Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Chub Frank Holds Off Richards For First World of Outlaws Late Model Series Victory Of 2008 Sunday Night At Lincoln Speedway



LINCOLN, IL – May 18, 2008 – Turnabout is fair play.



Chub Frank got the better of Josh Richards on Sunday night, holding off the 20-year-old sensation to capture the ‘Land of Lincoln 40’ before a standing-room-only crowd at Lincoln Speedway.

It was the first World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory of 2008 for Bear Lake, Pa.’s Frank, who two nights earlier watched Richards pass him late in the distance to win the tour’s 50-lap A-Main at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park.

“I wasn’t giving up the top this time,” said a smiling Frank, recalling Richards’s high-side pass at Attica. “Losing two nights in a row would’ve been real tough to take.”

Frank, 46, led the race from flag-to-flag after starting from the outside pole in the Lester Buildings Rocket car he calls ‘Old Faithful’ – the same 2006-vintage machine that he flipped last month at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and has since repaired. He survived an early-race scrape with Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and heavy pressure from Richards to pocket the top prize of $7,150.

“I’m happy to have it back,” Frank said of his favorite car. “It’s still gonna need a little work – it’s not quite the same as it was before – but it got the job done.”

Richards settled for second place in his Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket, crossing the finish line a couple car lengths behind Frank.

Defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., finished third in Dale Beitler’s Rocket after starting sixth, driving what he called “probably the third-best car on the track.” He maintained his tour points lead with the run.

Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., finished fourth in the gottarace.com Rocket, salvaging what started off as a miserable night. He was involved in a heat-race accident that forced him to the pit area with a bent spindle, but he returned and rallied from the rear of the field to qualify through the prelim and then charged forward from the 14th starting spot to claim his third consecutive top-five finish.

Rick Eckert of York, Pa., completed the top five in Raye Vest’s GRT mount.

The battle for the win boiled down to a virtual replay of the event at Attica, with Frank setting the pace from the initial green flag and Richards stalking him as the race wound down. Richards reached second when he passed polesitter Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., on a lap-14 restart.

“It was almost like déjà vu again from Friday night,” said Richards, who started fourth. “Chub was up top, and I was underneath him, underneath him, trying to pass him.”

Frank actually didn’t feel very confident about his chances of repelling Richards.

“He was faster than I was,” Frank said of Richards. “I figured I had a bad car even before they dropped the green. When I was trying to warm the tires up, it didn’t feel good.

“I thought (Richards) was just gonna drive around me on the outside of (turns) one and two because I was so slow down there. But everybody was slow down there because it was so slick, so I was better off than I had expected to be.”

Richards made several strong bids for the lead, including one run off turn four on lap 30 that saw him fall inches short of nipping Frank at the start/finish line. But Frank had too much momentum off the outside and maintained command.

“The top had a rough spot (in turn four) where you could just gas it up hard and come off the corner hard, but it was a handful to drive,” said Frank. “It would shoot the thing up in the air, but it was fast. I just kept it up there and kept my speed up.”

“I felt like my car was real maneuverable, but I couldn’t quite clear him,” said Richards. “One time I thought I had him. I was clear up beside him, and I think if I was just another six inches farther ahead, I could’ve beat him down into one. But there was just enough room where he could still come down and keep me behind him.”

The outcome might have been decided in Frank’s favor when the race’s second and final caution flag flew on lap 36, for last year’s Lincoln WoO LMS winner Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., who was running fourth when he terminally damaged his car’s nosepiece by clipping an inside marker tire in turns one and two. The slowdown kept Frank out of heavy lapped traffic – and left Richards with a restart he didn’t want

“I knew he was a little bit softer tire on the left-rear (tire) and he fired a little bit better on the restart,” said Richards. “I probably would’ve been better off without it.”

Nevertheless, a runner-up finish at the tight, quarter-mile oval put a smile on Richards’s face.

“I feel like I won it,” said Richards. “A track like this normally isn’t my kind of deal. I was just hoping for at least a top 10 tonight.”

Frank’s first-ever triumph in the state of Illinois didn’t come without a dose of controversy. He was involved in an incident on lap 14 that sent Erb spinning into the infield entering turn one.



Erb, who won the UMP DIRTcar Summernationals and Super Late Model national titles as well as two WoO LMS events in 2008, had caught Frank and was making a bid for the lead when the contact occurred. He nosed underneath Frank just past the starter’s stand and went sideways a split second later.

A caution flag flew and Erb restarted at the rear of the field. He pulled alongside Frank during the caution period to make known his displeasure with the turn of events.

“I never seen him,” Frank said of the tangle with Erb. “He said I should’ve seen him, but he has to understand a few things: my car was rocking up, plus I was off the edge of the banking. And I wear a head-and-neck restraint, so I’m not real mobile turning my head.”

Ironically, Frank’s 14th career WoO LMS victory came exactly one year to the day since he captured his first win of the 2007 season, at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. He went on to win a series-best six A-Mains last season.

Frank also moved into a tie for second in the WoO LMS points standings with Lanigan, just six points behind Francis. He was the runner-up in last year’s points race.

Finishing in positions 6-10 was Clanton, who faded from serious contention after sealing up his tires; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa; Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.; 19th-starter Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.; and Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., who earned the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ prize for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a tour A-Main and wasn’t ranked among the top-12 in the points standings.

Forty-three cars were entered in the event, which was run on a cool, clear spring evening.

Heat winners were Erb, Frank, Francis and Richards. The B-Mains were captured by Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.

Daren Friedman of Forest, Ill., rode out the night’s roughest accident, rolling his car once on the homestretch after tangling with Nick Bauman of New Berlin, Ill., during the third heat. He emerged from his car uninjured.

The WoO LMS will have the Memorial Day holiday weekend off and then return to action with an East Coast doubleheader on Thurs., May 29, at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, Del., and Sat., May 31, at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Land of Lincoln 40’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

1. (2) Chub Frank/40 $7,150

2. (4) Josh Richards/40 $3,600

3. (6) Steve Francis/40 $2,000

4. (14) Darrell Lanigan/40 $1,700

5. (5) Rick Eckert/40 $1,500

6. (1) Shane Clanton/40 $1,300

7. (13) Brian Birkhofer/40 $1,200

8. (15) Tim McCreadie/40 $1,100

9. (19) Jeep VanWormer/40 $1,000

10. (8) Wes Steidinger/40 $1,400

11. (12) Shannon Babb/40 $850

12. (24) John Blankenship/40 $800

13. (23) Clint Smith/40 $750

14. (20) Jason Feger/40 $740

15. (21) Vic Coffey/40 $960

16. (22) Michael Kloos/40 $680

17. (7) Matt Taylor/40 $650

18. (18) Tim Fuller/40 $630

19. (3) Dennis Erb Jr./40 $620

20. (25) Donny Walden/40 $610

21. (11) Brian Shirley/36 $600

22. (10) Tim Lance/25 $600

23. (16) Terry Casey/22 $600

24. (9) Eric Smith/3 $600

25. (17) Brady Smith/0 $600



Yellow Flags: 2 (Laps 14, 36)

Lap Leaders: Frank (1-40)

Provisional Starters: C. Smith, Blankenship (WoO); Walden (track)

Rookie of the Race: Vic Coffey ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Wes Steidinger ($500)

Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($50): Brad Baum (Frank)

Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award (half-off tire warmers): Frank

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 13.498

2. J1-Wes Steidinger/Fairbury, IL 13.594

3. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 13.707

4. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 13.741

5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 13.764

6. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 13.778

7. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.796

8. 3L-Matt Taylor/Springfield, IL 13.817

9. 9-Eric Smith/Bloomington, IL 13.890

10. 75-Tim Lance/Peoria, IL 13.918

11. 83-Scott Bull/Fairbury, IL 13.963

12. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 14.022

13. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 14.124

14. 9z-Jayme Zidar/Greenfield, WI 14.145

15. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 14.185

16. 99Jr.-Frank Heckenast Jr./Orland Park, IL 14.202

17. 15b-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 14.209

18. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 14.223

19. 89-Daren Friedman/Forest, IL 14.244

20. 1W-Donny Walden/Towanda, IL 14.258

21. 5s-Steve Sheppard Jr./New Berlin, IL 14.371

22. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 14.394

23. 35-Derek Chandler/Pontiac, IL 14.436

24. 42-Terry Casey/New London, WI 14.539

25. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 14.591

26. 11d-Brian Diveley/Springfield, IL 14.592

27. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 14.605

28. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 14.643

29. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 14.705

30. 32c-Vic Coffey/Leicester, NY 14.716

31. 6K-Michael Kloos/Trenton, IL 14.723

32. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 14.824

33. 18T-Shane Tomlin/Virden, IL 14.970

34. 27J-Danny Johnson/Phelps, NY 15.062

35. 22-Chris Dick/Deland, IL 15.122

36. 99J-Jimmy Dehm/Lexington, IL 15.159

37. 6J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY 15.281

38. 18s-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 15.331

39. B1-Nick Bauman/New Berlin, IL 15.512

40. 17B-Matt Beadles/Clinton, IL 16.197

41. B5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL N/T

42. 38L-Ryan Little/Springfield, IL N/T

43. 24U-Ryan Unzicker/El Paso, IL N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Erb, Clanton, E. Smith, Birkhofer, VanWormer, B. Smith, B. Sheppard, C. Smith, Isabell, Tomlin, S. Sheppard

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Frank, Steidinger, Lance, Lanigan, Coffey, Blankenship, D. Johnson, Little, Beardsley, Zidar, Diveley

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Francis, Eckert, Shirley, McCreadie, Kloos, Bull, Dick, Chandler, Friedman, Bauman (DNS) Unzicker

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Taylor, Babb, Casey, Fuller, Feger, Heckenast, Beadles, Walden, Dehm

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): B. Smith, VanWormer, Coffey, S. Sheppard, Blankenship, Diveley, C. Smith, D. Johnson, Little, Zidar, Isabell, B. Sheppard, Beardsley, Tomlin

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Fuller, Feger, Kloos, Dick, Heckenast, Bull, Chandler, Walden, Beadles, Dehm (DNS) Friedman, Bauman, Unzicker

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of May 18 - 11 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Steve Francis 1-6-9-$74,850-1449 (-0)

2. (tie) Chub Frank 1-5-7-$31,430-1443 (-6)

2. (tie) Darrell Lanigan 0-3-9-$21,650-1443 (-6)

4. Josh Richards 2-6-8 -$47,510-1439 (-10)

5. (tie) Rick Eckert 0-4-8-$26,250-1413 (-36)

5. (tie) Shannon Babb 1-5-7-$40,350-1413 (-36)

7. (tie) Shane Clanton 0-4-5-$19,730-1361 (-88)

7. (tie) Clint Smith 0-3-4-$16,260-1361 (-88)

9. Tim Fuller 0-1-2-$11,870-1295 (-154)

10. John Blankenship 0-0-2-$13,810-1263 (-186)

11. Billy Moyer 4-6-6-$70,420-1181 (-268)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-2-$9,680-1127 (-322)

13. Vic Coffey 0-0-1-$10,460-1065 (-384)

14. Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$3,490-776 (-673)

15. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$3,070-772 (-677)

16. Tim McCreadie 0-1-4-$13,850-737 (-712)

17. Jeep VanWormer 0-0-2-$8,070-729 (-720)

18. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-3-$9,450-595 (-854)

19. Brian Birkhofer 1-1-2-$12,610-585 (-864)

20. Darren Miller 0-0-4-$6,800-538 (-911)


LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.
 

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series Stars Eager To Run Tour’s First-Ever Event At Attica Raceway Park This Friday Night (May 16)



ATTICA, OH – May 11, 2008 – Most of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series stars got their first glimpse of Attica Raceway Park last year.

But their first chance to race on the popular one-third-mile clay oval will come this Friday night (May 16) when the barnstorming national tour makes its inaugural visit to the Buckeye State facility for a 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win.

Mother Nature prevented the first attempt by Attica’s management to run a WoO LMS event, washing out last July’s scheduled mid-week date. All of the Outlaws travelers were already parked at the track when the cancellation was made, though – and to a man they were disappointed to miss an opportunity to tackle a speedway they not only had heard so many good things about, but also appeared to be so inviting.

“The first time I ever saw the place was last year in the rain,” said defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who enters the Attica program tied for second in the trail points standings and still relishing a $50,000 victory in last month’s Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. “It looked like it could be a real racy track, so I’m looking forward to getting back there.”

Yes, Friday’s stop is one of the most eagerly anticipated shows on this year’s WoO LMS. Attica Raceway Park possesses a well-deserved reputation for producing action-packed competition, and the country’s best dirt Late Model drivers want to experience it for themselves.

Traditionally a home for open-wheel racing, the high-banked oval will continue to build the full-fender side of its program with the visit by the WoO LMS.

“We’re really excited about the World of Outlaws race,” said Rex LeJeune, the operations manager of Attica Raceway Park. “We’re working to bring up our weekly Late Model program and having the World of Outlaws come in here will really get the division some attention.”

Attica has hosted the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Sunoco American Late Model Series several times per season for the past decade and is back on the tour’s schedule again in 2008. The speedway has also sanctioned its weekly dirt Late Model competition under the UMP DIRTcar Racing banner for the first time this season, helping attract such young Midwestern talents as Tyler Boggs of Warsaw, Ind., and Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., to early-season events.

Boggs and Schlenk are among the regional standouts expected to challenge the invading WoO LMS stars at Attica, which has not hosted a touring dirt Late Model series event other than the Sunoco ALMS since a 2004 Northern Xtreme DirtCar Series (formerly Renegade/STARS DIRTcar Series) show won by Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio.

The 40-year-old Francis leads the traveling WoO LMS contingent, which features a 2008 driver roster that is arguably the most talented ever to follow the tour. He’s in the early stages of a points battle for the $100,000 tour championship that has the makings of a thriller, with the top-seven drivers separated by a mere 38 points through nine events.

Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., sits atop the tour’s current points standings, with four victories already to his credit. Francis and Rick Eckert of York, Pa., will tow to Attica tied for second (10 points behind Moyer), followed by Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. (-24), Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (-34) and the dead-locked Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va. (both -38).

A bit further back in the standings are WoO LMS regulars Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., 2007 Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.

Friday’s field is also expected to include 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y., and Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y.

Joining Boggs and Schlenk on the list of regional standouts planning to enter Friday’s action are 2007 WoO LMS A-Main winner Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., who captured two Sunoco ALMS features at Attica in 2006; defending Sunoco ALMS champion Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich.; and 2006 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.

Friday night’s program will certainly be “a dirt-track race fans dream,” said LeJeune. That’s because Attica’s regular 410 Sprint Car division will run a complete show on the WoO LMS undercard.

Adult general admission for the rare WoO LMS/410 Sprint Car doubleheader is $30 for adults, $15 for students 11-15 and free for kids 10 and under. Pit passes will cost $35.

Pit gates will open on Fri., May 16, at 3:30 p.m., with grandstands gates unlocked at 5 p.m. and racing action heating up at 8 p.m.

The WoO LMS 50-lapper continues the ‘Month of Mayhem’ at Attica Raceway Park, which concludes on Fri., May 30, when the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series visits the track for the 40-lap Kistler Engines Classic.

For more information log onto www.atticaracewaypark.com  or call the track office at 419-680-5606.

Additional info on the WoO LMS can be obtained by visiting www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com
 


Francis Flawless In Flag-To-Flag Circle K Colossal 100 Victory At The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway



CONCORD, NC – April 19, 2008 – There was simply no stopping Steve Francis in Saturday night’s Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

With a flawless performance behind the wheel of Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket No. 19, Francis dominated the entire distance to score his first career win in the $200,000 World of Outlaws Late Model Series event.

“The car was just absolutely phenomenal tonight,” said Francis, who earned $50,000 for breaking Scott Bloomquist’s two-year ownership of Victory Lane in the blockbuster race. “We never even had to run a lap hard. We had a lot left if we needed to go.

“That’s just unbelievable to get a car that good against this level of competition.”

Francis, 40, of Ashland, Ky., picked the pole position in the pre-race draw among heat qualifiers and used it to his advantage, leading from flag-to-flag virtually without a challenge. He pulled away at will from such pursuers as Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., and Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C., holding firm control of a marathon race that was slowed by 16 caution flags and one red flag.

“I was so impressed when I drove my car in the corner the first lap, I just thought, ‘Well, if we can just keep from breaking something, we can win this,’” said Francis, who beat Madden to the finish line by a comfortable 3.007 secoonds. “Actually, it’s probably the best car I’ve ever had in a 100-lap race. It just never changed a characteristic the whole race.

“I could run right around the bottom, I could go around the top, and we got to running the best when I’d just run through the middle, let the car kinda float up and not bind it up any.

“The only time I’d run into (turn) one as hard as I could was on a restart,” added Francis, “By the time I got to (turn) three I’d just start letting it float in.

“When you get a car that good, it just makes your job a lot easier.”

Madden, 32, settled for a $20,000 runner-up finish in the Colossal 100 for the second straight year in his Bloomquist ‘Team Zero’ car. He started 25th and finally gained possession of second place on lap 90, when Lanigan, who started third and never ran worse than fifth, relinquished the spot because his Rocket machine’s fuel tank ran dry thanks to the excessive number of caution circuits.

Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., marched forward from the 13th starting spot to finish third in his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket No. 1. It was a career-best finish in the Colossal 100 for Richards, who was sixth when the race restarted for the final time on lap 82.

Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., ended an up-and-down run with a fourth-place finish in the Reece Monuments Bloomquist car. He climbed up to fourth from the 16th starting spot early in the race, fell out of the top 10 and then rallied late to register his second consecutive top-five in the event.

Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., completed the top five, finishing in the same position that he started after a steady drive in the Hamrick Racing Bloomquist Chassis No. 97.

The only anxious moments for Francis came as the race neared its conclusion. With the event’s seemingly endless series of caution periods creating dozens of extra laps around the four-tenths-mile oval, he became very concerned about his car’s fuel situation.

“It was the race that didn’t want to end,” said Francis, who scored his first career win at The Dirt Track. “I’ve led a lot of these (caution-plagued) things and usually something happens to me right at the end, so when I seen Darrell (Lanigan) coasting down through there I figured he was out of fuel and I was worried I might be next.”

Francis had his car’s fuel-pressure light blinking on down the straightaways with the checkered flag in sight.

“The last five laps were probably the scariest of the race for me because I was watching the fuel-pressure gauge rather than what I should’ve been watching at that point,” said Francis, who nearly got into some scrapes with lapped traffic during the A-Main’s longest stretch of consecutive green-flag action (laps 82-100). “The motor was running lean at the end of the straightaway. It would start to slow down, so as soon as I felt that I’d let off the gas and let it coast into the corner.”

How much gas did Francis think was left in his car’s cell? Not a whole lot.

“It would surprise me if it makes it back over to the truck (in the pits),” Francis said with a smile after donning the Colossal 100’s traditional Medieval knight's helmet and waving a 50-inch Macleod Medieval sword during the Victory Lane ceremonies.

The defending WoO LMS champion recorded his first win of 2008 on the tour and the 15th of his career, tying him for second on the tour’s modern-era (2004-present) win list with Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who dropped out while running fourth on lap 84 due to a broken oil line.

“We have probably five marquee (dirt Late Model) events a year and this is one of them,” said Francis, who used American Racer tires on his Cornett-powered machine. “There’s about three more (races) that are a little below these, and in order to have a very successful season, you gotta win at least one of these races, a combination of ‘em, or the Outlaw championship that pays $100,000.

“We got one, and it’s just an awesome feeling. As a driver, you just want to keep winning these big ones.”

Francis’s triumph topped a program that had its start delayed more than two hours by rain that swept across the Charlotte area early in the evening. The precipitation caused the track surface to remain wet around the inside and stack up a thick cushion, which contributed to the outbreak of caution flags for flat tires and damaged race cars.

“A lot of the cautions,” analyzed Francis, “came from guys hitting the slime (along the inside), sliding across into someone and knocking the guy’s tire off, or from guys sliding up across the cushion and knocking their own left-rear tire off.

“If they had the time to run in that last six foot of (wet inside lane) before the race, we would’ve probably had a third of the cautions we had.

“You gotta give Roger (Slack, who oversees The Dirt Track) and Randy (Grove, who directs surface prep) a lot of credit,” added Francis. “It did build a cushion out high that was a little hairy, but it wasn’t rough and the middle of the racetrack was still shiny.

“Had we not got that rain today, the cushion would’ve blown out more and they would’ve had more time to work with things.”

Finishing in positions 6-10 were Babb, who grabbed second from Lanigan on the lap-82 restart but then slid high in turn two the following circuit to begin a late-race fall out of the top five; Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who made several pit stops with Steve Francis’s Valvoline No. 15; John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., the last driver on the lead lap at the finish; outside polesitter Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., who went to the rear of the field after executing a 360-degree spin in turn four on the first lap; and Ricky Weeks of Rutherfordton, N.C.

Bloomquist’s status as the only Colossal 100 winner in history ended quietly. After nearly being knocked out of action in the first-lap scramble caused by Carrier’s spin, the race’s 17th starter failed to crack the top 10 before pitting on lap 38 to fix right-front damage on his No. 0. He pitted several more times before his hopes ended for good when he was involved in a lap-82 tangle off turn four with Doug Horton of Bruceton Mills, W.Va., Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla.

Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who entered the event with four wins in his last five WoO LMS starts, finally had his luck run out. He was running sixth on lap 64 when he stopped on the track to draw a caution flag because his car’s hood began to flap up.

The 50-year-old Moyer did not continue, but he retained the WoO LMS points lead because the event, which was not run using the regular tour format, offered only show-up points towards the championship.

The event’s most serious crash, on lap 45, involved WoO LMS star Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. He was running in 11th place when he slid into turns three and four too hard and bicycled onto his car’s right side, sending him into a wild, gyrating series of flips that he escaped without injury.

Two B-Mains kicked off the night’s program, with Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., and Eckert taking wins.

The WoO LMS is idle until visiting the Midwest the first weekend in May for events at Lebanon I-44 Speedway (Sat., May 3) and Monett Speedway (Sun., May 4).

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.


Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Circle K Colossal 100’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):


1. (1) Steve Francis/100 $50,000

2. (25) Chris Madden/100 $20,000

3. (13) Josh Richards/100 $10,000

4. (16) Jimmy Owens/100 $7,500

5. (5) Dale McDowell/100 $6,000

6. (11) Shannon Babb/100 $5,000

7. (19) Tim McCreadie/100 $4,500

8. (29) John Blankenship/100 $4,000

9. (2) Eddie Carrier Jr./99 $3,750

10. (7) Ricky Weeks/98 $3,500

11. (9) Jeep VanWormer/97 $3,250

12. (14) Bob Gordon/95 $3,000

13. (3) Darrell Lanigan/90 $2,850

14. (28) Rick Eckert/84 $2,800

15. (31) Doug Horton/82 $2,750

16. (17) Scott Bloomquist/82 $2,700

17. (23) Earl Pearson Jr./82 $2,650

18. (6) Ray Cook/82 $2,600

19. (27) Brady Smith/79 $2,550

20. (33) Dennis Franklin/71 $2,500

21. (12) Billy Moyer/63 $2,450

22. (32) Vic Coffey/55 $2,400

23. (30) Mike Marlar/53 $2,350

24. (26) Donnie Moran/51 $2,225

25. (10) Jackie Boggs/50 $2,125

26. (24) Randel Chupp/47 $2,100

27. (18) Jeremy Miller/45 $2,090

28. (21) Chub Frank/45 $2,080

29. (34) Jeff Smith/36 $2,070

30. (15) Dan Schlieper/28 $2,060

31. (36) Clint Smith/17 $2,050

32. (22) Jimmy Mars/15 $2,040

33. (20) John Gill/15 $2,030

34. (4) Steve Shaver/13 $2,020

35. (8) Brian Birkhofer/4 $2,010

36. (35) G.R. Smith/4 $2,000


Time of Race: 1 hour, 23 Mins., 27 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 3.700 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 16 (Laps 3, 5, 6, 14, 23, 30, 36, 38, 40, 42, 49, 54, 58, 64, 80, 82)

Red Flags: 1 (Lap 45)

Lap Leaders: Francis (1-100)

Provisional Starters: Donnie Moran (Fast Time); G.R. Smith (early-entry); Clint Smith (WoO)

Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Francis (half-off tire warmers)

Integra Shocks ‘Wrench of the Race’ ($100): Kevin Miller (Steve Francis)


B-Main No. 1 (25 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Brady Smith; 2. John Blankenship; 3. Doug Horton; 4. Dennis Franklin; 5. Steve Lucas ($500); 6. Dean Bowen ($500); 7. Al Shawver Jr. ($500); 8. Brent Robinson ($500); 9. Stacy Holmes ($500); 10. Norman Short Jr. ($500); 11. Luke Roffers ($500); 12. Tim Fuller ($400); 13. April Farmer ($400); 14. Clint Smith; 15. Cody Sommer ($400); 16. Ricky Elliott ($350); 17. Shane Clanton ($350); 18. Shannnon Babb; 19. Chuck Harper ($350)

B-Main No. 2 (25 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Rick Eckert; 2. Mike Marlar; 3. Vic Coffey; 4. Jeff Smith; 5. B.J. McCammon ($500); 6. Damon Eller ($500); 7. Jordan Bland ($500); 8. Mark Pettyjohn ($500); 9. Shanon Buckingham ($500); 10. Chris Knight ($500); 11. Rob McLaughlin ($500); 12. Ed Gibbons ($400); 13. Jill George ($400); 14. Jonathan Davenport ($400); 15. Tim Allen ($400); 16. G.R. Smith ($350); 17. Eric Jacobsen ($350); 18. Brian Shirley ($350); 19. Donnie Moran

Did Not Start A B-Main: Sean Beardsley, Danny Johnson, Brad Neat, Joe Isabell, Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, Jason Dupont, Mike Duvall

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Moyer Continues Hot Streak With New Track Record & Heat Win On Opening Night Of Circle K Colossal 100 At The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway



CONCORD, NC – April 18, 2008 – Billy Moyer is ready to extend his early-season hot streak for the ages to ‘colossal’ proportions.

The 50-year-old racing legend from Batesville, Ark., continued to roll on Friday night, setting a new track record and winning a heat race to kick off the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 weekend at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

A winner of four World of Outlaws Late Model Series events in six starts entering the weekend’s action, Moyer began his pursuit of the tour’s richest first-place prize with a flawless performance. His lap of 14.672 seconds in the 69-car time-trial session erased Steve Shaver’s 2007 standard of 14.905 seconds, and he built up one of the night’s biggest victory margins in winning the first of eight 10-lap qualifying heats.

Driving his vaunted Victory Circle M1 Chassis for the first time at The Dirt Track, Moyer served notice that he’s a major threat to end his longtime rival Scott Bloomquist’s stranglehold on Victory Lane in the $50,000-to-win Colossal 100, which is set for Saturday night. Mooresburg, Tenn.’s Bloomquist, who won the event in both 2006 and 2007, was the last driver to arrive at the track on Friday and finished second to Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., in the hotly-contested sixth heat.

Moyer’s track-record qualifying lap marked the second time in three weeks that he’s established a new speed standard at a major WoO LMS event. He also set a NTR record on April 4 during time trials for the ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway – and then went on to win the inaugural event in dramatic fashion.

Joining Moyer and Frank as heat winners were Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis.; Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.; Vienna, W.Va.’s Shaver, who passed Ray Cook of Brasstown, W.Va., for the lead on the final lap of the fourth prelim; 20-year-old Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.; Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., who held on to win despite racing with a broken left-front shock and deflating right-rear tire; and John Gill of Mitchell, Ind.

The night’s most memorable battle was waged between Frank and Bloomquist. The dirt Late Model veterans raced side-by-side for the lead in the closing laps of the sixth heat, with Frank powering off the outside of turn four to nip Bloomquist at the finish line by less than a half car length.

The second heat saw 2006 WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., drive the Valvoline No. 15 of reigning tour titlist Steve Francis to a second-place finish – just ahead of Ashland, Ky.’s Francis, who earned the final transfer spot in Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting No. 19.

It was a tough evening for WoO LMS regulars Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., who both dropped out of the sixth heat, and Rookie of the Year contender Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., who retired from the seventh qualifier after his Sweeteners Plus car suffered damage in a scramble.

Friday night’s 24 heat-race qualifiers will redraw on Saturday night for starting positions 1-10 and 12-25 in the Circle K Colossal 100. The 11th starting spot is reserved for Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who finished fourth in the fifth heat but moved on to the 100 because he was guaranteed the 11th position by virtue of being the highest-finishing driver in last October’s Jani-King Southern Showdown at The Dirt Track who entered the Colossal 100 by Feb. 23.

Action continues on Saturday night (April 19) at The Dirt Track with last-chance B-Mains and the running of the Circle K Colossal 100. Racing begins at 7 o’clock.

A special autograph session in the grandstand area with all drivers entered in the event kicks off Saturday’s activities at 4:30 p.m. Fans must have tickets and an empty Full Throttle can from Circle K to gain entry to the affair.

For more information, visit www.lowesmotorspeedway.com  or www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 14.672 (NTR)

2. 9s-Dan Schlieper/Sullivan, WI 14.727

3. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 14.758

4. 2R-Dennis Franklin/Gaffney, SC 14.822

5. 44M-Chris Madden/Gaffney, SC 14.945

6. 44s-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 15.033

7. 20-Jimmy Owens/Newport, TN 15.040

8. 15b-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 15.089

9. 34-Mike Marlar/Winfield, TN 15.124

10. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 15.129

11. 28M-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 15.147

12. 30-Steve Shaver/Vienna, WV 15.170

13. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 15.179

14. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 15.180

15. 25th-Ricky Weeks/Rutherfordton, NC 15.213

16. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 15.220

17. 6-Steve Lucas/Cross Lanes, WV 15.244

18. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 15.252

19. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 15.287

20. 97-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 15.312

21. i4-Damon Eller/Crumpler, NC 15.321

22. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 15.326

23. 5-Eric Jacobsen/Sea Cliff Beach, CA 15.348

24. 00H-Chuck Harper/Beverly, WV 15.349

25. 4B-Jackie Boggs/Grayson, KY 15.350

26. 15-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 15.358

27. 07G-Ed Gibbons/Manning, SC 15.379

28. 53-Ray Cook/Brasstown, NC 15.394

29. 22*-G.R. Smith/Huntersville, NC 15.407

30. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.411

31. 39-Vic Coffey/Leicester, NY 15.432

32. 1G-John Gill/Mitchell, IN 15.441

33. 44P-Earl Pearson Jr./Jacksonville, FL 15.443

34. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 15.444

35. H2-Stacy Hholmes/Munford, AL 15.463

36. 92-B.J. McCammon/Danville, IL 15.478

37. 46-Doug Horton/Bruceton Mills, WV 15.479

38. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 15.493

39. 17-Tim Allen/Kannapolis, NC 15.499

40. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 15.507

41. 75-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 15.527

42. 70-Jeff Smith/Gastonia, NC 15.527

43. 31-Bob Gordon/Keyser, WV 15.534

44. 50-Shanon Buckingham/Morristown, TN 15.536

45. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 15.538

46. 2b-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 15.552

47. 27J-Danny Johnson/Phelps, NY 15.626

48. 8-Norman Short Jr./Georgetown, DE 15.671

49. 21R-Luke Roffers/Concord, NC 15.692

50. 45-Ricky Elliott/Seaford, DE 15.704

51. 49-Mark Pettyjohn/Milton, DE 15.711

52. 56-Rob McLaughlin/Stanley, NC 15.741

53. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 15.767

54. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 15.806

55. 41-Brad Neat/Dunnville, KY 15.845

56. 15D-Dean Bowen/Whiteville, NC 15.917

57. F1-Mike Duvall/Cowpens, SC 15.925

58. 7J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY 15.944

59. C4-Cody Sommer/Mooresville, NC 15.972

60. 14-April Farmer/Livingston, TN 16.113

61. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.150

62. 215-Al Shawver Jr./Hampstead, MD 16.221

63. 22B-Randall Chupp/Troutman, NC 16.243

64. NO7-Jason Dupont/Cyclone, PA 16.272

65. 18$-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 16.281

66. 10-Chris Knight/Lawsonville, NC 16.308

67. 8H-Ronny Lee Hollingsworth/Northport, AL N/T

68. 3R-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA N/T

69. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Moyer, Boggs, Pearson, Lucas, Marlar, Davenport, Beardsley, Duvall, Roffers

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Schlieper, McCreadie, Francis, Eckert, Blankenship, Elliott, J. Smith, Isabell, Knight

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): VanWormer, Mars, Gordon, Sommer, Gibbons, Moran, Holmes, Pettyjohn (DNS) Hollingsworth

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Shaver, Cook, McDowell, Buckingham, Franklin, McCammon, McLaughlin, Farmer (DNS) Robinson

Heat No. 5 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Richards, Madden, Lanigan, Babb, Eller, Horton, Clanton, Bland, G.R. Smith

Heat No. 6 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Frank, Bloomquist, Carrier, B. Smith, Shawver, George, Shirley, C. Smith

Heat No. 7 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Owens, Weeks, Chupp, Jacobsen, Allen, D. Johnson, Neat, Coffey

Heat No. 8 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Gill, J. Miller, Birkhofer, Fuller, Harper, Short, Dupont, Bowen

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series Stars Eye Big Money In This Weekend’s Circle K Colossal 100 At Lowe’s Motor Speedway



CONCORD, NC – April 16, 2008 – The Circle K Colossal 100 is only in its third year of existence at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but it already stands as one of the most coveted races on a dirt Late Model driver’s to-do list.

A $50,000 top prize, $200,000 total purse and big-time atmosphere certainly make the event larger-than-life – not to mention the richest show on the 2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

Grabbing that cash would provide a nice boost into the busy touring schedule ahead for the stars of the WoO LMS, a group of top dirt Late Model talents who are geared up for Circle K Colossal 100 action this weekend. Time trials and heat races are scheduled for Friday night (April 18), and last-chance events and the 100-lapper are set for Saturday night (April 19)

Perhaps the WoO LMS regular most likely to break 2004 WoO LMS champion Scott Bloomquist’s two-year stranglehold on the Colossal 100 Victory Lane ceremonies is defending tour titlist Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who has enjoyed as much success in the event as anyone not named Bloomquist.

Francis, 40, is one of two ’08 WoO LMS regulars with a top-10 finish in both previous Colossal 100s. He started from the pole position and placed third in the 2006 inaugural after losing the runner-up spot to Donnie Moran with just three laps remaining, and last year he steered Tim Logan’s No. 11 to a sixth-place finish after starting 20th.

This weekend Francis returns to The Dirt Track behind the wheel of Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket No. 19. He’s third in the WoO LMS points standings but still looking for his first tour win of the season driving for Beitler.

“Hopefully they’ll have the track (surface) the same way they had it for the last night of the ‘World Finals’ last (November),” said Francis, who finished a close second in that 50-lap WoO LMS event. “The track was absolutely the best I’ve ever seen it that night and we were really good.”

Francis won’t just be busy with Beitler’s equipment this weekend. He’ll also make his debut as a car owner, bringing out his familiar Valvoline Rocket No. 15 for the first time since moving to Beitler’s team and putting 2006 WoO LMS champ Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., in the seat for the weekend.

