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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (March 10) - Tim Fuller is currently home in upstate New York.
The two Gypsum Express Racing dirt Late Models he has at his disposal, meanwhile, are nearly 1,100 miles away in Georgia.
What's the deal? Just call it a shrewd, cost-saving logistical move by the 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Rookie of the Year.
Since the end of last month's Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., Fuller's hauler and red No. 19 Rocket cars have been parked at fellow WoO LMS regular Clint Smith's shop in Senoia, Ga. They won't return to Fuller's garage in the Empire State's Northcountry until after the next WoO LMS event, the $20,000-to-win 'March Through Dixie 100' on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss.
"With the high price of fuel and way the weather is up here (in New York's snow belt), we figured it's worthwhile to leave the cars and the hauler at Clint's for a month," Fuller said on Monday from his shop, which was under more than a foot of snow following a weekend storm. "We're saving a bunch of money on fuel, plus we don't have to winterize the camper (toter-home), we won't get it covered with salt and sand from driving it on the roads up here, and we're just plain saving a lot of wear-and-tear on it."
While Fuller, 40, of Watertown, N.Y., stayed in Florida the week after the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals to vacation with his family (it was his three-year-old daughter Ainsley's first trip to Disney World), his chief mechanic, Mike 'Smoke' Countryman, drove the hauler to Smith's estate. Countryman and DIRTcar big-block Modified driver Billy Dunn, who provided pit-area assistance to Fuller throughout the southern excursion, spent several days working on Fuller's cars before heading home to New York in a Gypsum Express pickup truck that Dunn drove from Florida to Georgia.
Fuller is saving nearly 2,700 miles on his sponsor John Lazore's race car transporter by parking it at Smith's, taking into account trips of roughly 1,250 miles from Volusia to Watertown, N.Y. (it was 400 miles to Smith's place) and 1,400 miles from upstate New York to Southern Mississippi (the haul to Pike County Speedway from Smith's shop is about 475 miles).
What's more, Fuller will get a chance to keep his dirt Late Model skills sharp during the break from WoO LMS by entering two shows this weekend within a couple-hour drive of Smith's shop. Fuller and Countryman are flying down to Atlanta on Thursday and will run special events on Friday night (March 14) at North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth and Saturday night (March 15) at Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway.
After flying back home following the weekend, Fuller will borrow a truck and trailer from Lazore and haul his DIRTcar big-block Modified to Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway on Sat., March 22, to compete in the season-opening Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series 100. Then he'll hop a plane again to retrieve his dirt Late Model operation from Smith's garage in advance of Pike County's WoO LMS show.
STUCK AT HOME: With rain and cold weather causing the cancellation of several dirt Late Model events in Tennessee, Georgia and Maryland, no WoO LMS regulars saw action over the past weekend.
BIG HONOR: WoO LMS announcer Rick Eshelman took advantage of the tour's break to attend Sunday's 2008 regular-season opener at Talladega (Ala.) Short Track and ended up adding a memorable moment to his announcing career.
After accepting an invitation to grab a microphone as a guest announcer, Eshelman was thrilled to call 70-something short-track legend Red Farmer's drive to victory in the oval's crate Late Model feature.
DATE CHANGE REMINDER: WoO LMS officials have announced that a previously-scheduled tour date at Lebanon I-44 Speedway has been moved back one week, to Sat., May 3, and an event has been added at Monett Speedway on Sun., May 4, setting up two consecutive nights of Outlaws action in Missouri.
HELP THEM MAKE A COMEBACK: Josh Richards, Clint Smith and former WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer are still seeking votes from fans in the Alltel DIRTcar All-Star contest, which awards a $12,000 prize to the top vote-getter among the 18 drivers who won features during last month's Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.
Victories in the Super Late Model A-Mains at Volusia put Richards, Smith and Moyer on the Alltel DIRTcar All-Star ballot. They need a final-week surge in the voting to pull out the big money.
Fans have until 11:59 p.m. ET on March 16 to vote for their favorite full-fender star at www.AlltelAllStar.com. They can vote once per day, and with each vote cast they are entered in a contest to win a $500 gift card from Alltel Wireless.
NEXT UP: The 2008 WoO LMS gets rolling again on March 28-29 with the 'March Through Dixie 100' at Pike County Speedway.
Arguably the biggest early-season dirt Late Model event ever run in the state of Mississippi, the big weekend will include time trials and qualifying heats on Fri., March 28, and B-Mains and the $20,000-to-win 100-lap A-Main on Sat., March 29. The first-ever WoO LMS show at the three-eighths-mile oval will also feature a driver autograph session in the spectator area from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com.
INFO: To learn more about the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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