CONCORD, NC – March 18, 2010 –
BACK TO WORK: Brady Smith has enjoyed sitting atop the World of Outlaws Late Model Series points standings for the past month, but he’s more than ready to put his lofty status on the line.
That time comes this weekend when Smith and the rest of the national tour’s stars end an extended break with a Southeastern doubleheader, visiting Ocala (Fla.) Speedway on Friday night (March 19) and Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., on Saturday night (March 20). Both races will be 50 laps and pay $10,000 to win.
Idle since grabbing the points lead with a victory in the second WoO LMS A-Main of the 2010 season on Feb. 13 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., the 32-year-old Smith is making a 1,500-mile-plus trip back to the Sunshine State from his home in Solon Springs, Wis., to resume his title chase. He spent the off-weeks gearing up for what will quickly become a busy schedule on the nation’s premier tour.
“We had a new frame sitting at home so we worked on putting it together over the last few weeks,” said Smith, who campaigns Team Zero by Bloomquist chassis. “We got the new car finished and we’re bringing it with us on this trip. I’m not sure when we’ll pull it out, but I’m pretty sure we’ll run it one of the next four races.”
Smith, who, like most WoO LMS regulars, will remain on the road following this weekend’s action and head directly to Texas for the upcoming doubleheader on March 26 at Battleground Speedway and March 27 at Lone Star Speedway, enters the spring in a much stronger mental state than one year ago. In 2009 he not only faced the challenge of experiencing the grueling WoO LMS for the first time as a regular, but he also failed to qualify for the season opener at Volusia and thus plunged into the season already in a points hole.
“Obviously it’s very early, but it’s a lot better feeling to be leading the points than being way behind like we were last year,” said Smith, who scored a third-place finisher in last month’s WoO LMS opener at Volusia. “We’re proud of the way we started the season, and I feel like we’re better prepared for an assault on the championship.”
Smith has never competed at the three-eighths-mile, egg-shaped Ocala oval – though he did get a glimpse of the track on his way to Volusia last month – but he made his first career start at Screven last year. His outing at the Peach State track facility didn’t go well; in the middle of a late-summer slump, Smith finished 22nd after rearend problems forced him to retire while running eighth on lap 26 of the 50-lap A-Main.
RETURN TO ACTION: WoO LMS regulars Steve Francis and Shane Clanton are anxious to climb back behind the wheel after experiencing eventful months – for different reasons, of course.
Francis, 42, had an enjoyable time away from competition, taking a break from the grind of preparing his own equipment to tie the knot with Amanda Ferrell. The couple was married on Feb. 27 in Bardstown, Ky., and spent the next week honeymooning in Jamaica.
The 34-year-old Clanton, meanwhile, used the time off to continue recovering from the serious infection that mangled his left thumb, entered his blood stream – and forced him to settle for start-and-park, last-place finishes in the season-opening WoO LMS events at Volusia because he wasn’t healthy enough to race full-tilt. He underwent another surgery on his thumb two weeks ago and plans to race for real this weekend in hopes of beginning a comeback in the points standings; he was originally scheduled to undergo skin-graft operation the Monday after the Texas swing, but he reported that the thumb is healing well so that procedure is canceled for now.
AN OUTLAW AGAIN?: Coming off a spectacular 28th-to-third-place charge in last month’s WoO LMS finale at Volusia that left him fourth in the points standings, Tim McCreadie is headed south for two weeks of action with the mindset that he’ll be a tour regular for the first time since his championship season in 2006.
“That’s the plan right now,” said McCreadie, a resident of Watertown, N.Y., who turns 36 on April 12. “We’re moving working as if we’re going to do the whole Outlaw thing.”
McCreadie will make his first-ever appearance at both Ocala and Screven this weekend.
IT’S BEEN AWHILE: Friday night’s inaugural WoO LMS event at Ocala Speedway will mark the first time a major national touring dirt Late Model series has visited the track since Feb. 13, 1993, when a Hav-A-Tampa/Southern All-Stars Series special was held.
Current WoO LMS star Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., was in the field for that race, making him one of the few tour regulars with experience at the odd-shaped oval. He remembers finishing fourth in the feature, which was won by dirt Late Model veteran Ronnie Johnson.
Ocala, Fla.’s Ivedent Lloyd Jr., who is expected to be the top local contender on Friday, also competed in that event 17 years ago. Then a 26-year-old driver on his way to a second consecutive dirt Late Model points title at Ocala – a track that would be paved after the 1995 season and not return to a dirt surface until 2008 – Lloyd recalls finishing second in a heat race behind veteran traveler Buck Simmons but breaking in the feature. Ironicially, Lloyd was working at the time for Ronnie Johnson in Chattanooga, Tenn., and returned to his hometown to compete in the event.
TOUGH LOCALS: WoO LMS stars have won each of the two previous tour A-Mains contested at Screven Motor Speedway – Francis in 2008 and Tim Fuller in 2009 – but the Georgia contingent has proven formidable.
Peach State racers have led laps in both of Screven’s 50-lappers. In 2008, Screven favorites Chesley Dixon of Swainsboro, Ga., led laps 1-5 of the A-Main (though he finished 20th after spinning out of third place on lap 16) and Jeremy Faircloth, also of Swainsboro, paced laps 6-10 before settling for a solid fourth-place finish. Last year Benji Cole of Canon, Ga., flexed some local muscle by leading laps 1-6, but a scrape flattened his tire and left him with a 24th-place finish.
