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Contact: World Racing Group
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R.
Director
704-254-7929 •
kkovac@dirtcar.com
Brady Smith Powers To Second Straight Win In World of
Outlaws Late Model
Series ‘Energy City 50’ At Saskatchewan’s Estevan Motor
Speedway
ESTEVAN, SK – July 12, 2008 – Brady Smith has suddenly
become the hottest driver on
the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
Twenty-four hours after capturing his first-ever victory
on the tour in a down-to-the-wire
thriller, Smith made it two straight with an utterly
dominant performance in Saturday
night’s ‘Energy City 50’ at Estevan Motor Speedway.
Smith, 31, of Solon Springs, Wis., mastered the outside
groove in the first-ever WoO
LMS event held in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
He drove forward from the
14 th
starting spot to take the lead from Darrell
Lanigan of Union, Ky., on lap 27 and then
sailed away from the field, beating Lanigan by commanding
5.792 seconds – one of the
largest victory margins of this season’s WoO LMS.
Defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.,
finished third, followed
by 13 th-starter
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan., who
registered a career-best tour finish driving Smith’s
backup car.
“To win two World of Outlaws features is an
accomplishment,” said Smith, who scored
his milestone career-first tour triumph on Friday night at
River Cities Speedway in Grand
Forks, N.D., by just 0.121 of a second over Shannon Babb
of Moweaqua, Ill. “But
winning two in-a-row is just awesome. Doing this against
the competition on this series, I
couldn’t be more proud for our team.”
Driving his familiar Amsoil-sponsored Bloomquist Chassis
machine, Smith side-stepped
a multi-car tangle on the opening lap that eliminated such
top contenders as Babb, Rick
Eckert of York, Pa., and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove,
Ga.., and soon found himself
sitting in fifth place. He proceeded to make mincemeat of
the field following the race’s
third and final caution flag, on lap 14, powering around
the outside of the three-eighthsmile
oval in peerless fashion.
Smith raced through the top five by disposing of Francis,
Josh Richards of Shinnston,
W.Va., Purkey and, finally, Lanigan in a matter of 13
laps. He stayed perched high on the
track once in command and built an edge of well over a
straightaway.
“I shot up to fifth fairly early and then I kinda rode
around for a while,” said Smith, who
pocketed $10,150 while joining Richards and Billy Moyer of
Batesville, Ark., as a
winner of back-to-back WoO LMS A-Mains in 2008. “Then that
caution came out (on
lap 14) and I had to restart on the outside, so I thought,
‘This is a perfect time to try the
top (groove).’
“And man, our car just worked like gangbusters up there.
It was just unbelievable.
“I think the track kind of opened up a little bit (as the
race went on),” he analyzed. “There
was traction up there, and a guy could bring some real
good speed (into the corners) and
carry it all the way through the middle with the gas pedal
on the wood.”
Lanigan, 38, started third and grabbed the lead from
polesitter John Blankenship of
Williamson, W.Va., on the second lap, but the WoO LMS
points leader couldn’t stop
Smith’s onslaught. Hampered slightly after hitting the
track’s turn-four uke tire and
bending the left-front spindle of his GottaRace.com Rocket
car just before the lap-14
caution flag, Lanigan could only watch Smith drive away
from him.
“It seemed like the handling changed a little bit after I
hit that uke tire,” said Lanigan,
who recorded his 13 th
consecutive top-five finish in WoO LMS
competition. “But I think
(Smith) had a little different tire on than everybody else
and that was the difference.”
Smith went a bit softer with his Hoosier tire selection,
keying his triumphant run. He
acknowledged the fact in Victory Lane.
“We’re not WoO series regulars so we’re not real up on
exactly what tires to run,” said
Smith, alluding to the tour’s open-tire rule. “But picking
tires is a guessing game for
everybody, and we’ve had the right tires on the last
couple nights and we’ve pocketed the
money.”
Francis, 40, crossed the finish line more than two seconds
behind Lanigan after his bid to
grab second late in the distance was dive-bombed by lapped
traffic, but he was
surprisingly upbeat in defeat.
“I’m just happy that we were finally able to finish a race
in the top five,” said Francis,
who started eighth in Dale Beitler’s Reliable Painting
Rocket. “I got too tight at the end,
so we’ll take a third.”
The Clint Smith Racing GRT cars took the fourth and fifth
spots, with team owner Smith
leading Purkey across the finish line. Smith overtook
Purkey for fourth on lap 42 and
briefly challenged Francis for third, but slower cars
hindered his efforts.
“I had Francis beat until lapped traffic messed me up,”
said Smith, 42. “My car was real
good. I just started too far back and didn’t get to the
front fast enough.”
Purkey, a veteran Midwest racer who is accompanying Smith
on the ‘Wild West Tour’
and driving Smith’s backup car in selected events, climbed
as high as second from the
seventh starting spot. He raced side-by-side for the lead
with Lanigan for laps 14-18
before beginning to fade.
Nevertheless, Purkey’s fifth-place finish earned him the
$500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’
prize for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t
won a tour A-Main and isn’t
ranked among the top 12 in the current points standings.
“I had on a different tire combination and I was slowly
sliding back,” said Purkey. “I’m
just glad to get to race for Clint and race up front. This
is only the second night we’ve run
the car, and I’m happy we got Clint a top five to help him
out with some money for the
trip.”
Purkey was able to continue after being involved in the
event’s big opening-lap accident.
Contact between Purkey and Eckert sent Eckert’s No. 24
into Jimmy Mars of
Menomonie, Wis., setting off a wild scramble in which
Eckert spun to the top of the track
and was struck by Clanton, Babb and Kelly Boen of
Henderson, Colo. Mars also spun,
but was able to continue.
