Atomic Speedway
Wow is right: Hot Rod tops WoO foes at K-C
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Conley earned $10,650. (Mark Miefert)
ALMA, Ohio (Aug. 23) — Rod Conley gave a simple answer when asked how he felt after scoring his first career World of Outlaws Late Model Series triumph at K-C Raceway. While standing in victory lane following the 50-lapper, the 46-year-old racer from Wheelersburg, Ohio, started with a single word for his cheering hometown crowd: "Wow!" | Babb left to wonder 'what if?'
Conley was flawless en route to becoming the 19th different winner on the 2008 WoO. He inherited the lead when Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., spun on lap 16 and then kept defending tour champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union,Ky., at bay for the remainder of the distance. Francis settled for second place, 0.644 of a second behind Conley. Lanigan was close behind in third at the finish, followed by Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Rick Eckert of York, Pa.
“That was very exciting,” said the emotional Conley, who was joined in the feature by his father Delmas, 66, and brother R.J., 44. “This is the biggest win I’ve ever gotten. I’ve won the Hillbilly (100) at Pennsboro (W.Va.), but this is a World of Outlaws race. This is the best of the best.”
Conley, who drove a family-owned Rocket car powered by a Draime engine, understood the magnitude of what he accomplished. “It’s really hard to beat any of these guys,” said Conley, who earned $10,650, including a $500 bonus as the highest-finishing non-regular on the series. “Everything’s gotta go your way to win one these shows — like qualifying good (fifth-fastest), which we usually don’t do, and drawing the No. 2 to start up front (on the outside pole) in the feature. You need some good luck too, and we got it when Shannon got together with that lapped car.”
Babb, 34, led the race’s first 16 laps from the pole position, but his bid for a third WoO win in 2008 unraveled after he got into the rear end of the slower car driven by Chris Combs of Isom, Ky., at the flagstand on the 16th circuit. Damage to the nosepiece of Babb’s Bowyer Dirt Motorsports Rocket caused him to spin out of the top spot between turns three and four later that same lap.
“Shannon went above those lapped cars up by the flagstand and they got him in the left front,” Conley recounted. “When he went in the turn I saw him turn the wheel and the plastic (bodywork) done caught, so I knew he was in trouble. When he went into turn three he started getting sideways, so I let off and turned right. I just knew he was gonna wreck.”
Conley’s march to victory was slowed by just one more caution flag, on lap 17 when Doug Dodd of Cambridge, Ohio, slid over the berm in turn one after restarting in fourth place. He never let Francis draw closer than a couple of lengths during the long green-flag stretch that closed the race.
Francis, who started third, couldn’t mount a serious challenge. The 40-year-old driver struggled just to reach the finish after losing the power steering in his Dale Beitler-owned Reliable Painting/Valvoline Rocket car on lap two.
“Rod deserves this as much as anybody,” added Francis, who frequently battling Conley in years past on the STARS circuit. “I don’t think he’s got anybody here with him except his wife and his little boy. That’s the way he’s been racing. If I couldn’t win, I’m just as happy to see Rod win as anybody.”
Lanigan, 38, spent the final 32 laps virtually glued to Francis’s rear bumper, but he couldn’t find a way by his closest pursuer in the points standings. “Our car was pretty good, but it was tough to pass,” said Lanigan, who started seventh in his GottaRace.com Rocket car. “If we could’ve gotten into the lead, I think we would have been fine.”
The 20-year-old Richards, meanwhile, was done in by the race’s only caution flags, which came back-to-back on laps 16 and 17. He moved forward from the eighth starting spot to sit third after Babb’s spin, but he lost the position to Lanigan on the lap-17 restart and ran fourth for the remainder of the event.
“Me and Babb were both on 40 (Hoosier compound) right-side sides and we were both real good early,” said Richards, who drove his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket. “But that caution just killed us. I was rolling the tires during the caution and I could feel them starting to grease up, so I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ I guess the tires just sealed up or something. My car got so loose that it was hard to drive. I was pretty much holding on.”
Finishing in positions 6-10 were Josh McGuire of Grayson, Ky.; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who slipped backward from the fifth starting spot; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who started 18th after a broken driveshaft on his first time-trial lap forced him to play catch-up all night; Ben Adkins of West Portsmouth, Ohio, who clinched the 2008 K-C Raceway dirt Late Model championship by starting the feature; and fast qualifier Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.
World of Outlaws @ K-C: (1) Rod Conley, (2) Steve Francis, (3) Darrell Lanigan, (4) Josh Richards, (5) Rick Eckert, (6) Josh McGuire, (7) Tim Fuller, (8) Shane Clanton, (9) Ben Adkins, (10) Clint Smith, (11) Keith Berner, (12) Matt Miller, (13) Chub Frank, (14) John Blankenship, (15) Doug Drown, (16) Matt Lux, (17) Robbie Blair, (18) Donnie Moran, (19) Chris Combs, (20) Delmas Conley, (21) Shannon Babb, (22) Vic Coffey, (23) R.J. Conley, (24) Doug Dodd. Fast qualifier (among 35 cars): C. Smith, 14.313 seconds. Heat race winners: R. Conley, Richards, Lanigan, Fuller. Consolation winners: C. Smith, Clanton. Provisional starters: Blankenship, Coffey
