Lanigan Sets New World of Outlaws Late Model Series Single-Season Win Record With Dominating Performance At North Central Speedway
Three Straight Victories To Close ‘Wild West Tour’ Pushes Kentucky Star’s 2012 Total To 10
By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director
BRAINERD, MN – July 14, 2012 – The record belongs to Darrell Lanigan.
Adding another flourish to a campaign that is shaping up as the most dominant in World of Outlaws Late Model Series history, Lanigan rolled to victory in Saturday night’s Dondelinger Automotive Company 50 at North Central Speedway to set a new single-season win standard on the national circuit.
Lanigan, 42, of Union, Ky., overtook Rick Eckert of York, Pa., for the lead on lap 14 and never looked back en route to his 10th triumph of 2012, surpassing the nine-win seasons authored by Scott Bloomquist and Josh Richards. He also extended his commanding points lead to 152 points over Eckert, who finished a distant 4.717 seconds behind Lanigan in the runner-up spot.
With the $10,650 checkered, Lanigan closed the five-race ‘Wild West Tour’ with three wins in a row, putting him one victory away from tying the WoO LMS consecutive-win record when the series returns to action on Aug. 1 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway.
“It’s awesome to set the record,” said Lanigan, whose 36th career WoO LMS victory moved him within two of matching Richards for the most wins on the tour since 2004. “We’re not satisfied, though. We want to get as many (wins) as we can. We go to every race to try to win it, so we’ll see what we can come up with (the remainder of the season).”
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who was passed by Lanigan on the final lap for the win in Friday night’s WoO LMS A-Main at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., finished third at North Central. He started from the pole position but slipped to third on the opening circuit and ran there for the entire distance in his Rocket machine.
Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., placed fourth in his Team Zero by Bloomquist car, giving him three consecutive top-five finishes to end the ‘Wild West Tour.’ Third-starter Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., completed the top five in his Mars Chassis mount.
Lanigan emerged triumphant despite receiving a penalty for jumping the race’s initial green flag. Officials ruled that Lanigan, who started from the outside pole, fired before polesitter Clint Smith and put him back to the fourth spot for the restart.
Eckert, 46, benefitted from the penalty levied on Lanigan by moving from fourth to second for the restart and then immediately driving his Team Zero by Bloomquist car into the lead, but he was no match for the fast – and angry – Lanigan. Lanigan vaulted his Rocket into second on the restart and chased down Eckert to assume command with an inside move off turn two on lap 14.
“I think they pissed me off a little bit there,” Lanigan said of his reaction to the jumping penalty. “They probably shouldn’t have done that. It made me drive a little bit harder.
“The car was awesome. (Eckert) got into lapped traffic and couldn’t move around as well as we could, and I kind of got him pinned a little where we could make a move.”
{vimeo}45777856{/vimeo}
With the race running without interruption after two caution flags before a lap was completed (Lanigan’s jumping penalty and a multi-car tangle in turn four involving, among others, Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y.), Eckert fell more than a straightaway behind Lanigan shortly after the halfway point. He turned back a late challenge from Clint Smith to secure second place.
“That guy’s rolling,” Eckert said of Lanigan. “He was on a different tire and he made the right choice, but his car and his whole team are working good.
“I think we were a little too soft on tire. By the time we got to (lapped) traffic I was out of tire. I couldn’t move off that top to pass lapped cars like Darrell could.
“We made a bunch of strides on this trip, though, and got our act a little bit closer to where we can at least see (Lanigan) now,” he added. “I think a couple more changes and we’ll be able to race with him.”
Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., raced just outside the top five throughout the distance, settling for a sixth-place finish. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., placed seventh after battling hard to move up from the 10th starting spot on a three-eighths-mile oval that developed a dominant outside lane during the headliner. Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., ran in the top five for the first half of the event but faded to eighth at the checkered flag; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., fell from the fifth starting spot to ninth; and 24-year-old Jake Redetzke of Eau Claire, Wis., scored a career-best WoO LMS finish of 10th to earn the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO A-Main and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.
