|
Kevin Kovac
OCALA, Fla. (March 19) - Darrell Lanigan didn't catch his breath until reaching Victory Lane on Friday night at Ocala Speedway.
In a tense battle that had a standing-room-only crowd cheering, Lanigan repelled several rivals to capture the inaugural 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at the unique three-eighths-mile oval in central Florida.
"That was pretty exciting," said Lanigan, who wasn't headed after grabbing the lead on lap three but never got far enough ahead to relax. "This is a real tricky racetrack, so all it took was one mistake and somebody was gonna pass you. Luckily we were just able to hold on."
Lanigan, 39, of Union, Ky., fought hard from start-to-finish in his self-owned Rocket car, turning back especially strong challenges from teenage WoO LMS rookie contender Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., and 2006 tour champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., to emerge triumphant. The 2008 WoO LMS titlist pocketed $10,600 for his 13th career win on the national tour.
McCreadie, 35, settled for second place in the Sweeteners Plus Rocket, finishing 1.893 seconds behind Lanigan. The 18-year-old Hubbard placed third in Dale Beitler's Rocket - his career-best finish in World of Outlaws action - followed by defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., in the Rocket Chassis house car and 13th-starter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., in his self-owned Rocket mount.
Lanigan, who started third, overtook hometown favorite Ivedent Lloyd of Ocala, Fla., for the lead heading down the backstretch of the egg-shaped track on lap three. He spent the remainder of the distance waiting for drivers to come knocking on his door.
"I kept looking on the (score) board and there was somebody different behind me every lap," said Lanigan, who registered his first victory on the WoO LMS since July 14, 2009, at Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway. "I was like, 'What's going on back there?' All I could do was run as hard as I could and try to stay in front."
Hubbard was the first to threaten Lanigan, sailing around the outside of Richards to steal second on a lap-18 restart and almost immediately catching the leader. The teenager drove to the outside of Lanigan on the backstretch working lap 22 and appeared ready to take the lead, but he slipped high rounding turn four and lost second to McCreadie moments later.
"We had the lead for about point-four seconds," said Hubbard, who started sixth and earned the $250 Rookie of the Race prize. "I just completely drove into three and four too deep. I was a little overzealous."
McCreadie took up the chase of Lanigan and slipped inside the 'Bluegrass Bandit' several times, including one bid while working lapped traffic between turns one and two on lap 45. But Lanigan had sufficient speed running the top lane to turn back the challenge.
"I think we were a little softer than everybody else on tires and I was pretty dead there on the bottom," said Lanigan. "So I moved up (on the track), found a momentum line and stayed out front. I don't even remember seeing (McCreadie) inside me."
McCreadie settled for his third top-five finish in as many WoO LMS events this season, moving him to second in the points standings, just two points behind Richards.
"I pushed the right-front (tire) off," said McCreadie, who started second but slipped back to fourth early in the event. "As it got hot (the car) just wouldn't steer down there on the bottom, so it would push real bad and I'd have to drive across the track. That's what happened when I got under Darrell - I just slowed down too much and lost too much ground."
Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., came on late in the distance to finish sixth after starting 17th. Young Tyler Ivey of Tallahassee, Fla., started and finished seventh to earn the $500 WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' cash for the top finisher who hasn't won a tour A-Main and isn't ranked among the top 12 in the points standings. Lloyd led laps 1-2 but gradually faded and settled for eighth, ahead of Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who relinquished the WoO LMS points lead, and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who made his first competitive run of the season after a thumb infection forced him to merely take the green flag and park his car in last month's first two events of 2010.
Four caution flags slowed the race - two for slow cars (14-year-old Christian Auspurger of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on lap 18 and Justin Tilton of Dunnellon, Fla., on lap 26) and two for incidents (a turn-four tangle involving Tilton and Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on lap five and a crash that eliminated Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., on lap 32).
A field of 26 cars entered the event, which was contested under clear, comfortable conditions.
Lloyd, who won dirt Late Model championships at Ocala in 1992 and 1993, showed his knowledge of the oddly-shaped layout when he earned his first-ever WoO LMS fast-time honor during Ohlins Shocks Qualifying. His blistering lap of 15.399 seconds was nearly a half-second faster than second-place Richards.
Heat winners were Lloyd, Richards and Lanigan, and J.R. Hotovy of Covert, Mich., captured the B-Main.
