Volusia Speedway Park
WoO notebook: Babb keeps title chase in mind
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Shannon Babb's new Clint Bowyer-backed ride. (DirtonDirt.com)
BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Shannon Babb led the World of Outlaws Late Model Series point standings early in the 2007 season before his title chase unraveled. In making a new commitment to follow the WoO tour in 2008, Babb proved at Volusia Speedway Park's Alltel DirtCar Nationals that he has the championship on his mind.
Fielding equipment for a team owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer, Babb understands that winning the big-money title will take smarts as well as speed. He demonstrated that in Thursday's WoO opener when he accepted a fifth-place finish in the 50-lapper.
“We were looking at the big picture,” said the standout from Moweaqua, Ill. “We weren’t that good, so we took what we could get. That’s how you win a championship — even on a night when you’re not that good, you have to find a way to come out with a good finish. In the past, I probably would’ve just kept hammering the cushion to try to win the race and ended up breaking something because my car wasn’t good enough.”
Babb was looking down the road again on Saturday night, when he continued turning laps at reduced speed after an apparent electrical problem caused his car to sputter for much of the distance. He finished only 22nd, but he picked up probably five spots by staying on the track to complete 47 laps.
Tough start for Clanton
WoO regular Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., completed all but three feature laps on the 2006 WoO tour, and posted a 2007-high 17 consecutive top-five WoO finishes in 2007. But such consistency was missing in his first two WoO events of 2008 at Volusia.
As Clanton talked with fellow Georgia driver Clint Smith following Saturday's race, Smith pegged Clanton’s downtrodden outlook. “You got the ‘dial’ in that bad spot,” quipped Smith, alluding to a racer’s mythical luck meter. “Fortunately, there’s a whole season ahead to get it turned around.”
The 32-year-old Clanton could only nod his head in agreement with Smith after experiencing two heartbreaking WoO outings at Volusia. On Thursday he was leading on lap 30 when a broken right-rear axle tube knocked him out, and on Saturday he was racing for a top-five spot on lap 35 when a broken left-rear wheel ended his hopes.
Back-to-back DNFs for a WoO regular who’s become known for his ability to complete races isn't the way Clanton envisioned opening his campaign. The bad luck put him in an immediate points hole on the tour, sitting 19th in the standings, 84 points out of the lead.
Francis, Beitler off to solid start
Defending WoO champ Steve Francis didn’t take long to impress his new car owner Dale Beitler. When Beitler looked at his No. 19 car upon the completion of Florida Speedweeks, the West Friendsville, Md.-based car owner knew without a shadow of a doubt that he couldn’t have hooked up with a better driver than Francis.
You see, the Rocket Chassis that Francis steered to a ninth-place finish in the week’s WoO finale at Volusia was the same machine he ran in each of the 17 other events in Florida and Georgia over the previous three weeks. Beitler was genuinely amazed that Francis had gotten through so many nights of rough-and-tumble action with only a couple minor dents in the nosepiece to show for it.
Despite ending the trip with a ninth-place WoO outing that didn’t meet Francis’s expectations because a broken throttle spring hampered him throughout the feature, Beitler was so pumped up about ’08 that he was ready to keep racing. “If the World of Outlaws added a race down here next week,” said Beitler, “I’d just stay all week and run it.”
Frank salvages subpar Speedweeks
Coming off a career-high second-place finish in the 2007 WoO points standings, Chub Frank didn’t want to get off to a slow start on the ’08 tour. But when the Bear Lake, Pa., veteran entered Saturday's finale riding a string of bad luck — a 15th-place finish in Thursday's WoO opener due to body and suspension damage, plus two DNQs and a 27th-place run in the three UMP events at Volusia —�he was facing the very real possibility of falling into a big points hole.
