Williston Basin Speedway
Fuller rides high side to North Dakota victory
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Tim Fuller celebrates at Williston Basin. (Kevin Kovac)
WILLISTON, N.D. (July 13) — Tim Fuller might be ready to take up residence in North Dakota. After running the outside line to a convincing victory in the caution-free 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Williston Basin Speedway, Fuller owns two career wins on the tour, both in North Dakota.
“It is unbelievable that the two races we’ve won have been in North Dakota,” said Fuller, whose previous WoO triumph came on June 12, 2007, at River Cities Speedway in the eastern portion of the state. “I can’t explain why this is the place we’ve had this success, but I hope that now we can duplicate it everywhere else we go.”
Fuller, 40, of Watertown, N.Y., busted out of a frustrating sophomore slump on the WoO in a big way. He slipped back two positions from the fifth starting spot early in the event, but he soon discovered a high lane around the third-mile track and used it to blast by the six cars ahead of him in a matter of nine stirring laps. The winning pass came on lap 15 when Fuller surged ahead of Shinnston, W.Va.’s Josh Richards, who had led from the initial green flag after starting on the pole position. Fuller dominated the remainder of the distance, artfully negotiating lapped traffic with his Gypsum Express Rocket No. 19 to cross the finish line nearly a straightaway ahead of Richards.
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., made a strong high-side charge forward from the 11th starting spot to finish third, hot on Richards’s rear bumper at the checkered flag. WoO points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., continued to roll with a fourth-place run, and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., placed fifth.
Though Fuller used the outside groove to explode from fourth to the lead on the opening lap en route to a heat-race win, he didn’t go back to the line in the A-Main until he was forced there. “I saw (Rick) Eckert burst up inside of me (in a bid for seventh place on lap six), so I had to go to the outside,” said Fuller. “When I got on the outside of (Kelly) Boen I was, ‘Oh, man, this feels pretty good.’ I was getting ready to try the top, but I never would’ve went up there that quick if Eckert didn’t get under me. I guess it always takes a turn of events to make you do something.”
Fuller thrilled the track’s capacity crowd with his high-side march, driving by Henderson, Colo.’s Boen, Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., Babb, Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., Lanigan and Richards in succession. He completed the charge by sailing around the outside of Richards’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket No. 1 through turns three and four to assume command as lap 15 was scored.
What allowed Fuller to become peerless at the top of the track? He credited his success to his Hoosier tire choice, including a 1350-compound left-rear that he obtained from Clint Smith just minutes before the start of the A-Main.
“Clint had the only 1350 left-rear left in the place and he let me run it,” said Fuller, whose head wrench, Mike Countryman, received the Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race Award. “It was a lot softer than everybody else probably ran, and I had a 40 (UMP tire compound) on the right-rear that stuck real good. I could just roll right on the outside of everybody.”
The victory was a welcomed dose of relief for the 2007 WoO Rookie of the Year, who entered the Wild West Tour with just three top-five finishes to his credit this season on the series. “It helps the bank account and it helps everybody’s spirits,” said Fuller, who pocketed $10,150 for capturing the first-ever WoO event at Williston Basin Speedway. “Think about it — we have two days off before we go to Wyoming, so we can rest easy because we know the things we are doing now are right. Hopefully we can ride this momentum for the rest of the year. We’re out of the points race, so we can gamble like we did tonight and go for wins.”
The 20-year-old Richards, of course, is in the thick of the WoO points battle, sitting a solid second behind Lanigan. That’s why he was satisfied with a runner-up finish. “I thought that maybe I should’ve moved up (higher on the track) when I was leading, but I didn’t want to even chance it,” said Richards. “Fuller’s car was better than mine anyway, though, so I don’t think it would’ve made a difference if I moved up to the lane he was running. I was glad to see Fuller get a win. He’s been struggling a lot, so he needed one.”
