Shawano Speedway
Shawano gives Satterlee first WoO series victory
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Gregg Satterlee heads to victory. (Shawn Fredenberg)
SHAWANO, Wis. (July 30) — Gregg Satterlee’s turn to bask in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series spotlight finally arrived Tuesday at Shawano Speedway.
Racing for the first time at a track more than 750 miles from his home in Rochester Mills, Pa., Satterlee inherited the lead when Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., slowed with mechanical trouble on lap 21 and dominated the remainder of the 50-lap distance to record his coveted first-ever victory on the national tour. | Video | Slideshow
Satterlee, who will celebrate his 29th birthday Saturday, cracked victory lane in his 85th career series event and 57th feature start. His best previous finish was fourth place on four occasions, most recently on June 29 in the Firecracker 100 by GottaRace.com at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.
“It feels awesome to come all this way to a track we’ve never been to before and get our first World of Outlaws win,” said Satterlee, who earned $10,550, including the $500 WoO LMS Bonus Bucks cash for being the highest-finishing driver who isn’t a tour regular and had never won a series event. “We’ve been trying for a long time (to win on the WoO LMS). We’ve been close — I think we’ve had I-don’t-know-how-many fourths, and I’ve run in the front a bunch — but we could never get it done. I’m definitely glad we finally secured one.”
Flashing the talent that has made him a driver to reckon with in the Mid-Atlantic region, Satterlee easily handled a final restart on lap 45 to lead a trio of former WoO LMS champions – Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Rick Eckert of York, Pa. – under the checkered flag.
McCreadie, 39, was unable to offer Satterlee a challenge over the final five circuits and settled for second place, 2.219 seconds behind the victor. Richards extended his points lead with a third-place finish after starting 14th and Eckert slipped to fourth with a tight-handling race car after taking the green flag from the pole position.
A.J. Diemel of Navarino, Wis., completed the top five, scoring a career-best WoO finish after starting seventh. He reached fifth just before the halfway point and stayed there to the finish.
Making his second start with a new family-owned Rocket Chassis-Roush Yates engine combination, Satterlee advanced from the fourth starting spot to second place in 15 laps. Moments later Clanton, who started second and had led from the initial green flag, began to show smoke from his Kennedy Motorsports car. The smoke quickly intensified due to a busted oil line, and on lap 21 the WoO regular slowed to bring out the race’s second caution flag and retired.
Satterlee gladly accepted the free pass into the top spot, which he assumed for good on, ironically, lap 22 – his car number. He never faltered the rest of the way, building nearly a straightaway advantage over McCreadie, who grabbed second from Eckert on the lap-21 restart, before his margin was shrunk by the lap-45 caution flag for Dillon Wood of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., slowing with a flat right-rear tire.
“We got into second and I felt like we were just as good as (Clanton),” said Satterlee, who won the Allegheny Mountain Speedweek championship earlier this season. “After the (lap-15) restart I thought I (had something for Clanton), and then I saw the smoke coming out so I just was laying back because I didn’t want to get too close and get into his oil or have him stop in front of me.
“I just knew I had to be patient once I got the lead. I knew that was my opportunity and I wasn’t gonna screw it up. I tried to make smooth laps after that.”
Satterlee cruised to victory lane, where he was greeted by only his chief mechanic, former WoO Crew Chief of the Year Robby Allen. Unable to make the trip were two people who have been very important to Satterlee’s career: his father, Gary, who had business commitments at the family’s petroleum company, and best friend Dave Cass.
“I wish my dad and good friend Dave could’ve been here for this,” said Satterlee, who noted that the sprawling Shawano half-mile reminded him of Bedford Speedway and Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway near his Keystone State home. “They’ve both been with me from the start, so it would’ve been great for them to share this. I guess we’ll just try to get another win when they’re around.”
That second WoO victory might not take as long to come as the first. With his name now on the tour’s select list of A-Main winners, he knows he has the goods to beat the best drivers in the business.