And Francis will also have an opportunity to hang out with his famous friend Ryan Newman, the 2008 Daytona 500 winner who enters selected dirt Late Model events in a car prepared by Francis. With a weekend off from NASCAR Sprint Cup action, Newman is planning to return from a vacation in time to attend Saturday’s program.

Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., is the other ’08 WoO LMS traveler with a pair of Colossal 100 top 10s – sixth in 2006, fifth in 2007. He was a contender both years driving a Billy Moyer Sr.-owned car; in ’06 he set fast time, won a heat and led until being overtaken by Bloomquist on lap 51, and last year he moved from 14th to second in just 25 laps but then clipped an inside marker tire while challenging Bloomquist for the lead, damaging his car’s left-front corner enough to end his hopes for victory but not a decent finish.

Babb, 34, will try again this weekend driving for NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer, who has formed a new dirt Late Model team for the 2008 season.

“I’m excited about it,” said Babb, who plans to run his Rayburn car at The Dirt Track. “We’ve run good there in the Colossal in the past and last year we won the October race (at Lowe’s), so we feel like we’ll have a good shot at it.

“Racing close to our shop (in the Richard Childress Racing complex in Welcome, N.C.) will be fun. It’ll be neat for the (RCR) team to come out and see us race.”

A little luck might be all it takes to propel 20-year-old Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., to the promised land in the Colossal 100. After failing to qualify for the inaugural event, he was running a strong second last year when power-steering woes forced him to retire on lap 25.

“We’ve always had a fast car there, even though the track’s been different just about every time,” said Richards, who also looked like a potential winner in last October’s WoO LMS show at The Dirt Track before his Rocket Chassis house car sustained suspension damage when he slammed the track’s cushion. “We just haven’t been able to finish up front.

“I’d really like to win a big show,” he added. “We’ve been close in some of these big races, so it would be nice to finish one off and win one.”

The Colossal 100 has been a source of frustration for Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who has finishes of 36th in 2006 (he lasted just four laps) and 15th in 2007 (after using a provisional to start the A-Main).

But the 32-year-old nearly broke through and won the second event of last year’s ‘World Finals,’ blasting into the lead at mid-race before a scrape caused him to fall back several spots. He hopes the conditions he took a liking to in November are rekindled this weekend.

“If they make (the surface) like the ‘World Finals,’ we can race all over,” said Clanton, who covets a Colossal 100 victory so he can “have my picture up (on a huge billboard) on the back of the grandstand next year.”

Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., will go to the post with plenty of Cornett Thunder under the hood of his Rocket No. 29 in hopes of bettering his 10th-place finish in last year’s Colossal 100. He didn’t qualify for the first event in 2006.

“We got a new motor we’re gonna take down there,” said the 37-year-old Lanigan, who is coming off a strong fifth-place finish in the second event of last November’s ‘World Finals’ at The Dirt Track. “And we’re gonna take our four-link car. A lot of guys run their swing-arm stuff (at Lowe’s), but we’re sticking with our four-link.”

Rick Eckert of York, Pa., would like his 2008 Colossal 100 outing to last quite a bit longer than his run a year ago.

The 42-year-old driver known as ‘Scrub’ lasted a mere three laps in the race’s ’07 edition. When he slowed for a caution flag, a shove from behind sent him into the backstretch wall, damaging his car’s right-front suspension and even slightly bending its frame.

Eckert is ready for his visit to The Dirt Track.

“You always want to go there because it’s such a nice place, such a nice facility,” said Eckert, who plans to enter his Raye Vest-owned Rayburn car. “The racetrack has struggled in the past to get the surface right, but maybe they’ve got a handle on it now. The track we had for the ‘World Finals’ last year was the condition everybody was hoping for.”

Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., would like to be around at the finish of this year’s Colossal 100 – a feat he hasn’t accomplished in the race’s two previous runnings.

In ’06 Smith, 42, won a heat race but finished 33rd after retiring seven laps into the A-Main, and last year he completed 60 laps and finished 20th.

Smith has his Colossal artillery ready to go.

“We’ll proably run our swing-arm (GRT) stuff again,” said Smith. “We’re a little bit smarter with it now than I was the first time I went there with it. I feel like we learned even more about (swing-arm setups) when we tested at (sponsor) Don Cliburn’s track (in Jackson, Miss., on March 31); we worked about 10 hours on stuff.

“You better come with some heat (to Lowe’s), so I’ll have my biggest cubic-inch (RaceTek) piece in for that race,” he added.

Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., finished fifth in the inaugural Colossal 100, but last year he was forced out after just three laps when his car’s engine lost oil pressure.

‘Chubzilla’ is counting on a smooth racetrack for this weekend’s program similar to last November’s ‘World Finals’ conditions. He said with a smile that he’s also “looking forward to seeing Roger Slack (who oversees The Dirt Track’s operation).”

Frank and Slack have developed an ongoing back-and-forth, throwing out little verbal one-liners to jokingly bust on each other. They last engaged in some barb-dishing during the WoO LMS awards banquet in December.

Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., will take to the track this weekend with a bit more confidence than he did in his first Colossal 100 attempt last year. The 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year was still learning the ropes as a dirt Late Model driver back then and didn’t qualify.

The 40-year-old driver, who has won an Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified event at The Dirt Track, proved he can get around the four-tenths-mile oval in a dirt Late Model on the last night of the 2007 ‘World Finals’ when he came from deep in the field to finish third. He returns to Charlotte with his Gypsum Express team’s gun blazing.

“We’re putting a freshened Enders motor in for the Colossal,” said Fuller. “You need everything you got (in the engine department) and then some. You’re stuck down there hard, wide-open.”

The 2007 Colossal 100 marked the first-ever start at The Dirt Track for Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill. – and it was eventful. Driving NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader’s familiar No. 99 in a one-shot deal, he experienced a flat tire in time trials and brake problems in his heat, but he still advanced through the C- and B-Mains and completed 75 laps of the headliner to finish 19th.

“I’m looking forward to going back with my own stuff,” said Shirley, who returns with his usual Petroff Towing mount that he had in contention during The Dirt Track’s October and November WoO LMS events last year. “I’ll be just a little more comfortable.

“We get to go there and be in a Rayburn car, which is more familiar to me. The Rocket cars are still a learning process for me. I’m having my ups and downs with them. We ran the same car (Rayburn) for five years and won races, but then you change your agenda a little (add a Rocket to the team) to get better in certain areas and there’s more decisions to make.”

Shirley has already won a major dirt Late Model event – the 2006 Knoxville Late Model Nationals – but he doesn’t want to stop there.

“You don’t want to go without winning another big one in your career,” he said. “That’s kinda how you mark your territory, so people know you can do it again.”

John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., who has plans to follow the WoO LMS this season, started from the outside pole in last year’s Colossal 100 but finished 18th. A non-qualifier for the inaugural event, the 26-year-old heads to Charlotte this year knowing that he’ll be behind the wheel of a proven ‘Team Zero’ car built by Scott Bloomquist, whose mounts swept the top-three finishing positions in last year’s Colossal 100.

And then there’s three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who has won four of six tour events this season and leads the points standings but hasn’t committed to following the entire schedule.

No driver in the country is hotter right now than the 50-year-old Moyer, so everyone is looking at him as a favorite to unseat Bloomquist.

“We’ve been rivals for a long time,” Moyer said of Bloomquist. “He’s got a head start on me there (at the Dirt Track), because I’m taking this kind of car (a Victory Circle Chassis he helped design rather than a swing-arm Rayburn) I’ve never run there before.

“I have no notes to go by…but sometimes I might work better with no notes because it keeps my head thinking.”

*****

The Circle K Colossal 100 will be run over two days (April 18-19) at the four-tenths-mile Dirt Track @ Lowe’s.

The Friday-night (April 18) portion of the weekend features group time trials and heat races. The top-two finishers in each heat will secure a spot in the 100-lap finale and a draw will determine the starting lineup.

Saturday night's program begins with a driver autograph session and the on-track action includes at least four additional qualifying races prior to the main event. The race is part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, but The Dirt Track's traditional format, including the extremely popular Delaware-style restarts, will be utilized.

If purchased in advance, reserved tickets for both Friday and Saturday nights are just $39 for adults and $10 for children ages 12 and under. Two-day pit passes are $60 in advance.

Tickets and pit passes for the April 18-19 Circle K Colossal 100 can be purchased online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-455-FANS.

The Fleetwood RV Camping Resort is located adjacent to The Dirt Track and full-service camping spots can be reserved by calling (704) 455-4445.

The Circle K Colossal 100 is the first of four WoO LMS events at The Dirt Track this season. The tour returns on Oct. 8 for the Armour Foods Vienna Sausage Showdown presented by Ferris Mowers and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 for the second running of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ that also includes the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Wrapping Up The ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ At Lernerville Speedway



SARVER, PA – April 16, 2008 –



WILL HE DO IT?: Billy Moyer did not make a pre-season commitment to follow the entire World of Outlaws Late Model Series this year, but his red-hot start (four wins in six events and the points lead) has fueled growing speculation about whether he just might decide to chase a fourth career tour title.

After winning Tuesday night’s ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ at Lernerville Speedway, Moyer didn’t summarily rule out pursuing the $100,000 championship prize during a post-race gathering with the media.

“It’s still early in the year to think championship if I was running for it,” said Moyer, who has led 227 of a possible 400 WoO LMS A-Main laps this season. “I didn’t have intentions of running for it from the beginning (of the campaign), but I’m gonna leave it up to my guys who work for me. They’re a big part of my program, and if them guys don’t want to do it (go for the points title), I’m probably not. If they do, I’ll have to think about it.”

Of course, Moyer noted that his BMR team members are feeling energized and ready to race every night of the week thanks to his sizzling start.

“The attitude’s better with the whole crew when we’re winning like this,” smiled Moyer, who is currently receiving WoO LMS touring-driver benefits that are available to two drivers outside the 10 who made pre-season commitments to follow the series. “I can even tell that at home with my wife and son, when we’re running better, everything goes better for some reason. I don’t know why it affects them, but it hurts them worse than it does me sometimes.

“We’ve had two or three years where we’ve been off and only won five or six races all year long, and everybody kinda drags down because of it. When we do what we’re doing now, everybody’s happy and everything goes so much better.”

HANGING ON: Rick Eckert didn’t say that he might have been able to prevent his frustrating WoO LMS winless streak from reaching 63 races at Lernerville, but he does know that a late-race mechanical problem in his Raye Vest-owned GRT car cost him some positions in the final finishing order.

The York, Pa., star salvaged a fifth-place finish despite racing the final 16 laps without the fifth-coil in his No. 24. He said the coil spring fell onto the track and was removed by the safety crew during the final caution period, on lap 34.

“With the fifth-coil gone, it takes all the traction out of the car,” said Eckert. “I know that even without it we were challenging them guys (in the top five), so I would have liked to see what we could’ve done if we didn’t have that problem.”

GOOD NIGHT GONE BAD: A solid top-10 run transformed into another agonizing DNF for Tim Fuller in a matter of minutes on Tuesday night.

As Fuller was rolling along in eighth place on lap 33 of the 50-lap A-Main, he suddenly spun in turn four. He said he “caught the inside lip of the track and just went right around.”

Fuller restarted at the rear of the field after no one collected him, but when the green flag returned his race came crashing to an end. He ran into the rearend of Dave Hess Jr.’s slowing car on the backstretch, thoroughly crunching the nosepiece of his Gypsum Express No. 19 and necessitating a trip back to the pits behind a wrecker.

“I was a full-song when I saw (Hess) turn right like he was going into the pits,” said Fuller. “I hit him good.”

Fuller and his Gypsum Express teammate Billy Decker ran on Tuesday night in front of car owner John Wight, who flew in to catch the event. Wight was accompanied by his 15-year-old son Larry, a rising racer coming off a $5,000 DIRTcar Sportsman-Modified win in upstate New York on April 5. ‘Lightning’ Larry plans to run DIRTcar big-block Modifieds in 2008 but is expected to make his dirt Late Model debut later this season.

ABOUT TIME: Brian Shirley probably never felt as good about an eighth-place finish as he did at Lernerville.

“Man, we really needed this,” said Shirley, the 27-year-old WoO LMS regular from Chatham, Ill. “We had three last-place finishes in a row.”

Actually, Shirley wrapped last-place (24th) finishes at Mississippi’s Pike County Speedway and Virginia Motor Speedway around a 19th-place DNF at Farmer City, Ill., but what’s the difference? ‘Squirrel’ wasn’t around at the end of three straight races, and that doesn’t cut it.

“I was telling (car owner Ed) Petroff today, ‘We gotta finish races,’” said Shirley, whose recent starts had been hampered by a buster radiator (Pike County), a broken shock (Farmer City) and a broken power-steering pump/brake issues (Virginia Motor). “That’s the key. We’re not getting better if we’re always in the pits.”

ODDS & ENDS…

Darrell Lanigan’s hauler was the last to arrive for Tuesday’s action, but after scrambling to get unloaded and ready for action he ended up with his fifth top-10 finish in six events this season.

Lanigan climbed as high as third before settling for a sixth-place run – and his mechanic, Chris Burton, received the Integra Shocks ‘Wrench of the Race’ Award.

* Shannon Babb never threatened to duplicate his April 2007 WoO LMS victory at Lernerville. His Clint Bowyer-owned Rayburn mount was simply not up to its usual standards as he languished to a 16th-place finish.

* Rookie of the Year contender Vic Coffey looked strong in winning a heat race, but he faded from the outside-pole starting spot in the A-Main to finish a quiet 11th in one of his teammate Tim McCreadie’s Sweeteners Plus No. 39 cars.

* It was another rough night for Rookie of the Yea aspirant Jeff Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y., who got upside down for the second time in the last four WoO LMS programs.

The 17-year-old’s Lernerville crash wasn’t nearly as wild as his barrel-rolls last month at Pike County, but the rollover on the inside of turn three during the second heat still exacted a heavy price on his JIR Motorsports Rayburn. The car, which his team purchased from an Illinois driver two weeks ago to replace the mount that was destroyed in Mississippi, was left with a bent rollcage.

Isabell, however, escaped the wreck uninjured.

* Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., went from the bright lights of Victory Lane after capturing his first-ever WoO LMS win at Virginia Motor to a dejected non-qualifier at Lernerville. He dropped out of the second B-Main.

* Up-and-coming Mike Knight, a 21-year-old from Ripley, N.Y., who won the 2007 Super Late Model title at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., in his second full year racing in the division, got some help from WoO LMS regular Chub Frank on Tuesday night.

After qualifying through a B-Main despite being hampered by carburetor woes, Frank, who was parked alongside Knight, gave the youngster a carb to bolt on his Rocket car for the feature. Knight installed Frank’s carburetor and went on to finish 14th in the A-Main – even after bringing out a caution flag on lap three and then pitting to tighten a loose throttle linkage.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Moyer Resumes World of Outlaws Late Model Series Winning Ways In Lernerville Speedway’s ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’



SARVER, PA – April 15, 2008 – Billy Moyer didn’t take long to get back on track.

After seeing his three-race World of Outlaws Late Model Series win streak snapped four days earlier, the short-track legend from Batesville, Ark., roared back into the tour’s limelight with a convincing victory in Tuesday night’s 50-lap ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ at Lernerville Speedway.

The 50-year-old Moyer, who started third, overtook polesitter Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., for the lead on lap four and never looked back. He raced virtually unchallenged to his fourth win in six WoO LMS events this season, erasing memories of his rare loss on April 11 at Virginia Motor Speedway.

“We all know that you can’t win them all,” said Moyer, thinking back to his 17th-place VMS run that was dulled by a blown left-rear tire as he battled for the lead. “We had a tire problem (at Virginia Motor), but I don’t know if I’d have beat (eventual winner Jeremy Miller) anyway because he did a heckuva job.

“We just chalked it up as one of those nights, then went back to work and tweaked on the car a little more before coming here. We just keep making some small changes, playing with the whole chassis part of it, and keep getting it a little bit better.

“I think for the condition here tonight,” he added, “it felt pretty good.”

There’s no doubt that Moyer’s Banner Valley Hauling-sponsored Victory Circle M1 Chassis looked good on the four-tenths-mile oval, which opened its 2008 season with the mid-week WoO LMS event. He pulled away following restarts on laps 21, 33 and 34 and handled late-race lapped traffic with ease en route to a victory margin of 1.663 seconds over Clanton, whose runner-up finish in the RSD Enterprises Rocket was his season-best on the WoO LMS.

Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., marched forward from the 10th starting spot to place a close third in his Lester Buildings Rocket. Defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., started and finished fourth in Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket, and Rick Eckert of York, Pa., advanced from the seventh starting position to complete the top five in Raye Vest’s GRT.

Once in command, Moyer seemed to have his car, which he famously helped develop in collaboration with the Bakersfield, Calif.-based Victory Circle shop, set on cruise control.

“It’s a big tire game, a tire war going on out there, so I was trying to make sure I had (some tires) left if I really had to get after it,” said Moyer, who used Hoosier rubber on his Clements-powered car. “The car was good enough that I could run around there at 70, 80 percent and have something left if somebody got to pressuring me with 10, 15 laps to go.

“I didn’t want to run too hard and have my tires all sealed up if somebody challenged me. I was trying to keep that in mind.”

Of course, there was no true challenger to Moyer’s throne. Clanton, 32, led the first three laps of the race, but, while he put up a good fight, he wasn’t a match for Moyer’s speed.

“When you get to a place like this it’s easier to follow than it is to lead,” said Clanton. “(Moyer) followed me for three laps, saw where my weak spots were, and then he went by me.

“When I changed my line and started driving in as hard as he was, it didn’t seem like he pulled me that bad. But he was a little bit better than I was – and on every restart, it took my car four of five laps to get going.”

Moyer pocketed $10,150 for the victory, his 10th overall of the young 2008 season. It tied him with Frank for fourth on the modern-era (2004-present) WoO LMS win list, with 13 victories, and was his alltime-best 35th career WoO LMS win (including the original 1988-89 seasons).

In addition, Moyer registered his second career WoO LMS win at Lernerville. He previous triumph came in a rain-shortened event on April 29, 2005 – early in a season that saw him capture his third tour title.

“Everything’s going good and we’re making the right decisions,” bottom-lined Moyer, who leads the WoO LMS points standings and has already earned $64,000.

Clanton knows that Moyer is on top of his game, but he doesn’t see the veteran driver as being unbeatable.

“I think he’s just got momentum and confidence,” said Clanton, who beat Frank to the finish line by less than half of a second. “Confidence is so important. I know, because my confidence is building. I’m finishing races now – and finishing up front.

“Maybe I can carry some confidence to Charlotte this weekend (for the $50,000-to-win Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway) and run up front. I know that’s what Billy is gonna do.”

Frank, 46, nearly swept around the outside of both Francis and Clanton to snag second off turn four on lap 35, but Clanton held on to the position. That might have been the end of Frank’s hopes for a victory at his favorite track.

“I was going by Clanton, and then (Francis) shoved him out of the way and (Clanton) took my lane away,” quipped Frank. “I got into Clanton a little bit on the frontstraightaway when I slid up.

“Maybe if I would’ve gotten by Clanton there (for second) I would’ve had something for Moyer. I don’t know, but I would’ve liked to try. With clear racetrack, my car was good.”

Francis, 40, was simply a bit off the fast setup for the A-Main.

“We gambled and went a little softer on tires than everybody else and it didn’t work out,” said Francis, who took second from Clanton on lap 23 before ceding the spot back a few circuits later. “That’s just the learning curve I have with the (American Racer) tires.”

Eckert, 42, grabbed fifth from 13th-starter Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., on lap 30 and held the position to the finish. But he felt fortunate to maintain the spot during the race’s late stages because he ran the final 16 laps without his car’s fifth-coil, which fell off his car during a lap-34 caution period and left him devoid of traction for the remaining distance.

Finishing in positions 6-10 were Lanigan, who climbed as high as third; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who struggled with a push condition after five consecutive green-flag laps; Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., who ended a string of three straight finishes of 19th and worse; Mike Balzano of Parkersburg, W.Va., who earned the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ for being the highest-finishing driver who’s never won a tour event; and Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.

Among the race’s casualties were Gypsum Racing teammates Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., and Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y.

Decker was the race’s first retiree, while Fuller’s promising run deteriorated quickly after his turn-four spin on lap 33 knocked him from eighth place. One circuit later Fuller ran into the back of the slowing Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, Pa., on the backstretch, crushing his car’s nosepiece and forcing him out of further action.

Fifty cars entered the program, which was run on a cool but sparklingly clear evening.

Francis was fastest in time trials for the first time this season, rounding the track in 15.433 seconds.

Heat winners were Moyer, who pulled off a last-lap pass to nip Francis at the finish line by 0.032 of a second, Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., and Clanton. The B-Mains were captured by Hess and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.

Following his B-Main triumph, Hess was honored trackside for winning the ‘Alltel DIRTcar All-Star’ contest. He received a check for $12,000 after coming out on top of on-line and text-message voting among all the drivers who won features during February’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.

The WoO LMS now heads south for the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 on Friday and Saturday (April 18-19) at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):


1. (3) Billy Moyer/50 $10,150

2. (1) Shane Clanton/50 $5,100

3. (10) Chub Frank/50 $3,000

4. (4) Steve Francis/50 $2,500

5. (7) Rick Eckert/50 $2,000

6. (13) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,700

7. (8) Josh Richards/50 $1,400

8. (9) Brian Shirley/50 $1,300

9. (12) Mike Balzano/50 $1,700

10. (16) Jeep VanWormer/50 $1,100

11. (2) Vic Coffey/50 $1,300

12. (19) Clint Smith/50 $1,000

13. (17) Dave Hess Jr./50 $950

14. (21) Mike Knight/50 $900

15. (6) Matt Lux/50 $850

16. (15) Shannon Babb/50 $800

17. (18) John Blankenship/50 $770

18. (5) Doug Horton/50 $750

19. (26) Gary Lyle/50 $730

20. (24) Danny Johnson/48 $700

21. (25) Alex Ferree/33 $700

22. (11) Tim Fuller/33 $700

23. (14) David Scott/29 $700

24. (23) Joe Isabell/22 $700

25. (20) Davey Johnson/21 $700

26. (22) Billy Decker/20 $700


Time of Race: 29 Mins., 21.635 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 1.663 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 4 (Laps 3, 21, 33, 34)

Lap Leaders: Clanton (1-3); Moyer (4-50)

Provisional Starters: Isabell, Danny Johnson (WoO); Ferree, Lyle (track)

Rookie of the Race: Vic Coffey ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Mike Balzano ($500)

Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($50): Chris Burton (Darrell Lanigan)

Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Shane Clanton (half-off tire warmers)


Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):


1. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 15.433

2. 5-Alan Dellinger/Hermitage, PA 15.571

3. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 15.608

4. 39-Vic Coffey/Leicester, NY 15.680

5. 99B-Rick Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 15.687

6. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 15.698

7. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 15.717

8. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 15.726

9. 40-Dutch Davies/Warren, PA 15.740

10. 9k-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 15.743

11. 46-Doug Horton/Bruceton Mills, WV 15.751

12. 13-Steve Wilmoth/Clarksburg, WV 15.760

14. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 15.783

15. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 15.809

16. E1-Mike Balzano/Parkersburg, WV 15.843

17. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 15.849

18. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.871

19. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 15.873

20. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 15.884

21. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 15.889

22. 17-Keith Barbara/South Park, PA 15.904

23. 2s-Sam Stile/Charleroi, PA 15.918

24. B22-Bump Hedman/Sugar Grove, PA 15.922

25. 33-Chris Hackett/Erie, PA 15.966

26. 3-David Scott/Garland, PA 15.997

27. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.007

28. 1J-Davey Johnson/Latrobe, PA 16.027

29. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.060

30. T8-Mark Banal/St. Clairsville, OH 16.116

31. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 16.126

32. 48-John Flinner/Zelionople, PA 16.146

33. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 16.148

34. 4-Alex Ferree/Saxonburg, PA 16.175

35. 1c-Lynn Geisler/Cranberry Twp., PA 16.196

36. 91-Billy Decker/Unadilla, NY 16.198

37. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 16.278

38. 7J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY 16.285

39. 67-Ken Schaltenbrand/Sarver, PA 16.286

40. 10-Gary Lyle/Hyde Park, PA 16.410

41. J4-John Garvin/Sarver, PA 16.481

42. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA 16.504

43. 8H-Sheetz McGarvey/Colport, PA 16.592

44. 27J-Danny Johnson/Phelps, NY 16.598

45. 1L-Dane Laraway/Irwin, PA 16.626

46. 4J-John Mollick/Toronto, OH 16.728

47. 18s-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 16.802

48. 0-Ryan Scott/Garland, PA 17.161

49. 65-Jesse Smith/New Richmond, PA 18.490

50. 17T-Tom Kitchen/Indiana, PA 18.562

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Moyer, Francis, Shirley, Lanigan, C. Smith, D. Davies, Hess, Satterlee, Briggs, Hackett, Garvin, J. Smith, Laraway

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lux, Eckert, Frank, D. Scott, Knight, Dellinger, Ferree, Banal, Miley, Mollick, Barbara, Isabell (DNS) Kitchen

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Clanton, Horton, Fuller, Babb, J. Miller, Blankenship, Stone, Stile, McGarvey, Schaltenbrand, Geisler, Beardsley

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Coffey, Richards, Balzano, VanWormer, Davey Johnson, Flinner, Decker, Lyle, Danny Johnson, R. Scott, Hedman, S. Wilmoth

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Hess, C. Smith, Knight, Ferree, Briggs, D. Davies, Hackett, Mollick, Garvin, Satterlee, Miley (DNS) Dellinger, Banal, Barbara, J. Smith, Isabell, Laraway, Kitchen

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Blankenship, Davey Johnson, Decker, Flinner, Lyle, Danny Johnson, Schaltenbrand, Beardsley, S. Wilmoth, R. Scott, Stone, Miller, Geisler, Stile, McGarvey (DNS) Hedman

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of April 15 - 6 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Billy Moyer 4-5-5-$64,370-860 (-0)

2. Josh Richards 1-3-5-$22,200-834 (-26)

3. Steve Francis 0-4-5-$19,000-830 (-30)

4. Rick Eckert 0-2-5-$15,250-820 (-40)

5. (tie) Darrell Lanigan 0-0-5-$11,000-804 (-56)

5. (tie) Chub Frank 0-2-4-$14,550-804 (-56)

7. Shannon Babb 0-3-3-$20,650-782 (-78)

8. Clint Smith 0-2-2-$9,610-768 (-92)

9. Shane Clanton 0-3-3-$14,400-764 (-96)

10. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$6,760-718 (-142)

11. Tim Fuller 0-0-1-$6,940-714 (-146)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-2-$7,120-702 (-158)

13. Vic Coffey 0-0-1-$4,120-524 (-336)

14. (tie) Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$1,910-514 (-346)

14. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$2,300-514 (-346)

16. Billy Decker 0-0-0-$3,020-438 (-422)

17. (tie) Darren Miller 0-0-3-$5,700-404 (-456)

17. (tie) Jeep VanWormer 0-0-1-$3,020-404 (-456)

19. (tie) Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-464)

19. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-1-1-$7,050-396 (-464)

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Chris Dolack, VP Media/PR
Kevin Kovac, DIRTcar Racing PR
704-795-7223 • DIRTcar.com

DIRTcar Racing Establishes Western Region Base of Operations

New West Coast Region Delivers Benefits To Competitors, Track Operators



CONCORD, N.C. — April 14, 2008 — DIRTcar Racing is heading West. The largest sanctioning body for dirt track racing in the United States established a DIRTcar Racing base for the western region of the country in Southern California under the direction of experienced motorsports manager and developer Chris Morgan.

Like UMP DIRTcar Racing in the Midwest and DIRTcar Racing Northeast, DIRTcar Racing Western Region brings significant benefits to member competitors and track operators, from insurance to point funds.

“We recognize the passion of racing fans in the western region of the country, and while we are a national company we realize that solidifying weekly and grassroots racing creates benefits for competitors and fans,” World Racing Group President Tom Deery said. “The time has come for us to bring that to the West Coast, where dirt racing fans are some of the most passionate in the country.”

Headquartered in Concord, N.C., the World Racing Group now has an operational base west of the Rockies from which it can expand its membership and maintain its relationships with facilities, tracks, competitors and media in the western region of the United States.

“I’m excited to represent the World Racing Group and DIRTcar Racing in the western United States,” said Chris Morgan, who’s managed a diverse set of motorsports programs for NASCAR and USAC as well as facilities including Irwindale Speedway. “I have seen the many benefits of DIRTcar Racing’s programs for promoters and racers in the Midwestern and Eastern sections of the country. This program will replicate these successes and bring this proven formula to our racing partners across the West.”

For more information on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar Racing, visit DIRTcar.com.

About World Racing Group, Inc.

World Racing Group, Inc. (OTCBB: WRGI), a sports entertainment company, is a world leader in the sanctioning and promotion of dirt track auto racing. WRGI, based in Concord, N.C., owns and operates the three highest profile national touring series for dirt track racing in the United States:

• The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws® Sprint Car Series

• The World of Outlaws Late Model Series(SM)

• The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series™

World Racing Group sanctions more than 4,900 local and regional dirt track racing events in the United States and Canada at 126 tracks each year under the DIRTcar™ Racing brand. In addition, World Racing Group owns and/or operates seven premier dirt track speedways. To learn more about World Racing Group, visit worldracinggroup.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com

 

Steve Francis and Tim McCreadie posed together for use with this story. (Kevin Kovac/WoO LMS photo)

Pairing Of Champions: Tim McCreadie Ready To Make Debut In Steve Francis No. 15 At This Weekend’s Circle K Colossal 100



CONCORD, NC – April 14, 2008 – O.K., Steve Francis, so it’s the final laps of the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 this Saturday night (April 19) at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and you have Dale Beitler’s No. 19 dirt Late Model up front battling for the lead with a familiar-looking car.

Yeah, that would be your No. 15 car, with Tim McCreadie behind the wheel.

With a $50,000 top prize on the line, what’s going to be racing through your mind, ‘Kentucky Colonel?’

“At that point, I’ll be thinking, ‘Don’t make a mistake and take us both out,’” smiled Francis, considering the scenario he could experience during his first event fielding a car from his stable for McCreadie. “That would be an ideal situation, though, especially with how well the Colossal pays back.

“I just hope I’m leading and he’s running second.”

Francis will begin an interesting big-show experiment at this weekend’s Circle K Colossal 100. With the Ashland, Ky., driver stepping out of his own top-notch equipment this season to chase a second straight World of Outlaws Late Model Series title with Beitler’s West Friendsville, Md.-based team, he’s hired fellow WoO LMS titlist McCreadie to steer his well-known No. 15 in several major events.

Why did Francis, 40, seek out the 34-year-old McCreadie to fill the seat of his Steve Francis Racing machine?

“Who else would you pick if you’re looking for a driver?” Francis asked rhetorically. “Getting Timmy to drive my stuff a few times is just the right situation for him and me. It keeps all my sponsors happy and gives me something to do – hopefully not too much – to keep my shop active and everything up-to-date while I’m running for Dale.”

Back in early December when the pairing of former WoO LMS champions was announced, McCreadie, who won the title in 2006, was very uncertain about how much dirt Late Model racing he would be able to do in 2008. He was hopeful that his deal as a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver would result in a schedule heavy with NASCAR Nationwide Series starts – a direction that would likely curtail his appearances with the Sweeteners Plus team – so a limited arrangement to run on dirt with Francis seemed very attractive.

Of course, a lack of sponsorship for RCR’s No. 21 Nationwide Series team has left McCreadie in limbo with his pavement aspirations and he’s continued to drive the Avon, N.Y.-based Sweeteners Plus dirt Late Models. But he’s upholding his commitment to race the Francis No. 15, a car he feels honored to buckle up in.

“One day a few months ago, when I was looking to do some races with different people, I was talking with Francis on the phone and he said, ‘I want you to come drive my stuff,’” said McCreadie. “I was like, ‘Sure.’ Any time one of the top guys thinks enough of you to ask you to drive their car, it’s flattering.

“The fact that he wanted me to drive for him, when it could take money out of his pocket, because he likes me or thinks I can get the job done or whatever, that’s cool.

“It helps both of us,” continued McCreadie. “He’s got sponsors and product sponsors that now he can give some races, and he can keep his equipment up-to-date just in case something ever happens where he has to run it. You just can’t let stuff sit dormant and expect it to say top-notch.”

McCreadie knows he’ll have a “top 10” car at his disposal when he climbs into Francis’s Custom-powered Valvoline Rocket for the Colossal as well as his other tentative assaults with Francis, including the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned ‘Dream’ and ‘World 100’ at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

“It’s the exact same car he ran last year and won with, so hopefully I can get in there, be comfortable and get it up to speed,” said McCreadie. “Just seeing how he races, he knows what it takes for a race team to win, and that gets me excited.

“He thinks he can give me a chance at winning some of the bigger races – and I’m all for that. I haven’t gotten (a win in) any of these big races yet, so that’s something I’d love to do. We’ve been up front in them, but we just haven’t hit on what we need to win one yet.”

McCreadie has “a lot of respect” for Francis, a rival he knows well from their three years of traveling the WoO LMS together.

“We’ve always been straight with each other and had a good relationship,” said McCreadie. “I remember that when we were winning all those Outlaws races a few years ago (2006, when he led the tour with eight victories), Steve was struggling a little bit. We talked and kinda showed him what we were doing, he started doing it, and then he started winning again. I told him, ‘If we didn’t give you that stuff, we could’ve probably won a bunch more shows because we ran second to you a bunch of times.’

“I think we’ve had a respect for each other, and I think he does more with a race car and is a lot smarter than people think.”

Francis has similar thoughts about McCreadie.

“Me and Timmy have always been friends, always got along real well,” said Francis. “I’m looking forward to putting him in my car. It’s gonna be something different, something kind of fun for me – my first deal as a car owner.”

In last year’s Circle K Colossal 100, McCreadie piloted the Sweeteners Plus No. 39 to a fourth-place finish and Francis finished sixth driving Tim Logan’s No. 11.

They’re hoping to be even closer to each other at the finish of Saturday’s event – and a few spots higher as well.

The Circle K Colossal 100 will be run over two days (April 18-19) at the four-tenths-mile Dirt Track @ Lowe’s.

The Friday-night (April 18) portion of the weekend features group time trials and heat races. The top-two finishers in each heat will secure a spot in the 100-lap finale and a draw will determine the starting lineup.

Saturday night's program begins with a driver autograph session and the on-track action includes at least four additional qualifying races prior to the main event. The race is part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, but The Dirt Track's traditional format, including the extremely popular Delaware-style restarts, will be utilized.

If purchased in advance, reserved tickets for both Friday and Saturday nights are just $39 for adults and $10 for children ages 12 and

under. Two-day pit passes are $60 in advance.

Tickets and pit passes for the April 18-19 Circle K Colossal 100 can be purchased online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-455-FANS.

The Fleetwood RV Camping Resort is located adjacent to The Dirt Track and full-service camping spots can be reserved by calling (704) 455-4445.

The Circle K Colossal 100 is the first of four WoO LMS events at The Dirt Track this season. The tour returns on Oct. 8 for the Armour Foods Vienna Sausage Showdown presented by Ferris Mowers and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 for the second running of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ that also includes the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com. 

