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Kevin Kovac
DELMAR, Del. (May 27) - Ricky Elliott can't wait for Thursday to arrive.
But who can blame him? After all, he's the hottest driver at Delaware International Speedway, where the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will contest the $10,000-to-win 'First State 50' this Thursday night (May 29).
Elliott, 42, of Seaford, Del., has two wins and a second-place finish in the half-mile oval's last three weekly events, which he's used to gear up for the arrival of the WoO LMS stars.
"We've been working hard and testing stuff for the last couple weeks," said Elliott, whose successful month of dirt Late Model action at promoter Charlie Cathell's motorsports complex includes wins on May 3 and May 17 and a runner-up finish on May 24. "We think we've found something pretty special (with the car's setup), so we're really looking forward to the World of Outlaws show."
Elliott, of course, is a regional standout who's considered a serious threat to reach Victory Lane whenever he enters a WoO LMS event - especially one held at Delaware International, where he hasn't competed regularly since 1992 but nonetheless has won more than 50 career big-block Modified features and a growing number of dirt Late Model headliners. He's come close to a WoO LMS triumph on several occasions, finishing as high as second - on July 8, 2005, at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway - and leading laps in a handful of other A-Mains.
Last year's WoO LMS 'First State 50' at Delaware International ranks as one of Elliott's biggest heartbreakers running with the Outlaws. He was bidding to overtake eventual winner Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., for second on lap seven when he clipped an inside marker tire and bent his car's front end, effectively ending his hopes for a big win.
"We had a real good car last year," said Elliott, who hung tough in third until a lap-21 scrape with 2006 WoO LMS champ Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., sent him over the track's bank and tumbling to a disappointing eighth-place finish. "I think we had something for 'em until I hit that tire.
"We're going to give it another shot. One of my goals as a driver is to win a World of Outlaws race - because when you do that, you can say you've beaten the best."
Elliott, who began focusing on dirt Late Model racing late in the 2004 campaign, has started 23 WoO LMS A-Mains since 2004, including two this season. He owns four top-five and nine top-10 finishes.
Last year marked the first time in three WoO LMS events at Delaware International that Elliott had scored a top-10 finish, but don't think for a minute that he's struggled. In 2004, for instance, he finished 14th in a pick-up ride with local Lou Johnson that came before he got serious about dirt Late Model competition, and in 2005 he started from the pole position after winning the dash and paced the field early before encountering problems and again finishing 14th.
The bottom line: Elliott is supremely confident about his chances to win Thursday night's 'First State 50.' He'll go to the post with fresh, top-notch equipment fielded by Delaware's Charles Jarvis - a Rocket car with just three races on it and a ProPower engine that has been run only 80 laps since being rebuilt - and an innate knowledge of the track that's less than 20 miles from his home, including its 2008 characteristics.
"From what I've seen so far this year," Elliott said of Delaware International Speedway, "I think it's going to take an 18.50 or 18.60 (second) lap to get fast time (in WoO LMS qualifying. We've been as low as 18.80 this year running a spec (track-mandated) tire, so I figure that with an open tire (rule for the WoO LMS event) and us putting a little more gear to it, our speed should be up a couple tenths."
Will Elliott have enough speed to be up front after 50 laps? He hopes so.
"Usually you can step up your program a little bit when you run your hometrack," said Elliott, whose 11-year-old son, Cole, and his step-children, Dalton and Chace, will have a rare opportunity to see him battle the national WoO LMS standouts. "That's what we're planning to do. There's going to be a lot of my family, friends and customers (he runs the Advanced Autosports speed shop) there, so we want to have a good night for them."
Elliott is actually planning to be a very familiar face on the WoO LMS for the next month. Starting with DIS on Thursday night, he has eight of the next nine tour events on his schedule, including all but one stop of the 'Great Northern Tour' that hops across Pennsylvania, New York and Canada from June 17-28.
After running Jarvis's No. 45 at DIS, Elliott is slated to make his next seven WoO LMS appearances in a Cornett-powered Rocket No. 121 fielded by upstate New Yorker Joe Beyea, a DIRTcar big-block Modified driver who is well-known for his Beyea Custom Headers business. The car is being prepared and wrenched by Randy Kisacky, a resident of New York's Southern Tier who is regarded as one of the brightest mechanical minds on the DIRTcar big-block Modified circuit.
Elliott is expected to make his first start with Beyea and Kisacky this Saturday night (May 31) in the WoO LMS 'Conococheage 50' at Hagerstown Speedway. He then plans to hit WoO LMS 'Great Northern Tour' shows on June 19 at Oshweken (Ont.) Speedway; June 21 at Quebec's Autodrome Drummond; June 22 at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway; June 24 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway; June 25 at Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pa.; and June 27-28 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (the $40,000-to-win Firecracker 100).
Thursday night's 'First State 50' at Delaware International Speedway will see Elliott face off with a star-studded field featuring the WoO LMS travelers, including '07 event winner Chub Frank; points leader and defending Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.; and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.
Other WoO LMS names expected to compete include 2006 tour champion Tim McCreadie; '08 Rookie of the Year contenders Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y. (a former big-block Modified winner at DIS) and Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y.; and Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., a regional star who won his first-ever WoO LMS A-Main on April 11 at Virginia Motor Speedway.
In addition, with Thursday's program situated at the start of the big NASCAR weekend at Dover (Del.) International Speedway just 45 minutes north of DIS, Sprint Cup Series standout Dave Blaney will make a special appearance behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model. The former Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion will drive Fuller's backup car.
Tickets for the fourth WoO LMS event in the last five years at Delaware International Speedway on May 29 are now available by calling the speedway office at 302-875-1911.
Reserved seats are $30 for adults and $9 for children 7-13, while general admission will be $26 for adults, $5 for children 7-13 and free for kids 6-and-under.
Pit passes will be $35 for adults, $10 for children 7-13 and free for kids 6-and-under.
For more information visit www.delawareracing.com or www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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