“To get (a win) against this field of cars gives me a good confidence booster that we can do it again in the future,” said Satterlee, who has registered at least one top-five finish on the WoO in four of the last five seasons. “Every time you run good or win a race like this you learn something, and I think we learned some stuff tonight. I feel like we got a little better and hopefully we’ll be to do it again real soon — before (entering) another 90 races.”
Both McCreadie and Richards had little to offer following the race other than pats on the back to Satterlee and Allen.
“Congrats to Satterlee and “Hog” and their whole team,” said McCreadie, who drove the Sweeteners Plus Warrior car to his second runner-up finish in the last three WoO events. “Everybody knows how hard this is, so anytime a kid like that can do that, he did a helluva job tonight.
“Between him and Shane, we didn’t really have anything for either of them. Tonight we went a little softer (on tire-compound choice) than they did and it was good for 20 laps and then it just faded.”
Richards, 25, and his father Mark’s Rocket Chassis house team work closely with Satterlee and Allen, so he was especially happy to witness Satterlee’s WoO LMS success.
“Big congrats to Gregg and Gary Satterlee and Robby Allen,” said Richards, who extended his WoO points lead to 70 points over Clanton. “Those guys have had some rough luck this year and I’m glad to see them get an Outlaw win. It means a lot to me to see them run well.
“We had a really good car in the race. I thought we were gonna be able to get by Timmy for awhile (after reaching third on the lap-21 restart), but then there toward the end we had a different right-front tire and I couldn’t steer as well.”
Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., started and finished sixth. Rounding out the top 10 were four drivers who quietly moved forward from the back half of the starting field: Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (16th starting spot), Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (17th), Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill. (18th) and Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa. (20th).
Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., fell 88 points behind Richards in the WoO LMS standings after suffering a rare DNF. His hopes of winning Shawano’s WoO stop for the third consecutive year ended on lap four when he slapped the wall between turns three and four while bidding to enter the top five, damaging his car’s rear end enough that he fell out of the top 10 before pitting on lap 21 and finally retiring on lap 44.
Notes: Satterlee’s Rocket Chassis is powered by a Roush Yates Engine and sponsored by Satterlee Petroleum Distributors, East American Motorsports, Valvoline and Zero Wraps. ... He has four victories overall in 2013. ... Rick Eckert topped the 33-car field in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, turning a lap of 18.883 seconds to earn his third fast-time honor of 2013. It was the 36th fast time of his career, pulling him back into a tie with Richards for the tour’s all-time lead in the qualifying category. ... Thirteen starters were running at the finish. ... Among drivers failing to make the feature lineup: Jake Redetzke, Pete Parker, Nick Anvelink, Jason Enoch Cody Grosskreutz, Mark Rose, Doug Blashe and Brett Swedberg. ... WoO competitors will remain in the Badger State for the 26th annual USA Nationals on Aug. 1-3 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. A preliminary WoO program featuring a 30-lap, $6,000-to-win event Thursday precedes Friday’s USA Nationals time trials, heats and a dash while Saturday’s action includes consolation races, a last-chance race and 100-lap finale paying $50,000-to-win. ...The USA Nationals are available on live pay-per-view at DirtonDirt.com.
World of Outlaws @ Shawano: (1) Gregg Satterlee, (2) Tim McCreadie, (3) Josh Richards, (4) Rick Eckert, (5) A.J. Diemel, (6) Jimmy Mars, (7) Chub Frank, (8) Tim Fuller, (9) Dennis Erb Jr., (10) Dan Stone, (11) Jonathan Davenport, (12) Morgan Bagley, (13) Bub McCool, (14) Dillon Wood, (15) Darrell Lanigan, (16) Eric Wells, (17) Clint Smith, (18) Shane Clanton, (19) Billy Moyer, (20) Ricky Weiss, (21) Ron Berna, (22) Dale McDowell, (23) Brandon Sheppard, (24) Brady Smith. Fast qualifier (among 33 cars): Eckert, 18.883 seconds. Heat race winners: Eckert, McCreadie, Satterlee. Consolation winner: Weiss. Provisional starters: B. Smith, Sheppard.
