Gillette Thunder Speedway
Fuller wins close shave over Mars at Gillette
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Tim Fuller earned more than $10,000. (Kevin Kovac)
GILLETTE, Wyo. (July 16) — Tim Fuller continued his summer resurgence on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, this time at the expense of Jimmy Mars. Taking advantage of a late-race caution flag that gave him new life, Fuller grabbed the lead from Mars with one lap to go and held on to score a thrilling victory in the inaugural Cowboy 50 at Gillette Speedway.
�The $10,250 triumph was Fuller’s second straight on the WoO ‘Wild West Tour’ and kept Mars shut out of Victory Lane in Outlaws action. Fuller was victorious for the first time in 2008 on July 13 at Williston Basin Speedway in Williston, N.D. “We’re on a roll — that’s all there is to it,” said Fuller, who donned a cowboy hat and hoisted a unique trophy after capturing the first-ever WoO event held in Wyoming. “What it really comes down to is we made the right tire choices the last couple nights and we had some luck on our side.”
Fuller, 40, of Watertown, N.Y., led the race’s first 39 laps after starting from the outside pole in his Gypsum Express Rocket car, but he could only watch when Mars rode the inside hub to assume command on lap 40. Mars, a 36-year-old driver from Menomonie, Wis., relinquished the top spot back to Fuller momentarily on lap 41, but he was back in front the following circuit and immediately drove away toward what appeared would be his first career WoO win.
But when Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., pulled up lame with a flat right-rear tire on lap 46 and brought out a caution flag, Fuller was back in the game. His Hoosier tires came back to life during the caution period and he drove to the outside of Mars on the restart. After two circuits of side-by-side racing, Fuller inched ahead of Mars to lead lap 49 and marched on to beat Mars by a mere 0.257 of a second.
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., picked up two positions on the final restart to finish third. WoO points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., ran his consecutive top-five streak to 15 races by advancing from the 13th starting spot to a fourth-place finish, and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., completed the top five after running as high as second.
“If it would’ve went green (to the finish), Mars had me covered bad,” Fuller said. “He was gonna win by a half-straightaway, but luckily that caution came out. I was smiling because I knew I was gonna get one more chance. That caution let me get down there on the bottom and cool the tires down. I had on a 1425 (compound), and it doesn’t want any heat. My tires would give out after about 10 or 12 laps, kind of right when I had to start racing with lapped traffic and throwing the car around. Once my tires cooled off, I said, ‘This is my only shot.’
“During the caution I packed that middle (lane) where everybody was throwing stuff out, so I knew I’d have a few laps to run up there. I came to find out that (Mars) had a 1350 (compound) and had to be right on that bottom, but I could roll that middle.”
Mars, who started third in his Deppe Enterprises Mars Car, knew he was in trouble when the caution flag interrupted his cruise to the checkered flag. “My carburetor was stumbling when I ran the bottom, but it was OK once I had more patience,” Mars said. “It would cough all the way through the corners if you tried to drive it hard, so I started driving it in deeper and letting it coast through the corners. I was fine until the caution came out. He was fast out there after the restart, so I had to go faster and that hurt me.”
Mars matched his career-best finish on the WoO, but earning $5,600 — including the tour’s $500 bonus as the highest finishing non-regular on the series — didn’t soothe his disappointment.
“I just can’t win one of these Outlaw races,” mourned Mars, whose previous runner-up finish came on April 17, 2007, at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. “I feel like the Minnesota Vikings — do good until you get to the Super Bowl, and then lose it.” While Mars pondered his fate, Fuller celebrated his third career WoO triumph. He won once in 2007 en route to the Rookie of the Year Award.
“This is a big one because we backed up our win,” said Fuller, who swept the evening’s program by also setting fast time and winning a heat race. “Last year we won and backed it up with a 16th (place finish) in the next race, so winning two in-a-row proves we’re not a one-hit wonder. It’s just too bad we haven’t put these kind of showings on up north where the local people are. Hopefully that will come.”
The 46-year-old Frank had an up-and-down race in his Lester Buildings Rocket car. He climbed as high as second, on a lap-24 restart, after starting eighth, then fell back to fifth before rallying after the final caution flag to snare third. “Cautions were definitely my friend tonight,” Frank said. “My right-front tire would give up a little after a few laps and I’d pick up a push, but I was better after my tire cooled down under caution.”
Lanigan, 38, posted another steady, championship-worthy performance, coming back from an unspectacular qualifying effort to finish fourth in his GottaRace.com Rocket. He survived a near-spin in turn two on the 11th lap to reach the top five — and with Richards finishing 13th, Lanigan’s points lead swelled to 66 points after 23 events.
Babb, 34, appeared primed to bid for the win after hustling his Bowyer Dirt Motorsports Rocket from the ninth starting spot to second by lap 25, but he slid back to fifth. “It’s the story of our season,” said Babb. “We just haven’t been good enough.”
Notes: The race was presented by the YES Foundation. ... Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan., was ninth in Clint Smith's backup car. ... Rick Eckert finished seventh in his Rayburn Race Car after his engine expired in his GRT Race Car while he was running fourth in his heat race. ... The track drew its largest crowd in its 5-year-old history. ... Fuller was the only driver to crack the 13-second mark in qualifying. ... The feature lasted less than 23 minutes. ... WoO drivers get a travel day before the Wild West Tour resumes on Friday at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D. The swing concludes with July 20-21 events at the Belleville (Kan.) High Banks and Boone County Speedway in Albion, Neb.
World of Outlaws @ Gillette: (1) Tim Fuller, (2) Jimmy Mars, (3) Chub Frank, (4) Darrell Lanigan, (5) Shannon Babb, (6) Clint Smith, (7) Shane Clanton, (8) Rick Eckert, (9) Al Purkey, (10) Vic Coffey, (11) Steve Francis, (12) Kelly Boen, (13) Josh Richards, (14) John Blankenship, (15) Eddie Kirchoff, (16) Joe Isabell, (17) Ricky Weiss, (18) Mike Stadel, (19) Eric Mass, (20) Sean Beardsley, (21) Dustin Hapka, (22) Jeff Isabell Jr., (23) John Bey, (24) Darryn Waldo. Fast qualifier (among 36 cars): Fuller, 13.989 seconds. Heat race winners: Fuller, Clanton, Blankenship, C. Smith. Consolation winners: Boen, Bay. Provisional starters: Hapka, Jeff Isabell Jr.
