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Francis Eyeing First World of Outlaws Late Model Series Title, But ‘Chubzilla’ Still Alive Entering Nov. 1-3 ‘Outlaws World Finals’
CONCORD , NC – Oct. 19, 2007 – Steve Francis hopes there’s no World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship drama during the inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ on Nov. 1-3 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Chub Frank, on the other hand, would love to see thousands of fans counting points right down to the last circuit of the twin 50-lap A-Mains that comprise the event.
That succinctly describes the points-race scenario entering the WoO LMS’s blockbuster season finale at The Dirt Track, where Francis will attempt to close out his first-ever tour championship and Frank will try to pull off an 11th-hour rally to capture his first title.
Francis, 40, of Ashland , Ky. , will carry a 62-point lead over Bear Lake , Pa. ’s Frank into the ‘Outlaws World Finals,’ a highly-anticipated, $200,000-plus three-day show that will also close the 2007 championship battle for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. Both series will run two rounds of time trials on Thurs., Nov. 1, and then compete in complete racing programs on Fri., Nov. 2, and Sat., Nov. 3.
If Francis finishes at least 14th in each night’s headliner, he’s assured of the $100,000 WoO LMS championship even if Frank wins both events. But doing the minimum necessary to clinch the points crown isn’t part of his plan during the big weekend, which will include live national television coverage of Saturday night’s program on SPEED from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.
“Chub’s gonna go out and run as hard as he can run, and I’m gonna go out and run as hard as I can run,” said Francis, plainly laying out his strategy. “Then if he wins (the title) I’ll congratulate him, and if I win it I’m sure he’ll congratulate me.”
Frank, 45, has won more feature events (six) than any other driver on this year’s WoO LMS, but even adding a sweep of the $10,000-to-win ‘Outlaws World Finals’ 50-lappers to his ledger might not be enough to bring him the championship. He’ll need some help from Francis to pull it out.
To start the second A-Main of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ with at least a shot at the WoO LMS title, Frank must shave a minimum of 10 points off Francis’s points lead in the first night’s 50-lapper. That equals a five-position difference (or four positions if Frank wins the feature).
With 26 cars scheduled to start each of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ A-Mains, a driver can make up a maximum of 52 points (the difference between 150 points for first and 98 for 26th). If Frank and Francis were to finish in a tie for the points lead, the title would go to Frank by virtue of the feature-wins tiebreaker (Frank has more victories).
“Our chances (for the championship) aren’t great, but we’re still gonna try hard,” said Frank, whose third-place finish in the 2006 WoO LMS points standings is his career-high in three seasons on the tour. “Francis is gonna have to have a bad couple nights, but hey, we’re going to Lowe’s, and things can happen there.”
No one needs to tell Francis about the unpredictability of racing at The Dirt Track. In the four-tenths-mile oval’s Jani-King Southern Showdown, on Oct. 10, he was swept up in a multi-car tangle on the first lap of his heat race and ultimately had to use a provisional spot to start the A-Main. Francis, who drove Tim Logan’s No. 11 rather than his own Valvoline Rocket No. 15 in the Jani-King show, recovered to finish fourth in the 50-lapper, but his qualifying woes reminded him of what can go wrong at the fast track.
“ Charlotte is the wildcard (in the points race),” Francis said of The Dirt Track. “We’ve known that all along – all of us have. Anything can happen there.”
Of course, Francis’s uncanny knack for salvaging potentially disastrous nights all season long makes it clear that he can handle anything The Dirt Track throws at him. Just consider his remarkable performance record on the tour this year: four wins, 25 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes in 42 A-Main starts.
Francis, who will run his familiar red, white and blue No. 15 in the ‘Finals,’ has also only gotten stronger as the season has progressed. In fact, he’s won three times and reeled off 12 consecutive top-10 finishes in the tour’s stretch run.
What kind of letter grade would Francis give his season? He might readjust after the ‘Outlaws World Finals,’ but right now he rates it pretty good.
“In all honesty, I’d have to give it a 90 to 95 (or between an ‘A’ and ‘A-minus),” said Francis, who has led the points standings since the June 30 stop at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver , Pa. “From July back, I’d say we were somewhere like an 80-85 (or ‘C’ to ‘B-minus‘). From July forward, though, we’ve been the other way. We’ve been getting better and better, and that’s all because we’ve worked real hard.
“The main thing is, Mark (Richards of Rocket Chassis), Brian (Shirley), and some of us (other Rocket drivers), we’ve done a lot of testing lately. We wore a motor out in the last three weeks just from testing! We’ve tried different combinations with the race cars, we’ve tried little different designs with the shocks, we’ve changed things in the geometry of the front end – everything you can imagine.
“We just went through everything to learn and refresh our memory to make sure we know what is actually happening with the cars, and it’s showing up in our results.”
Francis’s late-season strength has certainly built his confidence for the ‘Outlaws World Finals,’ but his relaxed attitude has also helped his drive for the title. He’s been in WoO LMS championship battles before and come up short – he finished second to Scott Bloomquist by 13 points in 2004, and he lost the 2005 crown to Billy Moyer on a tie-breaker (number of second-place finishes) – so you might think he’s feeling some pressure to finally break through, but that’s not the case.