Twenty-three cars signed in for the event, which brought the WoO LMS to North Central for the first time since 2006.
Heat winners were Lanigan, Fuller and Eckert. No B-Main was contested.
The only entered driver who did not start the A-Main was Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, whose night ended abruptly when she pounded the wall between turns one and two during her first time-trial lap. Her car sustained significant damage but she escaped the wreck uninjured.
The WoO LMS is now idle for the remainder of the month. The circuit returns to action on Aug. 1 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway and continues in the Upper Midwest with the USA Nationals on Aug. 3-4 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., and a visit to Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway on Aug. 6.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Dondelinger Automotive Company 50’ at North Central Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,650
2. (4) Rick Eckert/50 $5,750
3. (1) Clint Smith/50 $3,550
4. (6) Brady Smith/50 $2,500
5. (3) Jimmy Mars/50 $2,050
6. (7) Shane Clanton/50 $2,250
7. (10) Tim McCreadie/50 $2,100
8. (8) Pat Doar/50 $1,850
9. (5) Tim Fuller/50 $1,750
10. (11) Jake Redetzke/50 $1,650
11. (12) Bub McCool/50 $1,850
12. (14) Terry Casey/49 $1,000
13. (13) Chub Frank/49 $1,500
14. (9) Vic Coffey/49 $1,450
15. (17) Jack Sullivan/49 $1,400
16. (18) Chris Olson/30 $850
17. (16) Kent Robinson/26 $1,320
18. (19) Dustin Hapka/23 $750
19. (20) Tommy Thompson/14 $730
20. (15) Don Shaw/14 $700
21. (21) Lane Cullum/1 $700
22. (22) John Volpe/1 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 13 Mins., 38.140 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 4.717 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (Start, Restart)
Lap Leaders: Eckert (1-13); Lanigan (14-50)
Provisional Starters: None
Rookie of the Race: McCool ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Redetzke ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 15.947
2. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.175
3. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.189
4. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 16.228
5. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.301
6. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 16.422
7. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 16.456
8. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 16.580
9. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 16.604
10. 7R-Kent Robinson/Bloomington, IN 16.785
11. 42-Terry Casey/New London, WI 16.792
12. 42s-Don Shaw/Alexandria, MN 16.853
13. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.894
14. 27-Jake Redetzke/Eau Claire, WI 16.898
15. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 16.936
16. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.982
17. 1s-Jack Sullivan/Greenbrier, AR 16.983
18. 1L-Lane Cullum/Greenbrier, AR 17.131
19. 18-Dustin Hapka/Grand Forks, ND 17.215
20. 1x-John Volpe/Lakewood, NY 17.382
21. 18c-Chris Olson/Hibbing, MN 17.393
22. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA N/T
23. 12T-Tommy Thompson/Brainerd, MN 17.317 (DQ – did not report to scales)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw): Lanigan, Mars, Clanton, McCreadie, Frank, Robinson, Hapka (DNS) George
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw): Fuller, C. Smith, Doar, Redetzke, Casey, Sullivan, Thompson, Volpe
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw): Eckert, B. Smith, Coffey, McCool, Shaw, Olson, Cullum
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners:
Arizona Sport Shirts ($100 product certificate to 23rd-place finisher I n A-Main or next highest w/decal): None
Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jake Redetzke
Cometic Gasket ($50 cash to 12th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jack Sullivan
Comp Cams ($50 cash to 10th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jake Redetzke
Comp Cams ($50 product certificate to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
Dominator ($50 cash to 6th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Tim McCreadie
Eibach Springs (one free spring to each B-Main winner or next highest w/decal): None
Gravely ($50 cash to 7th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Tim McCreadie
JE Pistons ($50 cash to 16th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Chris Olson
JE Pistons (one compete set of JE Pro Seal rings to 11th-place finisher or next highest w/decal – $285 value): Bub McCool
JE Pistons (one complete set of JE Pro Seal rings to 21st-place finisher or next highest w/decal – $285 value): John Volpe
Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash to 17th-place finisher or next highest finisher): Kent Robinson
