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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (October 26) - World of Outlaws Late Model Series stars Shane Clanton and Steve Francis are rolling into The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.
With both drivers coming off victories during a break from the national tour's schedule, they're clearly ready for four days of action at the famed facility that begins on Wednesday night (Oct. 29) with the postponed Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown and continues Oct. 30-Nov. 1 with the second annual VAULT World Finals.
Clanton, 33, of Locust Grove, Ga., is arguably one of the hottest dirt Late Model drivers in the nation over the past couple months. He's not only won three of the last eight WoO LMS events - including two of the last three - to reach third in the points standings, but also captured the prestigious UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned World 100 on Sept. 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio; finished second in the Dirt Track World Championship on Oct. 18 at K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio; and won three consecutive regional events in the Southeast.
The latest conquest for Clanton came on Saturday night (Oct. 25) at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Ga. He pocketed $5,000 for topping the 'Bill Elliott 50 Red Dirt Dash,' which was run during the NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend at the nearby Atlanta Motor Speedway and included visits by such NASCAR celebrities as Elliott, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Dave Blaney, David Gilliland and Ray Evernham.
Clanton, who owns a career-high 13 overall dirt Late Model wins in 2008, didn't qualify for the Circle K Colossal 100 in his only previous appearance this season at The Dirt Track after breaking a wheel in time trials and getting involved in several preliminary-race tangles. But he was spectacular in last year's VAULT World Finals, charging around the outside of the track to take the lead late in the Saturday-night A-Main before contact with another car caused him to slip to seventh at the finish.
Francis, 41, of Ashland, Ky., picked up some steam for the VAULT World Finals with a $10,000 victory on Sunday night (Oct. 26) in the unsanctioned 100-lap dirt Late Model portion of the Winchester 200 at Winchester (Va.) Speedway. He swept the weekend program, setting fast time and also winning a heat and the Fast Dash on Friday night.
Though Francis is resigned to relinquishing his reign as the 2007 WoO LMS champion to Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., during this week's season-ending action, he can assure himself sole possession of top-winner status for the '08 tour. He leads the series with six victories, including a $50,000 triumph in April's Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track.
WEEKEND RACING: Francis was joined in Winchester's field by fellow WoO LMS regulars Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. The 20-year-old Richards drove the Ernie Davis-owned No. 25 to a third-place finish in the 100-lap A-Main, while Eckert was the race's first retiree and finished 25th.
Francis, Richards and Eckert had also planned to compete in the dirt Late Model portion of the weekend's Octoberfest 350 at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, but heavy rain on Saturday's scheduled qualifying day forced officials to postpone the entire two-day show to Nov. 8-9. The weather also pushed Winchester's feature events from Saturday night to Sunday night.
WoO LMS traveler Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., meanwhile, also entered Saturday night's 'Bill Elliott 50 Red Dirt Dash' at his hometown Dixie Speedway. He finished fourth in the feature, but he did experience a taste of victory thanks to Ken Schrader, who drove Smith's backup car to the checkered flag in a 25-lap special event for the NASCAR stars on hand.
CAN HE REPEAT?: WoO LMS standout Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., left The Dirt Track with $18,000 in his pocket when he captured last year's Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown.
The driver of NASCAR star Clint Bowyer's Traeger Grills/Chevy No. 18 will try to make it two in-a-row on Wednesday night (Oct. 29) when the 50-lap event, which was rained out on its original Oct. 8 date, kicks off a four-day festival of speed at the four-tenths-mile oval.
Of course, Babb, 35, will have to make some adjustments from his winning '07 setup. Wednesday's event will mark the first time in WoO LMS history that a race is run 'topless' - ie., with the fiberglass roofs taken off the cars to provide fans a better look at the drivers wrestling their steering wheels.
One thing remains the same from last year's Showdown: Babb and his rivals will once again have an opportunity to pad their first-place bounty thanks to the event's unique passing-bonus program. The Showdown is offering a base purse of $10,000 for first place, but if the driver who wins the A-Main submitted an official entry form prior to Sept. 13 he will also receive a 'passing' bonus in an amount equal to $1,000 multiplied by his starting position. That means winning from the pole position is worth a $1,000 bonus; from the 10th spot is worth a $10,000 bonus; and from the 20th spot is worth a $20,000 bonus.
The Showdown will also feature an exciting draw for A-Main starting spots, called the ' Southern Fried Scramble.' Either 18 drivers (if four heats are run) or 20 drivers (if four heats are contested) will participate in the draw, which gives them a chance to play it safe or roll the dice in pursuit of the maximum $30,000 first-place prize on the line.
