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World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘At A Glance’: Inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ At The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway Nov. 1-3
CONCORD , NC – Oct. 29, 2007 –
WHAT:
* The biggest, most competitive season in the history of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series comes to an end Nov. 1-3 with the running of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Steve Francis of Ashland , Ky. , will carry a 62-point lead over Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., into the title-deciding weekend.
The inaugural three-day event – one of the most hotly-anticipated dirt-track shows of 2007 – brings together the World of Outlaws Late Models and Sprint Cars on the same program for the first time ever. Both the Late Models and Sprint Cars will run time trials on Thurs., Nov. 1 (one round to align Friday night’s heat races, a second round to line up Saturday night’s heats), then contest complete shows topped by A-Mains on Fri., Nov. 2, and Sat., Nov. 3.
The two feature events for the WoO LMS will be 50 laps and pay $10,000 to win – and the live broadcast of Saturday night’s program by the SPEED cable network (from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time) will mark the first time that dirt Late Models will appear live on national television.
WHEN:
* The Dirt Track’s pit gates are scheduled to open each day of the ‘World Finals’ at 12 noon and spectator gates will be unlocked daily at 4 p.m.
Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday and 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The WoO Sprints will kick off Friday’s program with qualifying heats at 6:30 p.m., and the WoO Late Models will hit the track first on Saturday for heats at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE:
* The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway is a state-of-the-art, stadium-style motorsports facility with a seating capacity of over 14,000. Opened in May of 2000, the four-tenths-mile track sits directly across Highway 29 from the famed 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway and is located 12 miles north of downtown Charlotte .
TICKETS:
* Three-day reserved ‘World Finals’ tickets are $59 for adults and $19 for children ages 12 and under. Individual tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children on Thursday night and $35 for adults and $10 for children on Friday and Saturday nights.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-455-FANS or online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.
PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:
* The WoO LMS will make its third visit to The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway – all this season. Scott Bloomquist won the Circle K Colossal 100 on April 21 and Shannon Babb captured the Jani-King Southern Showdown Presented by Ferris Commerical Mowers on Oct. 10.
The two previous WoO LMS events this season at The Dirt Track were sanctioned by the Outlaws but only offered show-up points to all drivers. The ‘World Finals,’ however, will be run under a normal WoO LMS format, so full points will be on the line in both A-Mains.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
* Bidding for his first career WoO LMS championship – and the $100,000 top prize that goes with it – Steve Francis holds a strong, but by no means safe, 62-point lead over Chub Frank. The ‘Kentucky Colonel’ can assure himself of the title by finishing at least 14th in each 50-lap A-Main of the ‘World Finals.’
Francis, 40, gained sole possession of the tour points lead after the ‘Firecracker 100’ on June 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver , Pa. , and has not relinquished it since – a span of 18 races.
* Chub Frank’s hopes of stealing the WoO LMS crown from Francis hinge on him finishing ahead of Francis in Friday night’s A-Main.
To start the second A-Main of the ‘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 ‘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 would have more victories).
* Clint Smith of Senoia , Ga. , has held at least a share of the WoO LMS points lead after 17 events this season – only Francis has been at the top of the standings more – but he’s sitting third in the rundown, 112 points behind Francis. He can’t catch Francis, but he still has an outside chance to overtake Frank for second – a one-position improvement that would bring him an additional $20,000 in post-season points-fund money.
* Shane Clanton of Locust Grove , Ga. , finished second in last year’s WoO LMS points standings, but he’ll be looking to preserve a fourth-place finish in the 2007 battle.
Clanton, Rick Eckert of York , Pa. , and Josh Richards of Shinnston , W.Va. – fourth, five and sixth in the standings – are separated by only 24 points. The difference between a fourth- and sixth-place finish in the points is $10,000.
* Eckert will be looking to end a frustrating season on a high note at The Dirt Track. The driver who led the tour in victories in 2007 and is tied with Scott Bloomquist atop the overall series win chart since 2004 is amazingly winless this season – the only driver ranked among the top 10 in the points standings who has not won an A-Main.
* Richards, the 19-year-old sensation known as ‘Kid Rocket,’ returns to the track where an unfortunate run-in with the outside cushion robbed him of a potential victory in the Oct. 10 Jani-King Southern Showdown. Richards made an incredible charge from the 21st starting spot to the lead in just 10 laps, but a couple circuits later he hit the cushion in turn two, damaging his car’s right-front and knocking him out of action.
* Darrell Lanigan of Union , Ky. , who has control of seventh in the WoO LMS points standings, will attempt to improve upon his spectacular third-place finish in the Oct. 10 Jani-King Southern Showdown at The Dirt Track. He moved forward from the 28th starting spot after getting into the field thanks to a provisional.
* Tim Fuller of Watertown , N.Y. , heads to The Dirt Track having already clinched the 2007 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Award. He didn’t enter the Jani-King Southern Showdown because of his commitments with the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for big-block Modifieds and failed to qualify for the Circle K Colossal 100, so he’s looking to find the fast lane at The Dirt Track (where he’s won a big-block Modified feature in the past).
* Brian Shirley of Chatham , Ill. , the runner-up to Fuller in this year’s WoO LMS Rookie of the Year standings, showed he’ll be a ‘World Finals’ contender with his performance in the Jani-King Southern Showdown. After an engine problem while in line for the A-Main forced him to relinquish an outside-pole starting spot, the 26-year-old charged from the rear of the field all the way to third place before a variety of suspension and frame woes caused him to retire early.
* Shannon Babb of Moweaqua , Ill. , whose five WoO LMS wins in 2007 make him the tour’s second-winningest driver this season behind Chub Frank, returns to The Dirt Track after pocketing $18,000 for winning the Jani-King Southern Showdown. It was his first career win at the speedway.
* An all-star array of drivers will also be on hand to challenge the top Outlaws. Among those pre-entered include Circle K Colossal 100 winner and 2004 WoO LMS champion Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg , Tenn. ; Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., a three-time event winner at The Dirt Track; Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., the 2007 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion; Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio; Mike Balzano of Parkersburg, W.Va., who finished second in the Jani-King Southern Showdown; Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va.; Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa.; NASCAR NEXTEL Cup veteran Kenny Schrader of Fenton, Mo.; and Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who scored an emotional upset victory in the Sept. 2 WoO LMS event at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa.
Nearly 60 drivers are already pre-entered for the Late Model portion of the ‘World Finals.’
ON TELEVISION:
The Saturday night (Nov. 3) finale of the ‘Outlaws World Finals’ will be broadcast live by the SPEED cable network from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on Sat., Nov. 3. Wind Tunnel’s Dave Despain will serve as host of the three-hour broadcast, with the Late Model portion of the show being called by Shane Andrews (play-by-play), Dick Berggren (color) and Sarah Jane Hunt (pit reporter).
LISTEN ON THE INTERNET:
* Fans who can’t make it to the track can listen to the action live thanks to the DIRT Radio Network.
To listen to the free audio broadcasts of WoO LMS events, 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. Those who sign up for a free membership can enjoy advanced features while listening to the races, such as text chat and live scoring via AMB.it.
WoO LMS INFO:
* Log on to the WoO LMS website at 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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