CONCORD, NC – Nov. 4, 2012 – Darrell Lanigan’s dream season on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series officially came to a close on Sunday night.

The 42-year-old star from Union, Ky., was crowned the 2012 champion of the renowned national tour – and collected a $100,000 points-fund check – during Sunday’s annual WoO LMS ‘Night of Champions’ Awards Banquet at the Great Wolf Lodge.

Lanigan rewrote the circuit’s record book en route to becoming the second two-time WoO LMS titlist since 2004. He established new standards for wins in a single season (15), consecutive victories (six) and alltime triumphs (41), leaving the typically reserved driver even more at a loss for words.

“Wow…what a year!” Lanigan told a filled ballroom when he was called to the stage to accept his championship honors. “Unbelievable, just unbelievable. That’s all I can say.”

Lanigan seized the points lead with a victory in the 2012 season opener on Feb. 11 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., and never relinquished it, becoming the first driver to remain atop the standings from start-to-finish. His final championship margin of 228 points over 2011 titlist Rick Eckert of York, Pa., was the largest in series history. (more…)

Lanigan Falls Short Of Victory But Celebrates 2012 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Championship At The Dirt Track At Charlotte

CONCORD, NC – Nov. 3, 2012 – Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., completed an unprecedented sweep of the PEAK Motor Oil World of Outlaws World Finals Presented by NAPA Auto Parts with a convincing victory in Saturday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

The $10,000 triumph marked the fourth consecutive year that Owens captured the Saturday-night finale of the spectacular weekend – and, as a result, shared the post-race spotlight with the newly-crowned WoO LMS champion. Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who finished third, was presented his second career World of Outlaws championship trophy in a confetti- and fireworks-filled ceremony moments after Owens stood on the winner’s stage.

Owens, 40, certainly didn’t have his amazing feat diminished by the dual Victory Lane celebrations. He earned plenty of recognition from the standing-room-only crowd of over 14,000 and the national television audience that watched the PEAK World Finals by NAPA on the SPEED cable network.

“Words can’t describe how much it means to win these two races this weekend,” said Owens, who has been victorious a record five times in 12 WoO LMS A-Mains contested during the PEAK World Finals by NAPA since the event’s birth in 2007. “It just means so much to me to pull this off. The electricity in the air with all these people here for this show is like no other race we run.” (more…)

Tennessee Driver Becomes Winningest Driver In History Of Season-Ending Event At The Dirt Track At Charlotte

CONCORD, NC – Nov. 2, 2012 – Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., became the winningest driver in the six-year history of the PEAK Motor Oil World of Outlaws World Finals Presented by NAPA Auto Parts with a hard-fought victory in Friday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Owens, 40, advanced from the ninth starting spot to run third behind Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., by lap nine. He battled with the WoO LMS regulars until overtaking Lanigan for second on lap 27 and Eckert for the lead on lap 30.

A winner of the Saturday-night finale of the PEAK World Finals Presented by NAPA in each of the last three years, Owens controlled the final 20 circuits of the feature to register his fourth career triumph during the season-ending spectacular at the four-tenths-mile oval. Eckert crossed the finish line 1.869 seconds behind Owens in second, while Lanigan, who clinched the 2012 WoO LMS championship by entering the weekend’s action, settled for third to remain winless in 19 career starts at The Dirt Track.

Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., who entered the event tied with Owens atop the alltime PEAK World Finals Presented by NAPA win list, finished fourth after starting from the outside pole and sixth-starter Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., placed fifth. (more…)

CONCORD, NC – Oct. 10, 2012 – Rick Eckert of York, Pa., finally conquered The Dirt Track at Charlotte, breaking into Victory Lane at the four-tenths-mile oval with a powerful performance in Wednesday night’s 50-lap Circle K World of Outlaws Late Model Showdown.

The defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion streaked into the lead on lap 31 when Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., slowed with a blown right-rear tire and never looked back. He kept Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., at arm’s length over the remaining distance to register his second consecutive and fifth overall triumph of 2012 on the national tour.

“We won Charlotte!” exclaimed the 46-year-old Eckert after emerging from his victorious Team Zero by Bloomquist car. “It’s a great feeling because this is an awesome place. We’ve been here a bunch (over the past decade) and we’ve run second, we’ve run third, we’ve run fourth – and we’ve run terrible here too. I’ve always wanted to win here, so now I can take this place off my bucket list.” (more…)

2011 Daytona 500 Winner Faces Big Challenge Against Top Stars From World of Outlaws Late Model Series

CONCORD, NC – Oct. 8, 2012 – Trevor Bayne’s education as a dirt Late Model driver will get a dose of higher learning when the 2011 Daytona 500 winner competes Wednesday night (Oct. 10) in the Circle K World of Outlaws Late Model Showdown at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Less than two months after making his full-fender debut on clay, the 21-year-old Bayne will test his developing dirt-track skills against the country’s best drivers in a 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series event that kicks off Bank of America 500 week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With Bayne not running a full NASCAR schedule this season, the youngest Daytona 500 winner in the event’s 54-year history has been dabbling in dirt Late Model racing at tracks near his native Knoxville, Tenn., for the last two months. Wednesday night’s WoO LMS program will mark his second consecutive dirt Late Model ‘road show’ start in a race held in conjunction with a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend. (more…)

