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Two In A Row: Lanigan Steals Victory In
Thursday Night’s Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek Stop At Sharon Speedway
HARTFORD, OH - July 29, 2010 - Darrell Lanigan felt
like he stole one on Thursday night at Sharon Speedway.
“We got a little lucky tonight,” Lanigan said after making the 50-lap
‘Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek’ event his second straight victory on the
World of Outlaws Late Model Series. “I was figuring we’d run third, but
we got some lucky breaks there late in the race.”
The first came on lap 43 when Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., slipped
high in turns three and four while bidding for the lead, allowing Union,
Ky.’s Lanigan to grab second.
Shortly thereafter, on lap 46, Lanigan vaulted into the top spot when
race-long pacesetter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., got momentarily
hung up in turn two attempting to lap Russell King of Bristolville,
Ohio, who was sent into a 360-degree spin by contact from McCreadie but
continued without bringing out a caution flag.
Lanigan, 40, assumed command as lap 47 was scored and stayed there to
the finish, holding off McCreadie’s frantic comeback bid to become the
seventh different winner in the annual WoO LMS events held since 2004 at
the three-eighths-mile oval. The $10,600 triumph backed up his score in
Tuesday night’s Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek opener at Central PA
Speedway in Clearfield, Pa., where he snapped his frustrating streak of
four consecutive runner-up finishes on the national tour.
McCreadie, 36, settled for second place after starting from the pole
position, crossing the finish line 0.240 of a second behind Lanigan.
Richards finished third, followed by Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills,
Pa., who earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the
highest-finishing driver who has never won a WoO LMS A-Main and wasn’t
ranked among the top 12 in the points standings, and outside-polesitter
Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio.
The quiet, low-key Lanigan was almost apologetic after capturing his
15th career win on the WoO LMS.
“We had a good car – good enough to run in the top three – but Timmy had
the best car here,” said Lanigan, who started fourth in his Rocket
mount. “We just were lucky and got the positions to win. Josh slipped up
there and I got under him, and then Timmy got into the 56 car and handed
me the lead.”
Lanigan also was fortunate that King’s twirl didn’t result in a caution
flag.
“If there was a caution I would’ve had to pull in,” said Lanigan, whose
third victory of 2010 gave him a single-season career high win total on
the WoO LMS. “My right-rear (tire) would’ve been flat. It was leaking
air. I could feel the car getting looser and looser, so I was just
holding on at the end.”
Lanigan’s Hoosier right-rear deflated as he celebrated with his crew in
Victory Lane – the final clear-cut signal that his luck has turned for
the better. The 2008 WoO LMS champion said afterward that he might know
the reason for his change in fortune.
“I give the credit to little Gavin,” Lanigan said of his fiancée Erin’s
young son. “Before I left the house he gave me a couple Silly Bandz to
wear as good-luck charms and said, ‘Don’t take them off.’ I’ve had them
on my wrist all week and evidently they’re working.”
McCreadie, meanwhile, was gracious in defeat. He accepted the blame for
initiating the race-deciding contact with King.
“I just went in there like a rookie and made a bonehead move,” said
McCreadie, who drove his Sweeteners Plus Rocket car to a lead of as much
as a full straightaway during the event. “Russ wasn’t doing anything
wrong. I apologize to him. I just got a little flustered and forced the
issue because I thought those guys (Lanigan and Richards) were right up
behind me. I didn’t know I had enough of a lead where I didn’t have to
try and get by (King).
“I saw Lanigan come up on the (score) board when he passed Richards (for
second) and thought, ‘Oh man, he must’ve found a different part of the
racetrack,’ because it wasn’t like (the surface) had laid enough rubber
to make just one groove. It was multiple grooves and you could move
around, so I thought, ‘I gotta go or he’s gonna roll me on the outside
because he’s got nothing to lose.’”
McCreadie, who won a WoO LMS event at Sharon in 2005, registered his
fourth runner-up finish of this year’s tour. The 2006 series champion
remained second in the points standings, 24 points behind Richards, but
Lanigan is now breathing down his neck, sitting just six points back in
third after 30 events.