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Car Owner Charles Buckler Walking On Air After Winning First World of Outlaws Late Model Series Race With Driver Jeremy Miller



CONCORD, NC – April 13, 2008 – Everyone who knows car owner Charles Buckler would say he has a very, uh, animated personality.

So the big question has always been: Just how wildly would Buckler celebrate if he won a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event?

The answer came on Friday night at Virginia Motor Speedway, where Buckler’s driver, Jeremy Miller, captured the 50-lap ‘Rumble on the River IV’ to bring Buckler the Outlaws checkered flag he’s long coveted.

“I did flips all the way to the front straightaway,” the 50-year-old Buckler said of his walking-on-air jaunt through the infield to meet Miller in Victory Lane. “Nah…I’m only kidding. But I was close.”

Actually, Buckler, who hails from Maryland, pumped his fists, flexed like a posing bodybuilder, yelled “We beat the Outlaws!” over and over, and hugged anyone who crossed his path. After saying a few quick, emotion-draped words to WoO LMS announcer Rick Eshelman over the track p.a. system, he gave his driver the warmest greeting he’s ever dished out.

As Miller later reported when asked about Buckler’s post-race excitement: “He always gives the hugs (after a race), but tonight he wanted to give the kisses.”

Yes, Buckler planted a warm, wet one on Miller, a cool, calm and collected 37-year-old regional star from Gettysburg, Pa.

“I said, ‘Kid, you’re my hero,’” Buckler related when asked how he congratulated Miller, “and then I just kissed him right on the cheek. I didn’t go no further than the cheek!”

A former racer-turned-car owner who is in his 31st year involved with the sport, Buckler saw Miller come close to winning him a WoO LMS show several times last year but Lady Luck wouldn’t let them complete the deal. Particularly disappointing was Miller’s loss in the A-Main on the first night of last year’s inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., where Buckler watched Miller relinquish the lead to mechanical trouble while he partied with friends, family and sponsors in a tower suite he had rented for the evening.

The heartbreaking near-misses were forgotten, however, when Buckler and his wife, Genny, stood with Miller for Victory Lane photos at VMS.

“Oh, man,” Buckler said in his distinctive southern-fried accent, “this is the best race I’ve ever won. We beat the best! We beat the Outlaws!

“The World of Outlaws is the best series to run with,” he continued. “They have a good series, they treat everybody equal. I’m just tickled to death that we can run with ‘em.

“When you run with these Outlaws, and you beat ‘em, you beat the best in the country. As far as I’m concerned, there ain’t nobody better than (the WoO regulars).

“It’s a big, big, big deal in my career that now I can put in my books that I’ve won a World of Outlaws race. I just can’t say it enough.”

The grand triumph led Buckler to reflect on his years in the sport, especially his successful run with Miller behind the wheel of his No. 24 cars. Since Miller joined Buckler Motorsports late in the 2002 season, he’s captured 52 dirt Late Model feature wins.

“We picked up little Jeremy here six years ago,” said Buckler. “My wife really wanted him to drive the car, and it’s the best thing that ever happened to us. He’s a top-notch racer, he wants to win, he races clean, and you never hear him holler.

“It’s just so much fun to race with him against the guys we do in this division.

“I’ll tell you this – me and my wife have been in this (sport) so long, and we still enjoy it. It’s just a wonder that I have the luck to be with a woman who just wants to race…that’s all she wants to do.

“Win or lose,” he added, “we enjoy ourselves. It’s just fun to be at the racetrack.”

Buckler certainly enjoyed himself famously in the VMS pit area following Friday’s race. “It’s going to be a long night,” he smiled.

Being his usual fun-loving, joking self, Buckler basically held court with the crowd that gathered to congratulate him and Miller on their accomplishment. He had a barb for everyone who stopped by.

For instance, when Shannon Babb’s longtime mechanic, Jay Hunt, visited to shake Buckler’s hand, Buckler chirped, “I want to thank Jay Hunt, because he’s the one who told me to buy those Bullock motors (that powered Miller to victory).”

Then Buckler noticed that WoO LMS star Chub Frank was standing a couple feet away and he chimed up again.

“Look at Chub, he’s over there laughing,” quipped Buckler. “But he don’t realize that he’s the next victim.

“I got the one legend, Billy Moyer (whom Miller passed to take the lead), and now my next one is Chub Frank.”

Frank chuckled and shook his head. Buckler smiled and slapped Frank on the back.

Oh, what a fun night at the speedway it was for a car owner who just loves racing.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘At A Glance’: ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ On Tuesday (April 15) At Lernerville Speedway



SARVER, PA – April 13, 2008 –



WHAT:



* The World of Outlaws Late Model Series makes its first appearance of the 2008 season in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night (April 15), visiting Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.

The mid-week ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ sponsored by Y108 Radio will be run over the 50-lap distance and offers a $10,000 top prize.

Adding more luster to the event, it will serve as the 2008 season opener at the wildly popular Lernerville Speedway. Wet weather has washed out the track’s first three Friday-night programs, but sunny skies are in the forecast for Tuesday, setting up a blockbuster night to celebrate the start of the facility’s 40th anniversary campaign.

WHEN:

* Lernerville’s pit gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m. Time trials are set for 7:15 p.m., followed by racing at 8 o’clock.

The night’s undercard will feature the first-ever UMP Pro (crate) Late Model program at Lernerville.

WHERE:

* Lernerville Speedway is a four-tenths-mile oval that sits one hour northeast of Pittsburgh International Airport. One of the top facilities in the country, the track has been accented for 2008 with a new clay surface and a slight reconfiguration of turn two.

To reach the track, take SR 28 to exit 17, then travel 4.6 miles north on SR 356.

TICKETS:

* Reserved-seat tickets are on sale for $27 (adults), $24 (seniors) and $22 (ages 17-and-under). General admission is $25 (adults) and $22 (seniors and students), with children 10-and-under admitted free of charge.

Pit passes are $30 for DIRTcar Racing members and $35 for non-members.

PRE-RACE FUN:

* Pittsburgh’s Best Country Y108 will have ‘Wookie,’ the producer of the station’s ‘Country Crew’ morning show, on hand from 5:30–7:30 p.m. to meet-and-greet fans and hand out samples from McDonald’s & Twizzlers to the kids.

In addition, the folks from Anheuser Busch will be on hand to entertain the adults.

AWARD PRESENTATION:

* Young dirt Late Model standout Dave Hess Jr. will receive a $12,000 check on Tuesday night for winning the ‘Alltel DIRTcar All-Star’ balloting surrounding February’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.

Hess earned the honor after his supporters made him the top vote-getter of the drivers who won features during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals. He became eligible for the contest by winning a UMP DIRTcar Modified headliner at Volusia.

INFORMATION:

* To learn more about the ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ at Lernerville Speedway, visit www.lernerville.com  or call the track office at 724-353-1511.

PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:

* Eight WoO LMS events have been run at Lernerville Speedway since 2004 – only Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park has held more tour shows (12).

Chub Frank has two wins (April 23, 2004, and Aug. 12, 2005), and single victories have been claimed by Dale McDowell (Aug. 13, 2004), Billy Moyer (April 29, 2005), Rick Eckert (April 18, 2006), Tim McCreadie (Aug. 4, 2006), Shannon Babb (April 17, 2007) and Scott Bloomquist (June 30, 2007).

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

* Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., will enter Tuesday’s action hot off his scheduled national-television interview on Sunday night’s Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain show on SPEED. The hottest dirt Late Model driver in the nation has won three of five WoO LMS events this season and holds the tour points lead.

A 50-year-old dirt Late Model legend, Moyer won a WoO LMS event at Lernerville in 2005. He didn’t enter a race at the track in 2007.

* Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., rolls into Tuesday’s program batting 1.000 at Lernerville, thanks to a victory in last year’s ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ that came in his first-ever – and still only – start at the oval.

Babb returns this season as a WoO LMS championship contender behind the wheel of the Chevy/Traeger Grills dirt Late Model fielded by NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer.

* No WoO LMS star enjoys visiting Lernerville more than Chub Frank – and not only because the track is only a couple hours away from his shop in Bear Lake, Pa. ‘Chubzilla’ has had more special-show success at Lernerville in recent years than any other driver, including a pair of WoO LMS victories (2004 and 2005).

* What WoO LMS driver is probably the most likely to become the next winner of a tour event at Lernerville? How about defending tour champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who has six top-five finishes (including three runner-up outings) in eight career WoO LMS events at the track.

Francis will be trying to erase memories of his 16th-place finish in last year’s ‘Showdown at Sarvertown’ – one of just two DNFs he experienced in 44 WoO LMS A-Mains in 2007.

* Lernerville figures to provide Rick Eckert of York, Pa., a prime opportunity to snap his 62-race winless streak on the WoO LMS. He owns a win and five top-five finishes in the eight tour shows that have been run there.

* Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., has come close to victory in WoO LMS competition at Lernerville, finishing second twice (both in 2005).

* Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., has only one top-five finish in eight career WoO LMS starts at Lernerville, but that fourth-place run came in last year’s ‘Showdown in Sarvertown.’

* Lernerville has been a site of many frustrating WoO LMS outings for Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.

Clanton’s six tour starts at Lernerville show just two top-10 finishes, including a personal-best of sixth in last year’s ‘Firecracker 100.’ He knows the track as the place where he suffered a shoulder injury in April 2005 that sidelined him for two months of the WoO LMS campaign, but he does have some confidence after contending for victory in the inaugural ‘Firecracker 100.’

Richards, meanwhile, owns one top-five finish in his eight WoO LMS appearances at Lernerville – a third place as a 17-year-old rookie in April 2005. The track was the site of the first flip of his racing career, in August 2006 when he jumped the berm in turn three and went rolling.

* Last year’s WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders Tim Fuller of Watertown of Watertown, N.Y., and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., performed very similarly in their first dirt Late Model visits to Lernerville last year. Fuller scored WoO LMS finishes of 11th (April) and eighth (Firecracker 100), while Shirley was 10th and 12th in the events.

* WoO LMS traveler John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., has never finished better than 18th in four tour A-Main starts at Lernerville.

* The 2008 WoO LMS Rookie aspirants – New Yorkers Vic Coffey, Danny Johnson and Joe Isabell – plan to enter Tuesday’s meet.

* Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., will enter Tuesday’s action just days after winning his first career WoO LMS event at Virginia Motor Speedway.

* Fifty cars were entered in last year’s ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ and a similar number – perhaps even more – are expected to fill Lernerville’s pit area on Friday.

Some of the top regional and local names expected include Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.; Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio; Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va.; Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y.; David Scott of Garland, Pa.; Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa.; Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa.; Dick Barton of Ashville, N.Y.; Keith Barbara of South Park, Pa.; reigning Lernerville champ Alex Ferree of Saxonburg, Pa.; former Lernerville champs Lynn Geisler of Cranberry Twp., Pa., John Flinner of Zelionople, Pa.; Gary Lyle of Hyde Park, Pa., and Ron Davies of Warren, Pa.; Davey Johnson of Latrobe, Pa.; and young guns Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., Jared Miley of South Park, Pa., and Greg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa.

EXTRA CASH:

* The influx of regional and local standouts competing in the event will be chasing some WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks.’

The highest-finishing driver who is not ranked among the current top-12 in the WoO LMS point standings and has never won a WoO feature will receive the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ award.

COMING UP:

* The tour heads south for the richest WoO LMS event of the 2008 season – the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. A $50,000 top prize from a total purse of $200,000 will be on the line in the much-anticipated program at the four-tenths-mile oval.

LISTEN OR WATCH ON THE INTERNET:

* Fans who can’t make it to the track can listen to the action live thanks to the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts of WoO LMS events, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. Those who sign up for a free membership can enjoy advanced features while listening to the races, such as text chat and live scoring via AMB.it.

Fans can also watch Tuesday’s Lernerville event live on the internet as part of the DIRTVision Cybercast schedule. The event can be purchased for $8.99 on a pay-per-view basis, or fans can purchase a ‘DIRT Track Ticket’ subscription for $59.99 to gain access to Lernerville’s video feed and all other live ‘Cybercasts’ offered in 2008.

More information is available at www.dirtvision.com.

WoO LMS INFO:

* Log on to the WoO LMS website at www.worldofoutlaws.com.

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of April 11 - 5 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Billy Moyer 3-4-4-$54,220-710 (-0)

2. Josh Richards 1-3-4-$20,800-698 (-12)

3. Steve Francis 0-3-4-$16,500-688 (-22)

4. Rick Eckert 0-1-4-$13,250-680 (-30)

5. Darrell Lanigan 0-0-4-$9,300-666 (-44)

6. Shannon Babb 0-3-3-$19,850-664 (-46)

7. Chub Frank 0-1-3-$11,550-660 (-50)

8. Clint Smith 0-2-2-$8,610-642 (-68)

9. Shane Clanton 0-2-2-$9,300-618 (-92)

10. Tim Fuller 0-0-1-$6,240-608 (-102)

11. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$5,990-602 (-108)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$5,820-568 (-142)

13. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$1,210-412 (-298)

14. (tie) Darren Miller 0-0-3-$5,700-404 (-306)

14. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$1,600-404 (-306)

16. (tie) Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-314)

16. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-1-1-$7,050-396 (-314)

16. (tie) Vic Coffey 0-0-1-$2,820-396 (-314)

19. Billy Decker 0-0-0-$2,320-340 (-370)

20. Ricky Elliott 0-0-1-$1,910-303 (-407)

Contact: World Racing Group
Chris Dolack, VP Media/PR
cdolack@dirtcar.com/ 704-467-7643
Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS PR Director
kkovac@dirtcar.com/ 704-254-7929





World of Outlaws Late Model Series Points Leader Billy Moyer Appearing Tonight on SPEED’s ‘Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain’

CONCORD, N.C. — April 13, 2008 — Billy Moyer, a dirt racing legend who has been the country’s hottest dirt Late Model driver in 2008, will be a guest at 9 p.m. Eastern tonight on SPEED’s “Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain.”

Moyer, who was attempting to tie the World of Outlaws Late Model Series record for consecutive victories on Friday night before a shredded tire in a battle for the lead with five laps to go cut short his hopes, has three series victories — and nine overall wins — in 2008 and is leading the championship standings. He’ll begin another shot at the record on Tuesday night (April 15) in the “Showdown in Sarvertown” at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.

The 2005 World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion, Moyer has tour wins this season at the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, Pike County Speedway and the inaugural Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway. In addition to his three World of Outlaws Late Model Series victories, Moyer also has three UMP DIRTcar Late Model triumphs.

With three wins during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals in February, Moyer also earned the overall Alltel DIRTcar Nationals Late Model championship.

SPEED is the exclusive home for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series television broadcasts in 2008. The first event will air LIVE on Friday, May 23, from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway featuring the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. The World of Outlaws Late Models will be featured this summer on SPEED, including a super-size two-hour Firecracker 100 broadcast July 13.

For more information on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, visit WorldofOutlaws.com. To find more information on SPEED and “Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain” visit the all-new SPEEDtv.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Wrapping Up The ‘Rumble on the River IV’ At Virginia Motor Speedway



JAMAICA, VA – April 12, 2008 –


HE DID IT: There’s not much debate – entering the 2008 season, Jeremy Miller was considered by most observers to be the regional driver most likely to become a first-time World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main winner.

And why not? Last year the 37-year-old from Gettysburg, Pa., showed repeatedly that he was on the verge of breaking through on the national tour. He led WoO LMS events at Virginia Motor Speedway and The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway until mechanical trouble sidelined him. He lost a July race at Ohio’s Sharon Speedway to series star Chub Frank after an ill-timed caution flag late in the distance wiped out his healthy lead. He also finished a career-high second at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway, nearly stealing the top spot from Frank in the closing laps.

All those near-misses steeled him for his full-bore assault on a 2008 WoO LMS victory, which he secured for car owners Charles and Genny Buckler in his tour season debut on Saturday night at the half-mile Virginia Motor Speedway.

Miller brought a focused outlook to VMS, where he ran a brand-new Bullock-powered Rocket car that he and his crew worked overtime to prepare just right during the off-season.

“Maybe if we would’ve won one of the (WoO LMS) races we could have last year, it would’ve come too easy,” Miller said when asked if he felt he had to lose some tour events before he could finally win one. “Those disappointments we had last year were a big reason why we really worked hard over the winter. We paid attention to a lot of little details, and hopefully that paid off tonight.”

Miller’s mind was so clear on Saturday night, he didn’t even worry about bad luck striking him again as he led the closing stages of VMS’s 50-lap A-Main.

“That (misfortune) was last year,” said Miller. “A lot of people said, ‘You gotta let it go,’ so when I got the lead I really was just concentrating on trying to run a smooth line – and that was the best thing for me. It was getting a little rough in (turns) one and two, and when I slowed down to run smoother, I was actually going faster.”

When Miller reached Victory Lane for a raucous celebration with his team, family and friends, he felt a sense of accomplishment.

“I feel like last year we had so many chances to make people (who support him) happy, but instead we came out disappointed because we ended up a victim of circumstance,” said Miller. “So I just wanted to make all them people happy this year, and I think we did.”

A talented driver who has twice (2004 and 2006) led the Northeast in dirt Late Model feature wins, Miller plans to be a very familiar face on the WoO LMS this season, entering virtually every tour event within a reasonable driving distance of his central Pennsylvania home base. He has nearly 20 WoO LMS events on his schedule, including all seven of the shows that make up the Outlaws’ ‘Great Northern Tour,’ which visits Canada (Ontario and Quebec), New York and Pennsylvania.

Miller and several crewmen have already set aside vacation time from the jobs to make the entire ‘Great Northern Tour’ swing. “We’re all really looking forward to that trip,” smiled Miller.

BATTLING BRANDS: With the ‘Rumble on the River IV’ the second WoO LMS event of 2008 running under an open tire rule, some intrigue developed on the rubber front.

Miller and runner-up Steve Francis both used American Racer tires, as did Chub Frank, who finished eighth but ran in the top five before a slide sideways in turn four on lap 14 forced him to restart at the rear of the field sans his car’s hood.

Moyer, meanwhile, had his car shod with Hoosiers and was surprised to learn that his tussle up front with Miller and Francis was actually a study of tire manufacturer contrasts.

“I didn’t know (Miller) was on American Racers until after they told me, so there was two of them ganged up on me,” Moyer said of Miller and Francis. “They were on different rubber than me – and sometimes that can make you feel better in your mind about how you ran. With the tire war going on, I was the first Hoosier car by a long ways, so that makes me feel good.”

CLOSE CALL: Josh Richards saw his hopes for a good finish flash in front of his face on lap 14.

“When I saw Chub (Frank) spun in front of me I was like, ‘Oh, no,’” said Richards. “(Shane) Clanton and I were racing side-by-side, and by time I got to the corner Chub was sitting there spun out and there was nowhere to go. My right-rear tire bounced up over his nose.”

Fortunately for Richards, he escaped the encounter virtually unscathed (“It might have bent my (car’s) j-bar,” he said) and marched on to a third-place finish that kept him second in the WoO LMS points standings. He closed within 12 points of Moyer.

“The car was actually really good,” said Richards, who registered his career-best finish at VMS. “But about a third of the way into the race it picked up a real bad stumble, so I couldn’t be smooth through the middle of the corner. I ended up losing a lot of time every lap unless I hit it exactly perfect, which was almost impossible to do.”

WHAT A RELIEF: After getting lapped in each of the tour’s 100-lap A-Mains preceding Friday’s visit to VMS, Clint Smith was very happy with a solid fourth-place finish at the track where he was victorious in 2005.

But he still knows he could’ve done better.

“We didn’t need a late caution,” said ‘Cat Daddy.’ “I needed long (green) runs, so I was just gettin’ up on those guys (the leaders). When Moyer blew that tire (on lap 45), I had already passed Josh for third but the yellow came out.”

ODDS & ENDS…

* Shane Clanton continued to climb back into the WoO LMS title race after suffering DNFs in the season’s first two events. His fifth-place finish at VMS moved him to a ’08-high ninth in the points standings.

* For a portion of Friday’s time trials Rick Eckert sat atop the leaderboard, but Moyer’s blistering lap kept Eckert from his first WoO fast-time honor since April 18, 2006, at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. The Pennsy driver drove his Rayburn mount to a steady sixth-place finish in the A-Main.

* Driving one of the No. 39 cars normally steered by his Sweeteners Plus Racing teammate Tim McCreadie (who didn’t enter Friday’s action), 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Vic Coffey advanced from the 17th starting spot to finish seventh in the 50-lapper. He salvaged a night that began badly during hot laps when he slid into the outside wall between turns one and two on a still-slick track, damaging his car’s right-rear corner.

* With Moyer finishing 17th and Darrell Lanigan placing 12th, there are now no drivers with a top-10 finish in all WoO LMS A-Mains this season.

* Shannon Babb and his Bowyer Dirt Motorsports crew found themselves scrambling to repair their No. 18 after the Illinois driver slapped the outside wall between turns three and four during his heat. He skipped the B-Main and used a provisional to get in the headliner, which he started moments after completing a hasty patch job on the suspension and other problems resulting from his trip into the guardrail.

Babb attempted to run the outside groove forward in the A-Main, but he only reached 11th place by the checkered flag.

* Second-year WoO LMS traveler Brian Shirley’s early-season frustration continued at VMS. He started ninth but slid backward before a lap-21 scrape sent him spinning in turn four and, a couple circuits later, out of the race with damage to the right-rear corner of his Petroff Towing machine. He was saddled with his second 24th-place (last) finish in the last three WoO LMS events.

* Tim Fuller had his hot-lap session curtailed by an ignition problem, but after changing his Gypsum Express car’s distributor cap, plug wires and MSD box he managed to score his first top-10 finish of the season (ninth).

* John Blankenship hustled his Bloomquist ‘Team Zero’ car from the 18th starting spot to the brink of the top 10 in just a couple laps, but he faded to an 18th-place finish. He battled vision problems for most of the distance – he ran out of helmet tear-offs very early and by the end of the race was racing with his visor open.

* It was a morale-boosting night for the JIR Motorsports team of WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders Danny Johnson and Joe Isabell. Both New Yorkers qualified through a B-Main, putting each of them in a tour feature for the first time.

The WoO LMS rolls back into action this week with the ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ on Tuesday, April 15, at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and the Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
 

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Moyer’s Streak Ends As Jeremy Miller Races To Emotional First Career World of Outlaws Late Model Series Victory At Virginia Motor Speedway



JAMAICA, VA – April 11, 2008 – Jeremy Miller had just one thought racing through his mind after winning Friday night’s 50-lap ‘Rumble on the River IV’ at Virginia Motor Speedway.

“I just said to myself, ‘We finally did it!’” remarked Miller, a 37-year-old regional star from Gettysburg, Pa., who made the 50-lap event his long-awaited first career World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory. “I know for a fact – because I’ve been through plenty of disappointments – that a win on this series doesn’t come easy, so it’s an awesome feeling to do this.”

A hard-luck WoO LMS A-Main loser on three occasions last year, Miller got the job done in truly memorable fashion at Bill Sawyer’s pristine half-mile oval. He overtook red-hot dirt Late Model legend Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., for the lead on lap 36, and then repelled late-race pressure from Moyer and defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., to emerge triumphant to the tune of $10,650, including the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ prize for being the highest-finishing driver who hadn’t previously won a tour event.

The pole-sitting Francis settled for a second-place finish in Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket, 2.051 seconds behind Miller. Moyer, meanwhile, plummeted to 17th in the final rundown after his Victory Circle M1 Chassis suffered a blown left-rear tire on lap 45 as he was attempting to mount a last-ditch bid to regain command.

Josh Richards, 20, of Shinnston, W.Va., finished third in the Mark Richards Racing Enterprises Rocket after starting eighth, moving him within 12 points of Moyer’s WoO LMS points-leading total. Fifth-starter Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., placed fourth in his JP Drilling GRT car and third-starter Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., was fifth in the RSD Enterprises Rocket.

Moyer, who led a majority of the distance, saw his three-race WoO LMS win streak come to an end, adding even more luster to Miller’s emotional victory. A Moyer triumph would have allowed him to match the WoO LMS modern-era (2004-present) consecutive-win record of four in a row set by Rick Eckert of York, Pa., in 2006.

No one was more aware of the halting of the Moyer win streak than Miller’s car owner Charles Buckler, who literally bounded to Victory Lane to greet his driver.

“We beat a legend!” exclaimed Buckler, one of the most excitable personalities in the dirt Late Model pit area. “We beat Billy Moyer!

“Oh, man,” Buckler continued, “this is the best race I’ve ever won. We beat the best! We beat the Outlaws!”

The preternaturally calm Miller was far more reserved than his car owner, but he nonetheless was amazed by his accomplishment.

“My dream in racing was always to race with the best drivers,” said Miller, whose previous best WoO LMS was second, on Sept. 21, 2007, at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway. “Billy Moyer, Steve Francis and all these guys with the Outlaws – they are the best. I have a lot of respect for all these guys, and I’m just very fortunate to be racing up there with them.”

Miller passed the drivers he so admires. After starting fourth in a brand-new Complete Flooring/USA Spares, Inc. Rocket car powered by a Bullock Racing Engine, he slipped by Francis for second on lap 13 and chased Moyer’s pacesetting machine until nosing into the lead for the first time on lap 34.

Moyer, who started second and led from the initial green flag, managed to surge back ahead on lap 35. But Miller came off the inside of turn four to grab the top spot on the 36th circuit.

And that, for all intents and purposes, was the race. There was no mechanical failure while leading like Miller experienced last year in WoO LMS events at VMS and The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, or a late-race caution flag to allow a regular Outlaw to pass him for the lead like in his heartbreaking defeat to Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., last season at Ohio’s Sharon Speedway.

Actually, there was a late caution flag in Friday’s A-Main, on lap 45 for Moyer’s exploded tire. But it was a welcomed sight for Miller, who at the time was feeling pressure from Francis while racing through lapped traffic.

“The fans like to see that heated-battle stuff, but as a driver, you’re thinking what’s best for you,” Miller said when asked his thoughts on the race’s seventh and final caution flag. “And it was definitely best for me to have a clean racetrack (for the last five circuits).

“There’s no doubt about it, when you get to lapped traffic, they’re probably better racers than I am because they do it for a living and they race so much. They have 20-some races in already this year and I had 20-some laps in all year until tonight, so it definitely benefited me to have the last caution come out.

“Some nights it didn’t benefit me, but it was our night tonight.

“I’m honestly kind of speechless right now.”

Miller paused, and then added, “I love racing with the Outlaws. Just to be up there battling with them is all I ever dreamed of – and hopefully now that we got the first win, maybe we can get another one.”

Francis, 40, was congratulatory to Miller.

“We had a shot (to take the lead) a few different times,” said Francis, who, like Miller as well, ran American Racer tires. “I think my car was probably more maneuverable in traffic than his was, but he drove a good race. He did what he had to do and got the win.

“I know what it means to him (to win a WoO LMS event),” he added. “It’s something you always try to do your whole life, and it’s definitely no surprise that he was able to do it. Especially in this part of the country, there’s quite a few guys who have a legitimate shot to win one of these shows when we roll in.”

The 50-year-old Moyer, meanwhile, was searching for answers for his tire problem.

“The way it’s blistered-up looking, I think it may have been getting low (on air) before it blew out,” said Moyer, eyeballing his destroyed Hoosier tire alongside his trailer after the race. “The car sorta changed around on me a little bit there (at mid-race), went away from how good it was at the beginning.

“(Miller) did a good job,” he added. “I ain’t making any excuses, but something happened there and we’re trying to figure it out. I would’ve liked to been able to finish the thing. It would’ve been interesting.”

Finishing in positions 6-10 was Eckert, who made his second consecutive start behind the wheel of his new Raye Vest-owned Rayburn car; top-finishing WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., who drove a Rocket No. 39 normally steered by his Sweeteners Plus teammate Tim McCreadie; Chub Frank, who rallied from the rear of the field after he spun in turn four on lap 14 and was clipped by Richards while in the top five; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who scored his first top-10 finish of 2008; and Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del.

Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., finished 11th after starting 23rd because a heat-race slap of the wall between turns three and four forced him to use a provisional to gain entrance to the A-Main.

Thirty-eight dirt Late Models were signed in for the event, which was run on a warm, comfortable spring evening.

Moyer was the fast-timer for the second time in five events this season, turning a lap of 17.338 seconds.

Heat winners were Moyer, Clanton, Francis and Richards, and the B-Mains were captured by Coffey and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.

The WoO LMS returns to action on Tuesday night (April 15) at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., where the 50-lap ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ will pay $10,000 to win.


For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.


Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Rumble on the River IV’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

1. (4) Jeremy Miller/50 $10,650

2. (1) Steve Francis/50 $5,100

3. (8) Josh Richards/50 $3,000

4. (5) Clint Smith/50 $2,500

5. (3) Shane Clanton/50 $2,000

6. (7) Rick Eckert/50 $1,700

7. (17) Vic Coffey/50 $1,650

8. (6) Chub Frank/50 $1,300

9. (14) Tim Fuller/50 $1,200

10. (12) Ricky Elliott/50 $1,100

11. (23) Shannon Babb/50 $1,050

12. (11) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,000

13. (10) Jason Covert/50 $950

14. (19) Jamie Lathroum/50 $900

15. (13) Billy Decker/50 $850

16. (20) Keith Jackson/50 $800

17. (2) Billy Moyer/50 $770

18. (18) John Blankenship/50 $750

19. (21) Joe Isabell/49 $730

20. (15) Austin Hubbard/44 $700

21. (24) Kenny Pettyjohn/44 $700

22. (16) D.J. Myers/36 $700

23. (22) Danny Johnson/31 $700

24. (9) Brian Shirley/21 $700



NOTE: Keith Jackson, Jamie Lathroum and Kenny Pettyjohn were penalized to the rear of the field for the start after reporting late to the lineup



Time of Race: 37 Mins., 31.187 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 2.051 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 7 (Laps 2, 14, 17, 21, 21, 31, 45)

Lap Leaders: Moyer (1-33); J. Miller (34); Moyer (35); J. Miller (36-50)

Provisional Starters: Babb, Pettyjohn

Rookie of the Race: Vic Coffey ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Jeremy Miller ($500)

Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($50): Keith Miller, Gary Deese, Randy Hurley, Derrick Hurley (Jeremy Miller team)

Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Billy Moyer (half-off tire warmers)

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 17.338

2. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 17.425

3. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 17.515

4. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 17.684

5. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 17.699

6. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 17.770

7. 11H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 17.789

8. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 17.793

9. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 17.843

10. 43A-Jason Covert/York Haven, PA 17.845

11. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 17.948

12. 38-Kenny Pettyjohn/Millsboro, DE 17.990

13. 7H-Darryl Hills/Great Mills, MD 17.990

14. 11J-Richard Jarvis Jr./Ocean City, MD 18.018

15. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 18.027

16. 07-Keith Jackson/Odenton, MD 18.041

17. 39-Vic Coffey/Leicester, NY 18.057

18. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 18.131

19. 3R-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 18.149

20. 45-Ricky Elliott/Seaford, DE 18.154

21. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 18.173

22. 7J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY 18.189

23. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 18.217

24. 70J-D.J. Myers/Greencastle, PA 18.276

25. 25W-David Williams/Avenue, MD 18.347

26. 6-Jamie Lathroum/Mechanicsville, MD 18.382

27. 27J-Danny Johnson/Phelps, NY 18.388

28. 55-Roland Mann/Chaptico, MD 18.392

29. 91-Billy Decker/Unadilla, NY 18.446

30. 2*-Jared Powell/Charlottesville, VA 18.470

31. 44G-Deane Guy/Clements, MD 18.662

32. 72*-Jared Teegarden/Chesterfield, VA 18.888

33. 00T-Tom Cohick/Gloucester, VA 19.373

34. 11s-Jim Stine/Middleburg, PA 19.485

35. 00b-Bert Culpepper Jr./Chesapeake, VA 19.724

36. 8-Norman Short Jr./Georgetown, DE 19.752

37. 18s-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 19.980

38. 7R-Ross Robinson/Georgetown, DE 21.404

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Moyer, Frank, Shirley, Decker, Coffey, Hills, Williams, Beardsley, Cohick, Babb

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Clanton, Eckert, Covert, Fuller, Jarvis, Lathroum, Isabell, Powell, Stine (DNS) R. Robinson

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Francis, C. Smith, Lanigan, Hubbard, Blankenship, D. Johnson, B. Robinson, Guy, Culpepper

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, J. Miller, Elliott, Myers, Jackson, Pettyjohn, Teegarden, Mann, Short

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Coffey, Lathroum, Isabell, Williams, Hills, Powell, Stine, Cohick, Beardsley (DNS) Jarvis, Babb, R. Robinson

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Blankenship, Jackson, D. Johnson, Mann, B. Robinson, Pettyjohn, Guy, Teegarden, Short, Culpepper

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of April 11 - 5 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Billy Moyer 3-4-4-$54,220-710 (-0)

2. Josh Richards 1-3-4-$20,800-698 (-12)

3. Steve Francis 0-3-4-$16,500-688 (-22)

4. Rick Eckert 0-1-4-$13,250-680 (-30)

5. Darrell Lanigan 0-0-4-$9,300-666 (-44)

6. Shannon Babb 0-3-3-$19,850-664 (-46)

7. Chub Frank 0-1-3-$11,550-660 (-50)

8. Clint Smith 0-2-2-$8,610-642 (-68)

9. Shane Clanton 0-2-2-$9,300-618 (-92)

10. Tim Fuller 0-0-1-$6,240-608 (-102)

11. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$5,990-602 (-108)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$5,820-568 (-142)

13. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$1,210-412 (-298)

14. (tie) Darren Miller 0-0-3-$5,700-404 (-306)

14. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$1,600-404 (-306)

16. (tie) Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-314)

16. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-1-1-$7,050-396 (-314)

16. (tie) Vic Coffey 0-0-1-$2,820-396 (-314)

19. Billy Decker 0-0-0-$2,320-340 (-370)

20. Ricky Elliott 0-0-1-$1,910-303 (-407)

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, UMP DIRTcar Racing Public Relations
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update: American Late Model Series/Northern Allstars Season Previews; Points Season Underway



EVANSVILLE, IN – April 11, 2008 –



READY TO ROLL: Another season of regional touring-series Super Late Model action under the UMP DIRTcar Racing banner is getting the green flag.

Two popular UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned tours – the Sunoco American Late Model Series and Northern Allstars Late Model Series – are once again offering attractive schedules, purses and points-fund payouts in 2008 for Midwest racers who yearn to test their skills at a variety of different tracks.

“Both the Sunoco American Late Model Series and the Northern Allstars give weekend racers a chance to participate in a touring environment,” said Sam Driggers, the director of UMP DIRTcar Racing. “Generally all the races are within a four-hour radius of where the competitors live, so they can follow a series without a huge amount of traveling.”

Each tour focuses on a specific area of the Midwest. The Sunoco ALMS revolves predominantly around Ohio, southern Michigan and eastern Indiana, while the NALMS has Illinois as its epicenter and stretches out to tracks in Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky that are close to the ‘Land of Lincoln’ border.

A regional staple since 1995, the 2008 Sunoco ALMS boasts an 18-event schedule that will visit 11 different tracks. The featured facility is again Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio, near Toledo, which will host a series-high four races (May 24, June 21, Aug. 2, Aug. 30). Other tracks set to hold multiple dates are Attica (Ohio) Raceway (three, including the scheduled opener on April 11) and Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio (two).