The accident left the Eckert, Clanton and Babb cars with
significant damage, costing each
WoO LMS regular dearly in the points standings.
Finishing in positions 6-10 was Richards, who fell back
from his outside-pole starting
spot; Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., who recovered from
his involvement in the
opening-lap tangle and a lap-14 pit stop to change a flat
tire; Tim Fuller of Watertown,
N.Y.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; and Blankenship, who
pitted during the lap-14
caution period.
Twenty-six cars were signed in for the event at Estevan,
which is located 10 miles north
of the United States border.
The track’s biggest crowd of the season jammed the stands
on a very blustery night, with
sustained winds of 30-40 mph creating chilly summer
conditions.
Mars toured the oval in 15.773 seconds during qualifying
to record the first WoO LMS
fast-time honor of his career.
Heat winners were Mars, Lanigan and Richards.
The WoO LMS ‘Wild West Tour’ returns to the U.S. on Sunday
night (July 13) for a
first-ever event at Willison Basin Speedway in Williston,
N.D. Following a two-day
break, the swing will conclude with shows on July 16 at
Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder
Speedway; July 18 at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen,
S.D.; July 20 at the
Belleville (Kan.) High Banks; and July 21 at Boone County
Raceway in Albion, Neb.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit
www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Energy City 50’
(Finishing
Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (14) Brady Smith/50 $10,150
2. (3) Darrell Lanigan/50 $5,100
3. (8) Steve Francis/50 $3,000
4. (13) Clint Smith/50 $2,500
5. (7) Al Purkey/50 $2,500
6. (2) Josh Richards/50 $1,700
7. (4) Jimmy Mars/50 $1,400
8. (11) Tim Fuller/50 $1,300
9. (16) Chub Frank/50 $1,200
10. (1) John Blankenship/50 $1,200
11. (15) Brad Seng/49 $1,050
12. (12) Mike Balcaen/49 $1,000
13. (18) Dustin Hapka/49 $950
14. (24) Joe Isabell/49 $1,150
15. (22) Ricky Weiss/49 $850
16. (25) Sean Beardsley/48 $800
17. (17) Ed Turnbull/48 $770
18. (21) Troy Heupel/48 $750
19. (20) Dave Smith/46 $730
20. (19) Jeff Isabell Jr./36 $700
21. (26) Gary Webb/9 $700
22. (23) John Winge/2 $700
23. (5) Rick Eckert/0 $700
24. (6) Shannon Babb/0 $700
25. (9) Kelly Boen/0 $700
26. (10) Shane Clanton/0 $700
Time of Race: 18 Mins., 13.933 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 5.792 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 0, 0, 14)
Lap Leaders: Blankenship (1); Lanigan (2-26); B. Smith
(27-50)
Provisional Starters: None
Rookie of the Race: Joe Isabell ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Al Purkey ($500)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($50): Jay Cardy
(Clint Smith/Al Purkey)
Chick Hawk Racing Hot Lap Award: Blankenship (half-off
tire warmers)
Super Clean ‘Start of the Race’: Blankenship ($100)
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best
Lap):
1. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 15.773
2. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 15.855
3. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.007
4. 41-Al Purkey/Coffeyville, KS 16.033
5. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.053
6. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.133
7. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 16.158
8. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 16.286
9. 10-Mike Balcaen/Winnipeg, MAN 16.311
10. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.391
11. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.405
12. 07-Kelly Boen/Henderson, CO 16.507
13. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.508
14. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.615
15. 12s-Brad Seng/Grand Forks, ND 16.731
16. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 16.762
17. 17J-John Winge/Rossville, GA 16.925
18. 18H-Dustin Hapka/Grand Forks, ND 16.998
19. 7-Ricky Weiss/Winnipeg, MAN 17.097
20. w56-Gary Webb/Bluegrass, IA 17.100
21. 6J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY 17.109
22. 18s-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 17.163
23. 10EH-Ed Turnbull/Estevan, SK 17.247
24. 4T-Troy Heupel/Williston, ND 17.423
25. 27J-Jeff Isabell/Pennellville, NY 17.483
26. 06-Dave Smith/Edmonton, AB 17.909
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 Redraw): Mars,
Blankenship, Purkey, Clanton, C. Smith,
Frank, Jeff Isabell Jr., Weiss, Beardsley
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 Redraw): Lanigan, Babb,
Francis, Fuller, B. Smith,
Turnbull, D. Smith, Winge, Webb
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 2 Redraw): Richards, Eckert,
Boen, Balcaen, Seng, Hapka,
Heupel, Joe Isabell
2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as
of July 12 – 21 AMains
completed
(rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 2-13-19-$62,350-2883 (-0)
2. Josh Richards 4-11-17-$77,560-2831 (-52)
3. Rick Eckert 1-9-16-$52,750-2777 (-106)
4. Chub Frank 1-7-14-$44,030-2765 (-118)
5. Steve Francis 1-9-16-$91,750-2763 (-120)
6. Shane Clanton 0-10-14-$41,630-2719 (-164)
7. Clint Smith 1-7-11-$39,560-2715 (-168)
8. Shannon Babb 1-7-14-$59,400-2713 (-170)
9. Tim Fuller 0-3-7-$23,970-2583 (-300)
10. John Blankenship 0-0-6-$23,970-2531 (-352)
11. Vic Coffey 0-0-2-$16,570-2018 (-865)
12. Joe Isabell 0-0-0-$9,290-1751 (-1132)
13. Danny Johnson 0-0-1-$11,200-1724 (-1159)
14. Tim McCreadie 1-6-9-$38,200-1463 (-1420)
15. Sean Beardsley 0-0-0-$4,820-1302 (-1581)
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, Qwikline and Super Clean.
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