MEMORABLE ACTION: Last year’s WoO LMS A-Main at Screven produced some moments that stood out, including a battle for the lead between Fuller and defending tour champion Josh Richards and a controversial incident involving Francis and 2008 titlist Darrell Lanigan.
Fuller wasn’t passed after inheriting the lead on lap six, but a fortuitous caution flag on lap 34 might have saved him. Richards, who last month won the WoO LMS season opener at Volusia for the fourth consecutive year, appeared to be in the process of overtaking Fuller when the caution flag flew. Fuller moved down to Richards’s groove once the green flag returned and never looked back, leaving Richards to settle for runner-up money.
Lanigan, meanwhile, had his emotions running high after seeing a likely top-five run go by the wayside when he spun to a stop in turn two on the 32nd lap because he took evasive action to avoid Francis, who twirled 360-degrees and continued while running in third place. Lanigan, who had reached fourth place from the 12th starting spot, angrily restarted at the rear of the field and could only manage a 14th-place finish.
MEETING UP: This weekend’s doubleheader means Fuller will finally reunite with his hauler and two cars, which he left parked at buddy Clint Smith’s shop in Senoia, Ga., for the past month.
Fuller drove his rig to Smith’s place after Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals and flew home to upstate New York in order to save nearly 2,000 miles on its odometer. He returned this week to go through his equipment and caravan to Ocala with Smith.
NEWCOMER: Tim Dohm of Cross Lanes, W.Va., plans to make the trip to the Southeast this weekend with Tracy Seymour’s team – with the intention, in fact, to apply for Rookie of the Year status and continue following the 2010 WoO LMS.
Though 49 years old, Dohm has only been racing dirt Late Models since 2006 and never regularly on a national level. His finishes of eighth and 16th at Volusia have him 11th in the points standings entering this weekend’s action.
Meanwhile, other Rookie of the Year candidates ready for the Ocala/Screven double-dip include 18-year-old Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., who finished seventh in last year’s WoO LMS A-Main at Screven; Tony Knowles of Tyrone, Ga., who has competed several times at Screven; and Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, who has plans to test an ARCA car at Talladega SuperSpeedway next week.
The 2009 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year, Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, will look to rebound after using provisional spots to start both A-Mains last month at Volusia. He’s looking forward to racing at Screven, where he registered a solid 10th-place finish last year.
POP-POP: Chub Frank, who finished third in last year’s WoO LMS A-Main at Screven, recently became a grandfather for the third time when his daughter Margaret and son-in-law Norm welcomed a baby girl, Reagan, on March 4.
HIGH-PROFILE ADDITION?: Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., contacted tour officials at mid-week and relayed the possibility that he might abandon plans to race in the chilly Midwest this weekend and instead head for the Southeast’s more pleasurable climes.
With forecasts calling for clear skies and high temps in the mid-70s for both the Ocala and Screven events, Moyer was seriously considering making the haul to enter the events. He already has next weekend’s WoO LMS shows in Texas listed on his schedule.
OCALA SPEEDWAY EVENT INFORMATION: Ocala’s pit gates are scheduled to open at 1 p.m. and the grandstands will be unlocked at 5 p.m. on March 19. Racing is set to start at 8 p.m.
General admission tickets to the WoO LMS program, which will also include action for the track’s Hobby Stock and Mini-Stock divisions, will be $25 (adults), $12 (ages 6-16) and free for kids 6-and-under. Pit passes will cost $35 and $15 for children 12-and-under.
More information on Ocala Speedway is available by logging on to www.ocalaspeedway.com or calling 352-622-9400.
SCREVEN MOTOR SPEEDWAY EVENT INFORMATION: Gates will be open throughout the afternoon on March 20 to allow racers and fans entrance, and on-track action is slated to start at 6 p.m.
As part of track owner James ‘Redd’ Griffin’s unique ‘Redd’s Stimulus Program’ promotion, general admission is a mere $20 – one of the biggest bargains of the season on the WoO LMS. Children 12-and-under will be admitted free of charge.
Pit passes are $35 and $10 for children 12-and-under.
A 35-lap National Late Model Series event with a $3,000 top prize and a $1,000-to-win Super Street feature will comprise Saturday night’s undercard.
Screven Motor Speedway is located between Mile Markers 6 and 7 on GA Route 21 in Screven County, GA
For more information visit www.screvenmotorspeedway.com or call 912-547-1777 (‘Redd’ Griffin) or 912-754-5882 (track).
Additional info on the WoO LMS is available by visiting www.worldofoutlaws.com.
2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Feb. 13 – 2 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Brady Smith 294 (-0)
2. (tie) Josh Richards 292 (-2)
2. (tie) Earl Pearson Jr. 292 (-2)
4. Tim McCreadie 286 (-8)
5. Billy Moyer 274 (-20)
6. Dale McDowell 268 (-26)
7. Dennis Erb Jr. 266 (-28)
8. Rick Eckert 260 (-34)
9. Shannon Babb 256 (-38)
10. Darrell Lanigan 254 (-40)
11. Tim Dohm 252 (-42)
12. John Blankenship 238 (-56)
13. (tie) Austin Hubbard 236 (-58)
13. (tie) Clint Smith 236 (-58)
15. Steve Francis 234 (-60)
16. (tie) Tim Fuller 230 (-64)
16. (tie) Chub Frank 230 (-64)
16. (tie) Jimmy Owens 230 (-64)
19. (tie) Eddie Carrier Jr. 218 (-76)
19. (tie) Jason Feger 218 (-76)
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel) and DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award); in addition to contingency sponsors Eibach Springs, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pink Carburetors, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis and Wrisco Aluminum.