Return To Victory Lane On National Tour High On Fuller’s To-Do List For NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week

ELBRIGE, NY – Sept. 30, 2012 – Tim Fuller’s primary objective for NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week XLI is claiming the $50,000 prize for winning the DIRTcar big-block Modified VP Small Engine Fuels 200 at the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds oval.

But make no mistake – there’s another race Fuller has on his to-do list during one of the country’s biggest short-track extravaganzas, which runs from Oct. 3-7 in central New York. He wants to stand in Victory Lane after the 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main on Thursday night (Oct. 4) at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park.

“I would love to win that race,” Fuller said of the mid-week program at the five-eighths-mile Rolling Wheels oval, which hosts the WoO LMS during NAPA Super DIRT Week for the second consecutive year. “That’s a show I’m really looking forward to.”

Fuller, 44, of Watertown, N.Y., has reason to be excited about the NAPA Super DIRT Week satellite event. For starters, the race will mark his first WoO LMS appearance at an Empire State track he frequented as a DIRTcar big-block Modified regular since he joined the top-notch Kennedy Motorsports dirt Late Model team in late July. He also happens to run very well at the ‘Fast Track,’ owning multiple DIRTcar big-block Modified feature wins and recent WoO LMS finishes of fourth (2010) and fifth (’11) there. (more…)

Record-Setting Driver Celebrates Unprecedented Third 100-Lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series Win Of ’12 In Victory Lane Downpour

MARNE, MI – Sept. 22, 2012 – Darrell Lanigan’s drive to victory in Saturday night’s Keyser Manufacturing ‘Down & Dirty 100’ Presented by NAPA Auto Parts at Berlin Raceway was so dramatic, even he couldn’t hold back his excitement.

With rain pouring down on the Victory Lane celebration, the normally reserved driver from Union, Ky., was as pumped as the big crowd that watched him rally to overtake Billy Moyer for the lead on lap 95 and bag his unprecedented third 100-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series triumph of 2012.

“Unbelievable,” a visibly overjoyed Lanigan said after his WoO LMS record 15^th win of the season. “Man, what a race! That car came on there at the end. I could just run wide open almost all the way around the racetrack.”

Lanigan, 42, appeared dead in the water after a lap-30 scrape damaged his Rocket car’s right-rear corner and dropped him from second to sixth, but he came alive with a late-race charge that carried him to a $20,650 win in the first dirt event since 1965 at the historic Berlin track. The renowned 7/16 ^th-mile paved oval was covered with over 300 truckloads of clay for the big weekend of racing. (more…)

Teams Test Michigan Track’s Smooth Dirt Surface In Preparation For Historic World of Outlaws Late Model Series Event

MARNE, MI – Sept. 20, 2012 – Rick Eckert was reminded of another racetrack as soon as he took his first practice laps around the newly dirt-covered Berlin Raceway on Thursday.

But the defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion wouldn’t publicly declare the name of the speedway he likens to Berlin, a well-known 7/16 ^th-mile paved oval that has been transformed into a dirt track for this weekend’s historic $20,000-to-win Keyser Manufacturing ‘Down & Dirty 100’ presented by NAPA Auto Parts.

“I’d rather not say what I think it’s close to,” Eckert said during a break in Thursday’s open practice session that saw 20 dirt Late Models tour the unique, D-shaped oval. “I already told (Tim) McCreadie and he’s making all the changes to his car for that track, so I’m not saying what track I think (Berlin) races like.”

Considering the speed he flashed on Thursday, Eckert, 46, of York, Pa., has hit on a solid setup. He turned the fastest lap in three of the four practice sessions – and in the fourth, he timed second-fastest behind WoO LMS points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. (more…)

SCOUTING BERLIN: Every entrant in this weekend’s Keyser Manufacturing ‘Down & Dirty 100’ Presented by NAPA Auto Parts at Berlin Raceway will have the same level of knowledge about the track – which is to say, none at all.

Berlin has, of course, operated as a 7/16^th-mile asphalt oval since 1966. But the renowned Wolverine State speedway has been covered with more than 300 truckloads of clay for a historic event headlined by the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, setting up a unique situation in which no one starts with an advantage.

The inside track on the $20,000 top prize in the Down & Dirty 100 on Saturday night (Sept. 22) will belong to the driver who most quickly deciphers the tricky layout – and several WoO LMS racers have already visited Berlin Raceway in hopes of learning something, anything, that will enhance their hopes. (more…)