MSD Ignition ($50 cash to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
MSD Ignition ($25 cash to 24th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): None
Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash to fast qualifier or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
Quartermaster ($100 product certificate to A-Main winner or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
Quartermaster ($50 product certificate to 5th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jimmy Mars
Quartermaster ($25 product certificate to 15th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jack Sullivan
Roush-Yates Performance Products ($50 cash to 4th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Jimmy Mars
Roush-Yates Performance Products (carburetor repair kit to 18th-place finish in A-Main or next highest w/decal – $100 value): Dustin Hapka
Roush-Yates Lap Leader Award (one pair of Wiley X Sunglasses to driver who leads most laps in A-Main): Darrell Lanigan
STP ($50 cash to 2nd-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Rick Eckert
SuperFlow ($50 cash to 14th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Vic Coffey
VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to 9th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Pat Doar
VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (one VP 5-gallon container to fastest qualifier who misses A-Main or next highest with decal – $30 value): None
WIX Filters ($50 cash to 13th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Chub Frank
Wrisco Aluminum (three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner if decal displayed – $200 value): Darrell Lanigan
XS Power ($50 cash to 3rd-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Clint Smith
XS Power ($60 product certificate to 8th-place finisher in A-Main or next highest w/decal): Pat Doar
XS ‘Power Move of the Race’ ($60 product certificate): Darrell Lanigan
2012 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 14 – 27 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 3838
2. Rick Eckert 3686 (-152)
3. Tim McCreadie 3616 (-222)
4. Shane Clanton 3556 (-282)
5. Chub Frank 3548 (-290)
6. Bub McCool 3402 (-436)
7. Clint Smith 3378 (-460)
8. Vic Coffey 3296 (-542)
9. Pat Doar 3214 (-624)
10. Tim Fuller 3170 (-668)
11. Kent Robinson 3088 (-750)
12. Jack Sullivan 2990 (-848)
13. John Lobb 2300 (-1538)
14. Mike Marlar 1906 (-1932)
15. Jill George 1842 (-1996)
LIVE UPDATES 7/14: World of Outlaws Late Model Series At North Central Speedway
BRAINERD, MN – July 14, 2012 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Wild West Tour’ concludes tonight with the Dondelinger Automotive Company 50 at North Central Speedway, a three-eighths-mile oval that is set to host the national circuit for the first time since 2006.
There have been three different winners through the first four events of the ‘Wild West Tour.’ Darrell Lanigan has won the last two nights — and will be gunning to establish a new modern-era (2004-present) WoO LMS single-season win record tonight — with Shane Clanton and Rick Eckert also scoring victories.
For live updates of all the news, pit notes and results from tonight’s action, click the ‘Full Story’ link below. Be sure to refresh your browser throughout the night to see the latest information.
It’s a record
10:55 p.m. CT – Darrell Lanigan is just wrapping up some post-race autograph time with fans at his trailer after winning tonight’s 50-lap A-Main to set a new single-season victory record on the WoO LMS. It was his third straight triumph on the ‘Wild West Tour’ and his 10th of 2012, moving him past Scott Bloomquist and Josh Richards in the record book.
While WoO LMS officials set Lanigan back one row from the outside pole to the fourth spot after he was deemed to have gone too early on the race’s initial start, the penalty only made him drive harder. He bolted into second place on the complete restart, grabbed the lead from Rick Eckert on lap 14 and never looked back.
Lanigan crossed the finish line 4.717 seconds ahead of Eckert, totally dominating the ‘Wild West Tour’ finale.
A-Main Finish: 1. Darrell Lanigan, 2. Rick Eckert, 3. Clint Smith, 4. Brady Smith, 5. Jimmy Mars, 6. Shane Clanton, 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Pat Doar, 9. Tim Fuller, 10. Jake Redetzke, 11. Bub McCool, 12. Terry Casey, 13. Chub Frank, 14. Vic Coffey, 15. Jack Sullivan, 16. Chris Olson, 17. Kent Robinson, 18. Dustin Hapka, 19. Tommy Thompson, 20. Don Shaw, 21. Lane Cullum, 22. John Volpe (DNS) Jill George
Race time approaching
9:35 p.m. CT – With the WISSOTA Super Stock feature now complete, the eight-minute horn to line up the WoO LMS A-Main has been blown. The field will begin trickling onto the speedway shortly.
