Bristol Motor Speedway
Notes: Babb may visit ex-sponsor on trip to 34
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Shannon Babb is ready for a tripleheader weekend. (thesportswire.net)
Most observers would say that 34 Raceway is Shannon Babb's kind of track. Babb doesn't dispute that he felt right at home the last time he visited the 3/8-mile oval in West Burlington, Iowa. He just hopes that he'll be equally as comfortable on the Hawkeye State clay when he returns May 23 for the track's World of Outlaws Late Model Series Tri-State Late Model Challenge event.
“Right now, I don't even know what a Shannon Babb track is anymore,” Babb said with a smile when asked if 34 Raceway fits his style. “I supposedly know (Illinois's Lincoln Speedway) pretty well, but I made the wrong adjustments for the (May 17) feature and got myself all jacked up. You just can't take anything for granted in this sport.”
Babb, 35, of Moweaqua, Ill., simply blazed around a moist, multi-grooved 34 Raceway in his last appearance there on July 12, 2006, scoring a powerful flag-to-flag victory in a 40-lap UMP DIRTcar Summernationals event. He registered that triumph, which virtually assured him of a second consecutive Summernationals championship, driving a car owned by Iowa's Billy Moyer Sr.
Now campaigning Dirt Late Model equipment out of his own shop with key support from Sheltra Motorsports and Petroff Towing, Babb is looking forward to his first start at 34 Raceway in nearly three years. He has high praise for the top-notch speedplant carved out of Iowa cornfields.
“The times I've been there it's been real racy,” said Babb, who has one career win at 34 Raceway. “I've always enjoyed running there. It's a beautiful facility — all lit up, big grandstands, big, fast racetrack. It's just a real cool place.”
Saturday's 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event holds some special meaning for Babb beyond the fact that he was victorious in his last trip there. The show brings him to the hometown of ailing former 34 Raceway owner Johnny Johnson, a longtime dirt Late Model competitor who has supported many drivers — including Babb — through his J&J Steel.
Johnson rebuilt 34 Raceway during his decade-long stint at the track's helm, turning the now 43-year-old facility into a showplace that features, among other amenities, a sparkling 4,000-capacity aluminum grandstand with chair-back seats; 22 VIP suites above the bleachers and a separate Suite 34 for larger parties outside turn four; bright Musco lights; new concession stands and restrooms; a spongy track surface; and finely manicured grounds. He sold the track in December 2006 to Jeff and Amy Laue, who have joined with SLS Promotions to bring the WoO to town.
“He's a great guy,” Babb said of Johnson, who is battling health problems. “He's helped a lot of racers out over the years and everyone appreciates what he's done. He sponsored me in the past, and last year he even let us use his hauler at the beginning of the year while we were getting our new one ready.
“Times are tough for him with his health right now, so I don't think he'll be at the race. But I think his family will be — and if everything works out, we might be able to get by his place and see him while we're there.”
The remainder of the Tri-State Late Model Challenge includes events on May 22 at U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo., and May 24 at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wis. Any driver who wins two of three features will pocket a $10,000 bonus.
Eckert gets some inside info
U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo., is uncharted territory for all the followers of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. So what would be a good way for a World of Outlaws star to gather some inside information on the high-banked track in advance of the national full-fender tour's first-ever visit for a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event on May 22? Dialing up the cell phone of a famed Missouri racer from the other side of the Outlaws aisle would seem to be a smart move.
That's the thought process of WoO veteran Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who called Show-Me State Sprint Car standout Danny Lasoski on Monday for a driver-to-driver conversation about U.S. 36 Raceway. A former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, Lasoski lives about an hour-and-a-half from the track and has raced there in WoO and other Sprint Car competition.
“All these guys are good and can figure out a track we've never been to pretty quick,” said Eckert, who won his first WoO feature in nearly 11 months on Sunday at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway. “You're never gonna get some big advantage on them, but it can't hurt to talk to a guy like Lasoski who's raced (at U.S. 36) before.”
Eckert, 43, picked Lasoski's brain for generalities about U.S. 36 Raceway more than specific setup ideas.
“The main thing would be to know what tires to run, but it's hard to transfer what the sprint cars do to our Late Model deal because they normally run softer (compounds) than us,” said Eckert. “But from talking to (Lasoski) you can learn some things, like what gear to run, what the racetrack does during the night and if it's usually rough or smooth.
“He told me that it's normally wet and wide-open all night long, and it's banked pretty good so it's real fast. He said the sprint cars really fly around the place.”
Indeed, the track boasts some of the lowest lap times for WoO sprints, which ran at U.S. 36 Raceway in 2006 and 2007. Listed at 3/8-mile with banking of 21 degrees in the turns and 10 degrees on the straightaways, the sprint track record was set in '06 by Paul McMahan at a blistering 9.846 seconds.
There's plenty of anticipation concerning the lap times that will be turned by the Dirt Late Models, a rare attraction at the track that sits less than an hour from Kansas City, Mo. The track's last touring-series event for the division was an O'Reilly Midwest LateModel Racing Association show in 2006.
A longtime friend of Lasoski's, Eckert plans to spend Wednesday with Lasoski at his Higginsville, Mo., home. Lasoski doesn't have a WoO sprint car event until Friday in Concord, N.C., so he invited Eckert, who stayed on the road following Sunday's race in Illinois, to visit and play some golf at a nearby course.
Schrader joins Tri-State Challenge
Ken Schrader will become an Outlaw over Memorial Day Weekend. The NASCAR veteran is ready to hit the road for a busy holiday swing through the Midwest, hooking up with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to compete in the Tri-State Late Model Challenge that visits tracks in Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin.
“I'm definitely excited about it,” Schrader said. “I haven't run the Late Model that much this year, so I'm looking forward to getting out there and racing it three nights in a row.”
Of course, Schrader, who turns 54 on May 29, realizes he'll have to quickly get his Federated Auto Parts-Red Baron Frozen Pizza No. 9 in the fast groove if he expects to enjoy any success during the weekend.
“Running three nights at three different places with these guys is definitely going to be a challenge,” said Schrader, who maintains an ambitious schedule of Dirt Late Model and Modified racing while still appearing in select NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Truck Series and ARCA events. “I'll be racing against the best guys in the country for sure, and that means we better be on top of our game or we'll get left behind.
“I'm gonna have fun no matter what happens. I've always liked running three nights at different tracks because every time you pull through the pit gate it's a fresh start.”
A native of Fenton, Mo., who now makes his home in Concord, N.C., Schrader has never competed at U.S. 36 Raceway and 34 Raceway, which will both host 50-lap events paying $10,000 to win. But he's very familiar with Charter Raceway Park, a third-mile oval that will close the weekend with a 40-lap, $7,000-to-win event.
Schrader experienced one of the most memorable nights of his open-wheel racing career at Charter Raceway Park (then called Beaver Dam Raceway) on July 31, 1982, sweeping a USAC sprint car and midget program. He also won an IMCA modified feature there on Aug. 8, 2001, and his two UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Late Model starts at Charter resulted in finishes of third (1998) and sixth (2001).
