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Kevin Kovac
DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. (August 23) - Darrell Lanigan's spectacular 2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series campaign rolled on Monday night with a conquest north of the border.
The 40-year-old star from Union, Ky., stormed to victory in the tour's rescheduled 50-lap A-Main at Autodrome Drummond, thrilling the French-Canadian fans with an impeccable performance that saw him master both the top and bottom grooves of the four-tenths-mile oval.
And on the strength of his second straight and sixth overall WoO LMS triumph of the season, Lanigan tied Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., as the tour's winningest driver in 2010 and pulled within 12 points of the defending series champion in the chase for the $100,000 Outlaw title. Richards, who has held the points lead for 25 consecutive races, finished fourth.
Lanigan, who started fourth, used the inside lane to outduel Richards for third place on lap six and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., for second on lap eight, then switched to the outside line to overtake race-long pacesetter Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., for the lead on lap 35. The 2008 WoO LMS champion survived two caution flags over the remaining distance to register his 18th career win on the series and first-ever on Canadian soil.
"The track was excellent tonight," said Lanigan, who earned $10,600 for winning an event that was postponed by rain on its original June 19 date. "I want to congratulate (the track crew) on the job they did. I figured it was gonna rubber up and be one lane right in the middle, but man, you could race all over that thing."
Smith, who started from the pole position, crossed the finish line 1.868 seconds behind Lanigan in the runner-up spot, nipping the late-charging Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., for the position by the length of a nosepiece. Richards settled for fourth after surviving homestretch contact with McCreadie on lap 47 and ninth-starter Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who won the inaugural WoO LMS event at Drummond in 2007, placed fifth.
Fuller, who blasted off the outside pole to lead the race's first 34 laps, slowed with a cut right-rear tire on lap 40 after tumbling from second to fourth immediately following a lap-38 restart. He returned after a pit stop and rallied to salvage an eighth-place finish.
Lanigan was able to run down Fuller and grab the lead before the former DIRTcar big-block Modified regular was hampered by the leaking tire. Lanigan faked a move to the inside and then put his GottaRace.com Rocket car against the outside berm to sweep in front.
"I got to Fuller and showed him my nose on the bottom," said Lanigan, who also won on Thursday night at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, N.Y. "I knew he was gonna drop down and block me, so I just went around the top.
"You couldn't ask for a better car," the WoO LMS stalwart added after his fifth win in the last nine tour events. "Everything's just going right for us right now. It's unbelievable."
Smith, 45, took advantage of Fuller's late-race misfortune to reach second place and then held the spot to the checkered flag. The runner-up matched the struggling racer's best previous finish this season, on March 27 at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas.
"I felt like I let one get away because I felt we had a good enough (Rocket) car to win," said Smith, who is winless in his last 107 WoO LMS starts dating back to his last score, on June 17, 2008, at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway. "We just missed a little bit on setup. We should've put more gear back in it. I was struggling a little off the corner."
The 36-year-old McCreadie, meanwhile, wasn't very talkative after his last-lap bid to pass Smith fell short, leaving him with a solid but disappointing third-place finish. He started sixth but fell back to ninth by lap two, forcing him to come from behind.
"We were just a touch harder than everybody on tires," said McCreadie, explaining his slow start. "It just took a little while to get going. That's just about it I guess."
McCreadie's lap-47 pass of Richards to snare third gained him two points on the championship leader, but the third-place driver in the standings still faces a 48-point deficit to Richards with nine races remaining on the 2010 schedule.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who won Drummond's 2008 WoO LMS event and finished second in 2007, placed sixth. Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., started and finished seventh, while Fuller was eighth, Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., improved one spot to finish ninth and eighth-starter Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., rounded out the top 10.
DIRTcar big-block and 358-Modified star Dale Planck of Homer, N.Y., made his dirt Late Model debut as a teammate to Rick 'Boom' Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., and finished on the lead lap in 12th place. He earned the $500 'Bonus Bucks' cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn't won a WoO LMS A-Main and isn't ranked among the top 12 in the series points standings.