How they’ll line up
8:45 p.m. CT – When the 50-lap A-Main rolls out, this will be the lineup:
Row 1: Clint Smith/Darrell Lanigan
Row 2: Jimmy Mars/Rick Eckert
Row 3: Tim Fuller/Brady Smith
Row 4: Shane Clanton/Pat Doar
Row 5: Vic Coffey/Tim McCreadie
Row 6: Jake Redetzke/Bub McCool
Row 7: Chub Frank/Terry Casey
Row 8: Don Shaw/Kent Robinson
Row 9: Jack Sullivan/Chris Olson
Row 10: Dustin Hapka/Tommy Thompson
Row 11: Lane Cullum/John Volpe
Due to the time-trial wreck that left her car heavily damaged, Jill George has scratched from tonight’s A-Main.
Cat gets another shot
8:25 p.m. CT – Clint Smith started from the pole position last night at River Cities Speedway and led 49 laps before Darrell Lanigan nipped him for the win at the finish line. Tonight he’ll take the green flag from the pole again — and this time, he hopes to get the result he wants.
“We’ll have to get the car better because Tim (Fuller) took care of us pretty good in the heat,” said Smith, who will bid to snap a 49-race WoO LMS winless streak dating back to his last victory, on May 8, 2011, at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga. “Hopefully we can get out front and stay there.”
Of course, Smith will have to once again deal immediately with Lanigan, who will start from the outside pole in the 50-lapper. Jimmy Mars will start third, Rick Eckert goes fourth, Fuller starts fifth and Brady Smith drew the sixth spot.
Track and WoO LMS officials plan to run the speedway’s two support-division features and then rework the racetrack prior to the WoO LMS headliner.
Heats complete
8:00 p.m. CT – The three 10-lap heat races were spun off in rapid succession, with Darrell Lanigan, Tim Fuller and Rick Eckert emerging victorious. Runners-up Jimmy Mars, Clint Smith and Brady Smith will join the winners in the A-Main redraw, which will take place momentarily as track crews work on the speedway surface.
Missing souvenir trailer
7:35 p.m. CT – Fans on hand tonight have only one Arizona Sports Shirts souvenir trailer to visit rather than the usual two that service each WoO LMS event. The big black-and-blue WoO LMS merchandise trailer is open for business, but the GottaRace.com trailer that normally offers driver and other apparel is not here because it was destroyed in a raging highway fire on Wednesday afternoon (photo below).
Arizona’s Zach Collins was driving the pickup truck that hauls the GottaRace.com trailer west on Interstate 90 on Wednesday when he noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment. He stopped to check the problem in a highway service pulloff west of Sioux Falls, S.D., and found flames shooting from the engine. Collins was assisted by Arizona’s Damon Isenhart, who was just ahead driving the WoO LMS merchandise trailer, but they couldn’t put out the flames, which spread through the truck and soon engulfed the trailer. Fire crews were called to the scene but both the truck and trailer were write-offs — as was all the contents of the trailer, including apparel for WoO LMS drivers Darrell Lanigan, Rick Eckert, Clint Smith, Pat Doar and Kent Robinson.
Arizona’s Gerald Newton was informed of the fire while returning home from Pennsylvania, where he attended the funeral of his good friend Jim Butler, a well-known racing photographer and merchandise vendor from Clearfield, Pa., who passed away suddenly last week.
Rematch?
7:20 p.m. CT – The top-two finishers in last night’s A-Main at River Cities Speedway, Darrell Lanigan and Clint Smith, ended up one-two in tonight’s Ohlins Shocks Time Trials. Lanigan’s lap of 15.947 seconds earned him his series-leading fifth fast-time honor of 2012, and Smith clocked in second-fastest at 16.175 seconds.
The only driver who didn’t record a qualifying time was Jill George, who crashed hard on his first lap. She hit the wall between turns one and two, then hit it again on the backstretch and was towed off with significant damage.
