|
Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (April 14) - The World of Outlaws Late Model Series makes its first appearance of the 2008 season in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night (April 15), visiting Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.
The mid-week 'Showdown in Sarvertown' sponsored by Y108 Radio will be run over the 50-lap distance and offers a $10,000 top prize.
Adding more luster to the event, it will serve as the 2008 season opener at the wildly popular Lernerville Speedway. Wet weather has washed out the track's first three Friday-night programs, but sunny skies are in the forecast for Tuesday, setting up a blockbuster night to celebrate the start of the facility's 40th anniversary campaign.
WHEN:
* Lernerville's pit gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m. Time trials are set for 7:15 p.m., followed by racing at 8 o'clock.
The night's undercard will feature the first-ever UMP Pro (crate) Late Model program at Lernerville.
WHERE:
* Lernerville Speedway is a four-tenths-mile oval that sits one hour northeast of Pittsburgh International Airport. One of the top facilities in the country, the track has been accented for 2008 with a new clay surface and a slight reconfiguration of turn two.
To reach the track, take SR 28 to exit 17, then travel 4.6 miles north on SR 356.
TICKETS:
* Reserved-seat tickets are on sale for $27 (adults), $24 (seniors) and $22 (ages 17-and-under). General admission is $25 (adults) and $22 (seniors and students), with children 10-and-under admitted free of charge.
Pit passes are $30 for DIRTcar Racing members and $35 for non-members.
PRE-RACE FUN:
* Pittsburgh's Best Country Y108 will have 'Wookie,' the producer of the station's 'Country Crew' morning show, on hand from 5:30-7:30 p.m. to meet-and-greet fans and hand out samples from McDonald's & Twizzlers to the kids.
In addition, the folks from Anheuser Busch will be on hand to entertain the adults.
AWARD PRESENTATION:
* Young dirt Late Model standout Dave Hess Jr. will receive a $12,000 check on Tuesday night for winning the 'Alltel DIRTcar All-Star' balloting surrounding February's Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
Hess earned the honor after his supporters made him the top vote-getter of the drivers who won features during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals. He became eligible for the contest by winning a UMP DIRTcar Modified headliner at Volusia.
INFORMATION:
* To learn more about the 'Showdown in Sarvertown' at Lernerville Speedway, visit www.lernerville.com or call the track office at 724-353-1511.
PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:
* Eight WoO LMS events have been run at Lernerville Speedway since 2004 - only Florida's Volusia Speedway Park has held more tour shows (12).
Chub Frank has two wins (April 23, 2004, and Aug. 12, 2005), and single victories have been claimed by Dale McDowell (Aug. 13, 2004), Billy Moyer (April 29, 2005), Rick Eckert (April 18, 2006), Tim McCreadie (Aug. 4, 2006), Shannon Babb (April 17, 2007) and Scott Bloomquist (June 30, 2007).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
* Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., will enter Tuesday's action hot off his scheduled national-television interview on Sunday night's Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain show on SPEED. The hottest dirt Late Model driver in the nation has won three of five WoO LMS events this season and holds the tour points lead.
A 50-year-old dirt Late Model legend, Moyer won a WoO LMS event at Lernerville in 2005. He didn't enter a race at the track in 2007.
* Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., rolls into Tuesday's program batting 1.000 at Lernerville, thanks to a victory in last year's 'Showdown in Sarvertown' that came in his first-ever - and still only - start at the oval.
Babb returns this season as a WoO LMS championship contender behind the wheel of the Chevy/Traeger Grills dirt Late Model fielded by NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer.
* No WoO LMS star enjoys visiting Lernerville more than Chub Frank - and not only because the track is only a couple hours away from his shop in Bear Lake, Pa. 'Chubzilla' has had more special-show success at Lernerville in recent years than any other driver, including a pair of WoO LMS victories (2004 and 2005).
* What WoO LMS driver is probably the most likely to become the next winner of a tour event at Lernerville? How about defending tour champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who has six top-five finishes (including three runner-up outings) in eight career WoO LMS events at the track.
Francis will be trying to erase memories of his 16th-place finish in last year's 'Showdown at Sarvertown' - one of just two DNFs he experienced in 44 WoO LMS A-Mains in 2007.
* Lernerville figures to provide Rick Eckert of York, Pa., a prime opportunity to snap his 62-race winless streak on the WoO LMS. He owns a win and five top-five finishes in the eight tour shows that have been run there.
* Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., has come close to victory in WoO LMS competition at Lernerville, finishing second twice (both in 2005).
* Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., has only one top-five finish in eight career WoO LMS starts at Lernerville, but that fourth-place run came in last year's 'Showdown in Sarvertown.'
