Berlin Raceway
Lanigan scores $15,000 repeat victory at Berlin
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Darrell Lanigan celebrates his $15,000 victory. (Steve Datema)
MARNE, Mich. (Sept. 21) — This time Darrell Lanigan didn’t need to pull off any late-race dramatics to win the Keyser Manufacturing Down & Dirty 75 Presented by NAPA Auto Parts at Berlin Raceway.
Lanigan, 43, of Union, Ky., emerged victorious in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series special for the second consecutive year in convincing fashion, grabbing the lead from Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., on lap 33 and dominating the remainder of the distance behind the wheel of his self-owned Rocket car. | Slideshow | Video
Continuing his mastery of a 7/16th-mile asphalt oval that for the second straight year was covered with clay for a late-season return to its dirt-track roots, Lanigan turned back brief threats from Clanton on restarts and while negotiating lapped traffic to cross the finish line 4.629 seconds – over a full straightaway – ahead of his fellow WoO regular. The two-time tour champion earned $15,650 for his series-leading 11th triumph of 2013.
“We all put our heads together on this setup and it was unbelievable,” said Lanigan, who recorded his 52nd career win on the WoO tour. “It’s a completely different setup from what we had last year (at Berlin), but it was definitely good.”
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who started from the pole position and led laps 1-25, finished third at Berlin for the second consecutive year. WoO points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., continued his march to a third career championship with a steady fourth-place finish from the seventh starting spot and 16th-starter Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., primarily used the outside groove to charge forward and place fifth.
Lanigan actually got off to a slow start in the race, slipping from his fourth starting spot to sixth place on the opening lap. Richards was among the drivers who surged ahead of Lanigan at the initial green flag.
But Lanigan quickly regained his footing, driving by Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., for fifth on lap seven, Richards for fourth on lap nine and Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., for third on lap 11. He needed just eight more circuits to erase his straightaway deficit to second-place Clanton and grabbed the runner-up position on lap 21.
A restart on lap 22 saw Clanton run the outside past Lanigan to regain second place and on the 26th lap the Georgian steered his Kennedy Motorsports Capital Race Car around Eckert to assume command. But Lanigan soon flexed his muscle, passing Eckert for second on lap 29 and overtaking Clanton with an inside move on lap 33 to take the lead for good.
“I got stuck on the outside there at the beginning and just had to bide my time to get back down there to the bottom,” said Lanigan. “Once I got to the bottom my car was on a rail down there.”
Aside from a brief outside challenge from Clanton after a lap-37 restart, Lanigan’s only real scare came with just over 10 laps remaining when he had some trouble lapping Rich Neiser of Fruitport, Mich. Lanigan’s two-second-plus lead over Clanton almost completely disappeared before he cleared Neiser on lap 65 and proceeded to pull away with ease.
“They showed me (Clanton) was closing in a little bit, so I knew I had to do something there,” Lanigan said of the signals he received from his crew while riding behind Neiser. “He was making it awful wide down the straightaways and tight on the bottom, so I just knew I had to do something quick. I got by him and got clean air, and (then) the car was good the rest of the way.”
One year after winning the inaugural ‘Down & Dirty’ event at Berlin with a late-race rally that carried him into the lead with just five laps to go, Lanigan happily spent the final circuits cruising alone around a speedway that he praised for its competitiveness.
“The track raced great,” said Lanigan. “They did a phenomenal job with this dirt on here. It was a little choppy coming off of two, but other than that the track was unbelievable again.”
Clanton, 38, spent time in the lead (laps 26-32) for the second consecutive year at Berlin but once again fell short of victory. He improved to second place after finishing fourth in 2012.
“That top (groove) kind of died there,” said Clanton, who entered the event tied for second with Lanigan in the WoO points standings and ended it sitting four points behind the victor in third place. “We got so far out in (turns) three and four that it took all my momentum. Darrell was better through those holes in one and two too, so we run second again.”
Clanton registered his fifth runner-up finish of 2013 on the WoO series. He has won four series events but last reached Victory Lane on June 1 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y.
Eckert, 47, was a serious contender for the second straight year at Berlin but ultimately was just a slight bit off the pace of Lanigan and Clanton.
“We definitely made some gains on our car from last year, but I was still a little bit free (handling),” said Eckert, who never ran worse than third in the 75-lapper. “Maybe they’ll have us back next year and we’ll figure this out.”
Matt Miller of Whitehouse, Ohio, finished sixth – the same spot from which he started – in his first WoO start of 2013 in the Delong Racing No. 3, but he ran at the back end of the top 10 until gaining steam late in the distance. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who started 15th, settled for seventh after being overtaken by Miller in the final laps. WoO rookie Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, slipped to eighth in the rundown after running as high as fifth; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., placed ninth in his return to action after missing the previous weekend’s WoO doubleheader due to his recovery from knee surgery; and McCool faded to a 10th-place finish.
Three caution flags for stopped cars slowed the event: Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., on lap 22; David Hilliker of Midland, Mich., on lap 37; and Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., on lap 45.
Thirty-three cars were entered in the event, which was condensed to one evening of action after Friday night’s scheduled qualifying program was canceled because track officials determined that the track surface was too wet to allow safe and competitive racing. With the weekend cut back to just a single day, the WoO feature was reduced to 75 laps from its scheduled 100-lap distance and the purse was readjusted, most notably from $20,000 to $15,000 for first place.
Ohlins Shocks Time Trials were split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups, with the first half competing for starting positions in heats one and two and the second half racing against the clock to align heats three and four.
Lanigan topped Ohlins Shocks Time Trials with a lap of 16.615 seconds during Group B. It was his fifth WoO fast-time honor of 2013.
Heat winners were Miller, Clanton, Lanigan and Eckert. The B-Mains were captured by Hilliker and Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich.
The World of Outlaws Series is off until visiting Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, N.Y., on Thurs., Oct. 10, for a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event during NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week.
Keyser Manufacturing Down & Dirty 75: (1) Darrell Lanigan, (2) Shane Clanton, (3) Rick Eckert, (4) Josh Richards, (5) Tim Fuller, (6) Matt Miller, (7) Chub Frank, (8) Morgan Bagley, (9) Clint Smith, (10) Bub McCool, (11) Rich Neiser, (12) Eric Wells, (13) Brian Ruhlman, (14) Andrew Reaume, (15) Eric Spangler, (16) Ryan VanderVeen, (17) Jeep Van Wormer, (18) Curt Spalding, (19) Jason Feger, (20) David Hilliker, (21) Tim McCreadie, (22) Sammy Epling, (23) Dave Hartman, (24) Tom Sprague Jr. Fast qualifier (among 33 cars): Lanigan, 16.615 seconds. Heat race winners: Miller, Clanton, Lanigan, Eckert. Consolation winners: Hilliker Rulman. Provisional starters: Sprague, Epling.
