Lernerville Speedway
Lernerville's Firecracker is a favorite of Clanton
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Shane Clanton
The 2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series has been a struggle for Shane Clanton, but he senses a change in fortune just around the corner.
Clanton, after all, is headed back to Lernerville Speedway on June 23-25 for the fifth annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com. It’s a track that happens to provide the standout driver from Fayetteville, Ga., a natural pick-me-up.
“I love the place,” Clanton said of the 4/10-mile oval. “It’s been a good racetrack to me. It seems like every time I’m running bad, I just go there, run good and boost my momentum.”
Clanton, 35, won last year's Firecracker 100, a three-day WoO spectacular that this year features 30-lap, $6,000-to-win semifeatures on June 23 and June 24 and the long-distance, $30,000-to-win finale on June 25. He will bid to become the first repeat winner of the blossoming event, and, in turn, snap out of an uncharacteristic early-season funk on the national tour.
Through 10 WoO LMS events in ’11, Clanton is not only winless but has yet to record even a single top-five finish. He’s mired in eighth in the points standings, a distant 132 points behind leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa.
Despite his slow start, Clanton remains remarkably upbeat about his situation. He attributes his struggles to the growing pains associated with figuring out his new equipment, a Capital Race Car chassis that he designed in partnership with former Dirt Track World Championship winner Marshall Green.
“It’s not disappointing,” Clanton said of his quiet results so far this season. “I knew the challenge that we took on. We knew there would be a lot more downs than ups with this new deal. We’re basically on our own and learning about this Capital car on the fly. We don’t have a bunch of cars out there to go off of, so we don’t have a sure enough baseline (setup) to go back to yet.
“I think we’re steadily gaining on our car, though, and hopefully by the Firecracker we’ll be where we want to be. I know I feel good about going (to Lernerville) with a Capital car. I can’t wait to get there.”
Clanton’s RSD Enterprises team will enter a virtually brand-new Capital machine in the Firecracker 100. A replacement for the Capital car that he began the season with but recently sold, Clanton debuted the fresh mount on June 4 in a weekly event at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Ga., and steered it to a second-place finish.
“We have another new car on the jig right now and should have it finished in a couple weeks to use as a backup,” said Clanton, who should also begin receiving more technical feedback with Capital cars now being run by Southeastern standout Casey Roberts and a local Georgia racer. “Until then we’ll have a Rocket (Chassis) with us in the trailer for a backup.”
Clanton won last year’s Firecracker 100 behind the wheel of his Rocket. He started fifth and spent much of the distance running behind leader Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., before grabbing the top spot for good on a lap-72 restart.
The $30,000-plus triumph wasn’t the biggest of Clanton’s career — that honor belongs to his 2008 World 100 win at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway ‚ but it definitely was one of his most emotional successes.
It exorcised his personal demons at Lernerville. While he adores the track and runs extremely well there, it’s also where he suffered a separated shoulder in 2005 and lost the Firecracker in ’07 (Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., made a fortuitous switch to the outside line just as Clanton appeared set to sweep into the lead) and ‘08 (an early tangle with Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., effectively ended his hopes). Last year's victory highlighted his comeback from a January 2010 health scare in which his life was threatened by the aggressive, flesh-eating strep bacteria that infected his left thumb and poisoned his blood.
“It felt great to finally get a win at the legendary Lernerville Speedway,” said Clanton, who owns 14 career WoO victories. “I’ve always run good there, but I never had the finishes to show for it — until last year.”
Now Clanton is eyeing a Firecracker 100 repeat at a speedway he wishes could host every WoO event.
“It’s one of the best tracks in the country,” raved Clanton. “I think that’s because you can start just about anywhere in the field and win if you’ve got a good enough car. It’s not necessarily wide-open all the time. It might be for hot laps and qualifying, but then in the heats and for the rest of the night you can maneuver around and race to the front from the middle of the pack. It’s everything a driver wants in a racetrack.”
Clanton is expected to be one of four former Firecracker 100 winners in this year’s field, joining Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis. (2009), Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa (2008) and Bloomquist (2007). A hungry group of Clanton’s fellow World of Outlaws travelers will also populate Lernerville’s pit area, including the high-flying Eckert, two-time defending tour champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.
Three-day reserved seat ticket packages are currently on sale for the Firecracker 100 weekend. Value-priced at $59 for adults and $19 for children 10-and-under, each package includes a free fan pit pass for the Thursday and Friday events and priority access to Saturday’s pre-race driver autograph session when purchased by midnight on June 22, so fans are encouraged to act fast to take advantage of the special deal.
The ticket packages and single-day advance-sale tickets, which are also now available, can be purchased on-line at www.lernerville.com and http://www.dirtcar.com/tickets or by calling 724-353-1511.
