National notebook
Notes: Miniseries gears up for Saturday's launch
Rick Eckert (24) leads a heat race in a 2010 Speedweek event at Port Royal Speedway. (pbase.com/cyberslash)
The week-long Appalachian Mountain Speedway presented by CenturyLink is ready to kick off its third season Saturday night with a $5,000-to-win event at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. The seven-race miniseries welcomes back most of the tracks it visited in 2010 with Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa., the only track new to the schedule for 2011. | Appalachian Mountain Speedweek schedule
A long list of notable area drivers have indicated intentions of following the series including: Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., D.J. Myers of Greencastle, Pa., Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsburg, Pa., Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., J.T. Spence of Winchester, Va., Nick Dickson of Lewiston, Pa., and Colbey Frye of Dover, Pa.
At least three national-touring drivers are expected to add some spice to the mix as World of Outlaws Late Model Series regulars Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., and defending Speedweek champion and current Outlaws points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa., have all also indicated intentions to run the full series.
Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., is also expected to follow the tour, while Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., 2009 Speedweek champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and a host of others drivers are expected to enter a portion of the week’s events. — From series reports
Clint Smith sweeps Dixie, Rome
World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular Clint Smith stuck close to his home in Senoia, Ga., over Memorial Day weekend and scored back-to-back triumphs Saturday night at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Ga., and Sunday night at Rome (Ga.) Speedway. He earned $2,000 for each of his 30-lap wins — the 42nd anniversary Super Late Model Championship event at Dixie and the season opener at Rome.
Adding even more luster to his weekend, Smith, 46, won both races after watching his 18-year-old daughter, Jenna, graduate with honors from East Coweta High School. He attended the commencement ceremonies Saturday morning before heading to Dixie.
“Jenna wasn’t at the race on Saturday night, but she came to Rome on Sunday so I gave her the win trophy,” said Smith, who won the lidlifter at Rome for the third consecutive year. “I dedicated the win to her.”
The postponement of the World of Outlaws RaceFest Saturday and Sunday at West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells, W.Va., was a godsend to Smith, who might have been absent from the Saturday-night show at WVMS if delays in the shortening and reconfiguration of the track hadn’t forced the event to be rescheduled. He pledged that he would not miss Jenna’s graduation, so he would have had to arrange a flight in order to make it to West Virginia in time to race.
Smith, whose daughter plans to study speech therapy at West Georgia University in the fall, continued a resurgent month with his pair of wins. He snapped a frustrating 122-race winless streak on the Outlaws tour with a victory May 8 at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga.
“We got the program going pretty good,” Smith said of his self-owned team. “I’m down to just (mechanic) Brad (Baum) helping me – me and (crewman) Darrell (Cooper) parted ways (after Needmore) – so I have just one Stray Cat now, but we’re doing O.K.”
Smith also registered a fourth-place finish in Monday’s Memorial Day Championship event at Tri-County Speedway in Brasstown, N.C. — Kevin Kovac
Tripleheader on tap for Lucas drivers
After closing out May with the 19th annual Dart Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series isn’t slowing down any heading into June, with a trio of $10,000-to-win events scheduled for the coming weekend.
The series kicks off the weekend with a visit to Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway Thursday night for the Race for Juvenile Diabetes. The event will mark the tour’s third event at the Monty Morrow-promoted facility. In 2010 a large crowd waited through a rain-delay to see last weekend’s Show-Me 100 winner, Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., claim the victory.
The tour will remain in the Volunteer State Friday night with a move to Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway for the Toyota of Knoxville 75. The Gary Hall-promoted racetrack hosts the Lucas Oil Series for the sixth time. Series regular Brad Neat of Dunnville, Ky., took home his first Tazewell victory in the event a year ago.
The three-race weekend comes to a close Saturday night with the running of the 25th annual Ralph Latham Memorial at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky. Last year's event came down to the final lap as four-time series champion Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., held off two-time defending series champ Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., for the victory.
Bloomquist leads the current standings after falling just short of winning his sixth Show-Me 100 with a runner-up finish at Wheatland. He holds a 120-point lead over Owens. Don O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., is currently third in the standings followed by; Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn. — From series reports
Frank boosted by string of runner-up finishes
Chub Frank is getting tired of playing the bridesmaid’s role. But after finishing second in a 30-lap Dirt Late Model special Sunday night at Little Valley (N.Y.) Speedway — his fourth runner-up finish in his last five starts — the 49-year-old World of Outlaws regular from Bear Lake, Pa., knows victory is close at hand.
“All these seconds are frustrating, but at least we’re right there in the mix for wins,” said Frank, whose previous runner-up finishes came in World of Outlaws events May 7 at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway a d May 8 at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga., and a weekly show on May 20 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. “It’s definitely better than running 10th.”
Following a rain-out of his scheduled visit to Lernerville Friday night, Frank made Sunday’s program at Little Valley his lone holiday weekend appearance. It was his first-ever visit to the half-mile oval just across the Pennsylvania border.
Driving his older Corry Rubber/Hino Toyota Rocket No. 1*, Frank grabbed the lead at the start of the headliner, but was overtaken for the top spot by fellow World of Outlaws traveler Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., on lap 11. Frank settled for second behind Davies, who mastered the track’s thick cushion.
“He was running way up there above the cushion,” Frank said of Davies. “I was too tight to do that. I just about flipped over when I tried running in that cushion.
“We ran the car I haven’t liked lately, so we tried some different stuff to try and get it figured out. It was better, so hopefully we’re on the right track.”
With the Outlaws remaining idle until a June 18 visit to Winchester (Va.) Speedway, Frank plans to enter his one-race-old Rocket car in Friday night’s competition at Lernerville Speedway as he continues to refine the machine in advance of the $30,000-to-win Firecracker 100, which will be contested at the track from June 23-25. Also firm on Frank’s upcoming schedule is the $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream on June 10-11 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. — From team reports
