Wayne County Speedway
Hess outruns champions, grabs first WoO victory
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Dave Hess Jr. scored his first World of Outlaws victory. (Kevin Kovac)
ORRVILLE, Ohio (May 24) — Dave Hess Jr. ran the race of his life Friday at NAPA Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway. The 28-year-old driver from Waterford, Pa., grabbed the lead on lap two and never looked back en route to capturing the World of Outlaws Late Model Series Buckeye 50 presented by Southeast Equipment – his coveted first-ever triumph on the national tour. | Notebook | Slideshow
Not even a lap-36 caution flag could derail Hess, who pulled away from three former series champions — Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. — during the race’s late stages to pocket $10,550.
Hess’s victory came in the 58th WoO event he’s entered and 38th feature he’s started since 2004. His previous best finish was a second on Aug. 31, 2008, at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa.
“We’ve been trying a long time to win one of these World of Outlaws shows,” said Hess, who has driven family-owned equipment throughout his career. “We’ve come close before, and I knew the way the car’s been (in recent years) it was just a matter of time (that a win would come) if we got some luck.
“But I didn’t think (the win) would be here,” he added. “I thought it would be at one of my better tracks. We haven’t even been here in a couple years, but the car was great.”
Richards, 25, advanced from the seventh starting spot to run second from lap 11 to the finish, but he only managed to briefly duck underneath Hess twice late in the distance. The two-time WoO champion crossed the finish line 1.262 seconds behind Hess.
Lanigan, who started sixth but lost two spots on the race’s first lap when he bounced through a rut in turn one, recovered to finish third. He turned back the late-race challenges of the eighth-starting Eckert, who settled for fourth. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., completed the top five after climbing forward from the 12th starting spot to match his top finish of the season.
Hess, who started from the pole position, was outgunned for the lead at the initial start by WoO rookie Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky. But Hess pushed past Wells for the top spot on lap two and maintained firm control for the remainder of the distance.
Running hard on the top side of the three-eighths-mile oval, Hess kept Richards and the rest of the star-studded field at bay. He understood that he had to be flawless to reach the checkered flag first.
“You gotta have your car perfect, have the right tires on and then drive a perfect race,” said Hess, noting the ingredients for success in a WoO event. “You know guys like Josh Richards and Darrell Lanigan, they ain’t gonna make mistakes. So if you make any, it’ll put you behind.
“My cars felt real great around that top of one and two, but that berm was pretty tall so if you got into it very hard it really got you out of a shape. It scared me a few times, but I knew I had to push it as hard as I could because Josh and Darrell would be coming.”
Hess threw every last bit of caution to the wind following the race’s final restart, which came on lap 36 after George Lee of Loudonville, Ohio, slowed to bring out a yellow flag.
“It seemed like every restart the car would just be great for about six, seven, eight laps, and then it would start laying down just a little bit and losing a little bit of traction,” said Hess. “I knew I just had to push it as hard as I could on that last restart and hope I could build enough cushion to hold ‘em off.”
Richards showed his nose to Hess entering turn one on the lap-36 restart, but he never got his Rocket Chassis house car close enough to challenge Hess again over the remaining circuits.
“We had a really good car but I was a little too tight to run up on the cushion off of (turn) two,” said Richards, who recorded his series-leading 11th top-five finish in 14 starts. “That’s where he would really get a run.”
“Dave’s a really great race car driver and I’m glad to see those guys get a win. He did a great job.”
Richards’s runner-up finish allowed him to extended his WoO points lead to 32 markers over Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., who finished 15th after rear end problems in his Kennedy Motorsports machine forced him to retire on lap 38 while battling for fifth place.
Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., tied his best finish of the season with a sixth after starting 16th. Wells slipped to seventh in the final rundown after running in the top five until Frank’s lap-44 pass knocked him back. Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, placed eighth, third-starter Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., was ninth and a Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., finished 10th after starting 23rd because a heat-race flat tire forced him to use a provisional spot.
Four caution flags slowed the event. Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., brought out the first, on lap five, when he slammed into the barrier of tractor tires off the backstretch. Later, Russ King of Bristolville, Ohio, slowed on lap 15; Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., spun in turn two on lap 16 shortly before retiring; and Lee slowed on lap 36 with a smoking car.
Notes: Hess drivers a Rocket Chassis with a Craiger Race Engine and sponsorship from Hess Garage and Salvage, Beacon Lubricants, Linda’s Notary Service and Jim Brozell Construction. ... Fourteen of 24 starters finished and 13 were on the lead lap. ... The event was contested on an unseasonably cool evening. Temperatures never climbed much above 50 and dipped into the 30s by the end of the program. ... Doug Drown of Wooster, Ohio, earned his first-ever WoO fast-time honor. ... Warrior Race Cars house car driver Scott James of Lawrenceburg, Ind., missed his first event of the season when his hauler broke down. He received 60 hardship points but dropped from a tie for seventh to 11th in series points. ... WoO rookie candidate Dillon Wood of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., was a no-show. ... Drivers failing to make the feature lineup: Charlie Duncan, Rick Bond, Blaine Aber, Kyle Bates, Larry Bellman and Walker Arthur. ... Arthur, of Forest, Va., saw his night come to an abrupt end after his car dug into the cushion between turns one and two and rolled several times during his time-trial effort. He wasn’t injured. ... The series continues its Memorial Day weekend tripleheader May 25-26 with the running of the second annual Jackpot 100 presented by NAPA Auto Parts at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. A 30-lap, $6,000-to-win event is scheduled for Saturday and a 70-lap finale carrying a $15,000 first-place prize will be contested Sunday.
Buckeye 50: (1) Dave Hess Jr., (2) Josh Richards, (3) Darrell Lanigan, (4) Rick Eckert, (5) Chub Frank, (6) Bub McCool, (7) Eric Wells, (8) Morgan Bagley, (9) Gregg Satterlee, (10) Tim Fuller, (11) Doug Drown, (12) Russ King, (13) Corey Conley, (14) Ryan Markham, (15) Shane Clanton, (16) Davey Johnson, (17) George Lee, (18) Shane McLoughlin, (19) Tim McCreadie, (20) Zack Dohm, (21) J.R. Gentry, (22) Steve Casebolt, (23) Clint Smith, (24) Ron Davies. Fast qualifier (among 30 cars): Drown, 16.807 seconds. Heat race winners: Drown, Lanigan, Satterlee. Consolation winner: Davies. Provisional starters: Fuller, Casebolt.