Notable stops on the ’08 ALMS include Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, a track that has been enlarged from a quarter- to a three-eighths-mile during the off-season and will see the tour visit for the first time ever on July 19; Moler (Ohio) Raceway Park, another newcomer to the series with a date set for July 18; Hartford (Mich.) Motor Speedway, which is back on the sked (Aug. 23) for the first time since 2005; and Fremont (Ohio) Raceway, which hosts the season-ender on Sept. 13 after being absent from the ’07 series.

Returnees from the 2007 ALMS include I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich.; Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio; Gas City (Ill.) I-69 Speedway; and Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Ind. (the farthest west the tour will travel).

Defending ALMS champion Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich., is expected to be a familiar face to fans on this year’s tour, which will pay its champion a cool $5,000 from a points fund that rewards the top-20 finishers in the points standings.

The NALMS, meanwhile, recently released a 2008 schedule of 15 events at nine different tracks. Five tracks – La Salle (Ill.) Speedway, Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill., Kamp Motor Speedway, Macon (Ill.) Speedway and Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway – appear on the slate multiple times, but La Salle’s first scheduled program, the season-opening ‘Frostbuster’ this Saturday night (April 12), was canceled due to poor weather.

Macon, the high-banked, one-fifth-mile bullring known for its close-quarters racing, has a series-high three dates scheduled – on May 26, June 1 and Aug. 16. The June 1 event will serve as the anchor leg of the annual ‘Tri-Track Challenge’ swing of the NALMS, which also includes stops on May 30 at Paducah and May 31 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo.

Tracks returning from the ’07 NALMS include Macon, Kamp, Paducah, I-55, Highland (Ill.) Speedway and Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. I-57/I-64 Raceway in Mt. Vernon, Ill., which was formerly named Mt. Vernon Raceway, is back on the tour after a year’s absence, while La Salle and Quad City are set to host the series for the first time.

Quad City will bring the curtain down on the 2008 NALMS in a big way with a two-day spectacular, on Oct. 10-11, that will be co-sanctioned by the MARS DIRTcar Series. The event will offer a five-figure first-place prize.

Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill., is the defending champion of the NALMS.

For more information, visit www.americanlatemodelseries.com  and www.northern-allstars.com.

2008 Sunoco American Late Model Series Schedule: April 11, Attica (OH) Raceway Park; April 12, Attica Rain Date; April 19, Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, OH; May 3, I-96 Speedway/Lake Odessa, MI; May 9, Limaland Motorsports Park/Lima, OH; May 24, Oakshade Raceway/Wauseon, OH; May 25, Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, OH; May 30, Gas City I-69 Speedway/Gas City, IN; May 31, Kamp Motor Speedway/Boswell, IN; June 20, Attica (OH) Raceway Park; June 21, Oakshade Raceway/Wauseon, OH ($3,000 to win); July 18, Moler Raceway Park/Williamsburg, OH; July 19, Lawrenceburg (IN) Speedway; August 1, Attica (OH) Raceway Park; August 2, Oakshade Raceway/Wauseon, OH; August 23, Hartford (MI) Motor Speedway; August 30, Oakshade Raceway/Wauseon, OH; August 31, Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, OH; September 13, Fremont (OH) Raceway

2008 Northern Allstars Late Model Series Schedule: April 12, LaSalle (IL) Speedway (canceled); April 13, Quad City Speedway/East Moline, IL; April 26, Kamp Motor Speedway/Boswell IN; May 10, Highland (IL) Speedway; May 26, Macon (IL) Speedway; May 30, Paducah (KY) International Raceway (Tri-Track Challenge); May 31, I-55 Raceway/Pevely, MO (Tri-Track Challenge); June 1, Macon (IL) Speedway (Tri-Track Challenge); August 16, Macon (IL) Speedway; August 29, Tri-City Speedway/Pontoon Beach IL; August 30, I-57/I-64 Raceway/Mt. Vernon, IL; September 12, Paducah (KY) International Raceway; September 14, LaSalle (IL) Speedway; September 27, Kamp Motor Speedway/Boswell IN; October 10, Quad City Speedway/East Moline, IL; October 11, Quad City Speedway/East Moline, IL

FIRST RELEASE: The UMP DIRTcar Racing national points battle is now off and running.

The initial release of the national standings for all eight UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned divisions came this week. Drivers will continue to earn points in UMP DIRTcar events through the weekend of Sept. 28, with the points finale for the Super Late Models and Modifieds set for the first weekend in October in the UMP DIRTcar Nationals at Eldora Speedway.

Beginning on Jan. 1 and running to March 30, drivers were able to count their one best finish per week toward the UMP DIRTcar points race. All events count from the weekend of April 4 through the weekend of Sept. 28.

Six-time UMP DIRTcar Summernationals champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., currently sits atop the Super Late Model national points standings. He built his early lead thanks to five UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned wins already this season – three during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Florida’s Volusia Speedway in February, plus victories at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Illini 100’ on April 5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway that was co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar.

The 2008 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model champion will be determined using a driver’s best 40 finishes.

Tim Hancock of Mt. Olive, Ill., leads the UMP DIRTcar Modified points standings. He got his year off on the right foot with a victory during February’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.

The UMP DIRTcar Modified national champ will be determined using a driver’s top 35 finishes.

UMP DIRTcar RACING INFO: Log on to www.dirtcar.com  for more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing.

ATTENTION: Any UMP DIRTcar track or race team with news that could be used in the ‘UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update’ release can e-mail the info to Kevin Kovac at kkovac@dirtcar.com.

UMP DIRTcar Racing National Points Standings (as of April 6):

Super Late Models:

1. Billy Moyer 375
2. Steve Francis 355
3. Dennis Erb Jr. 352
4. Jason McBride 278
5. Mike Hammerle 256
6. Earl Pearson Jr. 244
7. Justin Rattliff 237
8. Chub Frank 229
9. Tim McCreadie 225
10. Josh Richards 225
11. Michael Kloos 219
12. Rick Eckert 217
13. Shane Clanton 210
14. Darrell Lanigan 206
15. Rob Underwood 206
16. Clint Smith 205
17. Tim Fuller 204
18. Michael England 195
19. Rusty Griffaw 189
20. Ed Dixon 187

Open-Wheel Modifieds:

1. Tim Hancock 601
2. Kent Robinson 475
3. Randle Sweeney 458
4. Denny Schwartz 440
5. George Gilbert 413
6. Jeff Matthews 380
7. Gary Cook Jr. 378
8. Chad Evans 341
9. Dave Hess Jr. 339
10. Mike Spatola 326
11. Hank Schlindwien 322
12. Tommie Seets 316
13. Kenny Schrader 312
14. Jason Miller 303
15. Kevin Hastings 267
16. Chad Poston 260
17. Jeff Leka 259
18. Eric Bruce 258
19. Jess Stovall 253
20. Lance Broadus 242
20. Justin Houston 242

Pro Late Models:

1. Levi Ashby 217
2. Duane Hodges 187
3. Jason Jones 179
4. Johnny Pursley 165
5. Caleb Ashby 155
6. Phil Gregory 149
7. Darrell Hartman 149
8. Tait Davenport 141
9. Donald Suiters 134
10. Jason Davis 130

Sportsman:

1. Anthony Jackson 215
2. Paige Doyle 213
3. Steve Hardesty 206
4. Kindell Keating 185
5. Donnie Ellis 184
6. Bruce Westerman 175
7. Shawn Daugherty 170
8. Jimmy Cummings 157
9. Steve Branton 155
10. Bobby Richardson 152
10. Patrick Vareika 152

Limited Modifieds:

1. Brandon Buhler 215
2. John Paul Talkington 163
3. Bryan Barrett 155
4. David Jackson 153
5. Eric Ceglelski 150
6. Kevin Dupont 150
7. Ray Allen Kulhanek 150
8. Lee Fincher 137
9. Barry Moody 136
10. Scott Bettes 135
10. Will Duncan 135

Street Stocks:

1. Travis Myers 440
2. Aaron Penton 353
3. Brad Taylor 339
4. Randy Arnold 271
5. Grady Christian 225
6. Jon Wix 220
7. David Miller Jr. 203
8. Steven Chatman 198
9. Brandon Tibaldi 177
10. Doug Nastai 175

Factory Stocks:

1. Scott Ponder 82
2. Casey Crane 77
3. Mickey Hines 75
4. John Schrand 72
5. William Burton 70
6. Dustin Clary 67
7. Bodi Henry 65
8. Randy Dietzel 62
9. Cody Vanosdol 60
10. Brian Crawford 57

4-Cylinders:

1. Travis Staats 220
2. Mark Comitale 219
3. Patrick Carpenter 200
4. Jeff Rittenberry 195
5. Keith Kaylor 190
6. Michael Rittenberry 190
7. Brandon Kuck 185
8. Tommy Saunders 185
9. Tim Shull 178
10. Jimbob Scott 175

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘At A Glance’: Tour Heads East To Virginia Motor Speedway On Friday Night (April 11)



CONCORD, NC – April 9, 2008 –



WHAT:

* The World of Outlaws Late Model Series heads east on Friday (April 11) for the ‘Rumble on the River IV’ at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Va.

Friday’s 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event will mark the WoO LMS’s only appearance of the 2008 season at Bill Sawyer’s pristine Virginia Motor Speedway, which has been a tour staple for four consecutive years.

WHEN:

* On Friday at Virginia Motor Speedway, competitor gates will open at 3 p.m., with spectator gates unlocked at 5 p.m. On-track activities will begin at 7 p.m. with hot laps.

On the WoO LMS undercard will be VMS’s Truckin Thunder Sportsman and Budweiser Modifieds, with both divisions competing in hot-lap time trials and 25-lap features.

WHERE:

* Already one of the top dirt-track facilities in the nation, the half-mile Virginia Motor Speedway underwent more improvements during the off-season with the addition of a high-rise grandstand section and the application of new clay.

The track is located on U.S. Route 17, just a short drive from Richmond, Fredericksburg, Southern Maryland and the Hampton Roads area.

TICKETS:

* Adult tickets are $30, with seniors and military members $25, students 13–17 admitted for $12, children 7–12 years old $5 and kids 6-and-under free. VMS will also offer a ‘Family Pack’ ticket – two adults and two children 12 and under – for $60.

Fans can visit the track’s website at www.vamotorspeedway.com  to print out $5-off discount coupons good for adult, senior and military tickets.

Pit Passes will be $30.

VMS INFO: For more information about the ‘Rumble on the River IV,’ check www.vamotorspeedway.com or call the track office at 804-758-1VMS.

PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:

* This will be the fifth visit to Virginia Motor Speedway since 2004 by the WoO LMS.

Winners include Clint Smith (April 9, 2005), Rick Eckert (April 15, 2006), Shannon Babb (April 14, 2007) and Shane Clanton (July 20, 2007).

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

* Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., will bring the tour points lead and a three-race win streak to VMS. The 50-year-old dirt Late Model legend will attempt to match the WoO LMS modern-era (2004-present) consecutive-win record of four established by Rick Eckert in 2006.

* Defending WoO LMS champ Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., will make his first start of the season in his new car owner Dale Beitler’s general ‘neck of the woods.’ Beitler, who hired Francis to drive his Reliable Painting No. 19 car during the off-season, hails from West Friendsville, Md.

* Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., returns to VMS after enjoying great success there in last year’s two WoO LMS appearances. He finished second in the April event and won the summer show.

* Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., is hoping to find the magic that brought him a victory in the track’s first-ever WoO LMS event three years ago. He’s struggled in his last three VMS starts – finishing 21st in 2006 and 16th (April) and eighth (July) last year – and hasn’t finished on the lead lap in the last two WoO LMS events (in Mississippi and Illinois).

* Like Smith, Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who was the WoO LMS points runner-up in 2007, hasn’t run especially strong at VMS since finishing fourth in the ’05 inaugural. His finishing position has fallen in each of his last three starts at VMS – eighth in ’06, and 10th (April) and 11th (July) in ’07.

* Rick Eckert of York, Pa., has been one of the most successful special-show invaders in recent years at VMS, not only winning the ’06 ‘Rumble on the River II’ but also several other events. The track figures to be a prime place for Eckert to snap his frustrating 61-race WoO LMS winless streak.

* Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., loves racing at big, fast tracks, so VMS should be a great venue for him. But he’s still looking for his first top-five finish there in a WoO LMS event, having placed seventh (’05), 12th (’06), sixth (April ’07) and 14th (July ’07).

* Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., looks to be on the verge of breaking into VMS’s Victory Lane. A big-track specialist, he finished second in last July’s WoO LMS event there after engaging in a memorable battle for the lead with Clanton.

* Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., the 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year, showed he can get around the VMS oval last year, finishing a strong third in the July WoO LMS event.

* Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., is excited to return to VMS after making his first career visits to the track last year. He improved from an 18th-place finish in the April show to ninth in July – and feels the experience he gained will help him climb even higher this year.

* Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., was victorious last April at VMS in his first-ever competitive start in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He didn’t enter the July event and returns this year as the driver of NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer’s new dirt Late Model team.

* Also expected to compete in the event are such drivers as John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., who is planning to travel with the Outlaws again in 2008; WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y., and Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y.; Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., who led last July’s WoO LMS event at VMS before suffering mechanical trouble in his Charles Buckler-owned car; two-time defending MACS tour champ Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa.; Bo Feathers of Winchester, Va.; Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y.; and Delaware drivers Ricky Elliott, Austin Hubbard and Norman Short Jr., a veteran big-block Modified driver who plans to make his dirt Late Model debut in a car formerly driven by Jeremy Miller.

In addition, 2006 WoO LMS champ Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., is undecided about entering the event, and 15-year-old Larry Wight of Phoenix, N.Y., whose father John fields the Gypsum Racing cars driven by, among others, Fuller and Decker, is tentatively scheduled to make his dirt Late Model debut hot off a $5,000 DIRTcar Sportsman-Modified victory on April 5 at Black Rock Speedway in Dundee, N.Y.

COMING UP:

* The WoO LMS moves north for the ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ on Tues., April 15, at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., then heads south for the grand finale of a three-race Eastern swing – the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. A $50,000 top prize from a total purse of $200,000 will be on the line in the much-anticipated program at Lowe’s.

LISTEN ON THE INTERNET:

* Fans who can’t make it to the track can listen to the action live thanks to the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts of WoO LMS events, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. Those who sign up for a free membership can enjoy advanced features while listening to the races, such as text chat and live scoring via AMB.it.

WoO LMS INFO:

* Log on to the WoO LMS website at www.worldofoutlaws.com.

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of April 5 - 4 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Billy Moyer 3-4-4-$53,450-594 (-0)

2. Josh Richards 1-2-3-$17,800-554 (-40)

3. (tie) Rick Eckert 0-1-3-$11,550-542 (-52)

3. (tie) Steve Francis 0-2-3-$11,400-542 (-52)

5. Darrell Lanigan 0-0-4-$8,300-540 (-54)

6. Shannon Babb 0-3-3-$18,800-536 (-58)

7. Chub Frank 0-1-2-$10,250-526 (-68)

8. Clint Smith 0-1-1-$6,110-500 (-94)

9. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$5,240-488 (-106)

10. Shane Clanton 0-1-1-$7,300-478 (-116)

11. Tim Fuller 0-0-0-$5,040-476 (-118)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$5,120-466 (-128)

13. Darren Miller 0-0-3-$5,700-404 (-190)

14. (tie) Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-198)

14. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-1-1-$7,050-396 (-198)

16. (tie) Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$480-300 (-294)

16. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$900-300 (-294)

18. Dennis Erb Jr. 0-0-0-$2,390-293 (-301)

19. Jimmy Owens 0-1-2-$4,300-276 (-318)

20. Jeep VanWormer 0-0-0-$1,920-274 (-320)

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Virginia Motor Speedway Like A Home Away From Home For World of Outlaws Late Model Series Star Shane Clanton



Tour Visits Bill Sawyer’s Gorgeous Track For ‘Rumble on the River IV’ This Friday Night (April 11)



JAMAICA, VA – April 8, 2008 – Last year Virginia Motor Speedway was like a home away from home for Shane Clanton.

The driver known as ‘Coconut’ hopes he’ll once again get comfortable at Bill Sawyer’s gorgeous track when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series returns there this Friday night (April 11) for the ‘Rumble on the River IV.’

Clanton, 32, of Locust Grove, Ga., scored a victory and a second-place finish in the two WoO LMS events held in 2007 at the half-mile oval, so there’s obviously no track on this year’s schedule that he’s more enthused about visiting.

“I’m definitely looking forward to going there,” bottom-lined Clanton. “Something clicked there for us last year and hopefully we’ll be able to carry it over. We sure could use a good run.”

After his two previous starts at VMS brought him pedestrian finishes of eighth (2005) and 10th (2006), Clanton certainly discovered the fast way around the track in ’07, coming very close to sweeping the pair of 50-lap A-Mains. He finished second to Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., in the ‘Rumble on the River III,’ on April 14, after setting fast time, winning a heat and leading laps 1-21, then outdueled Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., to capture the memorable ‘Summer Sizzler 50’ on July 20.

Clanton’s triumph came in one of last season’s most exciting WoO LMS events. He was involved in all six of the race’s lead changes, including the deciding move on lap 45 when he criss-crossed lanes with Lanigan amid lapped traffic off turn four to gain command. Clanton’s final victory margin over Lanigan was a mere 0.539 of a second.

What was the secret to Clanton’s success at VMS last year? Just look under the hood.

“I think the key is that we have a real good motor program,” said Clanton, whose Ronnie Dobbins-owned team uses Custom Racing Engines. “At (Virginia), motor helps a lot. It’s got long straightaways, and you carry speed into the corners.

“We got a brand-new piece we’re gonna carry back there (on Friday), so we hope it’s better than the one we ran last year and we can run up front again.”

Calling VMS a top-notch facility that’s run by “the nicest people in the business,” Clanton would like nothing better than to use his trip there as a springboard for his ’08 WoO LMS season. He’s been a contender in all four tour events run so far, but he has only one top-five finish to show for his speed and thus ranks 10th in the points standings.

“I’m excited to go back to Virginia,” smiled Clanton.

Clanton will pull into VMS on Friday as part of a talented 2008 WoO LMS driver roster that boasts Babb, Lanigan, defending champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.; 2007 Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller; and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.

Current WoO LMS points leader Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who owns three tour championships, also plans to enter the event in search of his fourth consecutive series victory.

Other drivers expected include John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., who is planning to return as a WoO LMS fulltimer this season; ’08 Rookie of the Year contenders Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y., and Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y.; Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., who was a contender to win last July’s WoO LMS event at VMS; defending MACS tour champ Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa.; and Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del.

VMS’s competitor gates will open at 3 p.m. on Friday, with spectator gates unlocked at 5 p.m. On-track activities will begin at 7 p.m. with hot laps.

On the WoO LMS undercard will be VMS’s Truckin Thunder Sportsman and Budweiser Modifieds, with both divisions competing in hot-lap time trials and 25-lap features.

Adult tickets are just $30, with seniors and military members $25, students 13–17 admitted for $12, children 7–12 years old $5 and kids 6-and-under free. VMS will also offer a ‘Family Pack’ ticket – two adults and two children 12 and under – for $60.

Fans can visit the track’s website at www.vamotorspeedway.com  to print out $5-off discount coupons good for adult, senior and military tickets.

Pit Passes will be $30.

Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway is located on U.S. Route 17, just a short drive from Richmond, Fredericksburg, Southern Maryland and the Hampton Roads area.

For more information, check www.vamotorspeedway.com  or call the track office at 804-758-1VMS.

Additional info on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: DIRTcar Racing
Josh Becker, Dirtvision.com
315-834-6606 • jbecker@dirtcar.com 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Showdown at Sarvertown Exclusively on DIRTVision.com

Late model fans that won’t be able to attend the World of Outlaws Late Model Series Showdown at Sarvertown at Lernerville Speedway on April 15th, DIRTVision.com has the remedy. For only $8.99 users can purchase the Showdown at Sarvertown cybercast subscription. By purchasing the subscription users will be able to catch all the action through LIVE streaming video. Users will also have access to DIRTVision.com’s live chat rooms as well as up to date race notes. Don’t miss your chance to see late models biggest names exclusively on the DIRTVision cybercast. To purchase a subscription simply register at www.DIRTVision.com, activate your account and click on the subscription tab. Users can sign-up using a Visa or MasterCard on our secure payment server at DIRTVision.com.

The DIRTVision cybercast is the exclusive live video streaming broadcast of the World Racing Group. To purchase all 2008 live video events users can sign up for the DIRT Track Ticket for only $59.99, a savings of over $100 Dollars. All users must have high speed internet (DSL, Cable, T1) with a 400kb download to view live streaming video. Make sure to sign up early to avoid any technical problems.

The DIRTVision Cybercast is presented by BUTLERbuilt professional seating systems. Call 704-784-1027 and Let BUTLERbuilt build you an advantage.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Wrapping Up The ‘Illini 100’ At Farmer City Raceway



CONCORD, NC – April 7, 2008 –

WHAT A SHOW: A 55-car field teeming with top-notch talent. A record, standing-room-only crowd. A racy, multi-groove track surface.

And, best of all, a dramatic 100-lap A-Main that will be remembered as one of the best dirt Late Model races of this or any other season.

Roll all that up, and there’s no doubt that the inaugural ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway was a smashing success.

The excitement of the biggest dirt Late Model event ever run in the state of Illinois impressed virtually everyone, including World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular Shannon Babb, a native of nearby Moweaqua, Ill., who grew up racing at the quarter-mile oval.

“I knew this would be a good place to have a big show, but honestly, I didn’t think it would be that good,” a smiling Babb said after engaging in an A-Main battle for the ages that saw him finish second by scant feet to his racing mentor Billy Moyer. “It was awesome, and hopefully it’ll be a yearly deal now and just get bigger and bigger.”

That’s the plan for the ‘Illini 100,’ says Farmer City promoter Don Hammer. He was thrilled with the competitor and fan support for the first-time, $20,000-to-win event and envisions the weekend developing into a must-see early-season show on the dirt Late Model calendar.

GOOD REVIEWS: Hammer and his Farmer City track crew whipped up a racing surface that produced fast speeds (witness Moyer’s new track record lap of 11.973 seconds during Friday’s time trials) and entertaining action with a minimum of roughness.

“It had a hole or two in the track, but heck, it’s springtime,” said Moyer, who credited Hammer with doing “a good job” on the surface. “Myself, I think every track should have a bump or two. It doesn’t bother me any. It gives you something to do.”

SMART DECISION: Babb had second thoughts about his tire-compound choice when he rolled onto the track for the pre-race driver introduction.

So what did he do? He conferred with crewmen Tommy Grecco and Jay Hunt and then changed the left-rear and right-front tires of his Clint Bowyer-owned Rayburn car, giving him three soft 20-compound tires and a hard 40-compound shoe on the right-rear.

By WoO LMS rules, the tire change on the racetrack forced Babb to the rear of the 24-car field for the start. But he was scheduled to start 19th, so moving back five spots wasn’t a major problem.

“I walked out there (for the pre-race festivities) and seen how much traction was left on the bottom,” said Babb. “Right there I thought we should go softer on tires. If you have the same thing as everybody else you’re gonna be equal, so we made the change and it worked real good for us.”

Babb came close to becoming only the second driver in the WoO LMS’s modern era (2004-present) to win a tour event after starting last. Tim McCreadie holds the last-to-first distinction, accomplishing the rare feat on June 5, 2005, at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.Dak.

WANTED MORE: Defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis summed up the ‘Illini 100’ with a couple simple phrases.

“It was a helluva race,” he said. “That’s about all you can say about it.”

Francis, who briefly led the race on two occasions, finished third, just a few car lengths behind the lead Moyer/Babb pair. He felt his outcome could have been a little better.

“We were a little tight getting in to the middle of the corner,” Francis said of his Dale Beitler-owned No. 19. “But what kinda buried us was when Moyer got into us (with a slide-job for second place on lap 82). We lost a lot of ground there.

“Really, we were lucky to hold on to third, so I was happy with everything. It came down to where we needed track position, and we didn’t have it.”

WRONG PLACE: Francis was able to survive without losing a position when Moyer’s slide up in front of him on the 82nd lap forced him to check up, but the chain-reaction jam-up behind him cost WoO LMS regulars Chub Frank and Josh Richards.

Frank, who was running fourth at the time, slowed to avoid Francis and was hit by Tim McCreadie. The contact bent Frank’s left-side bodywork into his tire, leaving him with a blown tire on lap 88 that relegated him to a 12th-place finish.

“I was just trying to keep my car in one piece and get a good finish out of it,” said Frank. “The line I was using wasn’t the fastest, but I ran it because I was trying to stay out of the holes so I wouldn’t tear a left-rear tire off like I saw so many guys doing.

“We were just hoping for a good points night, but we got caught anyway and got a flat.”

Richards, meanwhile, ran in the top five for much of the distance. But his ill-fated positioning in the Moyer/Francis aftermath cost him three spots and he only recovered enough to finish sixth.

The 20-year-old Richards had high hopes for the 100 after timing second-fastest, winning a heat and capturing the 8-lap dash on Friday night, but his Rocket No. 1 was off just a little on Saturday night. He said changing the machine to a four-link from a swing-arm setup just before the A-Main and going too hard with their tire choice hampered his effort.

NICE RUN: Former Farmer City champ Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., came on late in the ‘Illini 100’ to place fifth – his best finish ever in WoO LMS competition.

The 25-year-old Steidinger, who finished second in the 2007 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national points standings, earned the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ prize for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a tour event and wasn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points. He wondered afterward, however, if he could have advanced even further forward from the 17th starting spot if he hadn’t gone too hard with his tire choice by bolting four 40-compound tires on his Rayburn mount.

ETCETERA…

* Darrell Lanigan had to use a provisional to start the A-Main after being unable to recover from a slide back in his heat race, but he persevered through a mid-race pit stop to finish eighth in the 100. He remained one of only two drivers (Moyer is the other) to score a top-10 finish in all four WoO LMS events contested this season.

* Racing at a track where he cut his teeth and just three days after celebrating his 27th birthday, Brian Shirley was feeling good about his chances. But after running in the top five early he slipped back and ultimately slowed on lap 62 with a broken j-bar on his Ed Petroff-owned Rayburn.

* Rick Eckert debuted a new Rayburn car with a seventh-place finish in the 100. He slipped into the top five momentarily in the shakeup that accompanied the Moyer/Francis action on lap 82, but, with his car’s tow knocked out from hitting a rut, he wasn’t able to stay there for the remainder of the distance.

* Tim Fuller’s hopes were quickly dashed in the 100 when a broken right-rear axle forced him to the infield on lap five. He returned many laps down to collect some extra points.

* After spending a mid-week day testing his swing-arm car at his sponsor Don Cliburn’s Jackson (Miss.) Speedway (along with Eckert and Fuller), Clint Smith was primed and ready for the ‘Illini 100.’ But he struggled in the A-Main, spinning on the homestretch on lap 26 and finishing one lap down in 14th.

* Shane Clanton spent most of the distance as a fringe top-five runner, but he faded to 11th at the finish after an apparent sealed right-rear tire hampered him in the closing laps.

NEXT UP: The WoO LMS heads to Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Va., on Fri., April 11, for the 50-lap ‘Rumble on the River IV’ and then visits Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., for the 50-lap ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ on Tues., April 15.

OUTLAWS INFO: To learn more about the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Streaking Moyer Outduels Babb For Dramatic $20,000 Victory In Inaugural ‘Illini 100’ At Farmer City Raceway



FARMER CITY, IL – April 5, 2008 – The streaking Billy Moyer thrilled a record crowd to win Saturday night’s inaugural World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City Raceway.

The 50-year-old dirt-track legend from Batesville, Ark., pocketed $20,150 – the biggest dirt Late Model prize ever paid out in the state of Illinois – for capturing a wildly competitive event that featured eight lead changes among five drivers and was in doubt until the checkered flag.

It was the third straight WoO LMS victory for Moyer, a three-time tour champion who is enjoying an early-season run for the ages. On the WoO LMS alone, he’s already earned $53,450 in four events.

“Everything is just awesome right now,” said Moyer, who started third but led just three laps of the ‘Illini 100,’ including the final two. “We’re just riding it out as long as we can.”

Moyer’s triumphant performance dashed the hopes of Moweaqua, Ill.’s Shannon Babb, a former Farmer City regular who was hoping to give his hometown fans a reason to party. Babb, 34, was forced to start last rather than his scheduled 19th spot in the 24-car field because he changed two tires after reporting to the track for the A-Main lineup, but he appeared ready to score a memorable victory when he grabbed the lead from defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., on lap 55.

Alas, Moyer found another gear in his Clements-powered Victory Circle M1 Chassis – a machine he has helped develop – and nosed into the lead for the first time on lap 85. Babb regained command the following circuit, but Moyer used the inside groove to slip in front on lap 99 and then repelled Babb’s final-corner challenge to cross the finish line less than a half car length ahead.

Babb, driving NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer’s Traeger Grills Rayburn car, settled for second behind his racing mentor.

“He’s had a real good year and I’m tickled to death for him,” a gracious Babb said of Moyer. “It was a lot of fun to race for the win with him. I wish we would’ve won, but I’m happy to run second to him.”

Francis finished a close third in Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting Rocket, right in the tire tracks of Moyer and Babb. He started from the pole position and led twice, for laps 51-54 and lap 73, but couldn’t stay there largely because he was “a little tight in the middle of the corner.”

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., came from the 20th starting spot to finish fourth in the Sweeteners Plus Rocket after being unable to overtake Francis in the final laps, and 2006 Farmer City Raceway track champion Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., who started 17th, made a late-race move to place a WoO LMS career-best fifth in his Rayburn mount.

For much of the distance it appeared that Moyer might finally be mortal. He fell to fifth at the start, then spent nearly three-quarters of the event trying to pass Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., for third.

After Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, who surged from the fifth starting spot to take the lead from Frank on lap 10 and ultimately built the race’s largest edge, saw his bid end on lap 50 because he caught a turn-four rut wrong and spun into the wall, Moyer could only watch as Babb completed his march from the rear by passing Francis for the top spot. Moyer was simply too busy with Frank.

“Chub dealt me fits more than anybody on the track,” said Moyer, who set a new track record of 11.973 seconds around the quarter-mile oval on Friday night. “It was a hundred-lapper, so I was just trying to be there for the end. But I knew I had a pretty good car if I could ever get by (Frank), and I just couldn’t do it for the longest time.

“It seemed like whenever I’d go low, he’d go low, and whenever I’d go high, he’d go high. I just couldn’t get in position to get by him like the other guys did.”

Moyer finally overtook Frank for third on lap 74 – the same circuit that Babb ended Francis’s quick one-lap stint back in front. Moyer secured second place on lap 82 when he executed a ‘slider’ on Francis between turns one and two – Francis checked up to avoid hitting Moyer and lost ground, but he held on to third – and almost immediately caught Babb.

After being unable to keep the lead when he nipped Babb at the line on lap 85, Moyer was concerned that the race’s 10th and final caution flag, on lap 88 for a flat tire on Frank’s car, might do him in.

“I didn’t want to see that yellow, because (Babb’s) crew guys were telling him where I was at on the track,” said Moyer, who opted to run four 30-compound Hoosier tires under the event’s UMP DIRTcar 10-20-30-40 rule. “He kinda took my line on the restart, so I had to drive by the seat of my pants.

“At the end I went back down to the bottom. He probably should’ve stayed there, but he went up (higher) searching around (for traction) and I was able to get a run on him (for the lead coming to the white flag). I don’t know if I would’ve beat him if he had stayed down there.”

Babb, who won last year’s WoO LMS event at Farmer City, mourned a final sprint to the finish that was a couple laps too long for him.

“I figured (Moyer) probably wasn’t good in the stop-and-go deal on the bottom, so I took his line a little bit (after the last restart),” said Babb, who ran three 20-compound tires with a hard 40-compound shoe on the right-rear. “But 12 laps to go was a little bit too long. I was soft on the left-rear (tire), and it kinda died on me. It was good for about five laps and then I had to search (for more traction).”

Babb nearly found enough bite with an inside charge through turns three and four on the final lap, but he fell short by a matter of feet.

“I turned off of four and had good traction, but he barely beat me to the line,” said Babb. “It’s hard to make up a car length when your cars are equal.”

With the venerable fairground track’s standing-room-only crowd charged up by the exciting finish, Babb rehashed their battle in Victory Lane.

“I just told him, ‘Congratulations,’” said Babb. “He’s a tough old fart. He’s gonna keep beating us up as long as he can.”

Moyer has won multiple races at Farmer City over the years, including the 2006 WoO LMS event, but he knows he earned his money in the ‘Illini 100.’

“It was fun tonight,” said Moyer, the current WoO LMS points leader. “This is home for (Babb). I knew he’d run good here. On that (one-way) radio when (the officials) gave the lineups, I kept hearing him getting up through there, and I was like, ‘He’s coming.’

“You gotta run good here to beat him.”

Finishing in positions 6-10 was Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who maintained second place in the WoO LMS points standings; Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who debuted a new Rayburn car; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who used a provisional to start the A-Main; Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill., who recovered from pit stops to change flat tires on laps 32 and 52; and Darren Miller of Chadwick, Ill.

The program began with twin B-Mains won by Babb and McCreadie.

Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., earned $1,000 for winning the 25-lap Non-Qualifiers Race, which paid out Farmer City’s regular Friday-night UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model purse.