The WoO LMS will head north to complete its Southeastern doubleheader on Saturday night (March 20), visiting Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., for the third consecutive season. A 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win tops the agenda.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series at Ocala Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (3) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,600
2. (2) Tim McCreadie/50 $5,100
3. (6) Austin Hubbard/50 $3,750
4. (4) Josh Richards/50 $3,100
5. (13) Chub Frank/50 $2,500
6. (17) Tim Fuller/50 $2,200
7. (7) Tyler Ivey/50 $1,900
8. (1) Ivedent Lloyd/50 $1,350
9. (11) Brady Smith/50 $1,700
10. (9) Shane Clanton/50 $1,600
11. (24) Clint Smith/50 $1,550
12. (8) Steve Francis/50 $1,600
13. (5) Rick Eckert/50 $1,450
14. (10) Brent Robinson/50 $900
15. (18) J.R. Hotovy/49 $900
16. (14) Tony Knowles/49 $800
17. (22) Russell King/48 $1,270
18. (16) April Farmer/47 $750
19. (20) Jill George/44 $730
20. (23) Dillon Wood/38 $700
21. (12) Jordan Bland/31 $700
22. (15) Christian Auspurger/31 $700
23. (21) Justin Tilton/28 $700
24. (19) Shane Williams/16 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 25 Mins., 42.348 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.893 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 5, 18, 26, 32)
Lap Leaders: Lloyd (1-2); Lanigan (3-50)
Provisional Starters: King, Wood
Rookie of the Race: Hubbard ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Ivey ($500)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race: Randall Edwards (Lanigan)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 21L-Ivedent Lloyd Jr./Ocala, FL 15.399
2. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 15.763
3. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 15.866
4. 47-Tyler Ivey/Tallahassee, FL 15.909
5. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 15.924
6. 35-Christian Auspurger/Palm Beach Gardens, FL 15.939
7. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 15.946
8. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 15.966
9. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 16.067
10. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.077
11. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 16.083
12. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.091
13. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.196
14. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.350
15. 3-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 16.398
16. 13-J.R. Hotovy/Covert, MI 16.461
17. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 16.478
18. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 16.556
19. 26-Tony Knowles/Tyrone, GA 16.570
20. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 16.680
21. 14-April Farmer/Livingston, TN 16.696
22. 49-Justin Tilton/Dunnellon, FL 16.803
23. 26W-Dillon Wood/New Smyrna, FL 16.937
24. 07-David Clegg/Bonnell, FL 17.240
25. 16-Shane Williams/Deland, FL 17.296
26. 1x-John Koller/Grand Island, FL 17.831
Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Lloyd, Eckert, Ivey, C. Smith, Frank, Knowles, Hotovy, Williams, Tilton
Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Richards, Hubbard, Francis, B. Smith, Bland, Fuller, George, Wood, Koller
Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Lanigan, McCreadie, Clanton, Robinson, Auspurger, Farmer, Clegg, King
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Hotovy, Williams, George, Tilton, Wood, Koller, Clegg, King
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners:
Arizona Sports Shirts ($50 product certificate): John Koller
Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main w/decal): Tyler Ivey
Eibach Springs (one free spring): Jill George
MSD Ignition ($75 cash award): Darrell Lanigan
MSD Ignition ($25 cash award): Justin Tilton
Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash award to fast qualifier w/decal): Ivedent Lloyd Jr.
Pink Carburetors ($100 product certificate): Austin Hubbard
Pink Carburetors ($50 product certificate): J.R. Hotovy
Quartermaster ($100 product certificate): Darrell Lanigan
Quartermaster ($50 product certificate): Chub Frank
Quartermaster ($25 product certificate): J.R. Hotovy
STP ($50 cash award): J.R. Hotovy
VP Racing Fuels 'Nice Jugs Award' (two free VP five-gallon containers to fastest qualifier who does not make the A-Main if decal is displayed): John Koller
Wrisco Aluminum (three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner w/decal): Austin Hubbard
2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of March 19 - 3 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 434 (-0)
2. Tim McCreadie 432 (-2)
3. Brady Smith 426 (-8)
4. Darrell Lanigan 404 (-30)
5. Rick Eckert 384 (-50)
6. Austin Hubbard 380 (-54)
7. Chub Frank 370 (-64)
8. Tim Fuller 368 (-66)
9. Clint Smith 364 (-70)
10. Steve Francis 360 (-74)
11. Tyler Ivey 328 (-106)
12. Russell King 320 (-114)
13. Shane Clanton 312 (-122)
14. Earl Pearson Jr. 292 (-142)
15. Tony Knowles 280 (-154)
16. (tie) Billy Moyer 274 (-160)
16. (tie) Brent Robinson 274 (-160)
18. (tie) Dale McDowell 268 (-166)
18. (tie) Jordan Bland 268 (-166)
20. (tie) Dennis Erb Jr. 266 (-168)
20. (tie) Jill George 266 (-168)
|