* Lernerville has been a site of many frustrating WoO LMS outings for Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.
Clanton's six tour starts at Lernerville show just two top-10 finishes, including a personal-best of sixth in last year's 'Firecracker 100.' He knows the track as the place where he suffered a shoulder injury in April 2005 that sidelined him for two months of the WoO LMS campaign, but he does have some confidence after contending for victory in the inaugural 'Firecracker 100.'
Richards, meanwhile, owns one top-five finish in his eight WoO LMS appearances at Lernerville - a third place as a 17-year-old rookie in April 2005. The track was the site of the first flip of his racing career, in August 2006 when he jumped the berm in turn three and went rolling.
* Last year's WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders Tim Fuller of Watertown of Watertown, N.Y., and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., performed very similarly in their first dirt Late Model visits to Lernerville last year. Fuller scored WoO LMS finishes of 11th (April) and eighth (Firecracker 100), while Shirley was 10th and 12th in the events.
* WoO LMS traveler John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., has never finished better than 18th in four tour A-Main starts at Lernerville.
* The 2008 WoO LMS Rookie aspirants - New Yorkers Vic Coffey, Danny Johnson and Joe Isabell - plan to enter Tuesday's meet.
* Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., will enter Tuesday's action just days after winning his first career WoO LMS event at Virginia Motor Speedway.
* Fifty cars were entered in last year's 'Showdown in Sarvertown' and a similar number - perhaps even more - are expected to fill Lernerville's pit area on Friday.
Some of the top regional and local names expected include Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.; Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio; Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va.; Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y.; David Scott of Garland, Pa.; Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa.; Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa.; Dick Barton of Ashville, N.Y.; Keith Barbara of South Park, Pa.; reigning Lernerville champ Alex Ferree of Saxonburg, Pa.; former Lernerville champs Lynn Geisler of Cranberry Twp., Pa., John Flinner of Zelionople, Pa.; Gary Lyle of Hyde Park, Pa., and Ron Davies of Warren, Pa.; Davey Johnson of Latrobe, Pa.; and young guns Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., Jared Miley of South Park, Pa., and Greg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa.
EXTRA CASH:
* The influx of regional and local standouts competing in the event will be chasing some WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks.'
The highest-finishing driver who is not ranked among the current top-12 in the WoO LMS point standings and has never won a WoO feature will receive the $500 'Bonus Bucks' award.
COMING UP:
* The tour heads south for the richest WoO LMS event of the 2008 season - the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. A $50,000 top prize from a total purse of $200,000 will be on the line in the much-anticipated program at the four-tenths-mile oval.
LISTEN OR WATCH ON THE INTERNET:
* Fans who can't make it to the track can listen to the action live thanks to the DIRT Radio Network.
To listen to the free audio broadcasts of WoO LMS events, 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. Those who sign up for a free membership can enjoy advanced features while listening to the races, such as text chat and live scoring via AMB.it.
Fans can also watch Tuesday's Lernerville event live on the internet as part of the DIRTVision Cybercast schedule. The event can be purchased for $8.99 on a pay-per-view basis, or fans can purchase a 'DIRT Track Ticket' subscription for $59.99 to gain access to Lernerville's video feed and all other live 'Cybercasts' offered in 2008.
More information is available at www.dirtvision.com.
WoO LMS INFO:
* Log on to the WoO LMS website at www.worldofoutlaws.com.
2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of April 11 - 5 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Billy Moyer 3-4-4-$54,220-710 (-0)
2. Josh Richards 1-3-4-$20,800-698 (-12)
3. Steve Francis 0-3-4-$16,500-688 (-22)
4. Rick Eckert 0-1-4-$13,250-680 (-30)
5. Darrell Lanigan 0-0-4-$9,300-666 (-44)
6. Shannon Babb 0-3-3-$19,850-664 (-46)
7. Chub Frank 0-1-3-$11,550-660 (-50)
8. Clint Smith 0-2-2-$8,610-642 (-68)
9. Shane Clanton 0-2-2-$9,300-618 (-92)
10. Tim Fuller 0-0-1-$6,240-608 (-102)
11. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$5,990-602 (-108)
12. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$5,820-568 (-142)
13. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$1,210-412 (-298)
14. (tie) Darren Miller 0-0-3-$5,700-404 (-306)
14. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$1,600-404 (-306)
16. (tie) Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-314)
16. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-1-1-$7,050-396 (-314)
16. (tie) Vic Coffey 0-0-1-$2,820-396 (-314)
19. Billy Decker 0-0-0-$2,320-340 (-370)
20. Ricky Elliott 0-0-1-$1,910-303 (-407)
|
