World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
WoO's big-blockers ready for Canada
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Tim Fuller won his last Late Model visit to Quebec's Autodrome Granby. (Sylvain Buisson)
When the World of Outlaws Late Model Series invades Canada this weekend for races June 22 at Quebec's Autodrome Granby and June 24 at Cornwall (Ontario) Motor Speedway, the local fans will focus on three tour regulars whom they already know quite well.
New Yorkers Tim McCreadie, Tim Fuller and Vic Coffey have some history at the tracks from their days as DIRTcar Big-Block Modified stars, so they'll be the first Outlaws to draw attention from the Canadian spectators.
The trio also hopes their experience and past success at the tracks will pay off with strong performances, especially at Granby, a half-mile oval 45 minutes east of Montreal that will host the series for the first time. The national tour previously competed annually at Cornwall from 2008-2010.
"I know myself, McCreadie and Fuller, all three of us have been (to Granby) a bunch, so we probably have a little bit of an upper hand," said Coffey, who sits sixth in the current WoO standings. "I'm sure everybody will catch on quick, but hopefully we can use (prior Granby knowledge) to our advantage."
Coffey, 40, of Caledonia, N.Y., is also hoping that his past open-wheel success in Canada — most notably, he won the first DIRTcar 358-Modified Series feature of his career in the country, at Brockville Ontario Speedway — is a good omen for his first-ever WoO trip across the border. He is winless in 127 career WoO starts, though he's been close several times.
"I'm looking forward to it," Coffey said of the swing. "I've had some success at both places. It's been a while (since his last appearances), but I'm hoping to go up there and have a little familiarity."
No one should feel more comfortable at Granby than Fuller, a 44-year-old from Watertown, N.Y. He not only owns a late '90s DIRTcar 358-Modified Series victory at the track, but also a triumph in Granby's only previous full-blown Dirt Late Model event, an All Star Late Model Series show on Aug. 11, 2010. His full-fender visit almost two years ago makes him quite certain that Friday's 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Main will be extremely competitive.
"It raced good, just like it did with a mod," Fuller said of Granby in '10. "There was a good top and a good bottom. It's flat as it gets and a decent-sized track, so I think it'll race fairly well. I think it'll be a pretty good show.”
McCreadie, 38, of Watertown, N.Y., enters the weekend carrying plenty of momentum (two wins, six top-fives and no finish worse than seventh in his last eight WoO starts), but that's not the only reason he's anxious to unload his Sweeteners Plus equipment in the pit areas of the Granby and Cornwall facilities. He also likes racing at both speedways.
"It's been a little under 10 years since I've been (to Granby)," said McCreadie, "but it's always been a good track. We've been up there for years and the racing is usually good. You race top and bottom."
And on Cornwall, a quarter-mile oval that returns to the WoO schedule after a one-year absence, McCreadie said, "Cornwall is just one of the raciest tracks we go to. Small track, action-packed, great fans, packed house — I don't think anybody's been unhappy with that place when we've gone there with the Late Models. It's such a great racetrack, and if you're the fastest car you're gonna drive right to the front.”
Cornwall holds a special place in McCreadie's heart since it's where he won the first major 100-lap race of his career, a DIRTcar 358-Modified Series show during his rookie year as a driver in 1996. He's fallen short of WoO glory there, however, finishing second in '08 and '09 and seventh in '10 (after rallying from the rear of the field because he slid off the track).
The three big-block transplants also have an appreciation of the uniquely boisterous Canadian fans. Fuller affectionately calls them "insane" for their deep devotion, while Coffey noted that they "always come out strong up there.”
And McCreadie singles out Quebec's spectators as some of the most excitable he comes across in his travels.
"The French-speaking Canandian fans are very passionate and love their sport," said McCreadie, who enters the weekend ranked fourth in the WoO points standings. "They're gonna have a blast and hopefully we'll put on a good show for them.”
Friday's inaugural WoO event at Autodrome Granby will have a celebratory atmosphere, said track promoter Dominic Lussier.
"It's a long (holiday) weekend in Quebec for St. John the Baptist Day so we will have fireworks during the night and a big bonfire with music either in the pits or the parking lot after the race," said Lussier, who oversees a superb facility that features, among other amenities, a steep grandstand, three-story VIP tower, huge turn-three scoreboard and pedestrian tunnel under the homestretch. "We will also make a nice presentation (introduction) of the drivers on the track before the race.”
Cornwall owner Ron Morin is such a huge fan of dirt Late Model racing, he travels every year to Florida to spend a couple February weeks getting his fill of the division. So it's no surprise that it's a big deal for him to have the WoO at his spic-and-span speedway for a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event.
"I love having the World of Outlaws come to Cornwall," said Morin, whose track presents a very successful weekly Sunday-night show headlined by the DIRTcar 358-Modifieds. "Every race we've had has been exciting, and since we went a year without having a Late Model show everybody is really looking forward to Sunday night. We've been having a good year and I think if the weather holds for Sunday it'll be a super show."
