The Dirt Track at Charlotte
Frank's facial injuries won't require surgery
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model SeriesAfter sitting out last weekend's World of Outlaws World Finals due to a painful facial injury, Chub Frank was certainly in need of some good news. The veteran World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular got a dose of it — relatively speaking — last week.
Frank, 47, of Bear Lake, Pa., visited a specialist near his home and was informed that he would not need surgery for his injuries, which included fractures in his right cheek and orbital bone. He suffered the injuries during the first heat of the WoO Hungry Man Showdown on Nov. 4 at the Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway when an apparent clod of thick, hard-packed clay entered his car's cockpit and smashed into his helmet.
“It's definitely a relief to know I don't need surgery,” Frank said by phone from his race shop on Friday afternoon. “We have a lot of work to do to get ready for next year and I wasn't looking forward to taking time out for surgery.”
According to Frank, the specialist he consulted upon returning from North Carolina looked at his X-rays and determined that “all the bones are lined up and will heal on their own.” He had been told that an operation might be necessary after an initial examination by doctors at a Charlotte-area hospital, where he was transported following the incident.
Frank, who was back at Lowe’s by midnight the evening of his incident, said the significant swelling he sported on the right side of his face for several days was virtually gone just over one week later. Some bruising and a bloodshot right eye remained as well as slight soreness, but he hasn't been deterred from diving into his off-season preparation.
“It was just a freak deal I guess,” said Frank, who didn't race for the rest of the weekend but was seen socializing in the pit area after each night's action and also attended the 2009 WoO LMS Awards Banquet on Nov. 8 in Concord, N.C. (wearing sunglasses to cover his bruised-and-bloodied eye). “There ain't nothing you can do about it now, so we'll just start thinking about next year. I'm just glad it's over with and I can look forward to getting my stuff ready for what I hope is going to be a better year.”
Frank finished a disappointing seventh in the 2009 WoO standings, earning a $24,000 points-fund check. He maintained that spot in the final rankings despite having to sit out both halves of the World Finals doubleheader; as a contracted WoO driver unable to compete due to injury, he received 75 hardship points for each program.
The injury did bring an inauspicious end to Frank's near-perfect record career starting record on the series. When he failed to take the green flag in the Hungry Man Showdown, it marked the first time he did not participate in a tour feature since March 14, 2004, at Atomic Speedway in Oak Ridge, Tenn., snapping his consecutive-start streak at 227 races.
The only drivers with career WoO starting records entering the World Finals that exceeded or matched Frank's were Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. — the lone racers who have started every series feature since 2004 (a total of 237 races with the completion of the 2009 season) — and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who has missed just one feature (on Feb. 19, 2006).
In an ironic sideline to Frank's injury, Smith and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. — two of Frank's closest friends on the tour — also absorbed blows to the helmet from apparent flying clods of clay during qualifying events for the Hungry Man Showdown at Lowe’s. But they were more fortunate than Frank — Fuller was left with a cut above his nose and a welt on his cheek after taking a hit during the sixth heat, while Smith was momentarily stunned from a hard impact during a consolation race but escaped with little visible facial damage and a sore shoulder.
Neither Smith nor Fuller required a hospital visit, and both used provisional spots to start the postponed Hungry Man Showdown when it was run the next day and competed in the World Finals.