The WoO LMS returns to action on Fri., April 11, at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Va.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Illini 100’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

1. (3) Billy Moyer/100 $20,150

2. (19) Shannon Babb/100 $10,100

3. (1) Steve Francis/100 $6,000

4. (20) Tim McCreadie/100 $5,000

5. (17) Wes Steidinger/100 $4,500

6. (6) Josh Richards/100 $3,000

7. (12) Rick Eckert/100 $2,750

8. (23) Darrell Lanigan/100 $2,500

9. (8) Steve Sheppard Jr./100 $2,300

10. (10) Darren Miller/100 $2,100

11. (13) Shane Clanton/100 $1,900

12. (2) Chub Frank/100 $1,800

13. (16) Jeep VanWormer/100 $1,700

14. (14) Clint Smith/99 $1,650

15. (24) John Blankenship/99 $1,600

16. (11) Dennis Erb Jr./86 $1,580

17. (9) Tim Fuller/78 $1,560

18. (18) Ryan Dauber/66 $1,540

19. (4) Brian Shirley/62 $1,520

20. (5) Brian Birkhofer/52 $1,500

21. (15) Brady Smith/50 $1,500

22. (22) Kevin Weaver/42 $1,500

23. (10) Chris Simpson/21 $1,500

24. (21) Tim Lance/12 $1,500

NOTE: Shannon Babb was penalized to the rear of the field for the start because he changed tires after reporting to the track for the lineup, and Ryan Dauber, Tim Lance, Kevin Weaver and John Blankenship were penalized to the rear for reporting late to the lineup

Yellow Flags: 10 (Laps 5, 14, 26, 32, 45, 50, 52, 62, 80, 88)

Lap Leaders: Frank (1-9); Birkhofer (10-50); Francis (51-54); Babb (55-72); Francis (73); Babb (74-84); Moyer (85); Babb (86-98); Moyer (99-100)

Provisional Starters: Darrell Lanigan, John Blankenship

Rookie of the Race: Vic Coffey ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Wes Steidinger ($500)

Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Steve Norris (Moyer)

Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Chub Frank (half-off tire warmers)

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Shannon Babb, 2. Tim Lance, 3. John Blankenship, 4. Scott Bull, 5. Eric Smith, 6. Donny Walden, 7. Danny Johnson, 8. B.J. McCammon, 9. Joe Isabell, 10. Junior Shickel, 11. Brandon Sheppard, 12. Mike Petersak, 13. Darrell Lanigan

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Kevin Weaver, 3. Matt Taylor, 4. Jason Feger, 5. Vic Coffey, 6. Ted Loomis, 7. Jimmy Dehm, 8. Chris Dick, 9. Jeremy Conaway, 10. Russ Adams, 11. Daren Friedman, 12. John Rogers, 13. Ryan Unzicker

Drivers Not Starting B-Mains: Jordan Bland, Cory Daugherty, Jayme Zidar, Kyle Logue, Tony Izzo Jr., Richie Hedrick, Rich Bell, Ace Ihm, Jill George, Joe Harlan

Non-Qualifiers Race Finish (25 laps): 1. Jason Feger ($1,000); 2. Eric Smith ($700); 3. Danny Johnson ($500); 4. Ted Loomis ($400); 5. Matt Taylor ($325); 6. Donny Walden ($275); 7. Jeremy Conaway ($250); 8. Chris Dick ($225); 9. Jimmy Dehm ($200); 10. Daren Friedman ($175); 11. Joe Isabell ($150); 12. Mike Petersak ($150); 13. Johnny Waters ($150); 14. Russ Adams ($150); 15. Junior Shickel ($150); 16. Brandon Sheppard ($150); 17. B.J. McCammon ($150); 18. Ryan Unzicker ($150); Scott Bull – DNS; Vic Coffey – DNS; Jon Rogers – DNS

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of April 5 - 4 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Billy Moyer 3-4-4-$53,450-594 (-0)

2. Josh Richards 1-2-3-$17,800-554 (-40)

3. (tie) Rick Eckert 0-1-3-$11,550-542 (-52)

3. (tie) Steve Francis 0-2-3-$11,400-542 (-52)

5. Darrell Lanigan 0-0-4-$8,300-540 (-54)

6. Shannon Babb 0-3-3-$18,800-536 (-58)

7. Chub Frank 0-1-2-$10,250-526 (-68)

8. Clint Smith 0-1-1-$6,110-500 (-94)

9. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$5,240-488 (-106)

10. Shane Clanton 0-1-1-$7,300-478 (-116)

11. Tim Fuller 0-0-0-$5,040-476 (-118)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$5,120-466 (-128)

13. Darren Miller 0-0-3-$5,700-404 (-190)

14. (tie) Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-198)

14. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-1-1-$7,050-396 (-198)

16. (tie) Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$480-300 (-294)

16. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$900-300 (-294)

18. Dennis Erb Jr. 0-0-0-$2,390-293 (-301)

19. Jimmy Owens 0-1-2-$4,300-276 (-318)

20. Jeep VanWormer 0-0-0-$1,920-274 (-320)

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.
 
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Red-Hot Billy Moyer Has Shot At World of Outlaws Late Model Series Consecutive Win Record During Upcoming East Coast Swing



$10,000-To-Win Tour Shows At Virginia Motor Speedway On April 11 & Lernerville Speedway On April 15 Precede Big Circle K Colossal 100 On April 18-19



CONCORD, NC – April 7, 2008 – Billy Moyer has a chance to make World of Outlaws Late Model Series history when the tour begins a three-race East Coast swing this Friday night (April 11) at Virginia Motor Speedway.

The hottest dirt Late Model driver in the nation is riding a three-race WoO LMS winning streak, giving him a shot at tying Rick Eckert’s modern-era (2004-present) tour record of four consecutive victories in Friday night’s 50-lap ‘Rumble on the River IV’ event at the pristine half-mile VMS oval owned by Bill Sawyer.

A $10,000 triumph at VMS would set Moyer up to gain sole possession of the consecutive-win standard on Tues., April 15, at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., which hosts the 50-lap ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ that offers another 10-grand top prize.

Of course, Moyer, 50, of Batesville, Ark., is a veteran of more than three decades behind the wheel, so he knows that he’s best served enjoying his three straight wins rather than talking about the possibility of four – or more – in a row.
 

“We’re just riding it out,” Moyer said of his streak, which includes nine overall dirt Late Model wins to date. “You just never know what tomorrow is gonna bring in this sport.

“For sure, we’re not gonna continue to win every race. I hope we can, but I know everything is just going our way right now.”

Calling himself “rejuvenated” running new Victory Circle M1 Chassis cars that he helped design, Moyer has strung together WoO LMS wins in the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals finale on Feb. 16 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.; the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on March 29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss.; and the inaugural ‘Illini 100’ on April 5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway. His only loss in four tour events this season was a third-place finish in the opener on Feb. 14 at Volusia, leaving him in the points lead with $53,450 in earnings.

Though he hasn’t committed to following the 2008 WoO LMS in pursuit of a fourth career points title, Moyer has plans to come east for Virginia Motor, Lernerville and the $50,000-to-win Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Moyer might have to make some creative travel arrangements for himself, however, because his father, Billy Moyer Sr., is scheduled to undergo a medical procedure on his heart this Wednesday in Iowa. Moyer plans to travel to his native Hawkeye State to be with his father, who attended Saturday night’s ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City. It’s possible that doctors could determine the elder Moyer needs more serious heart surgery such as a bypass, so Moyer is uncertain whether he’ll drive east with his team or have to fly in to meet them at VMS.

The WoO LMS modern-era consecutive win record of four in a row that Moyer is chasing was established in 2006 by York, Pa.’s Eckert. In late-May and June Eckert rolled to successive victories at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minn., Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., Western Kentucky Speedway in Nebo, Ky., and East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, Ala.

Demonstrating the degree of difficulty associated with stringing together consecutive wins on the ultra-competitive WoO LMS, Moyer is only the fourth driver who has registered three straight triumphs since 2004. He joins Eckert, defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky. (the first to win three in a row, in 2005) and 2006 WoO LMS titlist Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (2005).

During the 2007 season, the longest winning streak was two races, accomplished three times – by Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.

Moyer does hold the alltime WoO LMS consecutive-win record when the 1988 and 1989 seasons, which were overseen by late Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Series founder Ted Johnson, are included. The legendary driver known as ‘Mr. Smooth’ won five straight tour races in both ’88 and ’89.

Virginia Motor is a track that remains on Moyer’s Victory Lane hit-list. He owns a record 34 career WoO LMS wins (12 since 2004), but he’s come up empty in three previous visits to the track in Jamaica, Va.

Moyer’s best VMS run with the Outlaws came in 2006, when he finished third. He was 11th in the 2005 event and a dismal 21st in the April 2007 show, which saw him use a provisional to start the A-Main after a heat-race accident.

The four-tenths-mile Lernerville oval has treated Moyer a bit better. He has one WoO LMS victory there, on April 29, 2005.

On-track activities are scheduled to begin this Friday night at 7 o’clock at Virginia Motor Speedway, which is located on U.S. Route 17 just a short drive from the Richmond, Fredericksburg, Southern Maryland and Hampton Roads areas.

For more information on VMS, call 804-758-1VMS or visit www.vamotorspeedway.com,  where $5-off discount coupons are available for adult, senior and military tickets to Friday’s WoO LMS ‘Rumble on the River IV.’

Lernerville Speedway, which is located north of Pittsburgh, has time trials scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. start on Tues., April 15.

More information on Lernerville is available by calling 724-353-1511 or logging on to www.lernerville.com.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.lernerville.com.
 

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com
 


Moyer Blazing Fast In ‘Illini 100’ Qualifying, But Richards Pulls Off Impressive Victory In Dash On Friday Night At Farmer City Raceway



FARMER CITY, IL – April 4, 2008 – Billy Moyer continued his scorching early-season tear by setting a new track record and winning a heat during Friday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Illini 100’ qualifying program at Farmer City Raceway.

But 20-year-old Josh Richards gave Moyer – and the big crowd on hand for the start of the history-making weekend – something to think about when he overtook the 50-year-old dirt-track legend to win the 8-lap Douglas Pontiac-GMC-Dodge Dash.
Batesville, Ark.’s Moyer, who enters the weekend riding a two-race WoO LMS win streak and leading the tour points standings, shattered the two-year-old dirt Late Model track record during Friday’s 55-car time-trial session. His qualifying lap of 11.973 seconds – the first sub-12-second circuit in the history of the quarter-mile oval – lowered the standard of 12.348 seconds that Ryan Dauber of Tonica, Ill., had established on April 14, 2006.

Moyer also rolled to victory in the first of six 10-lap heat races driving his battle-tested Victory Circle M1 Chassis. He had spent the previous night practicing exclusively with his other Victory Circle car, which had just one race on its ledger, but decided to run the machine that has carried him to seven of his eight wins this season.

“The newer car felt good last night,” said Moyer, “but I just couldn’t keep this one in the trailer. I just feel too good in this car.

“I think I probably ran the wrong tires in the heat, but we hung on. I think we’ll have a good shot at (Saturday’s ‘Illini 100’).”

Shinnston, W.Va.’s Richards, who won the WoO LMS season opener and sits second in the tour points standings, was second-fastest in time trials and won the second heat. He then pulled off the move of the night in the dash for the night’s heat winners and two fastest qualifiers, squeezing between Moyer and the outside wall off turn four to seize the lead and march to victory.

“When I got up there (Moyer) started to squeeze me, but I was like, ‘I’m already committed now,’” described Richards. “I stayed up there and had barely enough room to get by him.”

Richards, who prefers big tracks but calls Farmer City his favorite bullring because “it’s all about momentum,” drove a Mark Richards Racing Enterprises Rocket car with a swing-arm suspension. His pass of Moyer gave him a big-time confidence boost heading into Saturday night’s $20,000-to-win ‘Illini 100.’

“He’s definitely been on top of his game all year,” Richards said of Moyer. “I feel like if we can run with him, we can run with anybody.

“I feel pretty good about our chances. I think as long as we make the right adjustments, we should be able to get a good finish and maybe even win (the 100).”

Joining Moyer and Richards as heat-race victors was Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa.

The six heat-race winners will redraw on Saturday night for the top-six starting positions in the ‘Illini 100,’ which is billed as the biggest dirt Late Model race ever run in the state of Illinois.

Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who cut his teeth racing at Farmer City and won last year’s WoO LMS event at the fairgrounds track, failed to qualify in the third heat. He was outgunned for the lead at the start by Shirley and ended up at the rear of the field a few circuits later after sliding off the backstretch, but he rallied to make a bid for the final transfer spot before a flat left-rear tire caused his Bowyer Dirt Motorsports No. 18 to slow on the last lap.

No driver had a more trying night than Richie Hedrick of Urbana, Ill. He flipped his car during hot laps, then brought out a backup car and crashed it during the sixth heat in an incident that left him with a hand injury.

Saturday night’s action is scheduled to begin at 6 o’clock. The program includes two B-Mains, a 25-lap Non-Qualifiers Race paying $1,000 to win and the 24-car ‘Illini 100,’ plus an undercard of UMP DIRTcar Modified racing.


For more information, visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or www.worldofoutlaws.com.
 
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 11.973 (New Track Record)

2. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 12.128

3. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 12.196

4. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 12.200

5. 28d-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 12.207

6. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 12.268

7. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 12.304

8. 24U-Ryan Unzicker/El Paso, IL 12.335

9. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 12.361

10. 25J-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 12.370

11. 9-Eric Smith/Bloomington, IL 12.414

12. 15-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 12.424

13. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 12.443

14. 5s-Steve Sheppard Jr./New Berlin, IL 12.447

15. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 12.498

16. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 12.510

17. J1-Wes Steidinger/Fairbury, IL 12.514

18. 99J-Jimmy Dehm/Lexington, IL 12.546

19. 32d-Darren Miller/Chadwick, IL 12.562

20. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 12.568

21. 83-Scott Bull/Fairbury, IL 12.572

22. 16-Tony Izzo Jr./Utica, IL 12.599

23. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 12.633

24. 39x-Vic Coffey/Leicester, NY 12.664

25. S10-Junior Shickel/Bloomington, IL 12.666

26. 23L-Ted Loomis/Kingston, IL 12.678

27. 89-Daren Friedman/Forest, IL 12.682

28. 32-Chris Simpson/Oxford, IA 12.688

29. 75-Tim Lance/Peoria, IL 12.695

30. 64-Ryan Dauber/Tonica, IL 12.713

31. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 12.730

32. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 12.750

33. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 12.869

34. B12-Kevin Weaver/Gibson City, IL 12.880

35. 7L-Kyle Logue/Cisco, IL 12.918

36. B5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 12.921

37. Z-Joe Harlan/El Paso, IL 12.980

38. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 12.988

39. 92-B.J.. McCammon/Danville, IL 13.004

40. 56-Ace Ihm/Hazel Green, WI 13.008

41. F15-Jeremy Conaway/Springfield, IL 13.011

42. 0-Richie Hedrick/Urbana, IL 13.012

43. 1W-Donny Walden/Towanda, IL 13.019

44. 22-Chris Dick/Deland, IL 13.061

45. 96-Cory Daugherty/Blue Mound, IL 13.099

46. 3L-Matt Taylor/Springfield, IL 13.167

47. 27J-Danny Johnson/Phelps, NY 13.196

48. 61-Jon Rogers/German Valley, IL 13.250

49. 5-Johnny Waters/Jonesboro, AR 13.296

50. 21b-Rich Bell/Sheffield, IL 13.362

51. JP7-Mike Petersak/Danville, IL 13.515

52. 9z-Jayme Zidar/Greenfield, WI 13.635

53. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, WI 13.926

54. 74-Russ Adams/Princeville, IL 18.029

55. 7J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Moyer, Miller, Clanton, Blankenship, Isabell, Walden, Lanigan, Waters, Shickel, Harlan

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Richards, S. Sheppard, C. Smith, McCreadie, Dick, Loomis, Bland, Unzicker, Bell

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Shirley, Fuller, B. Smith, Bull, Babb, McCammon, Daugherty, Petersak, Friedman

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Francis, Simpson, VanWormer, Weaver, Taylor, Feger, Zidar, Izzo, Ihm

Heat No. 5 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Frank, Erb, Steidinger, Lance, E. Smith, D. Johnson, Logue, Conaway, George

Heat No. 6 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Birkhofer, Eckert, Dauber, Coffey, Dehm, Rogers, Adams, Hedrick (DNS) B. Sheppard

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Moyer Looks To Extend World of Outlaws Late Model Series Win Streak This Weekend At Farmer City Raceway



Former Tour Champ Among Two Dozen Drivers On Hand For Thursday Night’s ‘Illini 100’ Practice Session



FARMER CITY, IL – April 3, 2008 – Billy Moyer is shooting for a World of Outlaws Late Model Series hat trick this weekend.

And the dirt Late Model legend couldn’t pick a better place to go for three straight tour wins than Farmer City Raceway, a quarter-mile bullring that is high on his list of favorite tracks.

“I love Farmer City,” said Moyer, who began prepping for this weekend’s inaugural ‘Illini 100’ by participating in the oval’s open practice session on Thursday night. “It’s a neat, racy place. You start out (the night) hammer-down on the cushion against the wall and by the (feature) race it’s like an ice cube out there and you’re running everywhere, and that’s what I like.

“I’m excited about running a big show (at the track).”

Moyer, 50, of Batesville, Ark., was among a group of more than two dozen early-arriving drivers on hand for Thursday night’s ‘Illini 100’ warmup. Hot laps stretched for over an hour-and-a-half before rain began to fall, ending the session early.

A WoO LMS A-Main winner at Farmer City in 2006, Moyer was clocked turning some of the fastest practice circuits. He made all his laps behind the wheel of a Victory Circle M1 Chassis that he has raced only once previously this season, in a UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned event that he won on March 14 at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway.

Moyer also has brought his battle-tested Victory Circle mount – the car he’s driven to seven wins already this season, including the last two WoO LMS events – to Farmer City. He hasn’t ruled out running it in the $20,000-to-win ‘Illini 100,’ which kicks off with time trials and heat races on Friday night (April 4) and concludes with last-chance events and the 100-lap headliner on Saturday night (April 5).

“I’m still debating which car I want to run,” Moyer said after climbing from his Banner Valley Hauling No. 21 amid raindrops. “This (newer) car felt pretty good and I’m already thinking of things I want to change on it, but that other car – man, I know that one’s good.

“This race pays $20,000 to win, so I gotta have my best artillery.”

Moyer certainly has a pair of superb options for the biggest dirt Late Model event ever run in the state of Illinois. The cars he’s developed with the Bakersfield, Calif.-based Victory Circle shop have proven to be hot commodities.

“This car has been awesome ever since we unloaded it (this year),” said Moyer, who also credits his new Clements engines as a major factor in his ’08 success. “We just keep tweaking it with little things every week.

“That’s what makes it so much fun for me again. I know the car is good, so it makes me be able to concentrate on tires and stuff, instead of worrying about trying to have the right setup on the car as I have in the past. It’s awesome – it kinda lets me watch the racetrack more and worry about picking the right tires.

“The phone’s ringing off the hook with people wanting to buy these things,” continued Moyer, who plans a trip to California next week to visit with the Victory Circle gang. “I’m gonna have to draw the line here somewhere because I don’t have the time to do it all. We’re still working on things to make ‘em better, believe it or not.”

‘ILLINI 100’ PRACTICE NOTES: Joining Moyer with fast times on the stopwatch were such drivers as Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who won last year’s WoO LMS event at Farmer City; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.; defending WoO LMS champ Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.; Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.; and Rick Eckert of York, Pa…

Eckert looked strong behind the wheel of a brand-new Rayburn car owned by Raye Vest…

Sweeteners Plus Racing teammates Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., spent time dialing in their mounts. Coffey is driving one of McCreadie’s No. 39 cars with an ‘x’ added to its door…

A car-destroying flip last Saturday night at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., didn’t force teenage WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Joe Isabell home to Pennellville, N.Y.

Isabell and his JIR Motorsports teammate, Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y., were in the pits for Thursday’s hot laps. Isabell was behind the wheel of a Rayburn car that his father, Jeff, purchased on Tuesday from an Illinois team after noticing on the internet that it was for sale.

The younger Isabell and the JIR crew dropped a motor in their new car and hung a body on it during the week…

Lisa Shickel of Bloomington, Ill., saw her practice night end in rough fashion. Just as the final hot-lap session was waved off because rain was making the track surface too slick, Shickel slid over the berm between turns one and two and executed a slow rollover.

Shickel wasn’t injured…

*****
For more information on the ‘Illini 100,’ visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, UMP DIRTcar Racing Public Relations
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update: Steidinger Ready For ‘Illini 100’ At Farmer City; Track Lidlifters Abound; UMP Points Season Begins



EVANSVILLE, IN – April 2, 2008 –



DEFENDING HOME TURF: Wes Steidinger is happy that his homestate of Illinois is hosting its biggest dirt Late Model event ever this weekend (April 4-5) – the inaugural ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City Raceway.

He’s thrilled that the race is taking place at a quarter-mile bullring where he’s cut his teeth as a racer.

And he’ll be ecstatic if he can represent the Land of Lincoln by winning the $20,000 top prize on the line in Saturday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series spectacular.

“It would mean so much if I was able to win it,” said Steidinger, a 25-year-old from Fairbury, Ill., who is a rising star in the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model ranks.

Coming off a career year that saw him win 20 features at eight different tracks and finish second in the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national points standings, Steidinger has the confidence that he can race toe-to-toe for the ‘Illini 100’ trophy with the top stars of the WoO LMS and the UMP DIRTcar circuit. The site of the show, which is co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar, buoys him even more.

Yes, Steidinger knows how to get around the tough Farmer City fairgrounds oval. He’s turned many laps there, and his list of Farmer City successes is highlighted by the 2006 points title.

“Our standards are pretty high for this weekend,” said Steidinger, who set the second-fastest time and won a heat race during the 2006 WoO LMS program at Farmer City. “We know we can be competitive, but we’re gonna have to strap in, run as hard as we can and make the right decisions.”

Steidinger relishes the opportunity to battle the dirt Late Model division’s biggest names at his hometrack in an event that will draw national attention.

“To have a race like this in our backyard is good for us and all the local racers,” said Steidinger. “We get a chance to run for big money close to home, and we can get some good publicity if we run good.

“I’m not sure if it’s a realistic goal for us or not, but someday I’d like to be able to run a fulltime series (like the WoO LMS) and running good in big races like this is a step toward that.

“I just want to say thanks to Don and Bonnie Hammer (Farmer City promoters) for putting this show on,” he added.

Steidinger, who followed the entire UMP DIRTcar Summernationals for the first time in 2007 and finished third in the points, plans to attempt the grueling month-long tour of the Midwest again this season with his family-operated team. He’s hoping that the new addition that’s soon coming to his operation will help bring an improvement in his Summernationals effort – and perhaps a UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national title as well.

In a week or two, Steidinger is scheduled to take delivery of a new Victory Circle M1 Chassis. It will put him with a growing brigade of drivers who are looking to the Bakersfield, Calif.-based manufacturer that has seized the headlines thanks to its collaborative effort with dirt Late Model legend Billy Moyer, who has been the division’s hottest racer so far this year.

“We hope that working with someone as knowledgeable as Billy will help us get there (to major-contender status),” said Steidinger, who will continue to campaign his customary Rayburn cars as well this season. “A deal to do something with Billy came up, and it was something we couldn’t pass up.

“I can’t wait to get in the (Victory Circle) car.”

For more information on the ‘Illini 100,’ which features time trials, heat races and a dash on Fri., April 4, and B-Mains, a Non-Qualifiers’ Race and the 100-lap A-Main on Sat., April 5, visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or www.worldofoutlaws.com.

LITTLE TRACK, BIG OPENER: Macon (Ill.) Speedway – the high-banked, one-fifth-mile oval co-owned by Bob Sargent and NASCAR personalities Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace and Tony Stewart – kicks off its 2008 season this Saturday night (April 5) with the first annual ‘Spring Fling’ event.

The track’s UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models will race for $1,500 to win and the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds will chase a $1,000 top prize. Qualifying against the clock will also return for the Super Late Models beginning on opening night.

Macon’s 2008 Super Late Model season is shaping up to be an exciting one, with a couple new programs sure to attract interest. First, the track has announced a Super Late Model driver loyalty promotion that will give a racer a chance to win $10,000 – if the victor in Macon’s 50-lap special on Aug. 16 has raced at the track 10 or more times in ’08 up to that point, their first-place share that evening will be increased with a $7,000 bonus, pushing the prize to an even 10-grand. Also, the track has teamed up with Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill., to form the ‘Midwest Big Ten Series,’ consisting of five races at each track and a $10,000 points fund.

NEW NAME: This Saturday night (April 5) will serve as the 2008 lidlifter at I-57/I-64 Raceway in Mt. Vernon, Ill. – the track formerly called Mt. Vernon Raceway.

A full compliment of UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned divisions will be in action, including Super Late Models, Modifieds, crate-engine Pro Late Models, Street Stocks and Four-Cylinders.

The Pro Late Model drivers will get a reward for entering the opener: each racer who competes in the division on Saturday night will receive a free pit pass for the next three weeks of racing at I-57/I-64.

READY TO GO: The first green flag of the 2008 season at Montgomery County Speedway in New Florence, Mo., is scheduled to fly this Saturday night (April 5), with racing for UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Limited/Pro Modifieds, Street Stocks and Four-Cylinders.

Montgomery County is the only track in Missouri that runs Limited/Pro Modifieds under UMP DIRTcar sanction.

MORE OPENERS: Other notable tracks set to go UMP DIRTcar racing for the first time in 2008 include Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., which is set to host the first weekly UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Super Late Model and Street Stock events in the Keystone State on Fri., April 4, and Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., which will host sanctioned action for Pro Late Models, Street Stocks and Four-Cylinders on Fri., April 4.

LET THE COUNTING BEGIN: This weekend marks the official start of the weekly UMP DIRTcar Racing points season.

All races will count toward a driver’s accumulated points through Sept. 28.

UMP DIRTcar RACING INFO: Log on to www.dirtcar.com  for more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing.

ATTENTION: Any UMP DIRTcar track or race team with news that could be used in the ‘UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update’ release can e-mail the info to Kevin Kovac at kkovac@dirtcar.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com
 


World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘At A Glance’: Inaugural ‘Illini 100’ At Farmer City Raceway On April 4-5



FARMER CITY, IL – April 2, 2008 –



WHAT:

* The World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Month of Money’ continues this weekend (April 4-5) at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, where teams will compete in the inaugural ‘Illini 100.’

A $20,000 top prize from a purse of nearly $100,000 will be on the line in the blockbuster 100-lap A-Main, which is billed as the biggest dirt Late Model event ever run in the state of Illinois.

With the venerable Farmer City facility sitting in the heart of UMP DIRTcar Racing country, the ‘Illini 100’ will be co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar and pit the expansive weekly sanctioning body’s best drivers against the touring stars of the WoO LMS.

WHEN:

* A two-day WoO LMS format will be in effect for the ‘Illini 100,’ with time trials and heat races taking place on Friday night (April 4) and the B-Mains and 100-lap headliner set for Saturday night (April 5).

Added attractions for the dirt Late Model racers include a special $1,000-to-win Douglas Pontiac-GMC-Dodge Dash for heat winners and two fast-timers on Friday night, and a 25-lap Non-Qualifiers Race on Saturday night that offers Farmer City’s regular weekly UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model purse ($1,000 to win/$150 to start) as well as UMP DIRTcar points.

An open practice session – with grandstand admission free to the public – is scheduled to kick off the weekend on Thursday (April 3) from 5-9 p.m.

Farmer City’s other weekly UMP DIRTcar Racing divisions will get a chance to perform in the spotlight during the weekend as well. With Friday night being Farmer City’s regular evening of racing, the track’s UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Sportsman and Street Stocks will race a weekly show on the April 4 undercard, and then the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds will return on Saturday night for a $1,000-to-win special.

Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday, with competition to follow.

A raindate of Sun., April 6, has been reserved for the ‘Illini 100.’

If needed, an additional raindate of April 25-26 (with an open practice on April 24) has been announced.

WHERE:

* Farmer City Raceway is a high-banked, quarter-mile oval conveniently located on Route 150 just off Exit 159 of Interstate 74, at the Farmer City/Dewitt County Fairgrounds.

TICKETS:

* Reserved seats for the ‘Illini 100’ – encompassing the top-10 rows of the covered grandstand and the south bleachers – are on sale until April 3. After that date, all remaining seats will be general admission.



Two-night weekend pass tickets are $40. Single-night tickets will be $15 for Friday and $30 for Saturday, with ages 6-15 admitted for $5 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Children 5 and under will receive free admission to the spectator area.

Two-night adult pit passes are $60. Kids 4-11 will be allowed in the pit area for $15 each day, and children 3 and under will be admitted to the pits free of charge.

CAMPING, ETC.:

* Camping on the Farmer City Raceway grounds is free for the weekend (no hookups). The 60 drive-in parking spots around the outside of turns one and two, meanwhile, can be reserved for the weekend at a price of $50.

MEET THE DRIVERS, EXPERIENCE THE TRACK:

* Fans will want to arrive early on Saturday because they’ll have an opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with the drivers during a special one-hour autograph session in the grandstand area before the start of racing.

In addition, several lucky fans will have a chance to race around the quarter-mile oval alongside a WoO LMS driver with the debut of the track’s new two-seater dirt Late Model. Details about rides in the two-seater will be available at the speedway.

FARMER CITY RACEWAY INFO:

* For more information, visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or call 217-737-7134 or 217-828-0078.

PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:

* The ‘Illini 100’ will be the third WoO LMS event contested at Farmer City Raceway.

Billy Moyer was victorious in the first tour event, on Aug. 14, 2006, while Shannon Babb was triumphant on April 27, 2007. Both races were run over the 50-lap distance.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

* Leading the WoO LMS charge to Farmer City will be the tour’s pair of regulars from central Illinois: Shannon Babb of Moweaqua and Brian Shirley of Chatham.

Babb will make his first appearance before his home crowd since making an off-season move to the new dirt Late Model team owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer. The 34-year-old standout, whose car still carries his familiar No. 18, won last year’s WoO LMS event at Farmer City.

Shirley, who will enter the race after celebrating his 27th birthday on Wednesday, traveled most of the WoO LMS for the first time in 2007 and scored his first career tour victory along the way. One of two series regulars this season under the age of 30, the driver known as ‘Squirrel’ is focused on following the entire schedule in search of the championship.

Babb enters the ‘Illini 100’ as the hotter central Illinois driver, coming off a third-place finish in the WoO LMS ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on March 29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss. Shirley experienced bad luck in that event, finishing 24th after dropping out early with an overheating engine.

* No dirt Late Model driver in the country is hotter right now than Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who will arrive at Farmer City having won two straight WoO LMS events and eight races overall in 2008. The three-time WoO LMS champion also leads the tour’s current points standings through three events.

Moyer, 50, is very excited about bringing his Victory Circle M1 Chassis to the ‘Illini 100.’

“I love Farmer City,” said Moyer. “It’s a neat, racy place.”

* Defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., will be looking to erase memories of his subpar outing last week in Mississippi when he hits the track at Farmer City, a bullring where he’s been a contender in both tour visits.

A uncharacteristically quiet 13th-place finisher in the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ after being unable to recover from ignition-wire trouble during Friday’s time trials that put his Beitler Motorsports team behind, Francis finished third in the 2006 WoO LMS event at Farmer City and fourth in last year’s A-Main.

* Rick Eckert of York, Pa., the second-winningest driver on the WoO LMS since 2004 but without a Victory Lane visit since July 8, 2006, at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, has a brand-new Rayburn car that he expects to debut at Farmer City. The Rayburn mount is an addition to his Raye Vest-owned stable that already includes two GRT cars.

* Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who won all four of his 2007 WoO LMS A-Mains at tracks in the Midwest and finished fifth in the Farmer City event, is hoping a return to the region helps him reclaim his ’07 form. He enters the ‘Illini 100’ ranked ninth in the points standings after a forgettable outing in Mississippi – an unusual position for a driver who never ranked lower than third in the 2007 points race after the season opener.

* Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., the youngest WoO LMS regular (he turned 20 on March 22), admittedly is more comfortable racing on big tracks than small ovals. But he’s confident about his chances at Farmer City, where he finished third in last year’s WoO LMS A-Main.

* Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who finished fourth in the 2006 WoO LMS 50 at Farmer City, is off to a solid start on this year’s tour. After a sixth-place run last week in Mississippi (he moved from 10th to the top-five early before fading slightly), the ‘Bluegrass Bandit’ is tied for third with Eckert in the points standings.

Lanigan and Moyer are the only drivers who have finished among the top 10 in all three WoO LMS A-Mains run to date.

* Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., the 2006 WoO LMS champion who is now a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver, is planning to enter the ‘Illini 100’ in his familiar Sweeteners Plus No. 39. He’s finished as high as second at Farmer City, in the 2006 WoO LMS event.

T-Mac will be joined at Farmer City by his Sweeteners Plus Racing teammate Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., a 2008 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender.

* Well-known regional drivers with plans to pursue the ‘Illini 100’ trophy include defending UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national champ Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill.; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who won the 2007 UMP DIRTcar Summernationals event at Farmer City; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa; 2006 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.; John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.; Darren Miller of Chadwick, Ill.; former WoO LMS regular Eric Jacobsen of Sea Cliff Beach, Calif.; and UMP DIRTcar Summernationals regular Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.

* Farmer City favorites expected to defend their home turf against the invaders include former Farmer City titlist Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill.; defending track champion and 2007 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Rookie of the Year Scott Bull of Fairbury, Ill.; Eric Smith of Shirley, Ill.; Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill.; Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill.; and Junior Shickel of Bloomington, Ill.

LISTEN ON THE INTERNET:

* Fans who can’t make it to the track can listen to the action live thanks to the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts of WoO LMS events, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. Those who sign up for a free membership can enjoy advanced features while listening to the races, such as text chat and live scoring via AMB.it.

WoO LMS INFO:

* Log on to the WoO LMS website at www.worldofoutlaws.com.

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of March 29 - 3 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Billy Moyer 2-3-3-$33,300-444 (-0)

2. Josh Richards 1-2-2-$14,800-416 (-28)

3. (tie) Rick Eckert 0-1-2-$8,800-406 (-38)

3. (tie) Darrell Lanigan 0-0-3-$5,800-406 (-38)

5. Chub Frank 0-1-2-$8,450-400 (-44)

6. Steve Francis 0-1-2-$5,400-398 (-46)

7. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-48)

8. Shannon Babb 0-2-2-$8,700-390 (-54)

9. Clint Smith 0-1-1-$4,460-378 (-66)

10. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$3,640-368 (-76)

11. Tim Fuller 0-0-0-$3,480-360 (-84)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$3,600-354 (-90)

13. Shane Clanton 0-1-1-$5,400-350 (-94)

14. Jimmy Owens 0-1-2-$4,300-276 (-168)

15. Darren Miller 0-0-2-$3,600-274 (-170)

16. Rick Briggs 0-0-0-$1,800-268 (-176)

17. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-0-0-$2,050-254 (-190)

17. (tie) Dan Schlieper 0-0-1-$2,050-254 (-190)

19. Ivedent Lloyd 0-0-0-$1,550-232 (-212)

20. (tie) Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$330-225 (-219)

20. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$470-225 (-219)

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Two World of Outlaws Late Model Series Stars From Central Illinois Eye This Weekend’s $20,000 ‘Illini 100’ Prize At Farmer City Raceway



Local Heroes Babb & Shirley Primed For Biggest Dirt Late Model Race Ever Run In Illinois



FARMER CITY, IL – April 1, 2008 – Racing in front of family and friends at Farmer City Raceway has always meant a lot to local heroes Shannon Babb and Brian Shirley.

But now, with both central Illinois natives touring nationally as World of Outlaws Late Model Series regulars, coming ‘home’ to compete on familiar turf takes on some extra significance.

During this weekend’s inaugural ‘Illini 100’ at the venerable quarter-mile fairgrounds oval, Babb and Shirley will be showered with attention. They are, after all, local boys who have made good, two drivers who cut their teeth racing at Farmer City and now return as fulltime professional dirt-track stars traveling the country in search of a coveted World of Outlaws championship.

Both Babb, 34, of Moweaqua, Ill., and Chatham, Ill.’s Shirley, who turns 27 on April 2, are eyeing a victory in Saturday night’s ‘Illini 100’ – not only because it would give them a chance to celebrate with people they know and love, but also because the race’s $20,000 first-place prize makes it the biggest dirt Late Model event ever run in the state of Illinois.

“It would be so cool to win that race,” Babb said of the ‘Illini 100,’ which includes time trials and heat races on Friday night (April 4) and last-chance events and the A-Main on Saturday night (April 5). “It’s gonna be a killer show – the biggest race ever in Illinois, no doubt. Considering Farmer City is a track we grew up racing at, it would be so special to win it.”

