CONCORD, Nc — COLLABORATION: Chub Frank turned to the country’s hottest dirt Late Model driver to get himself headed back in the right direction.
And judging by his performance in Saturday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Pepsi Nationals’ at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., the driver known as ‘Chubzilla’ received some very valuable assistance from fellow tour regular Shane Clanton.
Frank, 46, of Bear Lake, Pa., finished second in the 50-lap A-Main – ironically behind Clanton, who grabbed the lead from Frank on lap 30 and marched on to his second straight and third win in the last five WoO LMS events. The runner-up was Frank’s best performance on the series since an identical finish on July 20 at the Belleville (Kan.) High Banks and marked the first time he had led a tour A-Main since he scored his lone triumph of 2008 on May 18 at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway.
“Shane has helped me out quite a bit the last few weeks,” said Frank, who last year led the WoO LMS with six A-Main victories en route to a career-high second-place finish in the points standings. “He’s really helped us get back to where we need to be.”
Clanton, 33, of Locust Grove, Ga., spent a couple days at Frank’s Keystone State shop following the recent Oil Region Labor Day Classic at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa. The two drivers then caravanned to the World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, where they pitted side-by-side, and they collaborated again on setup ideas on Saturday night at I-55 Raceway.
When Clanton found himself chasing Frank in I-55’s A-Main, he began wondering if the driver he had shared some speed secrets with was going to beat him.
“I was thinking, Maybe I helped him too much,” joked Clanton.
Nevertheless, Clanton was honored to help Frank.
“He’s a good guy and he’s helped me out a lot over the years,” said Clanton. “I felt privileged that someone of his status would come to me and ask me what to do to his race car.”
PLAYING HURT: Clint Smith competed with a handicap in Saturday night’s action at I-55 Raceway, effectively driving with one hand after suffering a broken right wrist in a heat-race crash the previous week at Eldora Speedway.
With a black cast stretching from his fingers to just below his elbow, the 43-year-old from Senoia, Ga., had to control the steering wheel predominantly with his left hand. He grasped the steering wheel only lightly with his right hand – and by the end of the night that slight activity caused some tearing of the cast just below Smith’s fingers.
Smith had hoped to install a new rack in his GRT car that would make it easier for him to steer the machine with one hand, but the part didn’t arrive at his shop before he headed to Missouri. So he raced with a conventional steering setup and still performed admirably, timing fifth-fastest in qualifying, qualifying through a heat race and finishing 14th in the A-Main after pitting on lap 26 to change a left-rear tire.
At the end of the night Smith said his wrist was “a little sore,” but he survived the evening without much of a problem. He certainly welcomed the rainout of Sunday night’s WoO LMS show at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway, however, since it gave him more time to heal before his next scheduled start.
Smith said doctors will cut off his current cast and evaluate the progress of his injury on Oct. 6 – the day before the next WoO LMS event at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It’s likely that Smith will then be fitted for another cast that he’ll wear for up to six more weeks.
HOT SEPTEMBER NIGHT: Twenty-year-old Josh Richards normally jumps out of his cockpit following a race looking little worse for the wear, but Saturday night’s unexpectedly warm and muggy conditions exacted a toll on the young star.
Richards rushed to his team’s air-conditioned hauler immediately following his hard-earned third-place finish in the 50-lap A-Main, seeking refuge from the heat that had him sweating through his driver’s suit late in the distance.
“I just got so hot in the car,” said Richards, who nonetheless was able to bid for the win in the closing laps. “I don’t know if I just didn’t eat right or drink enough today, but I’ve never felt so hot in a race car. During the last caution (on lap 26) my legs felt like they were on fire as I was driving around.”
MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Steve Francis saw a chance to make up some ground on WoO LMS points leader Darrell Lanigan slip through his fingers on Saturday.
With Lanigan uncharacteristically a non-factor from start-to-finish in the A-Main, Francis appeared to be position to at least improve his flickering hopes for a second consecutive title. He settled into second place by lap two and was still there when a caution flag flew on lap 16.
Then Francis’s night went downhill fast. He lost three spots on the restart and continued to fade for the remainder of the distance, ultimately finishing 10th – one spot better than Lanigan, who ended the night losing just two points from the commanding 128-point edge over Francis that he brought into the program.
“We were just miserable tonight,” said Francis, lamenting the tour’s return to the UMP DIRTcar Hoosier tire rule for the first time since July 25 at Eldora Speedway after he had hit his stride running American Racers in the open-tire events over the past month. “I don’t know if I sealed my tires up under the caution or if it was because we had to change tires (from the team’s normal brand), but we were missing something.”
Lanigan, meanwhile, was ready to write off what was just his fourth finish outside the top 10 in 39 A-Mains this season.
“I was horrible,” said Lanigan. “I’m just glad Francis helped me out.”
A mere four events remain on the 2008 WoO LMS schedule – Oct. 7 at Fayetteville, and then a trio of shows at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Oct. 8 (the Armour Vienna Sausage Southern Showdown) and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 (Vault Outlaws World Finals). The Oct. 8 program offers only show-up points to all drivers because it is being run ‘topless,’ so just three full points races are left for Francis to catch Lanigan.
With a 126-point lead, Lanigan clearly sits on the precipice of his first career WoO LMS title and the $100,000 prize that goes with it.
Assuming both drivers enter the Oct. 8 show at The Dirt Track to receive show-up points, the minimum that Lanigan must do to capture the championship if Francis were to win the final three points races is finish 20th once and 21st twice.
BEATING MOTHER NATURE: The biggest surprise in the pit area on Saturday night was simply the fact that I-55 Raceway’s ‘Pepsi Nationals’ was completed on schedule.
With some forecasts calling for a 100-percent chance of rain on Saturday night, the WoO LMS caravan headed to Missouri with an obvious sense of trepidation. One crewman even predicted – with a tinge of sarcasm – that with “a 190 percent chance of rain, the only thing we’ll be doing at the track is fishing.”
But with I-55 Raceway staying dry all week even as areas just to the north were doused with rain, promoters Ken Schrader and Ray Marler pressed on in the face of the dire Saturday-night forecast. Their perseverance paid off as no rain fell until the remnants of Hurricane Ike began to reach the area after midnight, allowing the entire three-division, 135-car show to be run in its entirety in front of a crowd that was pretty solid considering the conditions.
Officials did arrange the program’s schedule to get the WoO LMS on the track first all night. The A-Main ended at 10:15 p.m.
