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Kevin Kovac
HARTFORD, Ohio (July 29) - Darrell Lanigan felt like he stole one on Thursday night at Sharon Speedway.
"We got a little lucky tonight," Lanigan said after making the 50-lap 'Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek' event his second straight victory on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. "I was figuring we'd run third, but we got some lucky breaks there late in the race."
The first came on lap 43 when Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., slipped high in turns three and four while bidding for the lead, allowing Union, Ky.'s Lanigan to grab second.
Shortly thereafter, on lap 46, Lanigan vaulted into the top spot when race-long pacesetter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., got momentarily hung up in turn two attempting to lap Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, who was sent into a 360-degree spin by contact from McCreadie but continued without bringing out a caution flag.
Lanigan, 40, assumed command as lap 47 was scored and stayed there to the finish, holding off McCreadie's frantic comeback bid to become the seventh different winner in the annual WoO LMS events held since 2004 at the three-eighths-mile oval. The $10,600 triumph backed up his score in Tuesday night's Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek opener at Central PA Speedway in Clearfield, Pa., where he snapped his frustrating streak of four consecutive runner-up finishes on the national tour.
McCreadie, 36, settled for second place after starting from the pole position, crossing the finish line 0.240 of a second behind Lanigan. Richards finished third, followed by Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., who earned the $500 'Bonus Bucks' cash for being the highest-finishing driver who has never won a WoO LMS A-Main and wasn't ranked among the top 12 in the points standings, and outside-polesitter Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio.
The quiet, low-key Lanigan was almost apologetic after capturing his 15th career win on the WoO LMS.
"We had a good car - good enough to run in the top three - but Timmy had the best car here," said Lanigan, who started fourth in his Rocket mount. "We just were lucky and got the positions to win. Josh slipped up there and I got under him, and then Timmy got into the 56 car and handed me the lead."
Lanigan also was fortunate that King's twirl didn't result in a caution flag.
"If there was a caution I would've had to pull in," said Lanigan, whose third victory of 2010 gave him a single-season career high win total on the WoO LMS. "My right-rear (tire) would've been flat. It was leaking air. I could feel the car getting looser and looser, so I was just holding on at the end."
Lanigan's Hoosier right-rear deflated as he celebrated with his crew in Victory Lane - the final clear-cut signal that his luck has turned for the better. The 2008 WoO LMS champion said afterward that he might know the reason for his change in fortune.
"I give the credit to little Gavin," Lanigan said of his fiancée Erin's young son. "Before I left the house he gave me a couple Silly Bandz to wear as good-luck charms and said, 'Don't take them off.' I've had them on my wrist all week and evidently they're working."
McCreadie, meanwhile, was gracious in defeat. He accepted the blame for initiating the race-deciding contact with King.
"I just went in there like a rookie and made a bonehead move," said McCreadie, who drove his Sweeteners Plus Rocket car to a lead of as much as a full straightaway during the event. "Russ wasn't doing anything wrong. I apologize to him. I just got a little flustered and forced the issue because I thought those guys (Lanigan and Richards) were right up behind me. I didn't know I had enough of a lead where I didn't have to try and get by (King).
"I saw Lanigan come up on the (score) board when he passed Richards (for second) and thought, 'Oh man, he must've found a different part of the racetrack,' because it wasn't like (the surface) had laid enough rubber to make just one groove. It was multiple grooves and you could move around, so I thought, 'I gotta go or he's gonna roll me on the outside because he's got nothing to lose.'"
McCreadie, who won a WoO LMS event at Sharon in 2005, registered his fourth runner-up finish of this year's tour. The 2006 series champion remained second in the points standings, 24 points behind Richards, but Lanigan is now breathing down his neck, sitting just six points back in third after 30 events.
Richards, 22, also lost a position as a result of his aggressiveness. He ducked inside McCreadie a couple times while racing amid lapped traffic before going for it all on lap 43.
"I was just trying to go for the win," Richards said of his slide-for-life through the high-side marbles in turns three and four. "I slipped up out of the rubber a little bit and I was like...whoa! I thought we were gonna (hit the wall) and need a clip, but I was able to get back down in the groove and run third.
"I probably could've just stayed behind Timmy and run second, but I feel like we were definitely good enough to win - and I was hungry for a win - so I went for it."
Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, who won the 2008 WoO LMS event at Sharon, finished sixth after being passed by Miller midway through the race. Rick 'Boom' Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., advanced from the 10th starting spot to place seventh and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., marched forward from 14th to secure eighth. Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., and eighth-starter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., completed the top 10.
Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who outran Lanigan to win last year's WoO LMS 50-lapper at Sharon, managed only an 11th-place finish. He has gone 11 consecutive races without a top-10 finish since his run of two wins and a third during last month's 'Great Northern Tour.'