“I think it would be great to see somebody from Illinois win the biggest dirt Late Model race we’ve ever had here,” added Shirley, one of the division’s top talents under the age of 30. “I’d love it to be me.”

Babb is especially anxious for the ‘Illini 100’ to arrive. The Farmer City event will provide him a rare opportunity to check in at his residence in Moweaqua, where his mail is still delivered but he hasn’t spent much time this year.

Babb’s home-away-from-home has been Welcome, N.C., where he’s been working alongside mechanics Jay Hunt and Tommy Grecco to effectively build a new dirt Late Model team for NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer. A dirt racer in his native Kansas before breaking into NASCAR, Bowyer decided to field a full-fledged dirt Late Model effort this season and hired Babb to be his driver.

“I’ve been home four days since we started this deal (with Bowyer in late-December),” said Babb, who currently works on Bowyer’s equipment in a shop at the Richard Childress Racing headquarters but will soon move into a separate facility a quarter-mile away. “I wasn’t expecting to spend as much time in North Carolina as I have, but I’m doing everything I can to help get this going.

“Last year (driving for Billy Moyer Sr.) we weren’t prepared to do this whole (WoO LMS) deal, so we’re working hard to be ready this year.”

A five-time winner and 10th-place finisher in the points standings on the 2007 WoO LMS despite dropping off the tour as a regular midway through the season, Babb has committed to following the entire 47-date, 23-state schedule this year with his Traeger Grills No. 18. He enters this weekend’s action ranked eighth in the WoO LMS points standings following a third-place finish in the tour’s third event of 2008, the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on March 29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss.

Babb is simply thrilled that a big-money, two-day show is finally taking place in the ‘Land of Lincoln’ – and that it’s at Farmer City, a track that he’s “gone around a million times” and won dozens of features at during his career.

“I’m telling you, it’s long overdue for Illinois to have a race like this,” said Babb, who won last year’s 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main at Farmer City. “I’m glad to see (Farmer City promoter Don) Hammer doing it. He’s a racer and he knows what people want. A big race (in Illinois) can be done, but nobody has ever put their foot forward and tried something this big.

“Illinois has a bigger fan base than most places. We’re in the heartland of the country, with so many racers, so many fans. I know this can work, and maybe it’ll be a good start for an on-going race.”

The ‘Illini 100’ loot won’t be earned easily, however.

“Farmer City is no easy place to get around, and the local guys run real good there,” said Babb. “A heat race there is pretty grueling sometimes, so you’re gonna have to play it cool. It’s gonna be tough on you to finish 100 laps there, but it’ll go faster than you think.”

Shirley, meanwhile, will be shooting to give himself a slightly-belated birthday present when the ‘Illini 100’ takes the green flag on Saturday night. A victory would bring back memories of his first career win at Farmer City, which he earned in 2004 when the track’s season opener was held on his birthday.

“The first two years I ran at Farmer City (2002 and 2003), we’d go there and get our asses handed to us,” said Shirley, a former flat-track motorcycle star who began racing dirt Late Models in 2002. “The competition there on Friday nights has always been the best of any track in the area, so running there kind of let you know where you were at competition-wise. We knew we had to get better.

“Well, that winter (before the ’04 season) I kept telling people that I was gonna win on opening night because it was on my birthday, and I did that,” added Shirley, who led Babb under the checkered in the 2004 lidlifter. “It would be cool to do the same thing again (in the ‘Illini 100’).”

Coming off a 2007 season that saw him win his first career WoO LMS A-Main (at Illinois’s Lincoln Speedway) and finish eighth in the tour points standings (he entered 37 of 45 events and placed second in the Rookie of the Year race), Shirley has committed to running the entire WoO LMS schedule this season with longtime St. Louis-area team owner Ed Petroff. Luck hasn’t been on his side in the first three events of ’08 (he’s 12th in the points standings), but he’s focused on giving his local supporters something to cheer about at Farmer City, where he’s won a half-dozen times in his short dirt Late Model career.

“I have a lot of appreciation for my fans back home,” said Shirley. “They don’t get to see me race much anymore because we’re on the road so much, but they all support me and what I’m trying to accomplish so I want to do good for them when I come home to race.”

Making an hour-and-a-half drive from his home in Chatham to race for big bucks at Farmer City puts a smile on the face of Shirley, who is happy to see a major event being held in his backyard.

“I don’t know what’s stopped us from having a big race in Illinois,” said Shirley, whose nickname is ‘Squirrel.’ “We have great racetracks here and the fans come out, so I think Illinois deserves a big show like other states have.

“I hope this race takes off so we can have another big race to look forward to every year.”

What will it take to win the first ‘Illini 100’ trophy? Shirley has a pretty good idea.

“One-hundred laps at Farmer City is gonna be tough,” said Shirley. “It’s gonna come down to whose car is prepared the best – and who ate their Wheaties!”

*****

The ‘Illini 100’ weekend kicks off on Thursday (April 3) with an open practice session from 5-9 p.m. Free admission to the grandstand will give early-arriving fans and intrigued locals a chance to check out the star-studded group of drivers expected to participate in the event.

The WoO LMS ‘Illini 100’ competition will be spread over two nights, beginning on Fri., April 4, with time trials, qualifying heats and a special $1,000-to-win Douglas Pontiac-GMC-Dodge Dash for heat winners and two fast-timers. Sat., April 5, is reserved for B-Mains, a 25-lap Non-Qualifiers Race offering Farmer City’s regular weekly UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model purse ($1,000 to win/$150 to start) as well as UMP DIRTcar points, and the 100-lap headliner.

Farmer City’s other weekly UMP DIRTcar Racing divisions will get a chance to perform in the spotlight during the weekend as well. With Friday night being Farmer City’s regular evening of racing, the track’s UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Sportsman and Street Stocks will race a weekly show on the Fri., April 4, undercard, and then the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds will return on Saturday night for a $1,000-to-win special.

Fans will enjoy a host of auxiliary activities during the weekend, including a chance to experience Farmer City’s fast quarter-mile layout alongside a WoO LMS driver with the debut of the track’s new two-seater dirt Late Model and an autograph session with the ‘Illini 100’ entrants in the grandstand area before Saturday night’s program.

Hot laps are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday, with competition to follow.

Sun., April 6, is reserved as a raindate.

Farmer City Raceway is conveniently located on Route 150 just off Exit 159 of Interstate 74, at the Farmer City/Dewitt County Fairgrounds.

For more information on the ‘Illini 100,’ visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or call 217-737-7134 or 217-828-0078.

Additional info on the WoO LMS can be obtained by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Sizzling Billy Moyer Rolls To $20,000 Triumph In ‘March Through Dixie 100’ At Pike County Speedway

MAGNOLIA, MS – March 29, 2008 – Billy Moyer added a stop in Mississippi to his spectacular 2008 victory tour, hitting paydirt in Saturday night’s inaugural World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway.

The sizzling dirt Late Model legend from Batesville, Ark., pocketed $20,150 for his convincing triumph in the first-ever WoO LMS event at promoter J.F. Gasquet’s high-banked, three-eighths-mile oval.

It was Moyer’s eighth overall win of the young 2008 campaign – all behind the wheel of the same Banner Valley Hauling-sponsored Victory Circle M1 Chassis he helped develop – and his second straight in WoO LMS competition. He won the last tour event run six weeks ago, on Feb. 16 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.

Moyer, 50, is simply on an incredible roll.

“I’m just enjoying this as long as it lasts,” said Moyer, who leads the WoO LMS points standings on the strength of two wins and a third-place finish in three events. “You just never know what tomorrow is gonna bring in this sport. The competition level is second to none, with so many great cars out here.

“Believe me, I’ve been on both ends of the wave. I’ve been on the top, like we are right now, and I’ve been on the bottom, kicking and trying to figure out how I got to the bottom as hard as I was working.”

The driver known as ‘Mr. Smooth’ led all but one lap of the extra-distance affair. He surged forward from the fourth starting spot to grab the lead from polesitter James Ward of Lettsworth, La., on lap two and never looked back, racing virtually unchallenged for the remainder of a race slowed by only three caution flags.

A three-time WoO LMS champion (1988, 1989, 2005), Moyer crossed the finish line with a 1.045-second edge on 2004 tour titlist Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn. Bloomquist, who started sixth, slipped by Ward for second place on a lap-42 restart but couldn’t summon enough speed in his homebuilt ‘Team Zero’ mount to seriously threaten Moyer.

Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., finished third in NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer’s Rayburn car, just over two seconds behind Bloomquist at the checkered flag.

Ward, a 37-year-old Gulf Coast standout in his second year of open-motor dirt Late Model action, held on to place fourth in Dick Allen’s MasterSbilt machine. He earned the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a tour A-Main and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.

Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., hustled his RSD Enterprises Rocket around the outside of the track to finish fifth after starting 13th, righting a season that he started with DNFs in each of the first two events.

Competing at a track where he was last victorious in the mid-‘90s, Moyer survived an opening-lap scrape with Ward to continue his early-season hot streak.

“The 3 (Ward) got into my left front and I almost thought I was gonna sell the farm and wreck it,” Moyer said of his closest call. “Luckily Scott (Bloomquist) was behind me as well as some other guys who’ve been around the block a time or two, so they didn’t get in the back of me and cause a big melee.”

Moyer escaped the contact and grabbed the lead from Ward. He proceeded to build more than a straightaway advantage by the time the race’s first caution flag flew, on lap 42 for Ruston, La., driver Kenny Merchant’s stopped car, and didn’t have much trouble maintaining command once Bloomquist took up the chase following the restart.

Even while keeping a relatively conservative pace, Moyer kept Bloomquist at arm’s length.

“The track was pretty racy, but the last half (of the race) I was pretty much on the bottom,” said Moyer, whose car was powered by a Clements engine. “I figured (Bloomquist) was pretty darn close to me so I wanted to stay where I thought the traction was on the racetrack. I searched around a little, but I kinda played some defense because I knew the tires we had on weren’t gonna have much left at the end of the race.”

Bloomquist, 44, pegged Moyer’s Hoosier tire choice as the likely deciding factor in the 100.

“We saw what tire he ran and knew he was the only one out there with that tire, (which had) a different type of rubber,” said Bloomquist. “When he fired as good as he did (at the initial start) with that tire, I knew he’d be tough.

“I thought we might have a shot when we started gaining on him in three and four (at mid-race), but we weren’t quite good enough. We gave it a good shot – and I think for the tires we ran and the combination we had, it was a good night for us.”

Moyer registered his record 33rd career WoO LMS victory. Eleven of his wins have come since 2004 when the World Racing Group rekindled the tour – a period during which Bloomquist’s 16 wins leads all drivers.

The one driver who appeared to have an opportunity to battle Moyer and Bloomquist for supremacy was Babb, who recovered from a difficult opening circuit to record a season-best finish.

“I don’t know what happened on the start,” said Babb, who started third. “I got bunched up behind (Ward). Maybe he had hard tires on and didn’t fire, because I kinda wanted to push him down the straightaway. That cost me some spots and I thought, We are definitely in trouble.

“But we come back there with an alright run. It’s been awhile since the last time we raced, so it’s great to get a third, especially behind Billy, who’s been phenomenal this year, and Scott, who’s no slouch either.”

Babb pulled off one of the most memorable moves of the race to seize third place, going to the outside of turns three and four on lap 44 to pass Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and Ward in one deft sweep. He couldn’t run down the leaders, but his rally spiced up the event.

“The track was actually really racy,” said Babb. “They had a helluva good racetrack, but it was one of those deals where you had to hit it just right to slingshot by a guy.”

Finishing in positions 6-10 were Lanigan, who climbed as high as fourth from the 10th starting spot; Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who raced as high as third; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; 2006 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.; and Chris Wall of Holden, La., a top regional driver.

Two B-Mains kicked off the second night of the weekend program, with defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., scoring victories.

The night’s wildest moment came on the opening lap of the first B-Main when WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y., barrel-rolled down the backstretch after a mid-pack scramble caused his JIR Motorsports car to slide sideways and dig into the track. The 18-year-old driver’s completely-demolished car came to rest with its front end over the turn-three wall and its rearend suspended on the concrete, but he escaped the wreck uninjured.

Next up for the WoO LMS is the ‘Illini 100’ on April 4-5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway. The inaugural event at the quarter-mile oval will pay $20,000 to win, making it the biggest dirt Late Model show ever run in the state of Illinois.
 
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘March Through Dixie 100’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):



1. (4) Billy Moyer/100 $20,150

2. (6) Scott Bloomquist/100 $10,100

3. (3) Shannon Babb/100 $6,000

4. (1) James Ward/100 $5,500

5. (13) Shane Clanton/100 $4,000

6. (10) Darrell Lanigan/100 $3,000

7. (5) Rick Eckert/100 $2,750

8. (9) Chub Frank/100 $2,500

9. (8) Eddie Carrier Jr./100 $2,300

10. (14) Chris Wall/100 $2,100

11. (7) Tim Fuller/100 $1,900

12. (2) Ray Moore/100 $1,800

13. (17) Steve Francis/100 $1,700

14. (19) Josh Richards/100 $1,650

15. (16) Jimmy Mars/100 $1,600

16. (12) Rick Briggs/99 $1,580

17. (23) Clint Smith/98 $1,560

18. (18) John Blankenship/71 $1,540

19. (15) Mike Boland/58 $1,520

20. (22) Rob Litton/57 $1,500

21. (24) Bub McCool/54 $1,500

22. (20) David Breazeale/50 $1,500

23. (11) Kenny Merchant/49 $1,500

24. (21) Brian Shirley/42 $1,500


Time of Race: 38 Mins., 22.106 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 1.045 Secs.

Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 42, 59, 72)

Lap Leaders: Ward (1); Moyer (2-100)

Provisional Starters: C. Smith, McCool

Rookie of the Race: Danny Johnson ($250)

WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: James Ward ($500)

Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Mark Lloyd (Clanton)

Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: James Ward (half-off tire warmers)

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Steve Francis, 2. Josh Richards, 3. Brian Shirley, 4. Robbie Stuart, 5. Dwight Falcon, 6. Jason Cliburn, 7. Howard Willis, 8. Joe Isabell (DNS) Kenneth Crowe

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. John Blankenship, 2. David Breazeale, 3. Rob Litton, 4. Clint Smith, 5. Justin McRee, 6. Bub McCool, 7. Danny Johnson, 8. David Ashley

2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of March 29 - 3 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):

1. Billy Moyer 2-3-3-$33,300-444 (-0)

2. Josh Richards 1-2-2-$14,800-416 (-28)

3. (tie) Rick Eckert 0-1-2-$8,800-406 (-38)

3. (tie) Darrell Lanigan 0-0-3-$5,800-406 (-38)

5. Chub Frank 0-1-2-$8,450-400 (-44)

6. Steve Francis 0-1-2-$5,400-398 (-46)

7. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-2-$4,750-396 (-48)

8. Shannon Babb 0-2-2-$8,700-390 (-54)

9. Clint Smith 0-1-1-$4,460-378 (-66)

10. John Blankenship 0-0-1-$3,640-368 (-76)

11. Tim Fuller 0-0-0-$3,480-360 (-84)

12. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$3,600-354 (-90)

13. Shane Clanton 0-1-1-$5,400-350 (-94)

14. Jimmy Owens 0-1-2-$4,300-276 (-168)

15. Darren Miller 0-0-2-$3,600-274 (-170)

16. Rick Briggs 0-0-0-$1,800-268 (-176)

17. (tie) Tim McCreadie 0-0-0-$2,050-254 (-190)

17. (tie) Dan Schlieper 0-0-1-$2,050-254 (-190)

19. Ivedent Lloyd 0-0-0-$1,550-232 (-212)

20. (tie) Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$330-225 (-219)

20. (tie) Danny Johnson 0-0-0-$470-225 (-219)

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.
 
To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.
 
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Fuller Sets Fast Time, Heats Go To Bloomquist, Ward, Babb & Moyer On Opening Night Of ‘March Through Dixie 100’ Weekend At Pike County Speedway

MAGNOLIA, MS – March 28, 2008 – Former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champions Scott Bloomquist and Billy Moyer, tour regular Shannon Babb and local standout James Ward scored heat-race victories during Friday night’s qualifying action for the inaugural ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway.

Thirty-six cars were signed in for competition as the WoO LMS resumed after a six-week break following last month’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park.

Mooresburg, Tenn.’s Bloomquist, who captured the WoO LMS title in 2004, registered a flag-to-flag win in the evening’s first 10-lap heat. He outgunned the night’s fastest qualifier, Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., for the lead at the drop of the green flag and never looked back.

Fuller, whose qualifying lap of 16.196 seconds gave him his first WoO LMS fast-time honor since Aug. 16, 2005, at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, N.Y., pressured Bloomquist late in the opening prelim but settled for second place in his Gypsum Express Rocket mount.

Batesville, Ark.’s Moyer, meanwhile, was triumphant in the fourth heat race. The three-time WoO LMS champ, who enters the weekend tied for the tour points lead, surged forward from the fourth starting spot to grab the lead in his red-hot Victory Circle chassis.

Babb, 34, of Moweaqua, Ill., drove his Clint Bowyer-owned Rayburn car to victory in the third heat race, outdistancing Rick Eckert of York, Pa., by more than a second at the checkered flag.

The Cinderella story of the night was authored by Ward, a 37-year-old from Lettsworth, La., who is in just his second season running open-motor dirt Late Model events. A second-place finisher in last year’s ‘Jambalaya 100’ event at Pike County, Ward cruised to a convincing win over fellow Gulf Coast standout Ray Moore of Shreveport, La.

The top-two finishers in each heat race will participate in a redraw for the top-eight starting spots in the $20,000-to-win ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on Saturday night.

Perhaps the best move of the qualifying heats was made by 2006 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., who slipped by Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., on the final lap of the fourth prelim to snare a second-place finish. Carrier went to the outside of turns three and four to pull off the dramatic pass.

WoO LMS co-points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., was involved in the wildest incident of the evening. He spun in turn one on the seventh lap of Heat 3 after coming together with Kenny Merchant of Ruston, La., as they battled for fourth place.

The twirl forced Richards to a Saturday-night B-Main, where he’ll be joined by, among other Friday non-qualifiers, defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.

Francis was set back during time trials, when his Dale Beitler-owned No. 19 suddenly shut off on his second lap due to a burnt ignition wire.

The ‘March Through Dixie 100’ weekend continues on Saturday night (March 29) with a show that features WoO LMS B-Mains and big-money 100-lap headliner. Also on the card is action for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, NeSmith Crate Late Models and Street Stocks.

Pit gates will open at 2 p.m. and spectator gates at 4 p.m. A driver autograph session will run from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the grandstand area, and then cars will begin hitting the track.

A raindate of Sun., March 30, has been reserved for the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’

For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com.
Additional info about the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.
 
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):



1. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.196

2. 93-Ray Moore/Shreveport, LA 16.339

3. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 16.343

4. 28M-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 16.361

5. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 16.378

6. w3-James Ward/Lettsworth, LA 16.403

7. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.464

8. 99B-Rick Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 16.469

9. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.477

10. 71-Chris Wall/Holden, LA 16.486

11. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.488

12. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 16.508

13. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 16.633

14. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.642

15. 8-Jason Cliburn/Star, MS 16.694

16. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 16.739

17. 6R-Robbie Stuart/DeRidder, LA 16.789

18. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 16.879

19. C28-Kenny Merchant/Ruston, LA 16.880

20. 54-David Breazeale/Four Corners, MS 16.904

21. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 16.940

22. 6x-Rob Litton/Alexandria, LA 16.972

23. F4-Dwight Falcon/Walker, LA 17.031

24. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 17.068

25. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 17.098

26. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 17.104

27. 222-Mike Boland/Cuba, AL 17.163

28. 27J-Danny Johnson/Rochester, NY 17.194

29. 23W-Howard Willis/Dayton, TX 17.274

30. 11c-Jeff Chandler/Menden, LA 17.300

31. 25M-Justin McRee/Woodstock, AL 17.301

32. 14-David Ashley/Zachary, LA 17.496

33. 7J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY 17.713

34. 27-Billy McDonald/Tickfaw, LA 17.737

35. R5-Kyle Cummings/Sibley, LA N/T

36. 77-Kenneth Crowe/Port Allen, LA N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Bloomquist, Fuller, Frank, Clanton, Francis, Shirley, Isabell, Willis, Stuart

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Ward, Moore, Lanigan, Wall, Blankenship, C. Smith, Litton, Chandler, McDonald

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Babb, Eckert, Merchant, Boland, Cliburn, Richards, Falcon (DNS) Cummings, McRee

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Moyer, Carrier, Briggs, Mars, Breazeale, Ashley, McCool, D. Johnson (DNS) Crowe

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Advance Auto Parts – the official auto parts store of the WoO LMS – and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Chicken Hawk Racing, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts and Qwikliner.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, UMP DIRTcar Racing Public Relations
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update: Stewart, Schrader & Wallace Spice Up Paducah’s Opener; Midwest Lidlifters; ‘Bluegrass Bash’ Tries Again



EVANSVILLE, IN – March 26, 2008 –

GREAT WAY TO START: It’s Season Opener Week at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway, which means new track general manager Bill Roth has nary a moment’s rest.

Consider that PIR’s program this Friday night (March 28) is not a run-of-the-mill lidlifter – it’s a ‘NASCAR Night’ special that will see national heavyweights Tony Stewart, Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace in action on the three-eighths-mile, high-banked clay oval – and it’s no wonder that Roth’s blood pressure is climbing higher and higher as the first green flag of 2008 approaches.

“There’s so much to do to get ready for the opener,” Roth said this week during a moment in between his racetrack chores. “But we’ll be ready to go if the weather gives us a break.”

Roth comes to Paducah after a stint as GM at the paved Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl. Also a former promoter of Mobile (Ala.) Speedway after leaving his career in radio in 1999 to pursue working in short-track racing fulltime, Roth is anxious to operate a dirt track – a job that he says brings him “back to his roots.” As a native of Carlisle, Pa., he grew up attending Sprint Car races at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and big-block Modified events at the now-closed Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds.

“After I talked to Bob Sargent about this job, I couldn’t turn it down,” Roth said of Sargent, the Track Enterprises Inc. leader who co-owns Paducah with NASCAR veterans Schrader, Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. “I started in January and I’m excited to get going with the season.”

PIR’s campaign kicks off – weather-permitting, of course – on Friday night in grand fashion. Two-time Sprint Cup champion Stewart is flying in to compete in the evening’s headline UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model show, while Schrader and Wallace will race in the UMP DIRTcar Modified portion of the card.

Also on PIR’s opening-night agenda is racing for the Pro (crate) Late Models, Street Stocks, Warriors and Vintage Racers.

Coming off a practice day on March 22 that drew a track record pre-season test-and-tune turnout of 77 cars, Roth expects strong fields of machines to jam the PIR pit area.

For more information on PIR’s opener, visit www.paducahracing.com  or www.paducahinternationalraceway.com.

GETTING GOING: The 2008 UMP DIRTcar Racing season continues to pick up steam this weekend.

Several tracks in the heart of UMP DIRTcar country are scheduled to open this weekend, including Belle Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., a one-fifth-mile bullring that’s celebrating the start of its 60th year of operation with a four-division program headlined by UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models and Modifieds on Fri., March 28; Fredericktown (Mo.) Raceway, which showcases Pro (crate) Late Models and Sportsman on Friday night; Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, which has its first UMP DIRTcar Modified event of 2008 on Sat., March 29; and Highland (Ill.) Speedway, which presents a five-class show featuring Super Late Models and Modifieds on Saturday night.

ANOTHER TRY: UMP DIRTcar Modified drivers have their sights set this weekend on Western Kentucky Speedway in Nebo, Ky., where the fifth annual ‘Bluegrass Bash’ is scheduled to run after a one-week postponement.

One of the biggest UMP DIRTcar Modified events of the season, the ‘Bluegrass Bash’ includes an open practice on Friday night (March 28) and a full day of competition on Saturday (March 29) topped by the 40-lap A-Main paying $6,000 to win from a total purse of over $27,000.

Defending race champion Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., who finished second in the 2007 UMP DIRTcar Modified national points, heads a top-quality entry list. Nearly 100 cars participated in last year’s event.

For further information, contact Billy Egeler at 270-302-8882 or visit www.wkracing.com  or www.openwheelmodified.com.

BOWING TO MOTHER NATURE: Wet grounds and uncertain weather forecasts brought early postponements of several UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned events scheduled for this weekend.

Among the tracks forced to make the tough decision to call off planned shows: Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., which had a Friday-night opener set, and Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park, where the debut of UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Late Model racing will wait another week after the postponement of the season opener for the second straight Friday night.

FAMILIAR FACES: The top-four finishing positions in last Saturday’s fourth annual ‘Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic’ at StormPay.com Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway were swept by drivers who are very well-known on the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model circuit.

Former UMP DIRTcar Summernationals champion Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., registered his first career victory in the unique event, which earned him a $10,000 prize plus an actual toilet for a trophy. Rising star Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., who finished second in the 2007 UMP DIRTcar national points standings, bagged the runner-up spot, followed by defending UMP DIRTcar Summernationals and national champ Dennnis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and 2002 national titlist Terry English of Benton, Ky.

ONE MORE WEEK: Just one week away now is the richest Super Late Model event ever contested in the state of Illinois – the inaugural ‘Illini 100’ on April 4-5 at the longtime UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Farmer City Raceway.

A World of Outlaws Late Model Series race that is co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar, the two-day extravaganza at the quarter-mile fairgrounds oval will pay a whopping $20,000 to win from a total purse of nearly $100,000. The event will use UMP DIRTcar’s four-compound Hoosier Tire rule.

For more information on the ‘Illini 100,’ visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or www.worldofoutlaws.com.
 
INFO: Log on to www.dirtcar.com  for more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing.

ATTENTION: Any UMP DIRTcar track or race team with news that could be used in the ‘UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update’ release can e-mail the info to Kevin Kovac at kkovac@dirtcar.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘At A Glance’: ‘March Through Dixie 100’ At Pike County Speedway On March 28-29



MAGNOLIA, MS – March 25, 2008 -

WHAT:

* Following a six-week break, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series heads to the Gulf Coast this weekend (March 28-29) for the inaugural ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway.

Idle since a pair of season-opening events on Feb. 14 and 16 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., the WoO LMS resumes in a big way. The ‘March Through Dixie 100’ offers a $20,000 first-place prize from a total purse of nearly $100,000.

The top-10 finishers in the 2007 points standings – Steve Francis, Chub Frank, Clint Smith, Shane Clanton, Rick Eckert, Josh Richards, Darrell Lanigan, Tim Fuller, Brian Shirley and Shannon Babb – will lead the WoO LMS charge to southern Mississippi. The drivers have committed to following the entire series in ’08 – forming arguably the strongest top-to-bottom group of championship contenders in the tour’s history – and are ready to continue jockeying for points position in the extra-distance special.

With weather forecasts calling for afternoon highs in the low 80s and nighttime temps around 60, a spectacular weekend is in the making for what just may be the biggest early-season dirt Late Model event ever run in Mississippi. It is also the only scheduled visit to Mississippi in 2008 for the WoO LMS.

WHEN:

* A typical two-day WoO LMS format will be in effect for the ‘March Through Dixie 100,’ with time trials and heat races taking place on Friday night (March 28) and the B-Mains and 100-lap headliner set for Saturday night (March 29).

On Fri., March 28, pit gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. and spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m. Cars will begin hitting the track at 6 p.m.

Saturday will see the pit gates open at 2 p.m. and spectator gates at 4 p.m., with cars beginning to pack the track at 6 p.m.

The Friday program will also include qualifying heats for Pike County’s weekly UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, NeSmith Crate Late Models and Street Stocks and heats and features for the Limited Modifieds and Pure Stocks. Saturday night’s WoO LMS undercard will include last-chance races and features for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, NeSmith Crate Late Models and Street Stocks.

A raindate of Sun., March 30, has been reserved for the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’

WHERE:

* Pike County Speedway is a three-eighths-mile, high-banked clay oval that has undergone an aggressive refurbishment program since its purchase three years ago by Louisiana businessman J.F. Gasquet. The track is located directly off Exit 8 of Interstate 55 in Magnolia, Miss., about 85 miles south of Jackson, Miss.; 90 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, La.; 105 miles northwest of New Orleans; and 140 miles northwest of Gulfport, Miss.

TICKETS:

* General admission will be $20 on Friday and $25 on Saturday, with kids ages 6-12 admitted for $10 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Pit passes will cost $35 on Friday and $40 on Saturday.

CAMPING, ETC.:

* Pike County Speedway has a limited number of overnight camping spots that can be reserved for $15 per night by calling the track office at 504-394-5530. There is no overnight charge for race teams spending the night inside their haulers in the pit area.

Track officials said that each race team will be permitted to use only two ATV four-wheelers in the pit area and children can not drive them. Teams can obtain badges that allow the use of four-wheelers for the weekend at the pit registration.

MEET THE DRIVERS:

* Fans will want to arrive early on Saturday because they’ll have an opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with the drivers during a special one-hour autograph session in the grandstand area. The session will run from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

PIKE COUNTY SPEEDWAY INFO:

* For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com.

PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:

* The ‘March Through Dixie 100’ will be the first-ever WoO LMS event held at Pike County Speedway, which last hosted a national dirt Late Model touring series on July 22, 1995, when the old UDTRA/Xtreme DirtCar Series visited the track.

The WoO LMS was scheduled to make its debut at Pike County in July 2007 for the running of the ‘Freedom 100,’ but heavy rain forced the cancellation of the event.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

* How fast will the WoO LMS regulars find the prime setup at Pike County? The only driver among the 10 committed travelers who has previously raced at the track is Senoia, Ga.’s Clint Smith, who ran the 1995 UDTRA/Xtreme event there en route to a third-place finish in the tour’s points standings that season.

Of course, defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., is ready for the challenge of visiting a new track.

“I heard (Pike County) kinda resembles Baton Rouge (Raceway in Baker, La., where the WoO LMS raced in 2006 and 2007) a little bit,” said Francis, who is driving Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting No. 19 this season. “If we think that’s the case when we get there and look at the track, then we’ll put in a baseline setup and go from there.”

* Hot off victories in back-to-back unsanctioned dirt Late Model events at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway over the past month, Rick Eckert of York, Pa., will be at Pike County hoping to end his frustrating 59-race WoO LMS winless streak. His last tour victory came on July 8, 2006, at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio.

* Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., is hopeful that a trip to Mississippi will shake him from the doldrums that have plagued his racing effort so far this season. Bad luck knocked him out of both WoO LMS events last month at Volusia – the first night as he led, the second while he was bidding for a top-five spot – and he remained snake-bit in a handful of appearances closer to home during the past month’s break from WoO LMS competition.

* WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contenders expected to enter the weekend’s action include Heartland veteran Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan., longtime DIRTcar big-block Modified superstar Danny Johnson of Rochester, N.Y., and teenager Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y. Johnson and Isabell are teammates with the JIR Motorsports team.

* Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., hasn’t committed to chasing the entire tour in 2008, but he’s tied for the points lead with Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., after a victory last month in Florida and he’s planning to bring his red-hot Victory Circle Chassis machine to the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’ He finished third in last November’s ‘Jambalaya 100’ at Pike County.

* Richard Childress Racing Development Driver Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who won the 2006 WoO LMS championship, plans to have his familiar Sweeteners Plus Racing No. 39 in the Pike County pit area.

* Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va. – two drivers who have been WoO LMS regulars in the past – are planning to enter the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’ Both are ranked among the top-12 in the current points standings.

Darren Miller of Chadwick, Ill., who came out of last month’s Florida shows sitting tied for fourth in the WoO LMS points standings, is also a possible entry at Pike County.

* Chris Wall of Holden, La. – the popular Gulf Coast star known as the ‘Intimagator’ – enters the weekend’s action as the regional driver most likely to upset the invading stars. Coming off a Mississippi State Challenge Series victory at Pike County on March 15, Wall feels confident about his chances.

With his home only an hour’s drive from Pike County, Wall figures to have strong support in the grandstand from his family, friends and fans.

Other regional standouts expected to be contenders include former Jambalaya 100 winner David Ashley of Zachary, La.; David Breazeale of Four Corners, Miss.; James Ward of Lettsworth, La., who finished second in the 2007 Jambalaya 100; Mike Boland of Cuba, Ala.; and Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss.

* Jimmy Mars will make the 1,130-mile trek due south from his Menomonie, Wis., home to compete at Pike County, where he won the Jambalaya 100 last November.

LISTEN ON THE INTERNET:

* Fans who can’t make it to the track can listen to the action live thanks to the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the free audio broadcasts of WoO LMS events, log on to www.dirtvision.com  and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. Those who sign up for a free membership can enjoy advanced features while listening to the races, such as text chat and live scoring via AMB.it.

WoO LMS INFO:

* Log on to the WoO LMS website at www.worldofoutlaws.com.

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Points Standings (after 2 events):

1. (tie) Billy Moyer 294

1. (tie) Josh Richards 294

3. Jimmy Owens 276

4. (tie) Steve Francis 274

4. (tie) Darren Miller 274

6. Rick Eckert 270

7. Darrell Lanigan 268

8. Chub Frank 266

9. Eddie Carrier Jr. 264

10. Clint Smith 262

11. (tie) John Blankenship 254

11. (tie) Tim McCreadie 254

11. (tie) Dan Schlieper 254

14. Brian Shirley 252

15. Shannon Babb 246

16. (tie) Ivedent Lloyd 232

16. (tie) Tim Fuller 232

18. Billy Decker 220

19. Shane Clanton 210

20. Steve Shaver 206

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Tour’s ‘Month of Money’ Ready To Start; Outlaws Birthday Boys; SPEED Television Dates



CONCORD, NC – March 24, 2008 –



HERE WE GO: They’ve had six weeks to recharge and reload since last month’s season-opening World of Outlaws Late Model Series events in Florida.

Now, it’s time for the tour’s stars to really get down to business.

Beginning with this weekend’s inaugural ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., the WoO LMS will embark full-bore on a 31-week, map-hopping odyssey to determine its 2008 champion.

And no stretch of the campaign will be more lucrative than the ensuing four weeks, which can easily be called the tour’s ‘Month of Money.’ With three high-dollar 100-lappers highlighting the upcoming springtime schedule, there’s a robust $110,000 in first-place cash on the line over the next five WoO LMS races.

“This is a great way for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to dive into the busiest season we’ve ever had,” said tour director Tim Christman, alluding to the heart of a schedule that currently shows 47 confirmed events at 40 tracks in 22 states and three Canadian provinces. “In a four-week span we’ll run three of our biggest events of the year and also visit two of the top facilities in the country – and best of all, if someone gets hot, they can really build up their bank account.”

The WoO LMS version of the ‘Month of Money’ kicks off with the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at the three-eighths-mile Pike County Speedway, where a $20,000 winner’s check has been posted. Time trials and heat races are set for Fri., March 28, with the B-Mains and 100-lap headliner scheduled for Sat., March 29.

Another two-day, $20,000-to-win extravaganza is on tap for April 4-5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, a quarter-mile fairgrounds oval that will host the inaugural ‘Illini 100.’ Following an identical format to Pike County with time trials and heats on Friday night and the last-chance events and A-Main on Saturday night, the ‘Illini 100’ will be the biggest dirt Late Model event ever run in the Land of Lincoln.

