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Kevin Kovac
AKWESASNE, N.Y. (August 20) - Chub Frank wouldn't use the word "confident" to describe his feelings about Saturday night's $20,000-to-win 'Battle At Eastern Door' at Mohawk International Raceway after setting fast time and winning a 12-lap heat race during Friday's qualifying program.
But the 48-year-old veteran from Bear Lake, Pa., certainly likes his chances in the inaugural 100-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series spectacular.
"I'm optimistic," said Frank, who earned his first fast-time honor (a track record of 15.764 seconds) and heat victory of the 2010 WoO LMS campaign. "If we can get the car right, we can win the race. If we don't, somebody else will - that's the bottom line.
"I wanna win it bad. I could use that 20-grand - and we're due."
Indeed, Frank is riding a 44-race winless streak on the WoO LMS that has reached almost exactly one year. His last triumph came on Aug. 22, 2009, at K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio - ironically, in a 100-lap event that also paid $20,000 to win.
Frank, who has just five top-five finishes in 36 tour events this season and sits ninth in the points standings, will start Saturday's 100-lap 'Battle At Eastern Door' from a position in the first three rows. He will join Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. - Friday's other heat-race winners - and prelim runners-up Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del., Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., in a redraw for the top-six spots on Saturday night.
"It's going to be interesting," Frank said of Saturday's A-Main. "Nobody knows what to expect with a hundred laps here. Right now it feels like you can race all over (the circular four-tenths-mile track), but picking the right tire is gonna be the key."
Frank does have a good feeling about his ride for the weekend - the same Rocket he flipped on July 30 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park. It's a former Gregg Satterlee-driven machine that Frank purchased from western Pennsylvania racer Bob Close and brought out last month.
"The car really drives good," said Frank, who repaired the damaged car during the recent break from WoO LMS action and bolted a freshened Custom engine in it on Tuesday. "I got in it last night (at New York's Rolling Wheels Raceway) for the first time since we flipped it and it felt good (he finished seventh), so now it's a matter of tuning on it a little more and getting it right."
Frank's pit stall was a beehive of activity throughout Friday's program. There were three cars sporting his familiar No. 1* and colors, including his backup machine that was driven by Mohawk International Raceway DIRTcar 358-Modified regular Carey Terrance of Hogansburg, N.Y., and a third mount run by Peter Mantha Jr. of Gatineau, Que., who owns the car but allows Frank to maintain it and use it as another backup. Terrance and Mantha failed to qualify through the heats and will compete in Saturday's B-Main.
Another DIRTcar 358-Modified driver at Mohawk, Roy Tarbell of Hogansburg, N.Y., finished fifth in the third heat to transfer to the A-Main in a car fielded by WoO LMS regular Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.
Action will continue on Saturday night (Aug. 21) with the WoO LMS B-Main and the 100-lap 'Battle at Eastern Door,' which will boast a 24-car starting field and a total purse of nearly $100,000. A 50-lap Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Series event and Mohawk's Bandit division will also be on Saturday night's agenda.
General admission is $35 and $15 (children 12-and-under) for Saturday's program. Reserved seats are an additional $10, while pit passes will be $40 (with a DIRTcar license) and $45 (without).
Race time is 7:45 p.m., but fans are invited to arrive early and meet all the WoO LMS drivers during an autograph session that begins at 4:30 p.m. behind the grandstand.
Mohawk International Raceway is located midway between the Seaway International Bridge to Cornwall, Ont., and the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino. It is just off Rt. 37 on Frogtown Road.
Additional info can be obtained by logging on to www.MohawkInternationalRaceway.com or calling 518-358-3225.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.764
2. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 15.823
3. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 15.961
4. 2-Ricky Elliott/Seaford, DE 16.002
5. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.007
6. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.057
7. 71d-Ron Davies/Erie, PA 16.085
8. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 16.121
9. 91-Billy Decker/Unadilla, NY 16.154
10. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.192
11. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 16.219
12. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 16.255
13. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.394
14. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 16.463
15. 99b-Rick 'Boom' Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 16.535
16. 22s-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 16.544
17. 99L-Larry Wight/Baldwinsville, NY 16.638
18. 44x-Roy Tarbell/Hogansburg, NY 16.667
19. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.764
20. 1*X-Peter Mantha Jr./Gatineau, QUE 16.800
21. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 16.887
22. 1*T-Carey Terrance/Hogansburg, NY 17.123
23. 70-Michael Trapp/Gouverneur, NY 17.935
24. 72-Alan Fink/Central Square, NY N/T
25. 5-Jeff Isabell/Pennellville, NY N/T
26. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 16.451 (DQ - light)
Heat No. 1 (12 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Frank, Elliott, Francis, Richards, C. Smith, Davies, Terrance, Satterlee (DNS) Isabell
Heat No. 2 (12 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Eckert, McCreadie, Hubbard, Clanton, Wight, King, Stone, Mantha, Trapp
Heat No. 3 (12 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Lanigan, Fuller, Decker, Coffey, Tarbell, Briggs, George (DNS) Fink
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