Deep South Speedway
Kentucky Colonel rolling along at start of 2009
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Steve Francis has two WoO victories in a row. (Jeff Bylsma)
Steve Francis was bubbling like a little kid on Christmas morning after capturing Friday night’s 40-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series Showdown on the Gulf at Deep South Speedway. Just consider the first words from the Kentucky Colonel’s mouth when he emerged from his Dale Beitler-owned car inVictory Lane: “I’m having more fun than I ever have in my life.”
Yes, the 41-year-old from Ashland, Ky., is living it up on the WoO. With two consecutive wins and a fourth-place finish to his credit so far in 2009 giving him the points lead by 16 markers over Josh Richards of Shinnston,W.Va., he’s off to arguably his best start ever on the national tour.
What’s more, Francis feels completely comfortable campaigning as Beitler’s hired gun. Now in his second season driving for Beitler after running his own equipment in a majority of WoO events from 2004-2007, Francis is relishing the opportunity to concentrate on winning races.
“For some reason, I’m relaxed right now and just enjoying going racing,” said Francis, who has steered Beitler’s familiar Valvoline/Reliable Painting Rocket No. 19 to eight of his series-best 22 career wins since 2004. “Dale has given me whatever I’ve asked for to go racing with, so I can’t complain about anything right now.”
According to Francis, a couple new wrinkles to his pairing with Beitler that went public at Deep South brought further focus and strength to the team’s effort. Most notably, Francis won Friday’s open-tire event on Hoosier rubber rather than the American Racer tires the team used last year, and Beitler has agreed to stick exclusively with Hoosier Tires for the remainder of the season. In addition, Francis has hired 2008 WoO Crew Chief of the Year Chris Burton, who split last month with defending WoO champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., to work on his own equipment (including the Firt Late Models that NASCAR Sprint Cup star Ryan Newman will drive in selected events this season) and provide assistance on the road to Beitler’s chief mechanic Kevin Miller and consultant Robby Allen.
“We’ve just put a whole group of guys together who have one thing in mind, and that’s to try to win every race we can win,” said Francis. “We know that’s not gonna happen, but that’s our goal: to put 100 percent into every race.”
Rain moved in and washed out Saturday's scheduled 60-lap, $12,000-to-win program at Deep South, denying Francis a shot at a rich weekend sweep. But with the 2007 WoO champion so pumped up after his $7,700 triumph on Friday night before the largest crowd in the five-year history of the high-banked oval, there’s no doubt he’ll carry plenty of momentum into the tour’s upcoming big-money events on March 20-21 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas ($20,000-to-win Lone Star 100); March 27-28 at the Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway ($50,000-to-win Circle K Colossal 100); and April 3-4 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway ($20,000-to-win Illini 100).
“This is kind of a Month of Money coming up for us, so it feels good to be on a roll,” said Francis, who led the WoO in purse earnings last year and has already cracked the $20,000 mark this season. “We’re just gonna go out there and see how far we can take this.”