The 'Southern Fried Scramble' draw will consist of five buckets holding four starting-spot pills each. Bucket One will have positions 1-4, Bucket Two positions 5-8, Bucket Three positions 9-12, Bucket Four positions 13-16 and Bucket Five positions 17-20.
When the drivers are called up to draw in the order of their heat finishes (winners first, etc.), they'll have the option of selecting a pill from any of the buckets. Essentially they can guarantee themselves a starting spot in the first two rows of the A-Main by staying conservative and sticking their hand in the first bucket - or they can go for a position further back in the field that would set them up to a claim a huge paycheck if they win the Showdown.
NASCAR INVASION: Reigning Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman will lead a trio of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars into battle against the dirt Late Model regulars during Wednesday night's Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown.
Newman will drive an Alltel-sponsored No. 12 from WoO LMS titlist Steve Francis's stable for the second consecutive year. He finished 11th in the 2007 Showdown.
Joining Newman in the Showdown field will be Ken Schrader, an accomplished dirt racer who enters his own dirt Late Model in dozens of events every season, and up-and-coming Sprint Cup racer David Gilliland, who will steer his own Rayburn No. 98.
ALLTEL ALL-STAR: The 2008 Alltel Ohio Speedweek All-Star will get his moment in the spotlight this week at The Dirt Track.
Mike Knight, 21, of Ripley, N.Y., who earned a $10,000 check for receiving the most votes in the on-line Alltel Ohio Speedweek All-Star poll, will make the long tow to North Carolina with his No. 9K for the four-day racing meet. He will be honored for his Alltel All-Star triumph during a special ceremony in front of the massive grandstand at The Dirt Track.
HE'S BACK: Sizzling DIRTcar big-block Modified superstar Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y., plans to end a three-month absence from the WoO LMS this week at The Dirt Track.
Johnson, 48, began the 2008 campaign as a WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender. He entered 22 of the season's first 28 events before splitting with the JIR Motorsports team following the July 25 date at Eldora Speedway.
The driver known as the 'Doctor' has reunited with JIR Motorsports, however, and has a freshly-lettered No. 27J Rocket dirt Late Model to run in the Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown and VAULT World Finals. He'll compete as a teammate to JIR drivers Joe Isabell and Jeff Isabell Jr. - brothers from Pennellville, N.Y. - and Sean Beardsley of Central Square, N.Y.
Johnson will arrive at The Dirt Track hot off a pair of huge big-block Modified victories in October. On Oct. 19 he pocketed over $20,000 for winning the prestigious Eastern States 200 at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., and on Oct. 4 he was triumphant to the tune of $25,000-plus in the Schneider Brothers 200 at Fulton (N.Y.) Speedway. His win at Fulton came behind the wheel of a big-block Modified owned by New Yorker Joe Beyea, who also fields a dirt Late Model that Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del., drove in several WoO LMS events this season.
MAC-DADDY: Former WoO LMS regular Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., has thoroughly enjoyed his stint as the color commentator for this year's WoO LMS events televised on the SPEED cable network.
But while both of this week's VAULT World Finals feature programs will be broadcast on SPEED - Saturday will be live starting at 8 p.m. ET, while Friday's action will be taped for telecast on Sat., Nov. 8, at 9 p.m. ET - McDowell will trade his microphone for a helmet. He plans to drive Sanford Goddard's Warrior Chassis House Car in all of this week's dirt Late Model events.
Shane Andrews, who has teamed with McDowell to call the five WoO LMS events broadcast this year on SPEED, will be matched in the booth for the VAULT World Finals with Roger Slack. The former director of events at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway, Slack made his SPEED television debut recently when he served as a pit reporter for the coverage of the DIRTcar big-block Modified Rite Aid 200 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, N.Y.
THIS WEEK: Four days of competition at The Dirt Track begins on Wednesday (Oct. 29) with the postponed Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown Presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m.
Then the second annual VAULT Outlaws World Finals starts on Thursday (Oct. 30), combining the WoO LMS with the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in a blockbuster doubleheader not seen anywhere else.
Two rounds of time trials for the Late Models and Sprint Cars will be contested on Thursday night - one round to set up Friday's heat races, and one to set up Saturday's preliminaries. Added attractions on Friday include the 'Breaking the VAULT' dashes, which will pit the top-five drivers in the championship standings in each series plus the five fastest qualifiers from time trials in one-on-one match races to determine a $1,000 'last driver standing,' and the Integra Shocks Crew Chief Challenge for the WoO LMS.
Complete programs of heats, B-Mains and A-Mains will be contested for both the Late Models and Sprints on Friday and Saturday nights. The Late Model headliners will be 50 laps and the Sprints will run 30-lappers - all for $10,000 to win.
Hot laps are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday and 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
For ticket information visit www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or call the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
WoO LMS INFO: Visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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