Then there’s the third annual Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. A stop on the WoO LMS for the second straight season and already acknowledged as one of dirt Late Model racing’s crown-jewel events, the two-day show boasts a first prize of $50,000 from a total purse of $200,000.

Sandwiched between the weekend spectaculars are a pair of 50-lap, $10,000-to-win events on the East Coast. The WoO LMS makes its now-traditional early-season stop at Bill Sawyer’s pristine Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Va., for the ‘Rumble on the River IV’ on Fri., April 11, then heads to Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., for the ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ on Tues., April 15.

MAKE A WISH: WoO LMS stars Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., celebrated birthdays in recent days.

Smith, the veteran known as ‘Cat Daddy,’ had more candles on his birthday cake. He turned 43 on March 20.

Richards, meanwhile, left the ranks of “teenage sensation,” turning 20 on March 22.

CALM BEFORE THE STORM: Just two of the 10 drivers committed to following the 2008 WoO LMS turned competitive laps over the weekend.

Clint Smith and Locust Grove, Ga.’s Shane Clanton stayed in their homestate to enter Saturday night’s O’Reilly Southern All-Stars Series event at Lavonia Speedway. Smith scored an 11th-place finish in the A-Main, while Clanton saw his horrid early-season luck continue as he scratched from the feature after running into trouble during his qualifying heat.

Several other drivers had their plans to go racing short-circuited by weather cancellations, including Richards and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (Maryland’s Hagerstown Speedway on Saturday) and Bluegrass State stars Steve Francis and Darrell Lanigan (Kentucky’s Florence Speedway on Saturday).

Of the 10 WoO LMS regulars, Lanigan, Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., have not entered a single event since the finale of the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals on Feb. 16 at Volusia Speedway Park.

TELEVISION TIME: Six WoO LMS events in 2008 will be televised on SPEED, World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter announced to a live television audience during Sunday night’s edition of Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain on the cable network.

As part of an exclusive broadcast agreement with SPEED that also features the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the WoO LMS package will include five tape-delayed events and one live broadcast.

Highlighting the WoO LMS’s television package is the season-ending ‘Outlaws World Finals’ show at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway. SPEED will carry a live broadcast of both the Late Model and Sprint Car action from the four-tenths-mile oval on Sat., Nov. 1, from 8-11 p.m. ET.

The ‘Outlaws World Finals’ and the WoO LMS ‘Firecracker 100’ on June 28 at Lernerville Speedway will be two of five multi-hour, ‘super-sized’ World of Outlaws programs shown on SPEED in 2008. The $40,000-to-win ‘Firecracker 100’ will be taped and then broadcast in a two-hour format on Sun., July 13, from 5-7 p.m. ET.

Other WoO LMS events that will be broadcast on SPEED include the July 9 ‘Gopher 50’ at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. (airing on Sat., Aug. 16, from 4-5 p.m. ET); the July 25 event at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio (airing on Sat., Aug. 23, from 4-5 p.m. ET); the July 26 program at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio (airing on Sun., Aug. 31, from 12-1 p.m. ET); and the Aug. 31 ‘Oil Region Labor Day Classic’ at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. (airing on Sun., Sept. 7, from 6-7 p.m. ET).

NEXT UP: More information on this weekend’s ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway can be found at www.pikecountyspeedway.com.

OUTLAWS INFO: To learn more about the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Chris Dolack, VP Media/PR
704-795-7223 • cdolack@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Racing Exclusively On SPEED in 2008, Broadcast Partnership Includes Three LIVE Broadcasts



CONCORD, N.C. — March 23, 2008 — World Racing Group announced today that SPEED will be the exclusive television partner for World of Outlaws racing in 2008. The partnership will be anchored by five super-sized multi-hour events, three of which will be broadcast live, including the highly successful World of Outlaws World Finals season finale.

There will be 25 hours of Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and World of Outlaws Late Model Series action, featuring a combination of live and tape-delayed broadcasts beginning on May 23 with the super-sized three-hour Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown broadcast LIVE from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“The World of Outlaws broadcasts in 2007 showed us how exciting dirt track racing can be on television,” said Rick Miner, SPEED Senior VP of Production and Network Operations. “The success of the World Finals show from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway gave us a gameplan for ’08, and as part of that plan we will be treating the five new super-sized events just as we do any other major motorsports event on SPEED, which should significantly raise the profile of World of Outlaws racing.”

A return to SPEED in 2008 as the exclusive television outlet for World of Outlaws racing will bring consistency and awareness to the viewers.

“The broadcast agreement with SPEED continues the solid growth we realized in 2007,” said World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter. “The more than 75 million viewers on SPEED give our corporate partners, like Advance Auto Parts, as well as our teams and our promoters, the greatest opportunity to reach our fans on a consistent basis. SPEED is the home for racing on television and we’re excited to again have the World of Outlaws on SPEED this season.”

Among the 25 hours of coverage will be a three-hour LIVE event with the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series to kick off the 2008 TV schedule on May 23 from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway; a two-hour Firecracker 100 special from Lernerville Speedway featuring the World of Outlaws Late Model Series; a two-hour Kings Royal special from Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway; a three-hour LIVE broadcast from the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway; and the three-hour LIVE season-finale from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

For more information on the World of Outlaws, visit WorldOfOutlaws.com. For the latest from SPEED, including their World of Outlaws section, visit their new Web site at SPEEDtv.com.

2008 World of Outlaws Racing on SPEED Television Schedule

Air Date Time Day Track/City Race Date

May 23 8-11 p.m. Fri. Lowe’s Motor Speedway/Concord, N.C. May 23

May 31 4-5 p.m. Sat. Williams Grove Speedway/Mechanicsburg, Pa. May 15

June 8 1-2 p.m. Sun. Williams Grove Speedway/Mechanicsburg, Pa. May 16

June 15 4-5 p.m. Sun. Knoxville Raceway/Knoxville, Iowa June 6

June 21 4-5 p.m. Sat. Knoxville Raceway/Knoxville, Iowa June 7

June 28 3-4 p.m. Sat. Dodge City Raceway Park/Dodge City, Kan. June 20

July 6 4-5 p.m. Sun. Dodge City Raceway Park/Dodge City, Kan. June 21

July 13 5-7 p.m. Sun. Lernerville Speedway/Sarver, Pa. (LM) June 28

July 19 4-6 p.m. Sat. Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, Ohio July 12

July 26 4-5 p.m. Sat. Ohsweken Speedway/Ohsweken, Ontario July 22

Aug. 2 4-5 p.m. Sat. Ohsweken Speedway/Ohsweken, Ontario July 23

Aug. 16 4-5 p.m. Sat. Deer Creek Speedway/Spring Valley, Minn. (LM) July 9

Aug. 23 4-5 p.m. Sat. Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, Ohio (LM) July 25

Aug. 31 12-1 p.m. Sun. Sharon Speedway/Hartford, Ohio (LM) July 26

Sept. 7 6-7 p.m. Sun. Tri-City Speedway/Franklin, Pa. (LM) Aug. 31

Sept. 27 8-11 p.m. Sat. Williams Grove Speedway/Mechanicsburg, Pa. Sept. 27

Nov. 1 8-11 p.m. Sat. Lowe’s Motor Speedway/Concord, N.C. Nov. 1


(‘LM’ indicates a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event. All other broadcasts feature the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.)

About World Racing Group

Based in Concord, N.C., World Racing Group, Inc. (WRGI), (OTCBB: WRGI) is a national sanctioning body, real-estate operator, and sports entertainment company serving the dirt racing industry. WRG sanctions sprint car racing as the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series™, late model racing as the World of Outlaws Late Model Series™, big block modified racing as the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series™ and sanctions more than 4,000-races a year under the DIRTcar Racing™ banner. In addition, WRG owns and operates seven speedways. WRG races can be heard online at DIRTVision.com®. 

To learn more about World Racing Group, visit worldracinggroup.com. 

Contact: World Racing Group
Chris Dolack, VP Media/PR
704-795-7223 • cdolack@dirtcar.com 



World of Outlaws To Make Major Announcement Sunday Night on SPEED’s ‘Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain’


CONCORD, N.C. — March 20, 2008 — World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter will join “Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain” at 9 p.m. Eastern Sunday night on SPEED to make a major media announcement regarding the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

“We have some very exciting news to share with our teams, our corporate partners and our fans,” Carter said. “We wanted to announce it on a large stage, and after Dave’s terrific job during the World of Outlaws World Finals we are pleased to be able to make the announcement on his program. I hope everybody tunes into SPEED at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday for the news.”

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Louisiana’s Chris Wall Hopes To Give His ‘Gator Zone’ Something To Cheer About In ‘March Through Dixie 100’ At Pike County Speedway



Popular ‘Intimagator’ Ready To Battle World of Outlaws Late Model Series Stars On March 28-29



MAGNOLIA, MS – March 20, 2008 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series will be in the ‘Gator Zone’ on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway.

And if Chris Wall – the Gulf Coast star known as the ‘Intimagator’ – puts on a show in the ‘March Through Dixie 100,’ you can take it to the bank that the grandstand section occupied by his rabid supporters will be chomp-chomp-chomping it up in glee.

With Wall expecting perhaps three-dozen family members and hundreds of his local fans to be looking on, he’s laser-focused on giving them something to cheer about in a $20,000-to-win spectacular that will boast the most talented field ever to assemble at the three-eighths-mile oval.

“I’m real excited,” said the 39-year-old Wall, whose home in Holden, La., is about an hour’s drive from Pike County Speedway. “If I could win a World of Outlaws race in front of my hometown crowd, with all my family, friends and fans watching, it would definitely be the biggest highlight of my career.”

An approachable fan-favorite whose ‘Intimagator’ nickname derives from his ownership of the C&M Gator Farm in Springfield, La. (he harvests and raises alligators for such customers as meat markets and high-end leather manufacturers), Wall has steadily risen in recent years to his current status as the Gulf Coast Region driver with the best chance of defeating the national stars of the WoO LMS. He’s finished as high as second in a WoO LMS event (on March 17, 2006, at Baton Rouge Raceway in Baker, La.), and last year he scored seventh-place finishes in tour shows at Baton Rouge and Columbus (Miss.) Speedway (where he ran in the top five until the race’s final laps).

Wall brings his Intimagator Racing team, which he fields with his wife Missy, to Pike County riding a wave of early-season momentum. He’s already won two features in 2008, including a Mississippi State Challenge Series event on March 15 at Pike County that he earned using the same combination (MastersBilt by Stuckey car, Wall2Wall Performance open-rules engine) he’ll drive in the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’

“It’s not like winning against the Outlaws, but having two wins under your belt already does boost your confidence,” said Wall, who won a career-high 23 features in 2006 but fell to seven victories in ’07 while plagued with bad luck. “Running a race at Pike County also helps a lot. We went there to try and get dialed in a little for the Outlaw show because that’s some pretty big money on the line in our backyard, and I think we learned some things.”

Wall said Pike County’s clay surface on March 15 was a “good, all-around racetrack,” the kind of surface that could produce exciting, competitive action during the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’

“You never know what a dirt track will do – that’s the challenge of the sport,” said Wall. “But I think if the track is like it was for the (Mississippi) State race, the Outlaw show could be a real good race.

“And if we run like we did (on March 15), I think we can do real well (against the Outlaws). I think we can at least pull off a top-five (finish).”

Of course, Wall’s goal – as it is every time he drives onto a racetrack – is to win the race, but he understands how tough conquering the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ will be.

“I’m definitely confident that we can win, but it almost seems unrealistic that we can do it,” said Wall, hailing the talented drivers he’ll be facing. “We’re optimistic, and we’re showing up to win. But if we finish in the top 10, or top five, against that caliber of competition, that’s O.K. We won’t hang our heads.”

Wall is certainly mentally prepared for the challenge ahead.

“Before a big race like this you have to make sure you do your homework and are prepared 110 percent,” said Wall. “And you gotta be careful not to out-think yourself when you’re at the track running against the best guys. You have to realize that these guys put on their pants one leg at a time just like you do.”

The all-star roster of WoO LMS regulars that Wall will battle features defending champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; 20-year-old Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; ’07 Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.; Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.; Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.; and 2008 Rookie of the Year contender Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan.

Other well-known national names planning to enter the event include Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who won the 2006 WoO LMS title and is currently a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver; three-time WoO LMS champ Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.; Pike County’s 2007 Jambalaya 100 winner Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis.; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa; John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.; and 2006 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.

Wall also expects to joined by a host of his fellow Gulf Coast standouts, including former Jambalaya 100 winner David Ashley of Zachary, La. (“He will be a contender,” asserted Wall); David Breazeale of Four Corners, Miss. (“He’s changed chassis manufacturers this year and is still getting on track, but he’ll get it together,” said Wall); and James Ward of Lettsworth, La., who finished second in the 2007 Jambalaya 100.

The ‘March Through Dixie 100’ kicks off on Fri., March 28. Pit gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. and spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m. Cars will begin hitting the track at 6 p.m.

The Friday program will also include qualifying heats for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, NeSmith Crate Late Models and Street Stocks and heats and features for the Limited Modifieds and Pure Stocks.

On Sat., March 29, pit gates will open at 2 p.m. and spectator gates at 4 p.m. A driver autograph session will run from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the grandstand area, and cars will begin packing the track at 6 p.m.

Saturday night’s card will include B-Mains and the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ A-Main, plus last-chance races and features for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, NeSmith Crate Late Models and Street Stocks.

A raindate of Sun., March 30, has been reserved for the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’

General admission will be $20 on Friday and $25 on Saturday, with kids ages 6-12 admitted for $10 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Pit passes will cost $35 on Friday and $40 on Saturday.

For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com.

Additional info about the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, UMP DIRTcar Racing Public Relations
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update: Unique ‘Toilet Bowl Classic’ Runs This Weekend At Clarksville; Heavy Rain Postpones ‘Bluegrass Bash’



EVANSVILLE, IN – March 19, 2008 –



INTERESTING TITLE: There’s a logical reason why StormPay.com Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway is hosting one of the most uniquely-named events on the UMP DIRTcar Racing calendar – this weekend’s fourth annual Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic.

Like a zany minor-league baseball promotion, the ‘Toilet Bowl Classic’ is designed to catch fans’ eyes and make them giggle.

“We came up with the name to get some attention and have some fun,” said Clarksville Speedway promoter William Scogin. “I wanted to do something that wasn’t the same old thing.”

Steadily becoming an early-season staple, the ‘Toilet Bowl Classic’ is set for this weekend (March 21-22) at the quarter-mile, semi-banked Clarksville oval. It was originally scheduled to be run on March 7-8 but was postponed by bad weather.

A UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model A-Main paying $10,000 to win and a UMP DIRTcar Modified headliner offering a $2,000 top prize are the featured attractions of the weekend. In addition, a UMP DIRTcar Pro (Crate) Late Model special boasts a $1,000 first-place check.

The Super Late Model portion of the show will span both days – time trials and heat races on Fri., March 21, and B-Mains and the feature on Sat., March 22 – while the $2,000-to-win Modified program will be run as a one-day program on Friday and the Pro Late Models will be in action on Saturday. An additional Modified event paying $1,000 to win has been added to Saturday’s schedule.

Scogin and the late Bill Nelson, a former UMP DIRTcar promoter and car owner who passed away on March 10, hatched the idea for the ‘Toilet Bowl Classic.’

“When I bought the racetrack, I said I was going to the -------,” joked Scogin. “I guess that joke developed into the ‘Toilet Bowl’ race.”

Of course, the trademark of the event is the ‘trophy’ that the winner receives: a full-fledged toilet. This year Scogin has three toilets ready to present the victors of the Super Late Model, Modified and Pro Late Model features.

“I went to Lowe’s, bought three toilets and had ‘em painted – one red, two blue,” said Scogin.

The Super Late Model drivers who have posed for Victory Lane photos with the ‘Toilet Bowl Classic’ hardware include Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark. (2005), Tim Tungate of Campbellsville, Ky. (2006) and Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C. (2007). They all chuckled a little bit when the toilet was brought out to them, but they undoubtedly never accepted a ‘trophy’ quite so memorable.

“When Ray Cook won last year, he said, ‘The money goes away, but the toilet never leaves,’” Scogin said with a smile.

What driver doesn’t want a toilet in their trophy case?

“When Shannon Babb won our (UMP DIRTcar) Summernationals show (in 2006), he asked me in Victory Lane, ‘Where’s the toilet at?’” remembered Scogin. “I thought that was pretty funny. I guess they all know about the toilet!”

For more information on the Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic, visit www.clarksvillespeedway.com.

DELUGE: The fifth annual ‘Bluegrass Bash’ – one of the biggest UMP DIRTcar open-wheel Modified events of the early-season – was postponed one week due to the heavy rain that fell this week on the already-saturated grounds of Western Kentucky Speedway in Nebo, Ky.

Originally scheduled for this Friday (March 21) and Saturday (March 22), the program will now take place on March 28-29.

The ‘Bluegrass Bash’ boasts an attractive $6,000 top prize from a total purse of over $27,000, assuring the participation of the top stars in UMP DIRTcar open-wheel Modified racing. Last year’s event drew a field of nearly 100 cars.

There will be practice for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds from 6-10 p.m. CDT on Fri., March 28, and then a full show of time trials, heats, B-Mains and the 40-lap feature on Sat., March 29.

For further information, contact Billy Egeler at 270-302-8882 or visit www.wkracing.com  or www.openwheelmodified.com.

BEST SO FAR: Defending UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national and Summernationals champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., nearly pulled off his first UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned victory of the season on March 13 during the opening-night of the ‘March Madness’ meet at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway in Calvert City, Ky.

Erb, 36, finished second to defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., in the 40-lap A-Main – by mere inches. Francis crossed the finish line with a right-rear flat tire as Erb made a last-ditch bid for the checkered flag on the inside.

The driver known as the ‘One Man Band,’ who plans to enter this weekend’s ‘Toilet Bowl Classic’ at Clarksville, followed up his close call with a third-place finish from the 14th starting spot in KLMS’s 40-lap A-Main on March 14. That race was won by six-time UMP DIRTcar Summernationals champion Billy Moyer, who leads all drivers in 2008 with four UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned feature wins, including his three scores during last month’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.

ONE MORE WEEK: This Friday night’s scheduled season opener at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park has been postponed to Fri., March 28, putting off for one more week the introduction of UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Late Model racing at the one-third-mile oval.

The 2008 season will mark the first season of UMP DIRTcar competition for the Late Models at Attica, which was covered by 14 inches of snow during a recent storm and saturated by more precipitation in recent days, forcing the postponement of the lidlifter.

COMING SOON: The countdown continues to the richest Super Late Model event ever contested in the state of Illinois – the inaugural ‘Illini 100’ on April 4-5 at the longtime UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Farmer City Raceway.

A World of Outlaws Late Model Series race that is co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar, the two-day extravaganza at the quarter-mile fairgrounds oval will pay a whopping $20,000 to win from a total purse of nearly $100,000. The event will use UMP DIRTcar’s four-compound Hoosier Tire rule.

For more information on the ‘Illini 100,’ visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or www.worldofoutlaws.com.

INFO: Log on to www.dirtcar.com  for more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Francis Wins On A Flat; ‘Cat Daddy’ & Fuller Visit Alabama; Eckert Scores Again



CONCORD, NC – March 17, 2008 –



THE FORTUNATE ONE: Steve Francis wouldn’t mind at all if the good luck he experienced last Thursday night (March 13) at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway in Calvert City, Ky., carries over to his points-chasing on the 2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

The defending WoO LMS champion emerged victorious in the opening event of KLMS’s scheduled three-night UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model ‘March Madness’ meet – with the right-rear tire on his Dale Beitler-owned No. 19 almost completely flat. He maintained just enough speed to nip 2007 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national champ Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., at the finish line by inches.

“I started feeling it going down with about five (laps) to go (in the 40-lap A-Main),” Francis said of his tire. “More than anything, it was dumb luck that we were able to hold on.

“I knew Erb was coming on the bottom on the last lap, so going into (turn) three I just tried to go wide and stay against the little bit of brown (lane) instead of sliding in hard on the bottom and maybe rolling the tire under. The car was just pointed the right way when I picked the throttle back up off the corner and I was able to beat (Erb) to the line.”

Francis, 40, of Ashland, Ky., continued his run of success in limited appearances at the three-eighths-mile oval promoted by Sherri Heckenast – he’s now won at least one race there in five straight seasons – and provided interested observers more proof that he’s easily meshed with Beitler’s team. It was his second victory of the season driving for Beitler, the veteran Maryland car owner who hired Francis in November.

“Everything’s going great,” Francis said of his deal with Beitler. “We can’t wait to go racing.”

For the next month or so, Francis will run two of Beitler’s Reliable Painting-sponsored Rocket cars out of his shop in Kentucky. The machines and Beitler’s hauler will stay based at Francis’s place to minimize travel; the team’s upcoming schedule shows events this weekend at either Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., or Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., then back-to-back, $20,000-to-win WoO LMS 100-lappers on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., and April 4-5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway.

“Robby (Allen, Beitler’s mechanical consultant) is back up in Maryland (at Beitler’s shop) going over the car we ran in all the races last month (in Georgia and Florida),” said Francis, who is tied for fourth in the WoO LMS points standings. “We’ll start racing that car and get everything back to Dale’s shop around the time of the World of Outlaws show at Lernerville (Speedway in Sarver, Pa., on April 15).”

FINDING A RACE: Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., met up last weekend and formed an unexpected caravan to Deep South Speedway, a four-tenths-mile oval between Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla.

Fuller, whose hauler and pair of Gypsum Express dirt Late Models have been parked at Smith’s shop since the end of last month’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals in Florida to help him save on gas costs and rig wear-and-tear, flew down to Atlanta last Thursday in hopes of joining Smith to run weekend events at North Georgia Speedway and Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway. Those races were washed out by the unruly weather that rolled across the Southeast, but the skies were clear at Deep South Speedway so they made a banzai run there to get in some action.

Smith, 42, ended up with the better finish in the two-day show, placing second to local driver Shep Lucas of McKenzie, Ala., in Saturday night’s unsanctioned 40-lap Super Late Model A-Main that paid $5,000 to win. He challenged Lucas, but his hopes were hampered by a track on which passing was difficult and the caution flags that prevented his harder tires from coming alive.

The 40-year-old Fuller, meanwhile, registered a new track record in Friday night’s time trials and won a heat race to earn the pole position in Saturday night’s feature, but he couldn’t shake the bad luck that plagued him last month in WoO LMS events at Volusia Speedway Park. He was the leader less than 10 laps into the A-Main when a hit from behind on a restart bent his car’s left-rear bodywork, leaving him with a cut tire two circuits later. He returned after changing the tire, but retired shortly thereafter and settled for a 13th-place finish.

The WoO LMS traveling buddies returned to Smith’s shop at 6 o’clock on Sunday morning. Fuller spent the day cleaning and massaging his equipment before hopping on an evening flight back to upstate New York.

Fuller will enter this Saturday night’s Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series season opener for big-block Modifieds at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway before flying to Smith’s on March 27. Then he’ll fire up his hauler and drive to the WoO LMS ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway.

Smith, meanwhile, plans to compete at either Lavonia (Ga.) Speedway or Volunteer Speedway this weekend, then head to the Team GRT chassis shop in Greenbrier, Ark., at the beginning of the week. He’ll spend a few days at GRT getting a new rear clip put on his car that was damaged in a crash last month at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., and some updates added to his newest machine; then he’ll stop at his sponsor Don Cliburn’s Mississippi track, Jackson Motor Speedway, to do some testing before the WoO LMS weekend at Pike County.

TWO-FOR-TWO: Things are looking up for WoO LMS star Rick Eckert.

Hoping to rebound after an uncharacteristic winless WoO LMS campaign in 2007, the York, Pa., driver continued to tune up for his busy touring schedule ahead by winning on Saturday afternoon for the second time in three weeks at Hagerstown Speedway. The $2,000 victory in the day’s 30-lap dirt Late Model feature allowed Eckert to already match his win total for the entire 2007 season.

After his trip to Volunteer Speedway was short-circuited by the cancellation of scheduled events on both Friday and Saturday, Eckert, 42, dashed back up Interstate 81 in time to enter Hagerstown’s unsanctioned show. He drove his Raye Vest-owned GRT car forward from the eighth starting spot to grab the lead from fellow WoO LMS regular Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., at the halfway mark and never looked back.

Richards, who was behind the wheel of the Ernie Davis-owned No. 25 that he is running in many non-WoO LMS events this season, settled for a third-place finish.

NEW WHEELS: Chub Frank flew out to Nebraska last Friday to pick up his new hauler and trailer, which he had done by S&S.

The second-place finisher in the 2007 WoO LMS points standings drove his rig back home to Bear Lake, Pa., where he immediately began the process of stocking the conversion truck and trailer with everything he’ll need for the road.

Frank recently sold his old hauler and trailer – as well as one of his dirt Late Models – to eastern Ohio’s King Bros. Racing team. Young Russ King is making the move from big-block Modifieds to dirt Late Model competition this season.

NEXT UP: The 2008 WoO LMS gets rolling again on March 28-29 with the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway.

Arguably the biggest early-season dirt Late Model event ever run in the state of Mississippi, the big weekend will include time trials and qualifying heats on Fri., March 28, and B-Mains and the $20,000-to-win 100-lap A-Main on Sat., March 29. The first-ever WoO LMS show at the three-eighths-mile oval will also feature a driver autograph session in the spectator area from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com.
 
INFO: To learn more about the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Chris Dolack, VP Media/PR
704-795-7223 • cdolack@dirtcar.com



Pennsylvania’s Dave Hess Jr. Conquers Alltel All-Star Online Contest, Earns $12,000 Following Alltel DIRTcar Nationals Victory



CONCORD, NC — March 17, 2008 — Fierce voting down the stretch turned the inaugural Alltel All-Star contest into a virtual photo finish between UMP DIRTcar Open-Wheel Modified competitor Dave Hess Jr. and Sprint Car driver Wayne Johnson vying for the $12,000 top prize.

The online poll closed at 11:59 p.m. on March 16 with Hess, of Waterford, Pa., edging Johnson, of Mustang, Okla., by less than 1 percent of the overall votes. Of the thousands of votes cast for the 18 different drivers who earned victories in the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals in February at Volusia Speedway Park, Hess earned 25.5 percent of the total votes, a shade more than the 24.6 Johnson received.

Hess, 23, was on his way home from watching Alltel Racing driver Ryan Newman compete at Bristol Motor Speedway when he got the news Monday morning.

“That’s cool,” said Hess, who caught and passed Johnson for the Alltel All-Star lead in late February. “I just want to thank everybody. Every morning we were checking the AlltelAllStar.com Web site. That $12,000 is going to help. I’m going to put it back in the car to help our program and put on a show for all of the fans that supported me. I want to thank Alltel for putting this together. I’ll show them as much support as I can for them supporting this program. I can’t thank them enough.

“I’m not even sure what we’ll do with the money first,” added Hess, who also campaigns a Super Late Model and plans to enter several World of Outlaws Late Model Series events this season. “We’re going to be ordering parts real soon, and I’m sure it’ll cover some of the money we spent down in Florida.

“I just want to thank everybody, even those I don’t know personally, for being dirt track fans.”

The contest featured a strong showing by the UMP DIRTcar Racing Modified drivers, as Jared Landers, of Batesville, Ark., was third with a big push following Mark Martin’s pledge of support on national television. Dave Groves, of Morgantown, W.Va.; Jesse Stovall, of Branson, Mo.; and Scott Drake, of Webb City, Mo., rounded out the top six positions.

Three-time Volusia Dirt Late Model winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., was seventh followed by Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car driver Jason Meyers of Clovis, Calif., Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series competitor Jimmy Horton of Neshanic Station, N.J.; and two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz of Fargo, N.D.

The Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park featured the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series, the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, UMP DIRTcar Late Models and All Star Circuit of Champions sprint car tour.

Drivers who celebrated in the Alltel Wireless Victory Lane at Volusia represented 13 different states, from both coasts as well as the heart of the Midwest. Only those drivers who captured a feature win were eligible, including:

Sprint Cars — Wayne Johnson, Mustang, Okla.; Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minn.; Jason Meyers, Clovis, Calif.; Danny Lasoski, Dover, Mo.; and Donny Schatz, Fargo, N.D., a two-time winner during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals.

UMP DIRTcar Modifieds — Jesse Stovall, Branson, Mo.; Scott Drake, Webb City, Mo.; Dave Hess Jr., Waterford, Pa.; Tim Hancock, Mount Olive, Ill.; Dave Groves, Morgantown, W.Va.; and two-time Alltel DIRTcar Nationals winner Jared Landers, Batesville, Ark.

Dirt Late Models — Two-time winner Billy Moyer, Batesville, Ark.; Josh Richards, Shinnston, W.Va.; and Clint Smith, Senoia, Ga.

Advance Auto Parts Big Block Modifieds — Billy Pauch, Frenchtown, N.J.; Brett Hearn, Sussex, N.J.; Dale Planck, Cortland, N.Y.; and Jimmy Horton, Neshanic Station, N.J.

Alltel is owner and operator of the nation’s largest wireless network and has more than 12 million customers. For more information about Alltel, please visit www.alltel.com.
 

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Farmer City Raceway Primed To Make Illinois Dirt Late Model Racing History With Running Of ‘Illini 100’ On April 4-5



$20,000-To-Win Spectacular Is Part Of World of Outlaws Late Model Series



FARMER CITY, IL – March 17, 2008 – There’s never been a dirt Late Model event in the state of Illinois quite like this one.

The inaugural ‘Illini 100’ will be, plain and simple, the biggest dirt Late Model show ever run in the Land of Lincoln.

Set for April 4-5 at Farmer City Raceway, the blockbuster World of Outlaws Late Model Series program boasts a headline-grabbing $20,000 first-place prize from a total purse of nearly $100,000. It also figures to attract the most talented field and biggest crowd in the history of the venerable quarter-mile fairgrounds oval.

“There’s been a need for a really big Late Model race in Illinois for a long time,” said Don Hammer, who is beginning his fourth season as the promoter of Farmer City Raceway. “Dirt Late Model racing is incredibly popular in Illinois and every year there’s a ton of great races all over the state, but we’ve never had one major, big-money event that really stands out like you see in other states.

“Hopefully the ‘Illini 100’ can be that big event everyone in the dirt Late Model world identifies with Illinois. If the support is there – and I’m sure it is – then this year’s race at Farmer City will definitely be the start of a show that just grows bigger every year.”

With the foreseeable future for Farmer City Raceway looking bright in the wake of the town’s announcement that weekly racing will continue at the track for at least three more years, Hammer sees a season-opening spectacular like the ‘Illini 100’ as a perfect way to provide the speedway even more feel-good momentum.

“I might be a little bit prejudiced because I grew up here and raced (a dirt Late Model) here, but I believe Farmer City is one of the premier tracks in Illinois,” said Hammer. “A big race like the ‘Illini’ gives us the opportunity to attract a bunch of new fans and show them how exciting racing here can be.”

Hammer and his staff have already fielded ‘Illini 100’ ticket inquiries from fans in such varied states as Michigan, New York, North Dakota and Tennessee – not to mention neighboring states like Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin – so he has a first-hand sense of the growing interest in the event. It’s his mission to give the influx of spectators a springtime weekend to remember.

In that vein, a full slate of fun and excitement will comprise the ‘Illini 100,’ starting with an open practice session on Thurs., April 3, from 5-9 p.m. Free admission to the grandstand will give early-arriving fans and intrigued locals a chance to check out the star-studded group of drivers expected to participate in the event.

The WoO LMS ‘Illini 100’ competition will be spread over two nights, beginning on Fri., April 4, with time trials, qualifying heats and a special $1,000-to-win Douglas Pontiac-GMC-Dodge Dash for heat winners and two fast-timers. Sat., April 5, is reserved for B-Mains, a 25-lap Non-Qualifiers Race offering Farmer City’s regular weekly UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model purse ($1,000 to win/$150 to start) as well as UMP DIRTcar points, and the 100-lap headliner.

Farmer City’s other weekly UMP DIRTcar Racing divisions will get a chance to perform in the spotlight during the weekend as well. With Friday night being Farmer City’s regular evening of racing, the track’s UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Sportsman and Street Stocks will race a weekly show on the Fri., April 4, undercard, and then the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds will return on Saturday night for a $1,000-to-win special.

Fans will enjoy a host of auxiliary activities during the weekend, including a chance to experience Farmer City’s fast quarter-mile layout alongside a WoO LMS driver with the debut of the track’s new two-seater dirt Late Model and an autograph session with the ‘Illini 100’ entrants in the grandstand area before Saturday night’s program.

The fans will be able to visit with many of the best national, regional and local drivers, including the all-star roster of WoO LMS regulars. Leading the WoO LMS contingent to Farmer City is the tour’s pair of standouts who hail from central Illinois – Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, who won last year’s WoO LMS event at Farmer City, and Brian Shirley of Chatham, who will shoot for ‘Illini 100’ glory just two days after celebrating his 27th birthday. Both Babb and Shirley cut their racing teeth competing at Farmer City.

The WoO LMS points-chasers also includes defending champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., Rick Eckert of York, Pa., Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., ’07 Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., and 2008 Rookie of the Year contender Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan.

Other well-known names with plans to pursue the ‘Illini 100’ trophy include Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who won the 2006 WoO LMS title and is currently a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver; defending UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national champ Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill.; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who won the 2007 UMP DIRTcar Summernationals event at Farmer City; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa; 2006 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.; Darren Miller of Chadwick, Ill.; and Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.

A bevy of Farmer City favorites are also expected to defend their home turf against the invaders, including former Farmer City titlist Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill.; defending track champion and 2007 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Rookie of the Year Scott Bull of Fairbury, Ill.; Eric Smith of Shirley, Ill.; 2007 Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill.; Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill.; and Junior Shickel of Bloomington, Ill.

Reserved seats for the ‘Illini 100’ – encompassing the top-10 rows of the covered grandstand and the south bleachers – are now on sale. The remaining seats will be general admission.

Two-night weekend pass tickets are $40. Single-night tickets will be $15 for Friday and $30 for Saturday, with ages 6-15 admitted for $5 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Children 5 and under will receive free admission to the spectator area.

Two-night adult pit passes are $60. Kids 4-11 will be allowed in the pit area for $15 each day, and children 3 and under will be admitted to the pits free of charge.

Camping on the Farmer City Raceway grounds is free for the weekend (no hookups). The 60 drive-in parking spots around the outside of turns one and two, meanwhile, can be reserved for the weekend at a price of $50.

Farmer City Raceway is conveniently located on Route 150 just off Exit 159 of Interstate 74, at the Farmer City/Dewitt County Fairgrounds.

For more information on the ‘Illini 100,’ visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or call 217-737-7134 or 217-828-0078.

Additional info on the WoO LMS can be obtained by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Chris Dolack, VP Media/PR
704-795-7223 • cdolack@dirtcar.com



Dave Hess Jr., Wayne Johnson In Tight Alltel All-Star Battle As Checkered Flag In Online Voting Will Wave Sunday Night



CONCORD, NC — March 14, 2008 — This is it, the final weekend for the Alltel All-Star contest is here. Voting at AlltelAllStar.com concludes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night and it’s a virtual photo finish in the making between UMP DIRTcar Open-Wheel Modified driver Dave Hess Jr. and Sprint Car racer Wayne Johnson.

