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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (May 28) - The World of Outlaws Late Model Series heads east for an end-of-the-month double-dip at Delaware International Speedway on Thursday night (May 29) and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway on Saturday night (May 31).
Delaware International's midweek 'First State 50' comes at the start of the big NASCAR weekend at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, which is just 45 minutes north of promoter Charlie Cathell's dirt track. The scheduling will allow NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standout Dave Blaney to return to his dirt-track roots at DIS, where he'll drive 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller's second car on Thursday night.
The WoO LMS caravan will travel 170 miles to the northwest for Saturday night's show at Hagerstown Speedway. Headlining the program is the 27th annual 'Conococheague 50,' which is part of the WoO LMS for the third consecutive year.
Each WoO LMS event will pay $10,000 to win from a purse totaling nearly $50,000.
WHEN:
* Delaware International Speedway's gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. on Thursday, with hot laps set for 7 p.m.
* Hagerstown Speedway's pit gates will open on Saturday at 4 p.m. and the spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m. On-track action is set to begin at 7 p.m.
WHERE:
* Delaware International Speedway is a semi-banked, half-mile clay oval owned by Charlie Cathell, whose family has operated a racing complex on the track's current site since 1963. It is located on U.S. Route 13, one mile north of the Delaware/Maryland border.
* Hagerstown Speedway is a well-known semi-banked, half-mile clay oval owned by veteran promoter Frank Plessinger. The track sits just south of the Mason-Dixon Line, 5.3 miles west of Interstate 81.
TICKETS:
* Reserved seats for Delaware International's 'First State 50' 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.
* General admission for Hagerstown's 'Conococheague 50' is $30, with children 12 and under admitted free. Reserved seats, which can be ordered on-line at www.hagerstownspeedway.com, and pit passes are $35.
INFORMATION:
* For more information on the Delaware International Speedway event, visit www.delawareracing.com or call 302-875-1911.
* For more information on the Hagerstown Speedway program, visit www.hagerstownspeedway.com or call 301-582-0640.
PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:
* Delaware International Speedway will host the WoO LMS for the fourth time. Scott Bloomquist was victorious on July 21, 2004; Darrell Lanigan triumphed on July 6, 2005; and Chub Frank visited Victory Lane on May 31, 2007.
* Hagerstown Speedway has hosted the WoO LMS a total of nine times, including twice during the tour's first incarnation (1988-89) and five times since its resumption in 2004. It is the only track that has held a WoO LMS event in every season of the tour's existence.
Victors of Hagerstown's WoO LMS events include Les Hare (April 24, 1988), Gary Stuhler (May 7, 1989), Rick Eckert (April 24, 2004, and July 24, 2004), Tim McCreadie (July 8, 2005, and July 9, 2005), Clint Smith (Aug. 5, 2006), Shannon Babb (June 2, 2007) and Josh Richards (July 21, 2007).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
* Defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., carries a narrow points lead into the East Coast swing, where he'll be in search of his first tour win at both tracks.
Of course, Francis has knocked on the door to Victory Lane at both ovals. He scored personal-best finishes of second at both tracks in 2004, and he hasn't finished worse than seventh in seven A-Main runs at Hagerstown.
* Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., feels like he might have karma working for him. Last year he won his first of a series-leading six WoO LMS A-Mains on May 18 and then made Delaware International's late-May event his second straight victory. This year he won his first WoO LMS feature on May 18 once again, at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway, and, lo and behold, his next race comes up at Delaware International.
* Rick Eckert of York, Pa., will take another shot at snapping his frustrating 68-race winless streak on the WoO LMS - and there might not be a better back-to-back swing for him than this one.
Hagerstown, of course, is one of Eckert's home tracks, and in 2004 he swept a pair of WoO LMS events there. He hasn't finished better than 12th in his last three WoO LMS starts at Hagerstown (2006-2007), but he did win two unsanctioned features at the half-mile in March.
Delaware International, meanwhile, was the site of Eckert's biggest win in 2007 (the unsanctioned Camp Barnes Benefit Race), and he finished second in last year's WoO LMS A-Main.
* Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., enters the weekend on a hot streak after scoring a win and second-place finish in the last two WoO LMS events. He's proven he can get around both Delaware International and Hagerstown - last year he led DIS's WoO LMS A-Main until spinning to avoid a slowing lapped car, and he captured the tour's '60th Anniversary Classic' in July at Hagerstown.
* Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., will look to extend his streak of three consecutive top-five finishes. He has a strong track record at Delaware International - three top-10 finishes in as many starts, including a win in 2005 - but Hagerstown hasn't been very kind to him. Though he loves big tracks, his second-place finish in August 2006 was one of only two top-10 runs he's enjoyed in seven WoO LMS starts at Hagerstown.
* Hagerstown has become a favorite venue for Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga. His last three WoO LMS starts there have resulted in a win (August 2006), a third (June 2007) and a second (July 2007).
* Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., has been steady, if not spectacular, at Delaware International and Hagerstown. He owns a pair of seventh-place finishes in his two previous WoO LMS appearances at DIS, and he hasn't finished outside the top 10 in his last four starts at Hagerstown (top finish: fourth in August 2006).
* Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., is undefeated at Hagerstown - he won last year's Conococheague 50 in his first-ever visit to the track. He struggled last year at DIS, however, finishing 17th after suffering an engine meltdown.
* Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., didn't enter last year's WoO LMS event at DIS because he ran an Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified show at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., but he's visited the track in the past for Super DIRTcar Series action.
The 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year scored finishes of 20th (June) and sixth (July) last year at Hagerstown, where he's been victorious in Super DIRTcar Series competition.
* Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who plans to enter his Sweeteners Plus No. 39 in both events, has a history of running very well at DIS and Hagerstown. The 2006 WoO LMS champion swept a two-day WoO LMS program at Hagerstown in 2005, and his DIS finishes include a second (2005), fifth (2004) and 14th (2007, after mechanical trouble knocked him out of the lead with just three laps remaining).
* John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., has a career-best finish of 11th at DIS (2007) and ninth at Hagerstown (July 2005).
* The tour's three Rookie of the Year contenders - all New Yorkers who are products of the DIRTcar big-block Modified ranks - plan to enter both events this weekend. Vic Coffey leads the standings over Danny Johnson and Joe Isabell.
* Top regional drivers expected to enter both events include Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., who won his first career WoO LMS A-Main on April 11 at Virginia Motor Speedway, and reigning MACS tour champion Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., who scored finishes of second and third in last year's WoO LMS events at Hagerstown.
EXTRA CASH:
* The influx of regional and local standouts competing in the events will be chasing some WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks.'
The highest-finishing driver in each A-Main 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 WoO LMS will take a two-week break and then embark on its first extended road trip of the season - the seven-race 'Great Northern Tour' from June 17-28.
The swing through the Northeast begins on June 17 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway and then continues 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).
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.
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 May 18 - 11 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Steve Francis 1-6-9-$74,850-1449 (-0)
2. (tie) Chub Frank 1-5-7-$31,430-1443 (-6)
2. (tie) Darrell Lanigan 0-3-9-$21,650-1443 (-6)
4. Josh Richards 2-6-8 -$47,510-1439 (-10)
5. Rick Eckert 0-4-8-$26,250-1415 (-34)
6. Shannon Babb 1-5-7-$40,350-1413 (-36)
7. (tie) Shane Clanton 0-4-5-$19,730-1361 (-88)
7. (tie) Clint Smith 0-3-4-$16,260-1361 (-88)
9. Tim Fuller 0-1-2-$11,870-1295 (-154)
10. John Blankenship 0-0-2-$13,810-1263 (-186)
11. Billy Moyer 4-6-6-$70,420-1181 (-268)
12. Brian Shirley 0-0-2-$9,680-1127 (-322)
13. Vic Coffey 0-0-1-$10,460-1065 (-384)
14. Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$3,490-776 (-673)
15. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$3,070-772 (-677)
16. Tim McCreadie 0-1-4-$13,850-737 (-712)
17. Jeep VanWormer 0-0-2-$8,070-729 (-720)
18. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-3-$9,450-595 (-854)
19. Brian Birkhofer 1-1-2-$12,610-585 (-864)
20. Darren Miller 0-0-4-$6,800-538 (-911)
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