WoO Speedweek sets up title chase homestretch
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Josh Richards
The stars of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will be rested and ready when the national tour ends a mid-summer break July 27 with a first-ever visit to Central Pennsylvania Speedway. And they know they better be, because when the green flag flies at Tim Bainey Sr.’s 4/10-mile oval in Clearfield, Pa., the series will commence a busy stretch of five races in six nights that figures to loom large in the 2010 points battle. | WoO schedule
Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek — a late July staple of the series since 2007 — will begin pushing the tour down its homestretch. Just 14 of the season’s 47 scheduled events will remain on the series slate after the flurry of activity in the Buckeye and Keystone states.
Defending champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., leads the points standings entering Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek, a position he’s held outright after the last 16 events. But he hasn’t added to his series-leading win total of five since June 24 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and his season-high edge of 56 points (after race No. 14) has dwindled to just 18 points over Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and 46 points over Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., so he knows he needs to be at the top of his game when he returns to Outlaw grind.
“We struggled a little bit, but there’s still a long way to go,” said Richards, who has had at least a share of the points lead after 24 of this season’s 28 races. “Timmy and Darrell have been tough, so I guess we just have to get back up on the wheel. We’re gonna use our two weeks off to regroup and try to hold them off.”
McCreadie and Lanigan have materialized into the prime challengers for the 22-year-old Richards. And both former champions will roll into Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek with more momentum than Richards. McCreadie, 36, has won three of the last eight series events, while Lanigan, 40, has finished second in six of the last 10 races, including the last four in a row.
Lanigan is actually in the midst of a streak unprecedented in the annals of the series though it’s one that has the 2008 titlist shaking his head in frustration. With his four consecutive runner-up finishes during the Wild West Tour, he became the first driver in tour history to place second in more than three straight events.
The only other driver who appears to still have a shot at upstaging Richards, McCreadie and Lanigan for the WoO championship is 2007 titlist Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who sits fourth in the points standings, 116 points behind Richards. His hopes for the $100,000 crown wrest on making up ground during Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek:
Central Pennsylvania Speedway: The specials-only track that will play host to its richest Dirt Late Model race July 27, for a 40-lap, $8,000-to-win race. The speedway, which had its paved surface covered with clay prior to the 2006 season, is in its third season under the stewardship of former racer and asphalt stock team owner Tim Bainey Sr. The only WoO regular who has won at the track is Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., who invaded the track in 2007 to win the Yankee Doodle 50.
Sharon Speedway: The Hartford, Ohio, 3/8-mile oval is co-owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran and former WoO Sprint Car Series champion Dave Blaney. One of three tracks that has presented a WoO event every year since the tour was reincarnated in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner, Sharon is shifting its 50-lap, $10,000-to-win Outlaw show to a mid-week date — Wednesday, July 28 — after hosting Saturday-night events for the last four years. Sharon’s past WoO LMS winners include current regulars McCreadie (2005), Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (2007) and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (2009) as well as Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio (2008) and Davey Johnson of Latrobe, Pa. (2004).
Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park: The track returns to the WoO LMS schedule for the third straight season July 30 with a 50-lapper paying $10,000 to win. Previous winners include Richards (2008) and Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., who won the 2009 event that was highlighted by a titanic, three-wide battle for second place just behind Shaver between championship contenders Richards, Francis and Lanigan.
Muskingum County Speedway: The 3/8-mile oval in Zanesville, Ohio owned by Ronnie Moran — the father of Dirt Late Model superstar Donnie Moran — will welcome WoO competitors July 31. The 50-lap, $10,000-to-win program will mark the first time that the Outlaws pay a Saturday-night visit to the semi-banked track, which previously presented mid-week shows won by Frank (2009) and Francis (2008).
Eriez Speedway: The Bob Rohrer-promoted facility in Hammett, Pa., will be rocked by WoO for the fourth consecutive year Aug. 1. There has yet to be a repeat winner in the third-mile oval’s three tour events, which were captured by Richards (2007), Francis (2008) and current series traveler Rick Eckert of York, Pa.