Richards, 22, also lost a position as a result of his aggressiveness. He
ducked inside McCreadie a couple times while racing amid lapped traffic
before going for it all on lap 43.
“I was just trying to go for the win,” Richards said of his
slide-for-life through the high-side marbles in turns three and four. “I
slipped up out of the rubber a little bit and I was like...whoa! I
thought we were gonna (hit the wall) and need a clip, but I was able to
get back down in the groove and run third.
“I probably could’ve just stayed behind Timmy and run second, but I feel
like we were definitely good enough to win – and I was hungry for a win
– so I went for it.”
Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, who won the 2008 WoO LMS event at Sharon,
finished sixth after being passed by Miller midway through the race.
Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., advanced from the 10th starting
spot to place seventh and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., marched forward
from 14th to secure eighth. Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., and
eighth-starter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., completed the top 10.
Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who outran Lanigan to win last year’s WoO
LMS 50-lapper at Sharon, managed only an 11th-place finish. He has gone
11 consecutive races without a top-10 finish since his run of two wins
and a third during last month’s ‘Great Northern Tour.’
Three caution flags slowed the A-Main, all during the first 10 laps.
Rookie Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., brought out the first yellow on
lap seven when he stopped in turn two with a broken driveshaft – the
second driveshaft to strike his Beitler Motorsports mount, which was
also knocked out of heat competition. Subsequent cautions were caused by
a lap-eight tangle that left Bump Hedman of Sugar Grove, Pa., sitting
between turns one and two and Corey Conley of Wellsburg, W.Va., who
stopped in turn two on lap 10.
Richards was quickest in the 34-car Ohlins Shocks Time Trials session
with a lap of 16.445 seconds. It was his second consecutive fast-time
honor and series-leading fifth of the 2010 season.
Heat winners were Richards, Miller, Moran and McCreadie. The B-Mains
were captured by Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Brent Rhebergen of
Clymer, N.Y.
Ohio-Pennsylvania Late Model Speedweek continues on Friday night (July
30) at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park before moving on to Muskingum County
Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio, on Saturday (July 31) and Eriez Speedway
in Hammett, Pa., on Sunday (Aug. 1). Each program will be topped by a
50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit
www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series at
Sharon Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money
Won):
1. (4) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,600
2. (1) Tim McCreadie/50 $5,675
3. (6) Josh Richards/50 $3,650
4. (3) Gregg Satterlee/50 $3,000
5. (2) Matt Miller/50 $2,000
6. (5) Donnie Moran/50 $1,700
7. (8) Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/50 $1,400
8. (14) Steve Francis/50 $1,900
9. (10) Mike Knight/50 $1,200
10. (7) Chub Frank/50 $1,600
11. (9) Tim Fuller/50 $1,550
12. (11) Robbie Blair/50 $1,000
13. (17) Rick Eckert/50 $1,500
14. (12) Davey Johnson/50 $900
15. (13) Shane Clanton/50 $1,350
16. (19) Clint Smith/49 $1,300
17. (24) Brent Robinson/49 $1,270
18. (15) Jim Rasey/49 $750
19. (21) Russell King/49 $1,230
20. (18) Brent Rhebergen/49 $700
21. (22) Dennis Lunger/49 $700
22. (16) Bump Hedman/39 $700
23. (20) Corey Conley/9 $700
24. (23) Austin Hubbard/6 $1,475
* Earnings include Winners Circle
program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 21 Mins., 13.913 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.240 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 7, 8, 10)
Lap Leaders: McCreadie (1-46); Lanigan (47-50)
Provisional Starters: Hubbard, Robinson
Rookie of the Race: Hubbard ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Satterlee ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results
(Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.445
2. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.450
3. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 16.484
4. 99B-Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 16.496
5. 22s-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 16.530
6. 7-Matt Miller/Waterville, OH 16.549
7. 32-Jim Rasey/Warren, OH 16.553
8. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 16.555
9. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.608
10. 9K-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 16.622
