Bristol Motor Speedway
Pack of drivers aiming for WoO's '09 rookie honors
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Dustin Hapka is among WoO's rookie contenders. (thesportswire.net)
When the World of Outlaws Late Model Series roars back into action March 13-14 at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, Ala., the pit area will be teeming with upstart full-fender drivers seeking to carve out a national name for themselves.
At least a half-dozen 2009 WoO Rookie of the Year candidates are expected to attack the blockbuster doubleheader at the 4/10-mile Gulf Coast oval, by far the largest rookie crop in tour history.
The rookies will help swell the WoO traveling contingent at Deep South, which will host two complete programs as part of the biggest weekend of Dirt Late Model racing in the track’s five-year history. Among the WoO regulars ready for the tour’s first-ever visit to Deep South are defending champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and former series Rookie of the Year award winners Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va. (2005), Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (2007) and Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y. (2008).
The ’09 WoO Rookie of the Year candidates represent a cross-section of drivers, ranging from fresh-faced youngsters on the rise to veteran local racers looking to realize lifelong dreams of racing alongside the sport’s top stars at tracks across the country. They will all chase a top-rookie honor — worth a minimum of $10,000 — that is to be determined using each driver’s best 30 finishes on the WoO, which currently lists 48 events at 39 tracks in 21 states and three Canadian provinces. Drivers who have already applied for and received Rookie of the Year contender certification include:
Dustin Hapka, 26, of Grand Forks, N.D.: He advanced through the street stock, WISSOTA super stock and WISSOTA Late Model classes since beginning his career in 2001 at his hometown’s River Cities Speedway. The operator of a SureStep (non-slip floor treatment) franchise, Hapka made his full-blown Dirt Late Model debut last summer when he followed the eight-race WoO Wild West Tour behind the wheel of family-owned equipment.
Chuck Hummer, 34, of Ottawa Lake, Mich.: The fifth-year dirt Late Model racer has raced primarily at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio, and Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park. The operator of Wynn’s Service Drive Solutions, Hummer was diagnosed with lymphoma last August but is responding so well to continued treatments that he’s primed to attempt the busiest, most far-flung schedule of his career. Thanks to backing from Love’s Travel Stops’ John Gardine of Salt Lake City, Utah, he now has the equipment to do something he’s “always wanted to do.”
Russ King of Bristolville, Ohio: He's seeking to continue the big-block modified-to-WoO Rookie of the Year pipeline that includes Fuller, Coffey and 2006 WoO champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. The son of big-block modified standout Rex King, the soon-to-be 20-year-old (he celebrates his birthday March 18) debuted a big-block mod when he was 15 and won the division’s BRP Modified Tour title in 2007 before moving to Dirt Late Model competition last season.
Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.: The 14-year-old became the youngest driver in WoO history to qualify for an A-Main when he grabbed a heat-race transfer spot for the 2009 season opener on Feb. 12 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. An eighth-grader whose slight size belies his precocious ability behind the wheel, Reddick has made more than 650 feature starts during a 10-year racing career that has seen him run go-karts, outlaw karts, mini-sprints and, most recently, midgets and wingless 410 sprint cars in the Midwest. The California Kid will campaign family-owned equipment on this year’s WoO that is prepared by tour regular Tim Fuller.
Brent Robinson, 21, of Smithfield, Va.: The junior civil engineering student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., is making his fifth year of Dirt Late Model competition the most ambitious of his career. The 2007 Carolina Clash Series Rookie of the Year, Robinson has recorded four career feature wins in his family-backed, red-white-and-blue cars, all at tracks in North Carolina.
Chas Shellenberger, 44, of Winfield, Pa.: The longtime contractor plans to “live the dream” by spending a season on the renowned WoO. Shellenberger, who has raced locally (Selinsgrove Speedway is his hometrack) off-and-on since 1989 and is still searching for his first career Late Model feature win, said help from legendary driver and chassis builder C.J. Rayburn has made it possible for him to hit the road in 2009.
In addition, Jeff Isabell Jr., 17, of Pennellville, N.Y., plans to make his 2009 WoO debut at Deep South Speedway and formally submit his Rookie of the Year application. The younger brother of 2008 Rookie of the Year runner-up Joe Isabell — a 19-year-old who plans another season of WoO action in ’09 — Jeff Jr. got his first taste of Dirt Late Model racing last year by running the second half of the WoO schedule as a teammate to his sibling.
Another possible Rookie of the Year applicant is Jeff Isabell Sr., the 38-year-old father of Joe and Jeff Jr. and owner of the JIR Motorsports team. A veteran big-block modified competitor, the elder Isabell made just a handful of Dirt Late Model starts in 2008 but hopes to significantly increase his participation in WoO events this season if he can arrange his work schedule accordingly.
Drivers have until April 3-4 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway to submit a Rookie of the Year application to WoO officials for consideration by a six-person panel of drivers and media members.
As an incentive for Rookie of the Year candidates, the highest-finishing rookie in each WoO event receives a $250 bonus.
