Sharon Speedway
Lucky breaks lift Lanigan in WoO action at Sharon
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Darrell Lanigan (29) slides under Tim McCreadie (39). (Todd Battin)
HARTFORD, Ohio (July 29) — Darrell Lanigan felt like he stole one on Thursday night at Sharon Speedway.
“We got a little lucky tonight,” Lanigan said after making the 50-lap Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek event his second straight victory on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. “I was figuring we’d run third, but we got some lucky breaks there late in the race.” | Slideshow | Video
The first came on lap 43 when Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., slipped high in turns three and four while bidding for the lead, allowing Union, Ky.’s Lanigan to grab second.
Shortly thereafter, on lap 46, Lanigan vaulted into the top spot when race-long pacesetter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., got momentarily hung up in turn two attempting to lap Russ King of Bristolville, Ohio, who was sent into a 360-degree spin by contact from McCreadie but continued without bringing out a caution flag.
Lanigan, 40, assumed command as lap 47 was scored and stayed there to the finish, holding off McCreadie’s frantic comeback bid to become the seventh different winner in the annual WoO events held since 2004 at the 3/8-mile oval. The $10,600 triumph backed up his score in Tuesday night’s Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek opener at Central Pennsylvania Speedway in Clearfield, Pa., where he snapped his frustrating streak of four consecutive runner-up finishes on the national tour.
McCreadie, 36, settled for second place after starting from the pole position, crossing the finish line 0.240 of a second behind Lanigan. Richards finished third, followed by Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., and outside-polesitter Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio.
The quiet, low-key Lanigan was almost apologetic after capturing his 15th career series victory.
“We had a good car — good enough to run in the top three — but Timmy had the best car here,” said Lanigan, who started fourth. “We just were lucky and got the positions to win. Josh slipped up there and I got under him, and then Timmy got into the 56 car and handed me the lead.”
Lanigan also was fortunate that King’s twirl didn’t result in a caution flag.
“If there was a caution I would’ve had to pull in,” said Lanigan, whose third victory of 2010 marks a career high in series victories. “My right-rear (tire) would’ve been flat. It was leaking air. I could feel the car getting looser and looser, so I was just holding on at the end.”
Lanigan’s Hoosier right-rear deflated as he celebrated with his crew in victory lane, the final clear-cut signal that his luck has turned for the better. The 2008 WoO champion said afterward that he might know the reason for his change in fortune.
“I give the credit to little Gavin,” Lanigan said of his fiancee Erin’s young son. “Before I left the house he gave me a couple Silly Bandz to wear as good-luck charms and said, ‘Don’t take them off.’ I’ve had them on my wrist all week and evidently they’re working.”
McCreadie, meanwhile, was gracious in defeat. He accepted the blame for initiating the race-deciding contact with King.
“I just went in there like a rookie and made a bonehead move,” said McCreadie, who drove his Sweeteners Plus Rocket car to a lead of as much as a full straightaway during the event. “Russ wasn’t doing anything wrong. I apologize to him. I just got a little flustered and forced the issue because I thought those guys (Lanigan and Richards) were right up behind me. I didn’t know I had enough of a lead where I didn’t have to try and get by (King).
“I saw Lanigan come up on the (score)board when he passed Richards (for second) and thought, ‘Oh man, he must’ve found a different part of the racetrack,’ because it wasn’t like (the surface) had laid enough rubber to make just one groove. It was multiple grooves and you could move around, so I thought, ‘I gotta go or he’s gonna roll me on the outside because he’s got nothing to lose.’ ”
McCreadie remained second in the points standings, 24 points behind Richards, but Lanigan is now breathing down his neck, sitting just six points back in third after 30 events.
Richards, 22, also lost a position as a result of his aggressiveness. He ducked inside McCreadie a couple times while racing amid lapped traffic before going for it all on lap 43.
“I was just trying to go for the win,” Richards said of his slide-for-life through the high-side marbles in turns three and four. “I slipped up out of the rubber a little bit and I was like ... whoa! I thought we were gonna (hit the wall) and need a clip, but I was able to get back down in the groove and run third.
“I probably could’ve just stayed behind Timmy and run second, but I feel like we were definitely good enough to win — and I was hungry for a win — so I went for it.”
Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, who won the 2008 WoO event at Sharon, finished sixth after being passed by Miller midway through the race. Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., advanced from 10th to finish seventh and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., marched forward from 14th to secure eighth. Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., and eighth-starting Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., completed the top 10.
Three caution flags slowed the action, all during the first 10 laps. Rookie Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., brought out the first yellow on lap seven when he stopped in turn two with a broken driveshaft — the second driveshaft to strike his Beitler Motorsports mount, which was also knocked out of heat competition. Subsequent cautions were caused by a lap-eight tangle that left Bump Hedman of Sugar Grove, Pa., sitting between turns one and two and Corey Conley of Wellsburg, W.Va., who stopped in turn two on lap 10.
Notes: Lanigan’s Cornett-powered Rocket Chassis is sponsored by Gottarace.com and Xtreme Graphics. ... Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who outran Lanigan to win last year’s WoO 50-lapper at Sharon, managed only an 11th-place finish. He has gone 11 consecutive races without a top-10 finish since two victories during last month’s Great Northern Tour. ... Fourth-place Gregg Satterlee earned $500 for being the highest-finishing driver who has never won a WoO race and wasn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings. ... Craig Vosbergen lost a transfer spot to the main event when he failed to go to the scales after his consolation race. ... Among drivers failing to make the feature: Dave Hess Jr., John Lobb, Jill George and Dick Barton. ... Gary Knollinger won the night's Fastrak Northeast feature for Crate Late Models. ... Ohio-Pennsylvania Late Model Speedweek continues on Friday at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park.
World of Outlaws @ Sharon: (1) Darrell Lanigan, (2) Tim McCreadie, (3) Josh Richards, (4) Gregg Satterlee, (5) Matt Miller, (6) Donnie Moran, (7) Boom Briggs, (8) Steve Francis, (9) Mike Knight, (10) Chub Frank, (11) Tim Fuller, (12) Robbie Blair, (13) Rick Eckert, (14) Davey Johnson, (15) Shane Clanton, (16) Clint Smith, (17) Brent Robinson, (18) Jim Rasey, (19) Russ King, (20) Brent Rhebergen, (21) Dennis Lunger, (22) Bump Hedman, (23) Corey Conley, (24) Austin Hubbard. Fast qualifier (among 34 cars): Richards, 16.445 seconds. Heat race winners: Richards, Miller, Moran, McCreadie. Consolation winners: Eckert, Rhebergen. Provisional starters: Hubbard, Robinson.