11. won11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 16.641
12. 1J-Davey Johnson/Latrobe, PA 16.672
13. 46-Doug Horton/Bruceton Mills, WV 16.702
14. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.706
15. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.707
16. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.727
17. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 16.745
18. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.769
19. 14-Corey Conley/Wellsburg, WV 16.836
20. 07R-Brent Rhebergen/Clymer, NY 16.879
21. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.897
22. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 16.908
23. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 16.912
24. B22-Bump Hedman/Sugar Grove, PA 16.968
25. 3-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 17.028
26. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 17.036
27. 8-Craig Vosbergen/Perth, Australia 17.164
28. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 17.244
29. 14B-Dick Barton/Ashville, NY 17.305
30. 16*-Dereck Frank/Jamestown, NY 17.341
31. 17L-Dennis Lunger/Cherry Hill, PA 17.375
32. 67-Charles Supplee/Rock Creek, OH 17.554
33. 16B-Rusty Wheeler/Dorsett, OH 17.955
34. 38R-Corey Ruffo/Mercer, PA 18.047
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Satterlee, Fuller,
Clanton, C. Smith, Horton, Robinson, Barton, Wheeler
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Miller, Lanigan, Knight, Francis,
Eckert, King, Hess, D. Frank, Ruffo
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Moran, C. Frank, Blair, Rasey,
Vosbergen, Conley, Lunger, Lobb
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): McCreadie, Briggs, Johnson,
Hedman, Rhebergen, George, Supplee, Hubbard
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Eckert, C. Smith, King, Horton,
Hess, Robinson, Barton, D. Frank, Ruffo, Wheeler
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Rhebergen, Conley, Lunger,
George, Supplee (DQ) Vosbergen (DNS) Lobb, Hubbard
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Contingency Award Winners:
Arizona Sports Shirts ($50 product certificate): Rick Eckert/Dennis
Lunger
Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in
A-Main w/decal):
Eibach Springs (one free spring): Brent Robinson/Dennis Lunger
MSD Ignition ($75 cash award): Tim McCreadie
MSD Ignition ($25 cash award): Austin Hubbard
Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash award to fastest qualifier w/decal): Josh
Richards
Pink Carburetors ($100 product certificate): Rick Eckert
Pink Carburetors ($50 product certificate): Davey Johnson
Quartermaster ($100 product certificate): Tim McCreadie
Quartermaster ($50 product certificate): Rick Eckert
Quartermaster ($25 product certificate): Shane Clanton
RTC Performance ($100 certificate): Tim McCreadie
STP ($50 cash award): Rick Eckert
VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (two five-gallon plastic fuel jugs to
fastest qualifier who does not make the A-Main if decal is displayed):
Doug Horton
Wrisco Aluminum (three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner w/decal): Tim
McCreadie
2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Point Standings as of July 29 – 30 A-Mains completed
(rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 4016
2. Tim McCreadie 3992 (-24)
3. Darrell Lanigan 3986 (-30)
4. Steve Francis 3894 (-122)
5. Shane Clanton 3786 (-230)
6. Austin Hubbard 3778 (-238)
7. Rick Eckert 3740 (-276)
8. Tim Fuller 3722 (-294)
9. Chub Frank 3668 (-348)
10. Clint Smith 3564 (-452)
11. Russell King 3372 (-644)
12. Brent Robinson 3028 (-988)
13. Brady Smith 2786 (-1230)
14. Jill George 2216 (-1800)
15. Brian Birkhofer 1566 (-2450)
FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER:
Fans can now keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series
online and through text messages on cell phones via Twitter, the
internet’s fast-growing social-networking and micro-blogging website.
Updates are provided to Twitter ‘followers’ of the WoO LMS throughout
each race night, and fans also receive breaking news and interesting
notes from the tour.
To sign-up as a WoO LMS ‘follower’ on Twitter to receive updates
anywhere at anytime, visit
http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.
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 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), DirtonDirt.com
(Hard Charger Award) and Chizmark Larson Insurance; in addition to
contingency sponsors Eibach Springs, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pink
Carburetors, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C
Performance and Wrisco Aluminum.
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