|
Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (June 24) - The World of Outlaws Late Model Series 'Great Northern Tour' continues with midweek events on Tuesday night (June 24) at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway and Wednesday night (June 25) at Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pa.
Both tracks will present 40-lap A-Mains for the touring stars that pay $7,000 to win. Canandaigua hosts the 'Turner Automotive 40 presented by Ferris Mowers,' and Big Diamond's program will be topped by the Jack Rich Inc. 'Coal Country 40.'
The WoO LMS will make a first-ever stop at each facility.
WHEN:
* Canandaigua Speedway's pit gates will open at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, with grandstand admission beginning at 4 p.m. Racing is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m.
* Big Diamond Raceway's gates will be unlocked at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, with hot laps scheduled to commence at 7:15 p.m.
WHERE:
* Canandaigua Speedway is a half-mile oval located on the Ontario County Fairgrounds. A longtime DIRTcar big-block Modified track known as the 'Land of Legends,' it sits on County Road 10, 1.5-miles east of SR 21 and two miles north of Routes 5 and 20.
* A high-banked, three-eighths-mile oval that headlines 358-Modifieds on Friday nights, Big Diamond Raceway has undergone a dramatic facelift in recent years under the direction of co-promoters Buddy Biever, Barry Bashore and Dave Dissinger. To reach the track from Interstate 81, take Exit 116 (Minersville), follow Rt. 901 East for four miles and then turn right on Primrose; the track is two miles down the road on the left.
TICKETS:
* For Canandaigua's inaugural WoO LMS event, reserved-seat tickets are set at $27. General admission is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors (ages 65 and over), $8 for children (ages 10-14) and free for kids under the age of 9.
* General admission at Big Diamond is $25, with children 12-and-under admitted free.
INFORMATION:
* Canandaigua Speedway Info: www.canandaiguaspeedway.com or call the DIRTcar Northeast office at 315-834-6606.
* Big Diamond Raceway Info: Visit www.bigdiamondraceway.com or call 819-474-2222.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
* The hottest driver on the WoO LMS is Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who enters Canandaigua's event riding a streak of eight consecutive top-five finishes. His amazing consistency - the longest top-five streak by a WoO LMS driver in 2007 was five straight races - has helped him build a points lead of 38 markers over Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.
* Richards, 20, recorded his third WoO LMS win of 2008 on Sunday night at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway. He will attempt to tie Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., as the tour's winningest driver of 2008 with one more victory.
* Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., will attempt to continue his uncanny success in WoO LMS events held at central New York tracks. He's won four tour A-Mains in the area over the past three years, including two in 2005 (Fulton Speedway and Rolling Wheels Raceway) and the 2006 and 2007 shows at Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport.
* Defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., needs to snap out of an uncharacteristic funk. His Canadian-swing finishes of 14th (Ohsweken), 16th (Drummond) and 10th (Cornwall) have dropped him to fourth in the points standings, 50 points behind Lanigan.
* Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., kicked off the 'Great Northern Tour' with a victory on June 17 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, but he didn't bid for another win during the Canadian events.
* Rick Eckert of York, Pa., enters the Canandaigua/Big Diamond doubleheader as a hot - and certainly the most relieved - WoO LMS driver. With a triumph on Saturday night at Quebec's Autodrome Drummond, he snapped a winless streak that had reached nearly two years and 71 races.
* Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., is knocking on the door to Victory Lane. He led both the Ohsweken and Cornwall events and scored a top-five finish in all three Canadian shows.
* Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., will race in New York for the first time in his career when he takes to the track at Canandaigua.
* Tuesday's program in New York should bring back fond memories for John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., whose lone career WoO LMS victory came in the Empire State - in 2005 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y.
* Canandaigua's DIRTcar big-block Modified fans will have plenty of rooting interest on Tuesday night. Several drivers who have won big-block features at the oval will be behind the wheel of dirt Late Models, including WoO LMS regular Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (one career Canandaigua Mod triumph); 2006 WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (14 wins); Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y. (14 wins); and 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y. (16 wins) and Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y. (66 wins).
The Big Diamond faithful are also very familiar with Fuller, McCreadie, Decker, Coffey and Johnson - all of whom have made a handful of starts in special big-block Modified events at the Keystone State track.
* Several other drivers with big-block Modified backgrounds will be in action at both tracks, including Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del., 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y., and Sean Beardsley of Central Square, N.Y.
* Regional talents who are following the 'Great Northern Tour' include Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., and 21-year-old Tony Knowles of Tyrone, Ga.
* Jeff Rine of Danville, Pa., who competed in last week's Port Royal event, plans to enter both the Canandaigua and Big Diamond shows.
* Canandaigua's field will be enhanced by a number of racers from dirt Late Model tracks around the western Pennsylvania region, including David Scott of Garland, Pa., Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., and Brett Rhebergen of Clymer, N.Y.
* Multi-time Big Diamond 358-Modified champion Jeff Strunk of Mohnton, Pa., will take on the WoO LMS stars on his hometrack after landing a Super Late Model ride in a car fielded by division veteran Jim Bernheisel of Lebanon, Pa. Bernheisel, who was a Limited Late Model regular at Big Diamond more than a quarter-century ago, will also be in Wednesday night's field.
* Top regional chauffeurs expected to tackle the Diamond banks on Wednesday include Scott Haus of Hamburg, Pa., who raced regularly at the track in small-block Modifieds during the late '80s and early '90s before moving fulltime to dirt Late Models; two-time MACS tour champion Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa.; Alan Sagi of Hagerstown, Md.; and teenager Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del.
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.
UP NEXT:
The WoO LMS teams will head to western Pennsylvania to close the 'Great Northern Tour' with the second annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com on Friday and Saturday (June 27-28) at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. The blockbuster weekend event offers a $40,000 first-place prize and a total purse of over $150,000.
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.
Tuesday's WoO LMS show at Canandaigua will be broadcast live over the internet as part of the DIRTVision Cybercast Series. Pay-Per-View subscribers will witness a full night of racing.
For more information on the DIRTVision Cybercast, which is presented by BUTLERbuilt professional seating systems, visit 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 June 22 - 16 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 1-8-14-$41,300-2159 (-0)
2. Josh Richards 3-8-12-$63,010-2121 (-38)
3. Rick Eckert 1-7-12-$43,950-2115 (-44)
4. Steve Francis 1-8-12-$84,250-2109 (-50)
5. Chub Frank 1-6-10-$38,130-2103 (-56)
6. Shannon Babb 1-6-11-$50,450-2073 (-86)
7. Shane Clanton 0-7-10-$32,530-2057 (-102)
8. Clint Smith 1-4-7-$28,110-2017 (-142)
9. Tim Fuller 0-3-4-$19,120-1959 (-200)
10. John Blankenship 0-0-4-$19,160-1905 (-254)
11. Vic Coffey 0-0-2-$12,510-1528 (-631)
12. Danny Johnson 0-0-1-$8,650-1366 (-793)
13. Tim McCreadie 1-5-8-$36,200-1319 (-840)
14. Billy Moyer 4-6-6-$70,420-1181 (-978)
15. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$5,310-1171 (-988)
16. Brian Shirley 0-0-2-$9,680-1127 (-1032)
17. Ricky Elliott 0-1-4-$9,010-896 (-1263)
18. Jeremy Miller 1-1-2-$17,160-894 (-1265)
19. Sean Beardsley 0-0-0-$3,100-849 (-1310)
20. Jeep VanWormer 0-0-2-$8,070-729 (-1430)
|