“Maybe I’m a little more relaxed because of the difference this time,” Francis said of the points battle. “This year we’re leading. In those other years, I came down the stretch behind and trying to catch up.
“In 2004 we went to Tunica ( Miss. ) to close the season trying to catch Scott; we finished second and third in the two races, but Scott won both of them so there wasn’t much I could do about that. And the next year we passed Moyer (for the points lead) the night before the last show, but Billy and I ran second and third (in the finale at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park) and Billy won (the title) on the tie-breaker deal.
“I’m just letting it go and trying to win races,” he continued. “Yeah, the points are in the back of your head – I don’t care what anybody says – and you try not to take any extra chances because of it. But we’ve still come to win every race for the past couple months, and we’re coming to win both nights at Charlotte .”
Frank, meanwhile, is hoping he can gain enough points in The Dirt Track’s first 50-lapper to give himself a chance in the Saturday-night finale – and “put a little pressure on Francis,” he said with a smile.
But the popular driver known as ‘Chubzilla’ won’t pout if he has to settle for second-place in the standings.
“We’d be happy with second, but not that happy,” said Frank, who has 19 top-five and 34 top-10 finishes in 42 WoO LMS A-Mains this season. “We know where we struggled at some places, where we did some stupid things that would’ve probably made a difference and helped us out in the points.
“That’s just the way it is, though. Everybody has them stories.
“It’s been a B-plus season for us,” he continued, analyzing his campaign. “We’ve won a lot of Outlaw races, and we’re proud of that because the competition is so tough. But there’s always room for improvement.
“You want to at least run up in the top five or 10 in every race, and we haven’t done that. We haven’t matched Francis there.
“We know we need to work on some stuff. Our motor program is good, and our cars are good, but we just need to fine-tune ‘em. We have to make the right decisions at the racetrack, put the right tires on and all that. We missed a few times this year and that’s why we’re behind in the points.”
But Frank still has two more opportunities to catch up – no matter the odds.
The ‘Outlaws World Finals’ kicks off on Thurs., Nov. 1, with two separate rounds of time trials for the Late Models and Sprint Cars – the first round to set Friday night’s lineups, and the second round to align Saturday night’s heat races.
Friday (Nov. 2) and Saturday (Nov. 3) will feature heats, B-Mains and a 50-lap feature for the Late Models, plus heats, B-Mains, dashes and a 30-lap A-Main for the Sprints.
Assuming good weather and comfortable temperatures, the daily schedule will be as follows: 12 p.m. – pit gate opens; 4 p.m. – spectator gates open; 6 p.m. – hot laps; 7 p.m. – racing.
However, the event is being “flex-scheduled.” In an effort to maximize everyone’s experience, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and World of Outlaws officials will be keeping an eye on the long-range weather forecast. If it appears that the temperatures are going to be uncomfortably cold, the Friday and Saturday events will begin in the late afternoon, with hot laps starting as early as 4 p.m.
Officials hope to announce if the event will be “flex-scheduled” within 10 days of the ‘Finals.’
Three-day reserved seat tickets for the ‘Finals’ are selling at a record pace but remain available for $59 until Wed., Oct. 31. To order tickets, call 800-455-FANS (3267), log on to www.lowesmotorspeedway.com, visit all Ticketmaster outlets or visit the Lowe’s Motor Speedway Box Office on the second floor of Smith Tower (the large blue building at the main entrance to the superspeedway).
Single-day tickets are also available. The cost is $10 Adults/$5 Children (12 & under) on Thursday; and $35 Adults/$10 Children (12 & under) for either Friday or Saturday.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Oct. 13 - 42 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader):
1. Steve Francis 4-25-38-$135,950-5,688 (-0)
2. Chub Frank 6-19-34-$128,180-5,626 (-62)
3. Clint Smith 4-17-30-$119,625-5,576 (-112)
4. Shane Clanton 2-13-28-$89,747-5,496 (-192)
5. Rick Eckert 0-12-26-$79,110-5,480 (-208)
6. Josh Richards 4-11-25-$102,657-5,472 (-216)
7. Darrell Lanigan 2-10-27-$86,105-5,206 (-482)
8. Tim Fuller 1-10-15-$70,705-4,259 (-1429)
9. Brian Shirley 1-5-13-$61,754-4,070 (-1618)
10. Shannon Babb 5-13-17-$100,885-3,732 (-1956)
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-2-5-$25,920-2,754 (-2936)
12. Roy Mitchell 0-0-0-$13,290-2,458 (-3230)
13. Chris Madden 2-8-12-$90,015-2,454 (-3234)
14. Billy Moyer 1-9-12-$42,575-2,448 (-3240)
15. Brian Birkhofer 0-1-8-$24,810-2,079 (-3609)
16. Jimmy Mars 0-5-7-$27,930-1,773 (-3915)
17. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$10,830-1,738 (-3950)
18. Dan Stone 1-1-3-$18,335-1,640 (-4048)
19. Brady Smith 0-2-5-$14,450-1,434 (-4254)
20. Dennis Erb Jr. 2-4-7-$33,000-1,433 (-4255) |
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