Complete results from time trials can be seen here.
Looking good again
6:45 p.m. CT – Darrell Lanigan seems primed to bid for his third straight WoO LMS victory — and the single-season win record — tonight, coming out of the box quickly with the fastest lap in practice. His circuit of 14.766 seconds topped Clint Smith (14.913), who was defeated by Lanigan on the final lap of last night’s A-Main at River Cities Speedway.
Jimmy Mars, who is making just his second career start at North Central, was third-fastest, followed by Terry Casey and Minnesota’s Don Shaw.
Ohlins Shocks time trials have begun, with Lanigan the first car on the racetrack.
Happy to head home
6:25 p.m. CT – No WoO LMS regular is happier to see the ‘Wild West Tour’ end tonight than Rookie of the Year leader Bub McCool, who will finally return to his residence in Vicksburg, Miss., after nearly two months on the road.
McCool left home for the WoO LMS Memorial Day weekend tripleheader in Ohio and West Virginia and hasn’t slept in his own bed since. He spent the days between the WoO LMS event at Delaware International Speedway on May 31 and the Dream at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway on June 8-9 at racer Chad Stapleton’s shop near Indianapolis, then parked his rig at Chub Frank’s garage in Bear Lake, Pa., when he wasn’t traveling for WoO LMS shows for the remainder of his road trip.
McCool said he has only one race on his schedule between tonight and the next WoO LMS event, on Aug. 1 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway. On July 28 he’ll run 30 minutes from his house at Jackson (Miss.) Motor Speedway.
“I’m going on vacation when I get back,” said McCool. “The boys (his 7-year-old son, ‘B2,’ and 5-year-old son, Ben-Ben) want to go somewhere, so I think we’ll go to the beach somewhere (on the Gulf Coast). I’m about tired of driving, though, so I don’t want to go too far from home.”
Former winners
6:10 p.m. CT – Just two drivers in tonight’s 23-car field have won a dirt Late Model feature at North Central: Rick Eckert (WoO LMS in 2006) and Terry Casey of New London, Wis. (2006 WISSOTA Challenge Series).
Casey’s victory six years ago here came less than a month after he crashed hard in the track’s WoO LMS event. He remembers clipping the crashed Trent Fullmer on the homestretch, damaging his car enough to knock him from the A-Main.
Sunday night race? 5:25 p.m. CT – Chub Frank’s crewman, John Volpe, is trying to talk his boss into making a banzai overnight run back home so the 21-year-old can run his own dirt Late Model in tomorrow night’s weekly show at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa. The haul from Brainerd, Minn., to Eriez is nearly 1,000 miles and over 16 hours in length, so if all went smoothly Volpe would pull into Eriez in Frank’s rig to meet his waiting race car with the Eriez program already started.
“That Volpe is crazy,” laughed Frank. “He thinks we can make it back to Eriez. I don’t know about that.”
But even if Volpe doesn’t get to Eriez tomorrow, he’ll still get a race in this weekend. With entries light for tonight’s program, the college student from Lakewood, N.Y., has just entered the action in Frank’s second car.
Another WoO LMS crewman, ‘One’ Lane Cullum of Greenbrier, Ark., will also compete tonight. The 19-year-old Cullum, who has mostly driven open-wheel Modifieds for the last four years at tracks around his home but has made some dirt Late Model starts, will be behind the wheel of his boss Jack Sullivan’s second car.
It’s been awhile
5:15 p.m. CT – Tonight’s program here at North Central Speedway not only marks the first visit by the WoO LMS since May 31, 2006 (a race won by Rick Eckert), but the first touring Late Model series event period at the track since the defunct World Dirt Racing League competed on July 28, 2009.
With no local weekly base of dirt Late Models, tonight’s field will be comprised of WoO LMS regulars plus drivers such as Wisconsinites Jimmy Mars, Brady Smith, Terry Casey and Jake Redetzke; Minnesota’s Don Shaw and Chris Olson; and North Dakota’s Dustin Hapka.