Richards felt fortunate to escape Williston Basin without taking a huge hit in the points chase. His night began in horrible fashion — first with an off-track excursion over the track’s turn-one berm and into a retaining rail during hot laps, and later a multicar tangle on the opening lap of the first heat. The practice-session incident left Richards’s car with significant damage, including crushed sheet metal, a busted radiator and even a slightly bent rear clip. But with assistance from several other teams, his machine was repaired in time for time trials.
“The night turned out way better than it started,” said Richards, who ended the night trailing Lanigan by 48 points. “I have to thank all the guys who helped up fix the car — Lanigan and his guys, Vic Coffey, Clanton, Francis, Babb. They all pitched in.”
Smith, 42, was just as impressive as Fuller on the top side of the track, but his charge stalled at third place on lap 39. He had his J.P. Drilling/J&J Steel GRT car all over Richards for the final circuits but couldn’t pull off a pass. “If I could’ve just cleared Josh after I got Lanigan (for third), then Fuller was dead,” Smith said. “I knew what tires Fuller had on, so I think I might’ve been able to drive right on by him. But Josh got wide when I got to him, so I never got by him.”
Lanigan, 38, started and finished in the fourth spot, registering his 14th consecutive top-five finish in WoO competition. “I wasn’t good up there (on the outside) like Fuller with the rubber I had on,” said Lanigan, who survived an early-race scrape with Frank that bent the right-rear bodywork of his GottaRace.com Rocket.
The 34-year-old Babb, meanwhile, recovered from an accident that eliminated him on the opening lap of the previous night’s event at Estevan (Sask.) Motor Speedway to score a steady fifth-place finish. “I was on pins and needles when I tried to go up to the top,” said Babb, who drove NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer’s Rocket car. “I’m still just too loose all the time. I haven’t hit on anything for the slick tracks with this car yet.”
Notes: WoO title chase leader Darrell Lanigan has 3,025 points to lead Josh Richards (2,977), Rick Eckert (2,903), Chub Frank (2,903) and Steve Francis (2,893). ... Frank ran as high as second but ended up sixth. ... Al Purkey was back in Clint Smith's backup car in finishing ninth. ... Reigning series champion Steve Francis started 24th after seeing his night take a rough turn in the third heat. He was running second on the final lap when he spun in turn two after apparently catching a hole in the track and then receiving a tap from Frank. ...��� Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., entered the program riding a two-race WoO win streak, but he never threatened to score a hat trick. He retired on lap 16 after sliding through the infield in turn four while running 12th. ... Vic Coffey's 13.774-second fast time, his first ever with WoO, lowered the track record. ... The first heat began in wild fashion when front-row starters Coffey and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., came together on the homestretch, sending Blankenship sideways to trigger a multi-car wreck. Blankenship came to rest with his car’s nose smashed into the right side of the car driven by Rick Eckert of York, Pa. ... WoO's Wild West Tour takes a two-day break before concluding with shows on July 16 at Gillette (Wyo.) Speedway; July 18 at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D.; July 20 at the Belleville (Kan.) High Banks; and July 21 at Boone County Raceway in Albion, Neb.
World of Outlaws @ Williston Basin: (1) Tim Fuller, (2) Josh Richards, (3) Clint Smith, (4) Darrell Lanigan, (5) Shannon Babb, (6) Chub Frank, (7) Shane Clanton, (8) Vic Coffey, (9) Al Purkey, (10) Steve Francis, (11) Kelly Boen, (12) Rick Eckert, (13) Darryn Waldo, (14) Ricky Weiss, (15) John Blankenship, (16) Troy Huepel, (17) Gary Webb, (18) Dustin Hapka, (19) John Winge, (20) Sean Beardsley, (21) Joe Isabell, (22) Jeff Isabell Jr., (23) Brady Smith, (24) Brad Seng, (25) Jimmy Mars. Fast qualifier (among 26 cars): Coffey, 13.774 seconds. Heat race winners: Coffey, Lanigan, Fuller.
