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Larry Phillips, a Midwestern mega-talent who passed away in September 2004 at the age of 62 after a four-year battle with lung cancer, won just a single WoO LMS event during his memorable dirt and asphalt Late Model career, but it was an important one. He captured the first WoO LMS A-Main ever contested, on April 22, 1988, at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
The elder Phillips's triumph launched the short-lived first incarnation of the WoO LMS, which was directed by late Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series founder Ted Johnson. The full-bodied off-shoot of the established WoO Sprint Car Series lasted just two seasons before it was discontinued by Johnson, but its results are part of the history of the WoO LMS, which was rekindled in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner and is now in the fifth season of its modern era.
The 'original' WoO LMS didn't travel as far-and-wide or boast as many events as the current version, but it was "a pretty tough series," said Terry Phillips. He knows this first-hand because he actually followed the inaugural schedule in 1988.
Phillips became a dirt Late Model driver in '88, at the age of 21, and got an education by going on the WoO LMS road with his father. He showed some flashes of his future brilliance during that rookie campaign, registering four top-five finishes - including third-place runs at Badlands Raceway in Yates Center, Kans., and Colorado National Speedway in Denver (two) - and finishing a respectable seventh in the points standings. (Larry Phillips finished third in the '88 points race.)
Both Phillips and his father were part-timers with the WoO LMS in 1989 (Larry and Terry placed 11th and 14th, respectively, in the points standings), and the younger Phillips has entered only selected tour events since its resumption in 2004. In eight A-Main appearances during the WoO LMS 'modern-era' Phillips has a top finish of third, on July 22, 2005, at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Okla., but he's had a couple legitimate shots at victory ripped from him by bad luck, including last year at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kans. (a broken brake caliper sent him into the wall while running fourth and gaining ground) and Lebanon I-44 Speedway (he was in the top five when he got a flat tire).
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