The votes have been pouring in down the stretch, nearly doubling the first few weeks of the competition as the realization that one of the 18 different winners from the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park will drive away with $12,000 as voted on by the fans at AlltelAllStar.com.

Hess, of Waterford, Pa., has a slight edge entering the weekend with 22.8 percent of the overall votes while Johnson, a native of Mustang, Okla., is within striking distance at 22.6 percent of the total votes.

Five of the Top 10 drivers in the vote totals going into this weekend drove a UMP DIRTcar Open-Wheel Modified to the Alltel Wireless Victory Lane during the two-week Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia while three Sprint Car drivers, a Dirt Late Model competitor and a Big Block Modified driver make up the rest of the Top 10.

Drivers from 13 different states, representing both coasts as well as the heart of the Midwest, celebrated a win in the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals and are eligible for the contest:

Sprint Cars — Wayne Johnson, Mustang, Okla.; Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minn.; Jason Meyers, Clovis, Calif.; Danny Lasoski, Dover, Mo.; and Donny Schatz, Fargo, N.D., a two-time winner during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals.

UMP DIRTcar Open-Wheel Modifieds — Jesse Stovall, Branson, Mo.; Scott Drake, Webb City, Mo.; Dave Hess Jr., Waterford, Pa.; Tim Hancock, Mount Olive, Ill.; Dave Groves, Morgantown, W.Va.; and two-time Alltel DIRTcar Nationals winner Jared Landers, Batesville, Ark.

Dirt Late Models — Two-time winner Billy Moyer, Batesville, Ark.; Josh Richards, Shinnston, W.Va.; and Clint Smith, Senoia, Ga.

Advance Auto Parts Big Block Modifieds — Billy Pauch, Frenchtown, N.J.; Brett Hearn, Sussex, N.J.; Dale Planck, Cortland, N.Y.; and Jimmy Horton, Neshanic Station, N.J.

The drivers did their best to convince the fans to vote for them through their victories during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals, now it’s up to the fans to decide who will win the title by voting at AlltelAllStar.com.

Alltel is owner and operator of the nation’s largest wireless network and has more than 12 million customers. For more information about Alltel, please visit www.alltel.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series Star Chub Frank Celebrating 30 Years Of Racing



Aiming For National Tour Title To Punctuate Rags-To-Riches Rise Through Sport



CONCORD, NC – March 14, 2008 – Time sure does fly when you’re having fun behind the wheel of a race car.

Just ask World of Outlaws Late Model Series star Chub Frank, who is celebrating 30 seasons as a dirt-track driver in 2008.

“The years have gone by in a hurry,” the 46-year-old Frank said wistfully. “Thirty years? I never would’ve thought I’d do this for so long.”

It’s been one heck of a motorsports journey for Frank, a down-home, hard-nosed racer from small-town Bear Lake, Pa., who embodies the rags-to-riches racing tale. He started at the absolute bottom of the sport’s ladder in a Spectator division car he got from the junkyard and has steadily risen through the ranks over three decades to reach his current status – a fulltime professional driver with an Everyman quality, a hero known far-and-wide as ‘Chubzilla,’ a winner of dirt Late Model racing’s biggest events and a favorite to capture the 2008 WoO LMS points championship.

When he ran his first race as a 16-year-old at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y. – a track then promoted by his father – did Frank envision that 30 years later he’d be campaigning top-notch equipment, working out of a spacious shop that includes a bar filled with mementos from his career, traveling the country in a gorgeous hauler and making his living as a dirt Late Model driver? Not a chance.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect it to go this far, to get to this level,” Frank said of his career. “I grew up driving packer trucks around (his father’s) track and I wanted to drive race cars, but it wasn’t like I thought I’d make a living at it.

“When I started racing, it was just something fun to do. My brother and I built a ’69 Impala and I went out there. I had like $75 in it!

“Everything we have now costs a little bit more,” he added with a smile.

The high cost of running his own race team leads Frank to joke that he’d “try to be a professional golfer” if he could start life over again as a teenager because “there’s a lot less overhead.” But, in the final analysis, he concedes that he’s very happy with his career choice. He worked, among other jobs, as a gas station attendant/mechanic, custom-trailer builder and jack-of-all-trades at his brother’s salvage yard before making dirt Late Model racing his fulltime occupation in 1990, and he wouldn’t trade his current position for any in his past.

“I don’t think there’s anything else I’d like to do,” asserted Frank. “No job is gonna get you more excited about going to work than driving a race car – the adrenalin rush is just unbelievable. Even after all these years, it’s still a lot of fun. We still enjoy traveling to different tracks, meeting new people – and driving that race car.”

Of course, there’s a good reason why Frank remains so fired up about racing: even with 30 years of it under his belt, he arguably hasn’t yet reached his peak.

“It’s taken the whole 30 years to get where we’re at right now,” said Frank, who has been an owner-operator for the bulk of his racing career. “It’s been a building process. We didn’t have anyone helping us with our Late Model stuff, so we had to build it up gradually. We bought cars, sold ‘em, and then updated the next year. Little by little, we kept updating and accumulating stuff and got to where we are today, with equipment that we feel is as good as anybody’s out there.”

Frank began driving in the Super Late Model division in 1985, while in the middle of a dominant five-year run (1983-1987) of Limited Late Model championships on his home circuit of Stateline Speedway and Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa. He won his first Super Late Model title in 1989, at Stateline, and then started venturing out to bigger events across the region through the ‘90s.

“We just kept trying to better ourselves,” said Frank, who was dubbed the ‘Shoestring Traveler’ because he used a bare-bones Suburban and open trailer to haul his car until 1996 (he went to a cube van and enclosed trailer before eventually upgrading to the conversion motorhome/stacker trailer he has today). “When you run with the best guys in the country you get better or go home, and it’s actually worked out for us.”

After winning several major shows during the ‘90s, Frank gained plenty of attention by capturing four consecutive STARS/Renegade Series championships from 2000-2003. He became a WoO LMS regular when the World Racing Group re-launched the tour in 2004 – the same year he won the prestigious World 100 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway – and has been the only driver to better his finish in the series points standings in each of the past four seasons (sixth in 2004, fifth in ’05, third in ’06, second in ’07).

Coming off a 2007 WoO LMS campaign in which he led the tour in A-Main victories, with six, but fell short in the points battle to Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Frank is confident that he can take that final step and bag a rich national title. It would certainly be a crowning achievement of a career he’s carved out his way, on his terms.

“If I had my choice, I would rather have been able to get (to national contender status) a lot earlier than we have,” said Frank, whose familiar Rocket No. 1* cars carry primary sponsorship from Lester Buildings. “I wish it wouldn’t have taken us this long to get where we are now.

“But it would definitely be satisfying to win (the WoO LMS championship) after everything we’ve done to get here. You have to be dedicated and figure out how to cut corners and save money if you’re gonna run with the big dogs with your own team, and winning a (WoO LMS) championship would probably show we’ve done it pretty well.”

Frank paused, then summed up his 30-year racing odyssey thusly: “What’s funny is sometimes, when you’re driving down the road, you’ll hear somebody on the CB say, ‘There’s a lot of Daddy’s money driving along in that hauler.’ I just laugh when I hear that, because in this case, with our deal, it’s just not that way.”

Frank, who sits eighth in the WoO LMS points standings after last month’s pair of season-opening events at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park, gets back on the trail when the tour resumes on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss. The inaugural ‘March Through Dixie 100’ will pay $20,000 to win from a total purse of nearly $100,000.

For more information on the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ and the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, UMP DIRTcar Racing Public Relations
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update: Big Super Late Model & Modified Weekend Ahead At Kentucky Lake, Circuit Mourns Passing Of Bill Nelson



EVANSVILLE, IN – March 12, 2008 –   HERE WE GO: The first UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Super Late Model and open-wheel Modified action since last month in Florida rolls out this weekend at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway in Calvert City, Ky., where the circuit’s two marquee divisions headline the three-day ‘March Madness’ spectacular.

Set to run from Thursday (March 13) through Saturday (March 15), the busy season-opening meet at the three-eighths-mile oval promoted by Sherri Heckenast will feature complete programs each night for the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models and open-wheel Modifieds. The Super Late Models will chase a top prize of $5,000 on Thursday and Friday and $10,000 in Saturday’s finale, while the Modified competitors will find a $2,000 booty on the line in each of their three main events.

Race time is 7 p.m. each night.

The Super Late Model field is expected to include defending UMP DIRTcar Summernationals and national champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., who will make his first start since last month’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park.

A specials-only facility, Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway is also scheduled to host the opening event of this year’s UMP DIRTcar Summernationals, a $7,500-to-win show on Thurs., June 12.

For more information on ‘March Madness,’ visit www.klmsllc.com or call 270-395-3600 (track hotline) or 815-469-3619 (track office).

SAD NEWS: The UMP DIRTcar Racing community is mourning the passing of Bill Nelson, a former car owner and promoter on the UMP circuit.

Nelson, 50, died Monday afternoon from complications that developed while he was undergoing open-heart surgery at Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign, Ill.

A UMP DIRTcar Modified national champion car owner in 1997 while teamed with driver Steve Hillard, Nelson also co-owned Super Late Models with Hillard for several seasons before becoming co-promoter of the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Northern All-Stars Late Model Series in 2004. He spent three seasons overseeing the NALMS and served as a promoter of his hometown track, Vermilion County Speedway in Danville, Ill., through the end of the 2007 campaign.

UMP DIRTcar Racing director Sam Driggers was deeply saddened by the passing of Nelson, who was planning to help his friends William and Tammy Scogin at StormPay.com Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway this season.

“Bill was a very good friend of mine and will truly be missed by everyone who knew him,” said Driggers, who visited Nelson in the hospital on Sunday.

Funeral arrangements for Nelson include visitation on Thurs., March 13, from 3-8 p.m. and a funeral service on Fri., March 14, at 10 a.m., both at the Pape Funeral Home in Danville, Ill.

ON THE HORIZON: Nelson will certainly be fondly remembered when StormPay.com Clarksville Speedway opens its 2008 UMP DIRTcar campaign on March 21-22 with the fourth annual Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic.

Rescheduled from March 7-8 due to bad weather, the unique ‘Toilet Bowl’ program features a UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model A-Main paying $10,000 to win and a UMP DIRTcar Modified headliner offering a $2,000 victor’s check. The Super Late Model portion of the show will span both days – time trials and heat races on Fri., March 21, and B-Mains and the feature on Sat., March 22 – while the Modified competition has been changed to a one-day program on Fri., March 21.

The switch to one night of action for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds will allow teams the opportunity to also enter the fifth annual ‘Bluegrass Bash’ on Sat., March 22, at Western Kentucky Speedway in Nebo, Ky.

With a $6,000 first prize and over $27,000 in prize money on the line in the ‘Bluegrass Bash,’ the 40-lap A-Main is one of the richest UMP DIRTcar Modified events of the season. Defending race champion Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., heads the nearly 50-driver pre-entry list for the race, which last year drew a field of close to 100 cars.

For more information on the Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic, visit www.clarksvillespeedway.com.  Info on the ‘Bluegrass Bash’ is available by contacting Billy Egeler at 270-302-8882 or logging on to www.wkracing.com  or www.openwheelmodified.com.
 
HISTORIC EVENT: Clarksville’s Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic weekend boasts one support-division feature that figures to always be remembered as the answer to the trivia question, “Which track hosted the first UMP DIRTcar Pro Late Model race?”

UMP DIRTcar is sanctioning crate-engine Late Model competition for the first time in 2008 with the introduction of the Pro Late Model division. StormPay.com Clarksville Speedway will be the site of the first UMP DIRTcar Pro Late Model event, a $1,000-to-win feature on Sat., March 22, that will be preceded by time trials and qualifying races.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The 2008 UMP DIRTcar Summernationals schedule was recently completed with the addition of dates at Quincy (Ill.) Speedway and Kankakee (Ill.) Motor Speedway.

Filling the two dates left as ‘TBA’ on the original schedule released in mid-January, Quincy will host a Summernationals event on Tues., July 8, and Kankakee will entertain the renowned ‘Hell Tour’ on Fri., July 11.

Kankakee, which is slotted in the Summernationals sked on the eve of the series finale at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio, is being promoted in 2008 by Ron Miller and Bob Drake.

The additions push the 2008 Summernationals schedule to 27 events over a 31-day period, which puts this year’s tour in line to match the single-season record for the most races run in the history of the 20-year-old series. There were 27 events completed in both 2002 and 2005.

THE BATTLE BEGINS: The 2008 UMP DIRTcar points races in all divisions gets going in earnest on April 4 – the first day that all UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned races will start counting toward a driver’s accumulated points.

Technically, the UMP DIRTcar points season kicked off on Jan. 1, but from that date through March 30 only a driver’s highest points finish (finishing-position points plus bonus points earned relative to car count) is counted toward their 2008 points total.

HUGE SHOW IN ‘LAND OF LINCOLN’: The richest Super Late Model event ever contested in the state of Illinois – the heart of UMP DIRTcar Country – is rapidly approaching.

A World of Outlaws Late Model Series race that is co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar, the inaugural ‘Illini 100’ is set for April 4-5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway. The two-day extravaganza at the quarter-mile fairgrounds oval will pay a whopping $20,000 to win from a total purse of nearly $100,000.

For more information on the ‘Illini 100,’ visit www.farmercityraceway.net  or www.worldofoutlaws.com.

INFO: Log on to www.dirtcar.com  or more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Fuller’s Cost-Saving Move



CONCORD, NC – March 10, 2008 – DOLLARS & ‘SENSE’: Tim Fuller is currently home in upstate New York.

The two Gypsum Express Racing dirt Late Models he has at his disposal, meanwhile, are nearly 1,100 miles away in Georgia.

What’s the deal? Just call it a shrewd, cost-saving logistical move by the 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Rookie of the Year.

Since the end of last month’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., Fuller’s hauler and red No. 19 Rocket cars have been parked at fellow WoO LMS regular Clint Smith’s shop in Senoia, Ga. They won’t return to Fuller’s garage in the Empire State’s Northcountry until after the next WoO LMS event, the $20,000-to-win ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss.

“With the high price of fuel and way the weather is up here (in New York’s snow belt), we figured it’s worthwhile to leave the cars and the hauler at Clint’s for a month,” Fuller said on Monday from his shop, which was under more than a foot of snow following a weekend storm. “We’re saving a bunch of money on fuel, plus we don’t have to winterize the camper (toter-home), we won’t get it covered with salt and sand from driving it on the roads up here, and we’re just plain saving a lot of wear-and-tear on it.”

While Fuller, 40, of Watertown, N.Y., stayed in Florida the week after the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals to vacation with his family (it was his three-year-old daughter Ainsley’s first trip to Disney World), his chief mechanic, Mike ‘Smoke’ Countryman, drove the hauler to Smith’s estate. Countryman and DIRTcar big-block Modified driver Billy Dunn, who provided pit-area assistance to Fuller throughout the southern excursion, spent several days working on Fuller’s cars before heading home to New York in a Gypsum Express pickup truck that Dunn drove from Florida to Georgia.

Fuller is saving nearly 2,700 miles on his sponsor John Lazore’s race car transporter by parking it at Smith’s, taking into account trips of roughly 1,250 miles from Volusia to Watertown, N.Y. (it was 400 miles to Smith’s place) and 1,400 miles from upstate New York to Southern Mississippi (the haul to Pike County Speedway from Smith’s shop is about 475 miles).

What’s more, Fuller will get a chance to keep his dirt Late Model skills sharp during the break from WoO LMS by entering two shows this weekend within a couple-hour drive of Smith’s shop. Fuller and Countryman are flying down to Atlanta on Thursday and will run special events on Friday night (March 14) at North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth and Saturday night (March 15) at Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway.

After flying back home following the weekend, Fuller will borrow a truck and trailer from Lazore and haul his DIRTcar big-block Modified to Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway on Sat., March 22, to compete in the season-opening Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series 100. Then he’ll hop a plane again to retrieve his dirt Late Model operation from Smith’s garage in advance of Pike County’s WoO LMS show.

STUCK AT HOME: With rain and cold weather causing the cancellation of several dirt Late Model events in Tennessee, Georgia and Maryland, no WoO LMS regulars saw action over the past weekend.

BIG HONOR: WoO LMS announcer Rick Eshelman took advantage of the tour’s break to attend Sunday’s 2008 regular-season opener at Talladega (Ala.) Short Track and ended up adding a memorable moment to his announcing career.

After accepting an invitation to grab a microphone as a guest announcer, Eshelman was thrilled to call 70-something short-track legend Red Farmer’s drive to victory in the oval’s crate Late Model feature.

DATE CHANGE REMINDER: WoO LMS officials have announced that a previously-scheduled tour date at Lebanon I-44 Speedway has been moved back one week, to Sat., May 3, and an event has been added at Monett Speedway on Sun., May 4, setting up two consecutive nights of Outlaws action in Missouri.

HELP THEM MAKE A COMEBACK: Josh Richards, Clint Smith and former WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer are still seeking votes from fans in the Alltel DIRTcar All-Star contest, which awards a $12,000 prize to the top vote-getter among the 18 drivers who won features during last month’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.

Victories in the Super Late Model A-Mains at Volusia put Richards, Smith and Moyer on the Alltel DIRTcar All-Star ballot. They need a final-week surge in the voting to pull out the big money.

Fans have until 11:59 p.m. ET on March 16 to vote for their favorite full-fender star at www.AlltelAllStar.com.  They can vote once per day, and with each vote cast they are entered in a contest to win a $500 gift card from Alltel Wireless.

NEXT UP: The 2008 WoO LMS gets rolling again on March 28-29 with the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ at Pike County Speedway.

Arguably the biggest early-season dirt Late Model event ever run in the state of Mississippi, the big weekend will include time trials and qualifying heats on Fri., March 28, and B-Mains and the $20,000-to-win 100-lap A-Main on Sat., March 29. The first-ever WoO LMS show at the three-eighths-mile oval will also feature a driver autograph session in the spectator area from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com.

INFO: To learn more about the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Lebanon I-44 Speedway Date Moved To May 3, Event At Monett Speedway On May 4 Added To World of Outlaws Late Model Series Schedule



Announcement Sets Up Big Springtime World of Outlaws Weekend In Missouri



CONCORD, NC – March 8, 2008 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series will invade Missouri in a big way to usher in the month of May.

WoO LMS officials have announced that a previously-scheduled tour date at Lebanon I-44 Speedway has been moved back one week, to Sat., May 3, and an event has been added at Monett Speedway on Sun., May 4, setting up two consecutive nights of Outlaws action in the Show-Me State.

Both tracks are operated by veteran promoter Randy Mooneyham.

Lebanon I-44 Speedway, a high-banked, three-eighths-mile oval located in the south-central portion of Missouri, was originally scheduled to host the WoO LMS on Sat., April 26. Instead, the 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event will be moved to Sat., May 3, and Mooneyham will open the gates of his three-eighths-mile, semi-banked Monett track on Sun., May 4, to provide teams and fans an attractive WoO LMS doubleheader.

This will mark the fourth year in a row that the WoO LMS visits Lebanon I-44 Speedway, which also hosted a series event in 1988 during the inaugural WoO LMS season directed by late Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series founder Ted Johnson. Previous WoO LMS winners at Lebanon I-44 include Clint Smith (2007), Brian Birkhofer (2006), Steve Francis (2005) and Billy Moyer (1988).

Monett Speedway, a long-running oval that sits roughly 100 miles southwest of Lebanon I-44 Speedway, will be part of the WoO LMS for the first time. The Sunday-night event will feature a 40-lap A-Main that pays $7,000 to win.

Both races will be co-sanctioned by the O’Reilly MARS DIRTcar Series and utilize the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Hoosier tire rule.

The addition of Monett increases the current 2008 WoO LMS schedule to 47 confirmed events at 40 tracks in 22 states and three Canadian provinces.

WoO LMS officials expect to announce several additional events in the coming days that will likely push the schedule over 50 races.

More information on both Lebanon I-44 Speedway and Monett Speedway can be obtained by visiting www.monettspeedway.com  or calling Lebanon I-44 Speedway at 417-532-2060; Monett Speedway at 417-236-0600; or Randy Mooneyham at 417-224-7074.

Additional info on the WoO LMS is available at www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Anticipation Building For Inaugural $20,000-To-Win ‘March Through Dixie 100’ At Pike County Speedway



Mississippi Track Set To Host World of Outlaws Late Model Series For First Time March 28-29



MAGNOLIA, MS – March 6, 2008 – Big-time talent. Big-time money.

Combine the two and you get the most anticipated early-season dirt Late Model event ever run in Mississippi – the inaugural ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway.

The first-ever visit to the three-eighths-mile oval by the renowned World of Outlaws Late Model Series will feature a blockbuster 100-lap A-Main on Sat., March 29, that offers a $20,000 top prize and $1,500 to start from a total purse near the $100,000 mark.

Energetic Pike County Speedway owner J.F. Gasquet has hosted some big dirt Late Model shows since purchasing the track three years ago, but there’s no doubt that his pit area has never been filled with the sheer number of superstar drivers who are expected to be on hand for the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’

From the touring WoO LMS standouts led by defending champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., to Pike County’s 2007 ‘Jambalaya 100’ winner Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., to Deep South favorite Chris (‘Intimagator’) Wall of Holden, La., the field will be dripping with top-notch talent.

Adding even more intrigue to the weekend, it will mark the first time a national touring series has visited Pike County Speedway in nearly 13 years. The old UDTRA/Xtreme DirtCar Series ran the last of its three events over a two-year span at Pike County on July 22, 1995, with Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., emerging victorious.

“I’m real excited about this race,” said Gasquet, who had planned to host the WoO LMS for the first time last July but saw his ‘Freedom 100’ weekend washed out by rain. “The fans are going to see an unbelievable group of drivers in competition, including some great drivers who have never raced before at Pike County Speedway.

“We’re going to do whatever we can to put on a show that packs the house.”

Gasquet, a 60-year-old resident of Louisiana who owns the Tri-State Oil Co., has already been doing a bunch to put Pike County Speedway on the short-track racing map. He’s dug deep into his pockets during his short reign to refurbish the facility and entertain nationally-known series like the World of Outlaws, all in hopes of attracting attention to the track.

The renovation project Gasquet has overseen includes new cement walls all the way around the track; a doubling of the pit area’s size; a new sidewalk in front of the grandstand that seats 4,500; a 10-position scoreboard; some new lights; new catch fencing around the speedway; new concession and souvenir stands; new bathrooms in the pits; a new grader for track preparation; and the erection of a giant lighted billboard facing the traffic passing by on Interstate 55. He’s also starting work on a new two-story official’s and VIP tower and ‘clubhouse’ boxes.

“Pike County has always been a well-known track in the South, but it’s gonna be becoming one of the premier tracks in the country,” said Gasquet, laying out his vision for the future of the speedway. “It’s got a great location, right smack-dab along the Interstate, and we’re making improvements and bringing in the best drivers so the fans will want to come here.

“Hopefully a lot of fans will come down (for the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ weekend) to see everything we’re doing down here.”

The two-day program – the first action for the WoO LMS since two events during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals, on Feb. 14 and 16 at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park – will begin with time trials and qualifying heats on Fri., March 28. B-Mains and the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ will close out the highly anticipated weekend on Sat., March 29.

Saturday’s schedule will include an hour-long autograph session in the grandstand area from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., giving fans an opportunity to meet and greet all the drivers who enter the event.

And make no mistake – ‘March Through Dixie 100’ attendees will visit with some famous dirt Late Model names.

For starters, Francis will pace the WoO LMS traveling caravan to southern Mississippi. The ‘Kentucky Colonel’ will be joined by fellow tour regulars Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who led the WoO LMS in wins last season; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; soon-to-be 20-year-old Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who enters the weekend tied for the WoO LMS points lead with Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., after capturing the season opener; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; ’07 Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.; Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.; Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who drives for NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer; and 2008 Rookie of the Year contender Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan.

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who won the 2006 WoO LMS title and is currently a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver, has made plans to enter his familiar Sweeteners Plus No. 39 in the weekend’s activities. Other well-traveled racers expecting to join him include Mars, Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.

Wall, who has performed well at Pike County in the past, will lead the Gulf Coast contingent into the event. Other regional standouts expected to participate include 2005 ‘Jambalaya 100’ winner David Ashley of Zachary, La., David Breazeale of Four Corners, Miss., Mike Boland of Cuba, Ala., Ray Moore of Shreveport, La., and James Ward of Lettsworth, La., who finished second in the 2007 ‘Jambalaya 100.’

On Fri., March 28, pit gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. and spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m. Cars will begin hitting the track at 6 p.m.

The Friday program will also include qualifying heats for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, NeSmith Crate Late Models and Street Stocks and heats and features for the Limited Modifieds and Pure Stocks.

On Sat., March 29, pit gates will open at 2 p.m. and spectator gates at 4 p.m., allowing the driver autograph session to commence at 4:30 p.m. Cars will begin packing the track at 6 p.m.

Saturday night’s WoO LMS undercard will include last-chance races and features for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, NeSmith Crate Late Models and Street Stocks.

A raindate of Sun., March 30, has been reserved for the ‘March Through Dixie 100.’

General admission will be $20 on Friday and $25 on Saturday, with kids ages 6-12 admitted for $10 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Pit passes will cost $35 on Friday and $40 on Saturday.

Pike County Speedway has a limited number of overnight camping spots that can be reserved for $15 per night by calling the track office at 504-394-5530. There is no overnight charge for race teams spending the night inside their haulers in the pit area.

Track officials said that teams will be permitted to use only two ATV four-wheelers in the pit area and children can not drive them. Teams can obtain badges that allow the use of four-wheelers for the weekend at the pit registration.

For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com.

Additional info about the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



World of Outlaws Late Model Series News & Notes: Momentum For Eckert, West Coast Win For T-Mac



CONCORD, NC – March 3, 2008 –

MORALE BOOSTER: It was far from the richest win of Rick Eckert’s standout dirt Late Model career, but it was incredibly satisfying.

No surprise there, though, considering that Eckert’s triumph in Sunday afternoon’s 30-lap season opener at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway marked his first visit to Victory Lane in nearly eight months.

“Oh yeah, it feels good to win again,” a relieved Eckert said after pocketing $2,000 for capturing the unsanctioned event. “Hopefully this gets us going.”

Coming off an uncharacteristically quiet 2007 campaign that saw him go winless on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series for the first time since becoming a regular traveler in ’04, Eckert is focused on returning to his usual form this season. A taste of victory at a half-mile track that’s just an hour’s drive from his York, Pa., home would seem to be a good start.

Eckert, 42, knows his Hagerstown score doesn’t mean his frustrating 59-race WoO LMS winless streak is about to become history, but experiencing a successful day after putting in so much hard work in preparation for Sunday’s program certainly buoys his confidence.

Following a three-and-a-half-week trip to Georgia and Florida that included a second-place finish (from the 24th starting spot) in the WoO LMS season opener on Feb. 14 at Volusia Speedway Park but few other outings that pleased him, Eckert returned to his shop and spent two weeks cutting and welding on his Raye Vest-owned GRT car.

“We worked on both ends of the car,” Eckert said of the machine he entered in the Southeastern events. “We tried some things that I was hoping would make the car better, so I wanted to go somewhere this weekend to run it and see how it worked.”

Eckert originally planned to attend the Friday/Saturday ‘Spring Thaw’ weekend at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. – a high-banked track that hosts two WoO LMS events in 2008, on Aug. 20-21 and Oct. 11 – but bad weather postponed the show until March 21-22. He ended up taking his orange No. 24 to Hagerstown, an oval he knows very well.

The verdict on the reworked car? Eckert was very pleased with its performance after winning a heat race and emerging from a scrape with J.T. Spence amid lapped traffic to take the lead with two laps remaining in the feature.

“I feel like the car worked as good as any car I’ve run (at Hagerstown),” Eckert said after his 19th career win at the speedway, which has a WoO LMS event scheduled for May 31. “The track (surface) wasn’t like a typical daytime deal – (turns) one and two was wet and had a cushion for most of the day, and three and four was dry-slick. It was sort of like a night-time track, so I would like to think we learned something we could use there when we go back (for the WoO LMS show).”

Did Eckert also find something that will boost him when the WoO LMS returns to action with the $20,000-to-win ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss.?

“We’ll see about that,” said Eckert, whose last win had come on July 12, 2007, in the unsanctioned Camp Barnes Benefit Race at Delaware International Speedway. “I’m just happy to get a win. We needed it.”

WEST COAST VISITOR: A last-minute deal to run the two-night ‘Las Vegas Dirt Classic’ last Thursday and Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway turned out sweet for 2006 WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie.

After landing a ride in the Bakersfield, Calif.-based Victory Circle house car wrenched by Chris Sivesind on Wednesday, McCreadie caught a Thursday-morning flight from Rochester, N.Y., to Vegas. He finished third in Thursday night’s feature and then drove to a $3,000 victory in Friday’s night’s 30-lap headliner, outdueling Scott James of Greendale, Ind., for the top prize.

“Everybody needs a win,” said McCreadie, whose lone dirt Late Model triumph in 2007 came in an unsanctioned event in early May at Virginia Motor Speedway. “I sure needed one. I didn’t run too many Late Model shows last year, so a win gets me excited.”

McCreadie, 33, of Watertown, N.Y., is currently splitting his time between North Carolina – where he has a residence after signing as a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver last year – and his native upstate New York. With his RCR schedule in limbo as the team attempts to land a sponsor for its No. 21 NASCAR Nationwide Series car, McCreadie is looking at doing more dirt Late Model racing.

In that vein, McCreadie was in Avon, N.Y., working with crewman Al Stevens on his familiar Sweeteners Plus Racing No. 39 dirt Late Models when the opportunity to race at Las Vegas presented itself. He plans to do more preparation on the Sweeteners equipment in the coming weeks before entering back-to-back, $20,000-to-win WoO LMS events – the ‘March Through Dixie 100’ on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway and the ‘Illini 100’ on April 4-5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway.

McCreadie has also entered the WoO LMS Circle K Colossal 100 on April 18-19 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. But for that event, he’ll be behind the wheel of 2007 WoO LMS champion Steve Francis’s Valvoline No. 15, which he’s scheduled to steer in several major dirt Late Model shows this season.

NO BREAKS: WoO LMS standout Shane Clanton still has a black cloud hovering over his head.

The star-crossed driver from Locust Grove, Ga., was hoping to shake his early-season bad luck with a trip to Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C., for Sunday’s ‘March Madness’ event, but misfortune struck him again. He tangled with 2004 WoO LMS champ Scott Bloomquist while running third on a lap-two restart during the fourth heat race, ending his day with left-front suspension damage.

MARCH MADNESS ENTRANTS: WoO LMS regulars Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., joined Clanton in Cherokee’s field.

Babb, making his first start in NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer’s dirt Late Model since the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, enjoyed a respectable outing. He advanced from the seventh starting spot to finish fifth in the 60-lap A-Main won by Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.

Smith, meanwhile, was unable to repeat his 2007 ‘March Madness’ victory at the four-tenths-mile oval. He started ninth but dropped out of the event, settling for a 19th-place finish on a challenging, rough track surface.

‘KID ROCKET’: The youngest Outlaw, soon-to-be 20-year-old Josh Richards (he leaves his teenage years behind on March 22), finished third in Sunday afternoon’s dirt Late Model feature at Hagerstown Speedway.

Shinnston, W.Va.’s Richards drove the Ernie Davis-owned Rocket No. 25, a machine he is running in most of his non-WoO LMS appearances this season.

NEXT UP: The countdown is on for the resumption of the 2008 WoO LMS on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway, the three-eighths-mile oval right off Interstate 55 in southern Mississippi.

Arguably the biggest early-season dirt Late Model event ever run in Mississippi, the format will feature time trials and qualifying heat races for the WoO LMS on Fri., March 28, and the B-Mains and 100-lap A-Main on Sat., March 29.

For more information, visit www.pikecountyspeedway.com  or call the track at 601-783-2500.

More information on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, UMP DIRTcar Racing Public Relations
704-254-7929 • kkovac@dirtcar.com



Contact: StormPay.com Clarksville Speedway
Chris Tilley, C/T Marketing/StormPay.com Clarksville Speedway
606-219-1723 • tilleyracing@hotmail.com 



UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models & Modifieds Headline 4th Annual Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic March 7-8 At Clarksville Speedway



CLARKSVILLE, TN – March 2, 2008 — By Chris Tilley

UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models and Open-Wheel Modifieds will serve as the headliners of the blockbuster season-opening weekend at StormPay.com Clarksville Speedway, which kicks off its 2008 schedule on Friday/Saturday March 7-8 with the Fourth Annual Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic event.

The first major UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned show since last month’s 37th annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals in Florida, the Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic boasts a UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model A-Main paying $10,000 to win and a Modified feature offering a $2,000 top prize.

The purse for the weekend’s events, which includes action for eight divisions over two days, will exceed $50,000 in total prize money.

Friday’s program will see the gates opening at 4 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. CST. Friday’s racing will include time trials and heats for both the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models and UMP Open-Wheel Modifieds, plus heats and features for the Pure-Mini division and time trials and feature racing for the Pro Street class. Crate Late Models can practice that night as well.

On Saturday, the track’s gates will open at 12 noon with practice starting at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s racing card features UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model B-Mains and the $10,000-to-win Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic.

The UMP DIRTcar Open-Wheel Modifieds will also run B-Mains on Saturday prior to the division’s $2,000-to-win feature. In addition, there will be heat racing and features for Mini-Mods, Street Stocks and Mini-Sprints, and the Crate Late Models will compete in a complete show of time trials and qualifying events leading up to a feature paying $1,000 to win and $100 to start.

The Super Late Models, Open-Wheel Modifieds and the Crate Late Models will all compete utilizing the UMP DIRTcar tire rule.

Previous winners of the Super Late Model portion of the Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic include six-time UMP DIRTcar Summernationals champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark. (2005), Tim Tungate of Campbellsville, Ky. (2006) and Ray Book of Brasstown, N.C. (2007).

Admission prices for Fri., March 7, are $25 for pit passes and $10 for General Admission, with children 6-10 admitted for $5. Saturday’s prices are $35 at the pit gate and $25 in the General Admission Grandstands, with children 6-10 admitted for just $5.

The StormPay.com Clarksville Speedway is located at 1600 Needmore Road in Clarksville, Tenn.

For further information, please visit www.clarksvillespeedway.com  or call the Speedway at (931) 645-2523.

More info on UMP DIRTcar Racing is available by logging on to www.dirtcar.com.

TUCKASEE TOILET BOWL CLASSIC LATE MODEL PURSE: 1) $10,000 2) $5,000, 3) $2,000, 4) $1,200, 5) $900, 6) $800, 7) $700, 8) $600, 9) $575, 10) $550, 11) $525, 12) $500, 13) $500, 14) $500, 15) $500, 16) $500, 17) $500, 18) $500, 19) $500, 20) $500

Contact: World Racing Group
Chris Dolack, VP Media/PR
704-795-7223 • cdolack@dirtcar.com



Heavy Alltel All-Star Voting Continues Through March 16 With Dave Hess Jr., Wayne Johnson Currently Atop Poll



CONCORD, NC — Feb. 29, 2008 — With a couple