World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Time is now for Lanigan to right WoO ship
By Joshua Joiner
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Darrell Lanigan is looking for his first WoO win of 2015. (rickschwalliephotos.com)
Darrell Lanigan knows that time for him to make up ground in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship chase is running out. Luckily for Lanigan, 45, of Union, Ky., the next two weeks set up nicely for the three-time and defending WoO champion to begin a mid-season push for his record fourth series title.
Lanigan, who has yet to win on this year's WoO campaign and is currently 110 points behind leader Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., in third in the series standings, will join the rest of the WoO regulars in a stretch of seven series races over the final two weeks of June. With most of the races taking place at tracks where Lanigan typically runs well, he knows he needs to take advantage of the upcoming events if he's going to have any shot at challenging Clanton and second-place Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., for the $100,000 WoO championship.
"If we're gonna make a run at this points deal, we definitely gotta get going soon and make some headway," said Lanigan, whose 70 career WoO victories tops the national tour's all-time wins list. "We dug ourselves a bit of a hole and now every time we kind of get back in it, we keep having troubles. This is definitely the time to get going."
Lanigan will begin his attempt at a points-battle comeback when the WoO heads to New York and Canada for four races during the Great Northern Tour. The 2015 version of the traditional northern trek features stops at Fonda (N.Y.) Speedway on Thursday, Brighton (Ontario) Speedway on Saturday, Cornwall (Ontario) Motor Speedway on Sunday and Weedsport (N.Y.) Speedway on Tuesday. The four Great Northern Tour events lead into one of the year's biggest races in the ninth annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., June 25-27.
For Lanigan, the two Canadian events are especially appealing. Besides being a location that he doesn't get to visit very often, trips north of the border have been good to Lanigan in the past. The last time the WoO visited Canada it was a two-race trip to Brighton and Cornwall in 2013 with Lanigan sweeping both events.
"They're good tracks for us, so I definitely look forward to going back up there," Lanigan said of Brighton's third-mile oval and Cornwall's quarter-mile track. "It's always good to go back to places where you've won before, plus it's neat to go to places like that where it's kind of a different atmosphere. You're in a completely different country. It's definitely interesting to go up there and see something you don't get to see every day."
Of course, Lanigan always looks forward to visiting Lernerville. The 4/10-mile oval has always been one of his better tracks, especially during the Firecracker 100 weekend. In eight Firecracker 100 features, Lanigan has an average finish of fourth. He notched four runner-up finishes in the event from 2008 through 2012 and added a third-place effort in 2013 before finally breaking through for his first Firecracker 100 triumph last season.
Last year's Firecracker victory was a momentous accomplishment for Lanigan, not only because of the event's prestige and $30,000 winner's paycheck, but also for the relief he felt after finally overcoming his repeated close-but-no-cigar runs in the race.
Lanigan's Firecracker 100 performance, which also included a preliminary night victory, was part of an unbelievable 2014 season that saw Lanigan score a single-season record 17 WoO victories on his way to his third series championship.
Stuck in one of his longest winless droughts in recent memory — Lanigan hasn't gone more than three races into a season without winning a WoO race since 2009 — Lanigan is far from his 2014 performance level, but he's confident he and his Club 29 Race Cars house car team can get there soon.
"Lernerville is a place we always seem to run well at and it's always exciting to go to a big race like the Firecracker," Lanigan said of Lernerville's blockbuster weekend that features separate complete preliminary night programs June 25-26 that determine the lineups for June 27's Firecracker 100 heat races. "Things were really clicking (last season) and we felt like we could win any race we ran. We still can do that, we just gotta get our program turned around a little bit and get going with it."
Part of Lanigan's excitement toward the upcoming busy stretch is the sheer number of opportunities it offers to race without the distractions that can occur during time off. While other race teams may find challenges in extended road trips, that's where Lanigan and his crew thrive. That has been especially true over the past two years since Lanigan launched Club 29 Race Cars. Getting out of the shop and racing every few days gives Lanigan the chance to focus on his own equipment.
"It definitely helps our racing to be on the road and racing more," said Lanigan, whose traveling crew is led by 2014 WoO Crew chief of the Year Jason Jameson. "It hurts us at the shop some, but our main goal is to go out and win races. We definitely need to get our butts in gear and go out and do that."
Even though he's struggled to find his rhythm so far in 2015, Lanigan hasn't changed his approach or given up on his chances at another championship. Just like his successful 2014 season, Lanigan still goes to every race with the goal of winning.
"I think there's still a chance," Lanigan said of his title hopes. "Our goal is to win races and if you win races, the points will come.
"We've got a good team. If we can get on the road and get some racing under us, I think we'll be alright and get things turned around pretty quick. We're gonna go out to win races here on this trip and see what we can come up with."
