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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (March 24) - They've had six weeks to recharge and reload since last month's season-opening World of Outlaws Late Model Series events in Florida.
Now, it's time for the tour's stars to really get down to business.
Beginning with this weekend's inaugural 'March Through Dixie 100' at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., the WoO LMS will embark full-bore on a 31-week, map-hopping odyssey to determine its 2008 champion.
And no stretch of the campaign will be more lucrative than the ensuing four weeks, which can easily be called the tour's 'Month of Money.' With three high-dollar 100-lappers highlighting the upcoming springtime schedule, there's a robust $110,000 in first-place cash on the line over the next five WoO LMS races.
"This is a great way for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to dive into the busiest season we've ever had," said tour director Tim Christman, alluding to the heart of a schedule that currently shows 47 confirmed events at 40 tracks in 22 states and three Canadian provinces. "In a four-week span we'll run three of our biggest events of the year and also visit two of the top facilities in the country - and best of all, if someone gets hot, they can really build up their bank account."
The WoO LMS version of the 'Month of Money' kicks off with the 'March Through Dixie 100' at the three-eighths-mile Pike County Speedway, where a $20,000 winner's check has been posted. Time trials and heat races are set for Fri., March 28, with the B-Mains and 100-lap headliner scheduled for Sat., March 29.
Another two-day, $20,000-to-win extravaganza is on tap for April 4-5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, a quarter-mile fairgrounds oval that will host the inaugural 'Illini 100.' Following an identical format to Pike County with time trials and heats on Friday night and the last-chance events and A-Main on Saturday night, the 'Illini 100' will be the biggest dirt Late Model event ever run in the Land of Lincoln.
Then there's the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. A stop on the WoO LMS for the second straight season and already acknowledged as one of dirt Late Model racing's crown-jewel events, the two-day show boasts a first prize of $50,000 from a total purse of $200,000.
Sandwiched between the weekend spectaculars are a pair of 50-lap, $10,000-to-win events on the East Coast. The WoO LMS makes its now-traditional early-season stop at Bill Sawyer's pristine Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Va., for the 'Rumble on the River IV' on Fri., April 11, then heads to Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., for the 'Showdown in Sarvertown' on Tues., April 15.
MAKE A WISH: WoO LMS stars Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., celebrated birthdays in recent days.
Smith, the veteran known as 'Cat Daddy,' had more candles on his birthday cake. He turned 43 on March 20.
Richards, meanwhile, left the ranks of "teenage sensation," turning 20 on March 22.
CALM BEFORE THE STORM: Just two of the 10 drivers committed to following the 2008 WoO LMS turned competitive laps over the weekend.
Clint Smith and Locust Grove, Ga.'s Shane Clanton stayed in their homestate to enter Saturday night's O'Reilly Southern All-Stars Series event at Lavonia Speedway. Smith scored an 11th-place finish in the A-Main, while Clanton saw his horrid early-season luck continue as he scratched from the feature after running into trouble during his qualifying heat.
Several other drivers had their plans to go racing short-circuited by weather cancellations, including Richards and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (Maryland's Hagerstown Speedway on Saturday) and Bluegrass State stars Steve Francis and Darrell Lanigan (Kentucky's Florence Speedway on Saturday).
Of the 10 WoO LMS regulars, Lanigan, Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., have not entered a single event since the finale of the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals on Feb. 16 at Volusia Speedway Park.
TELEVISION TIME: Six WoO LMS events in 2008 will be televised on SPEED, World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter announced to a live television audience during Sunday night's edition of Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain on the cable network.
As part of an exclusive broadcast agreement with SPEED that also features the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the WoO LMS package will include five tape-delayed events and one live broadcast.
Highlighting the WoO LMS's television package is the season-ending 'Outlaws World Finals' show at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway. SPEED will carry a live broadcast of both the Late Model and Sprint Car action from the four-tenths-mile oval on Sat., Nov. 1, from 8-11 p.m. ET.
The 'Outlaws World Finals' and the WoO LMS 'Firecracker 100' on June 28 at Lernerville Speedway will be two of five multi-hour, 'super-sized' World of Outlaws programs shown on SPEED in 2008. The $40,000-to-win 'Firecracker 100' will be taped and then broadcast in a two-hour format on Sun., July 13, from 5-7 p.m. ET.
Other WoO LMS events that will be broadcast on SPEED include the July 9 'Gopher 50' at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. (airing on Sat., Aug. 16, from 4-5 p.m. ET); the July 25 event at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio (airing on Sat., Aug. 23, from 4-5 p.m. ET); the July 26 program at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio (airing on Sun., Aug. 31, from 12-1 p.m. ET); and the Aug. 31 'Oil Region Labor Day Classic' at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. (airing on Sun., Sept. 7, from 6-7 p.m. ET).
NEXT UP: More information on this weekend's 'March Through Dixie 100' at Pike County Speedway can be found at www.pikecountyspeedway.com.
OUTLAWS INFO: To learn more about the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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