Frank flashed the stuff of a champion, however, salvaging his visit to Volusia with a strong second-place finish from the 11th starting spot in Saturday's 50-lapper. The run put him eighth in the WoO standings, just 28 points out of the lead. “At least it’ll make the ride home a little easier,” said Frank, who expects to have a new hauler and trailer ready to transport his equipment to the next WoO show.
Richards gets unusual victory
There was something different about Josh Richards’s victory in the WoO opener Feb. 14 at Volusia. Even the 19-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., sensed it.
“This was the first time I won (a WoO) race and the car didn’t really feel that great,” said Richards, who registered his seventh career triumph on the tour. “In all my other wins, I felt like we might have had the best car. Tonight I feel like we were good, but not great, and we were able to get a win. It just gives the whole team a boost of confidence to start the year off.”
The win also ranked as arguably the most hard-earned of Richards’s WoO career, alongside the August 2006 score at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway that he bagged with a dramatic late-race pass of Tim McCreadie. He battled hard to get to second place behind Shane Clanton, who dropped out on lap 30 just as Richards was beginning to bid for the lead.
Richards, who turns 20 on March 22, hopes his strong performance at Volusia (he also finished third in the WoO on Feb. 16, sending him home tied for the points lead) is a harbinger of good things to come. “I feel like we have a team that can contend for the championship,” said Richards. “We have a new car chief this year — Matt Barnes — Jimmy Frey is the tire specialist, and my dad (Mark) is the crew chief and the car owner. Maybe we can keep it together this year, keep it going fast everywhere we go and win some races.”
Newman's asphalt effort trumps dirt showing
Ryan Newman's Daytona 500 victory came two days after he posted a 16th-place finish in Dirt Late Model competition at Volusia Speedway Park's Alltel DirtCar Nationals. Although his finish was subpar at Volusia, the South Bend, Ind., native said he had a good time fielding his Steve Francis Racing-prepared Late Model at the D-shaped dirt track.
“It was probably one of the more relaxing and fun times I had down here other than winning the Daytona 500,” Newman said. “I wish I could have done this good over there.”
Newman's experience on the dirt couldn't have hurt in trying to manhandle his Alltel-sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup entry on the asphalt as soaring temperatures slickened the track surface.
“Dirt track racing is a lot of fun, and I really enjoy racing the Late Model,” Newman said. “Steve Francis got me started doing it, and I’m just trying to get better at it. I enjoy racing with these guys, they’re class acts.”
Alltel voting continues through mid-March
Three Dirt Late Model winners at Volusia are in the running for a $12,000 sponsorship from Alltel Wireless by virtue of their victories. Three-race winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Cilnt Smith of Senoia, Ga., are trailing so far among the 18 overall winners in four divisions during the two weeks of dirt racing at Volusia. Fans can vote online at alltelallstar.com through March 16. Other drivers with Dirt Late Model experience, including Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, Pa., and Scott Drake of Webb City, Mo., are in the competition because of modified victories. — Chris Dolack
Odds and ends
Rick Eckert's WoO winless streak reached 59, but his runner-up finish in the WoO opener is his among his best finishes since his last victory on July 8, 2006, at Ohio's Sharon Speedway. ... Tim McCreadie, the 2006 WoO champion who piloted his familiar Carl Myers-owned Sweeteners Plus No. 39 during Speedweeks, may spend more time in a Dirt Late Model in 2008 than previously expected. With McCreadie still unsure about whether he’ll make any NASCAR Nationwide Series starts as a Richard Childress Racing Development Driver this season due to a lack of sponsorship, he said he’s considering his options for more dirt racing. ... Four drivers submitted WoO Rookie of the Year applications at Volusia. The list includes Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan., a well-respected Midwestern veteran who is planning to tour nationally for the first time in his career; Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., a big-block modified standout (and Sweeteners Plus Racing teammate of Tim McCreadie) who wants to step up his dirt Late Model efforts in ’08; Danny Johnson of Rochester, N.Y., one of the all-time big-block modified greats; and Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y., a teenage modified racer and teammate of Johnson’s.
