Georgia, Florida events kick off busy WoO slate
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model SeriesORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 29) — A record number of events appear on the 2013 World of Outlaws Late Model Series schedule, which was released on Thursday during the Performance Racing Industry trade show.
Fifty-four race dates comprising 49 races at 38 tracks in 21 states and Canada are currently confirmed as part of the national tour’s ambitious 2013 itinerary, including an unprecedented season-opening slate of eight events in Georgia and Florida during the month of February.
The milestone 10th consecutive WoO campaign under the World Racing Group banner will commence for the second straight year with the Winter Freeze on Feb. 8-9 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga. A format change will turn the event into a doubleheader featuring an $8,000-to-win 40-lapper on Friday and a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win race on Saturday.
Also part of the busy first month of World of Outlaws action is the second annual Bubba Army Late Model Winter Nationals on Feb. 15-17 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. — a three-night extravaganza topped by the historic Super Sunday Showdown paying $20,000 to win — and the traditional visit to Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment, which in 2013 includes three complete WoO programs on Feb. 21-23.
Bubba Raceway Park’s Super Sunday Showdown on Feb. 17 stands as one of a half-dozen mega-money shows spread across the 2013 schedule. The list of marquee events also includes the $50,000-to-win USA Nationals on Aug. 1-3 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis.; the seventh annual Firecracker 100 on June 27-29 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.; the fifth annual Illini 100 on April 5-6 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway; the inaugural Buckeye 100 on April 12-13 at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio; and the Memorial Day weekend Bullring Bonanza on May 25-26 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va.
WoO’s season will conclude for the seventh straight year with a pair of 50-lappers during the PEAK Motor Oil World of Outlaws World Finals Presented by NAPA Auto Parts on Nov. 7-9 at the Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C.
With several dates still to be added to the 2013 schedule, the tour’s single-season highs of 44 races (2007 and 2010) and 38 tracks (2010) are in line to be surpassed.
“We’re looking forward to a 2013 season that promises more World of Outlaws Late Model Series racing than ever before,” said Tim Christman, who will serve as the WoO director for the seventh consecutive year. “With help from great racetrack promoters across the country, we’ve been able to put together a schedule that will produce plenty of excitement for fans and present a challenge for the drivers.”
The richest event in 2013 remains Cedar Lake Speedway’s 100-lap USA Nationals, a crown jewel that will be showcased on the World of Outlaws trail for the fourth consecutive year and seventh time overall in its 25-year history. The Aug. 1-3 spectacular will be an all-World of Outlaws weekend as well with the Thursday-night preliminary program becoming a full-points WoO show paying $6,000 to win.
Lernerville’s Firecracker 100, meanwhile, will boast three full nights of competition for the fourth year in a row. An early-summer spectacular known for its fan-pleasing excitement both on and off the track, the Firecracker weekend begins with 30-lap, $6,000-to-win preliminary features on June 27-28 before ending with the traditional 100-lap headliner offering $30,000 for first place on Saturday, June 29.
Century grinds offering $20,000 first-place prizes will also be contested on back-to-back spring weekends — the Illini 100 at the quarter-mile Farmer City oval on April 5-6, and the Buckeye 100 on April 12-13 at Wayne County. The Illini 100 will run at a Farmer City track under new management in 2013, while Wayne County’s husband-and-wife promotional team of Jason and Kristin Flory will present a huge two-day show after earlier this year successfully bringing the WoO back to the central Ohio facility for the first time since 2006.
Another major early-season event is set for Tyler County, the quarter-mile Mountaineer State oval that has gained nationwide acclaim for its unique high-dollar WoO affairs the past two years. Promoter Frank Wilson will focus on the Memorial Day holiday for his marquee show in 2013, expanding the Bullring Bonanza to two days on May 25-26. Details of the race format and purse structure are still to be determined, but it is expected that the Bonanza’s race-fan lottery-raffle that proved so popular this year will be replayed.
The ’13 schedule also will feature a pair of late-season doubleheaders at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway (Aug. 31-Sept. 1) and Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. (Sept. 20-21). Details of the twinbills will be released at a later date, but complete WoO cards will be run on each night of the weekends.
