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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (May 12) - The World of Outlaws Late Model Series event scheduled for this Saturday night (May 17) at Lawrenceburg Speedway has been postponed indefinitely, track and series officials have announced.
The decision was made because a major off-season reconstruction project to enlarge the eastern Indiana track from a quarter-mile oval to a high-banked, three-eighths-mile layout is still in its final stages.
"We're certainly disappointed that this Saturday night's show had to be called off," said WoO LMS director Tim Christman. "We saw last year when we raced on the quarter-mile for the first time that Lawrenceburg Speedway is one of the top short-track facilities in the country, so we were very excited to come back to an even bigger and better track.
"But we fully understand the situation. There's still some work left to do to finish the job, and (Lawrenceburg promoter) Dave Rudisill and his staff don't want to run a national event at a facility that isn't 100 percent ready to go because that wouldn't be fair to the teams or the fans."
Virtually all of the physical reconstruction work on the speedway has been completed, including the redesign of the track; the erection of an outside wall and catch fence; and the addition of nearly 1,700 new bleacher seats in turn two. But just one-third of the new clay surface had been applied by the end of last week - and with a flurry of rain delaying the completion of the surfacing, a date for a planned open practice to work in the track prior to the grand re-opening could not be solidified.
The huge Lawrenceburg Speedway construction project began last November, shortly after the 2007 season ended. Financed to the tune of $3.5 million by the City of Lawrenceburg, the work promises to enhance the oval's reputation as a dirt-track showplace.
Christman and Rudisill would like to reschedule the WoO LMS event at Lawrenceburg for later in the 2008 season, but an announcement will be made only if a suitable date can be found.
Rudisill is now looking toward Sat., May 24, for the first action on Lawrenceburg's new configuration. An Open Wheel Night featuring a $2,500-to-win King of Indiana Sprints (KISS) feature plus events for the AMSA Mini-Sprints and the UMRA TQ Midgets has been scheduled for the Memorial Day Weekend date.
Lawrenceburg's Saturday-night event was slated to be the middle stop of a three-race weekend in the Midwest for the WoO LMS. The tour will now contest two events - on Friday night (May 16) at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park and Sunday night (May 18) at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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