The race's only caution flags flew on lap 38 for DIRTcar 358-Modified driver Carey Terrance of Hogansburg, N.Y., who spun Chub Frank's backup car in turn one after coming together with Smith as he was being lapped, and on lap 40 for Fuller's flat tire.
Richards earned his series-leading sixth fast-time honor of 2010, turning a lap of 17.188 seconds during the 24-car Ohlins Shocks Time Trials session. His clocking was well off the dirt Late Model track record of 15.884 seconds set in 2007 by Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.
Heat winners were Richards, Smith and Eckert. No B-Main was contested.
The WoO LMS completes its late-summer Northeast swing on Tuesday night (Aug. 24) at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway, which hosts the second annual 'Dirt Demon 50' with a $10,000 top prize on the line. The race
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series at Autodrome Drummond (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (4) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,600
2. (1) Clint Smith/50 $5,575
3. (6) Tim McCreadie/50 $3,600
4. (3) Josh Richards/50 $3,100
5. (9) Steve Francis/50 $2,600
6. (5) Rick Eckert/50 $2,250
7. (7) Shane Clanton/50 $1,900
8. (2) Tim Fuller/50 $1,800
9. (10) Chub Frank/50 $1,700
10. (8) Austin Hubbard/50 $1,850
11. (12) Russell King/50 $1,550
12. (11) Dale Planck/50 $1,500
13. (18) Larry Wight/49 $950
14. (17) Jill George/47 $900
15. (24) Philip Potts/46 $850
16. (21) Michael Trapp/45 $800
17. (13) Dan Stone/44 $770
18. (15) Carey Terrance/36 $750
19. (16) Peter Mantha Jr./28 $730
20. (14) Rick 'Boom' Briggs/15 $700
21. (19) Jay Cardy/8 $700
22. (20) Brant Hardin/2 $700
23. (22) Zach Frields/0 $725
24. (23) Derik Reese/0 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 21 Mins., 39.804 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.868 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 38, 40)
Lap Leaders: Fuller (1-34); Lanigan (35-50)
Provisional Starters: None
Rookie of the Race: Hubbard ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Planck ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 17.188
2. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 17.250
3. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 17.285
4. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 17.334
5. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 17.359
6. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 17.432
7. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 17.473
8. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 17.474
9. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 17.557
10. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 17.697
11. 99B-Rick 'Boom' Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 17.727
12. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 17.772
13. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 17.791
14. 99x-Dale Planck/Homer, NY 17.817
15. 1*T-Carey Terrance/Hogansburg, NY 18.089
16. 1*X-Peter Mantha Jr./Gatineau, QUE 18.125
17. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 18.335
18. 29P-Philip Potts/Frankford, ONT 18.376
19. 44X-Jay Cardy/West Perth, Australia 18.513
20. 25x-Brant Hardin/McDonough, GA 18.892
21. 70-Michael Trapp/Gouverneur, NY 19.076
22. 24x-Zach Frields/Davenport, IA 19.989
23. 15x-Derik Reese/Flemingsburg, KY 20.342
24. 99L-Larry Wight/Baldwinsville, NY 17.982 (DQ - light)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 2 Redraw): Richards, Lanigan, Clanton, Frank, Stone, Mantha, Cardy (DNS) Frields
Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 2 Redraw): Smith, Fuller, Hubbard, Planck, Briggs, George (DNS) Hardin, Reese
Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 2 Redraw): Eckert, McCreadie, Francis, King, Terrance, Wight, Trapp, Potts
2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Aug. 23 - 37 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 4930
2. Darrell Lanigan 4918 (-12)
3. Tim McCreadie 4882 (-48)
4. Steve Francis 4752 (-178)
5. Shane Clanton 4650 (-280)
6. Rick Eckert 4620 (-310)
7. Austin Hubbard 4600 (-330)
8. Tim Fuller 4576 (-354)
9. Chub Frank 4452 (-478)
10. Clint Smith 4390 (-540)
11. Russell King 4124 (-806)
12. Brent Robinson 3470 (-1460)
13. Brady Smith 2992 (-1938)
14. Jill George 2894 (-2036)
15. Brian Birkhofer 1764 (-3166)
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