leading all series drivers with six triumphs, so he's hoping "it works out the same this year."
The driver known as 'Chubzilla' feels good about his chances of ringing up more checkered flags thanks to the return of 'Old Faithful.' He debuted this particular Lester Buildings/Corry Rubber/All Star Performance/Corry Laser/Slavic Corporation/Farr MotorSports/Lake Shore Paving/Custom Race Engines Chevrolet Impala SS Rocket Chassis No. 1* in September 2006 and has run it in a majority of his appearances since then because he fells so good in it, but there was concern that its life-cycle might have ended when he flipped the car last month at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Alas, Chub's favorite car can take a licking and keep on ticking. He found that the car's frame was not significantly damaged in the wreck, so he had it skinned with a new body and did some other work to it before rolling it back on the track at Attica.
"I'm happy to have it back," said Chub. "It's still gonna need a little work - it's not quite the same as it was before - but it got the job done."
Chub's next WoO LMS start comes on May 29 at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, Del., where he was victorious in last year's tour stop. He'll usher out the month with another WoO LMS event on May 31 at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
|