Selinsgrove promoter Charlie Paige has decided to present two WoO races after his attempt to host the tour for the first time in 2012 was rained out. The Labor Day weekend event will rekindle the circuit’s summer-ending holiday doubleheaders in the Keystone State that were run from 2006-2010 at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin.
The paved 7/16-mile Berlin Raceway, meanwhile, will once again be covered with clay for WoO action after this year’s Down & Dirty 100 was such a thrilling hit. The weekend format will be changed to give race teams and fans two full nights of full-fender competition.
The 2013 season’s longest swing remains July’s Wild West Tour, which currently boasts five events over a seven-day period. WoO stalwart Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., is scheduled to kick off the busy summer stretch on July 6, with the Gopher 50 charity race (the ninth straight year the event is part of the series), followed by subsequent races on July 8 at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D.; July 9 at Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway, which returns to the tour after a year’s absence; July 11 at Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg, Manitoba (second year in a row that the series will visit the Canadian track); and July 12 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., which has hosted the WoO annually since 2006.
Other schedule highlights:
• An early-season swing to I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., on March 22 and Whynot (Miss.) Motorsports Park on March 23. Both tracks will be part of the WoO for the first time.
• Three straight weekends of springtime racing in Southeastern states: North Carolina (Fayetteville Motor Speedway on April 19 and 311 Motor Speedway in Madison on April 20); Tennessee (Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville on April 26 and Tazewell Speedway on April 27); and Georgia (Lavonia Speedway on May 3 and Swainsboro Raceway on May 4). The tour will visit Tazewell and Swainsboro for the fourth consecutive year; 311 for the second straight season; Fayetteville for the first time since 2010; Smoky Mountain for the first time since ’04; and Lavonia for the first time ever.
• The traditional spring midweek event at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, which hosts the WoO for the ninth time in 10 years on Thurs., May 30. The trip to the First State once again coincides with the NASCAR weekend at nearby Dover International Speedway.
• A stop at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., for the first time since 2006. The border track will run on June 1, two days after the event at Delaware International.
• Three races in the week preceding the Firecracker 100 — Canadian events on June 20 at Brighton (Ontario) Speedway (a new addition to the series) and June 23, at Cornwall (Ontario) Motor Speedway and an Empire State showdown on June 25 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park.
• Shawano (Wis.) Speedway will continue its midweek date preceding the USA Nationals when it presents the World of Outlaws for the fourth year in a row on July 30 and Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway will host a post-USA Nationals event for the third consecutive year on Aug. 5.
• A return to the Wolverine State for a weekend of action. Winston Speedway in Rothbury, Mich., will conduct a WoO event for the third straight year on Aug. 16, with another Michigan date to be announced for Aug. 17.
• After drawing a standing-room-only crowd for its inaugural WoO event in 2012, Little Valley (N.Y.) Speedway will hold an encore Aug. 22.
• Winchester (Va.) Speedway, which had its 2012 WoO event rained out, will dub its ’13 event on Aug. 24 the Raye Vest Memorial. Details of the special race run in memory of 2011 WoO champion Rick Eckert’s longtime car owner will be announced.
• The redesigned West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells will lead off the Labor Day weekend with an event on Fri., Aug. 30. The tour competed at the track in 2010 but ’13 will mark the first World of Outlaws show on the shortened WVMS layout.
• A late-season doubleheader in the Midwest on Sept. 13, at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., and Sept. 14, at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. The St. Louis-area tracks teamed up for a well-received doubleheader earlier this season.
• A third annual visit to Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, N.Y., on Oct. 10, as part of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week, the annual showcase of Northeast DIRTcar Modified racing at the nearby one-mile New York State Fairgrounds.
Seven facilities are scheduled to host multiple WoO races. Tracks set to run three races are Bubba Raceway Park, Lernerville and Volusia, while two events will be contested at Screven, Cedar Lake, Selinsgrove, Berlin and Charlotte.
Five tracks will host the WoO for the first time in 2013: I-30, Whynot, Lavonia, Brighton and Selinsgrove