Three caution flags slowed the A-Main, all during the first 10 laps. Rookie Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., brought out the first yellow on lap seven when he stopped in turn two with a broken driveshaft - the second driveshaft to strike his Beitler Motorsports mount, which was also knocked out of heat competition. Subsequent cautions were caused by a lap-eight tangle that left Bump Hedman of Sugar Grove, Pa., sitting between turns one and two and Corey Conley of Wellsburg, W.Va., who stopped in turn two on lap 10.
Richards was quickest in the 34-car Ohlins Shocks Time Trials session with a lap of 16.445 seconds. It was his second consecutive fast-time honor and series-leading fifth of the 2010 season.
Heat winners were Richards, Miller, Moran and McCreadie. The B-Mains were captured by Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Brent Rhebergen of Clymer, N.Y.
Ohio-Pennsylvania Late Model Speedweek continues on Friday night (July 30) at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park before moving on to Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio, on Saturday (July 31) and Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., on Sunday (Aug. 1). Each program will be topped by a 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series at Sharon Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (4) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,600
2. (1) Tim McCreadie/50 $5,675
3. (6) Josh Richards/50 $3,650
4. (3) Gregg Satterlee/50 $3,000
5. (2) Matt Miller/50 $2,000
6. (5) Donnie Moran/50 $1,700
7. (8) Rick 'Boom' Briggs/50 $1,400
8. (14) Steve Francis/50 $1,900
9. (10) Mike Knight/50 $1,200
10. (7) Chub Frank/50 $1,600
11. (9) Tim Fuller/50 $1,550
12. (11) Robbie Blair/50 $1,000
13. (17) Rick Eckert/50 $1,500
14. (12) Davey Johnson/50 $900
15. (13) Shane Clanton/50 $1,350
16. (19) Clint Smith/49 $1,300
17. (24) Brent Robinson/49 $1,270
18. (15) Jim Rasey/49 $750
19. (21) Russell King/49 $1,230
20. (18) Brent Rhebergen/49 $700
21. (22) Dennis Lunger/49 $700
22. (16) Bump Hedman/39 $700
23. (20) Corey Conley/9 $700
24. (23) Austin Hubbard/6 $1,475
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 21 Mins., 13.913 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.240 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 7, 8, 10)
Lap Leaders: McCreadie (1-46); Lanigan (47-50)
Provisional Starters: Hubbard, Robinson
Rookie of the Race: Hubbard ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Satterlee ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.445
2. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.450
3. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 16.484
4. 99B-Rick 'Boom' Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 16.496
5. 22s-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 16.530
6. 7-Matt Miller/Waterville, OH 16.549
7. 32-Jim Rasey/Warren, OH 16.553
8. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 16.555
9. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.608
10. 9K-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 16.622
11. won11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 16.641
12. 1J-Davey Johnson/Latrobe, PA 16.672
13. 46-Doug Horton/Bruceton Mills, WV 16.702
14. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.706
15. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.707
16. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.727
17. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 16.745
18. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.769
19. 14-Corey Conley/Wellsburg, WV 16.836
20. 07R-Brent Rhebergen/Clymer, NY 16.879
21. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.897
22. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 16.908
23. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 16.912
24. B22-Bump Hedman/Sugar Grove, PA 16.968
25. 3-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 17.028
26. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 17.036
27. 8-Craig Vosbergen/Perth, Australia 17.164
28. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 17.244
29. 14B-Dick Barton/Ashville, NY 17.305
30. 16*-Dereck Frank/Jamestown, NY 17.341
31. 17L-Dennis Lunger/Cherry Hill, PA 17.375
32. 67-Charles Supplee/Rock Creek, OH 17.554
33. 16B-Rusty Wheeler/Dorsett, OH 17.955
34. 38R-Corey Ruffo/Mercer, PA 18.047
Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Satterlee, Fuller, Clanton, C. Smith, Horton, Robinson, Barton, Wheeler
Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Miller, Lanigan, Knight, Francis, Eckert, King, Hess, D. Frank, Ruffo
Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Moran, C. Frank, Blair, Rasey, Vosbergen, Conley, Lunger, Lobb
Heat No. 4 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): McCreadie, Briggs, Johnson, Hedman, Rhebergen, George, Supplee, Hubbard
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): Eckert, C. Smith, King, Horton, Hess, Robinson, Barton, D. Frank, Ruffo, Wheeler
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps - Top 3 Transfer): Rhebergen, Conley, Lunger, George, Supplee (DQ) Vosbergen (DNS) Lobb, Hubbard
2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 29 - 30 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 4016
2. Tim McCreadie 3992 (-24)
3. Darrell Lanigan 3986 (-30)
4. Steve Francis 3894 (-122)
5. Shane Clanton 3786 (-230)
6. Austin Hubbard 3778 (-238)
7. Rick Eckert 3740 (-276)
8. Tim Fuller 3722 (-294)
9. Chub Frank 3668 (-348)
10. Clint Smith 3564 (-452)
11. Russell King 3372 (-644)
12. Brent Robinson 3028 (-988)
13. Brady Smith 2786 (-1230)
14. Jill George 2216 (-1800)
15. Brian Birkhofer 1566 (-2450)
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