Screven Motor Speedway

Lanigan wins $20,000 in Screven's Winter Freeze

February 11, 2012, 4:59 pm

By Joshua Joiner

DirtonDirt.com staff writer

SYLVANIA, Ga. (Feb. 11) – Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., moved by race-long leader Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., on lap 13 of Saturday night's Winter Freeze main event at Screven Motor Speedway and survived heavy traffic late in the race on his way to a $20,000 victory.

Cook settled for second in the 60-lap event that opened the season for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series while defending series champion Rick Eckert of York, Pa., advanced from the 12th starting spot to finish third. Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., was fourth with polesitter Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., rounding out the top five.| Complete Speedweeks coverage

The fourth-starting Lanigan moved by Clanton for second on a lap-eight restart and pulled alongside Cook for the lead four laps later when Cook slid high in turns three and four. Lanigan completed the pass exiting turn two on the following lap and quickly opened a comfortable lead.

Lanigan, who topped 56 qualifiers during Friday night’s time trials, encountered heavy traffic multiple times on the locked-down racing surface. Taking advantage of the slower cars, Cook moved back to the lead briefly on lap 45, but Lanigan easily reclaimed the top spot one lap later. He navigated traffic flawlessly in the remaining laps on his way to the victory.

With his seventh-place effort, Jared Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., was the highest finishing rookie, topping a series-record six first-year contenders who made the race. Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., used an emergency provisional to start the feature from the 26th position, but took advantage by advancing the most positions of any driver on his way to a 12th-place finish.

Lanigan's Winter Freeze victory fittingly came on a night when temperatures dip below freezing. Track and series officials reported that the track surface froze over in some places out of the racing groove.

Two of the race's top-five starters ran into trouble. Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., started fifth, but was the first car out of the race after spinning when he and Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., made contact on lap three. Third-starting Marlar was battling Eckert for the fourth position when he spun on lap 27.

The race was slowed by eight cautions, none for serious accidents.

Winter Freeze: (1) Darrell Lanigan, (2) Ray Cook, (3) Rick Eckert, (4) Josh Richards, (5) Shane Clanton, (6) Tim McCreadie, (7) Jared Hawkins, (8) Steve Shaver, (9) Ron Davies, (10) Casey Roberts, (11) Bub McCool, (12) Vic Coffey, (13) Jack Sullivan, (14) John Garvin Jr., (15) Kent Robinson, (16) Hunter Peacock, (17) Chub Frank, (18) Tim Fuller, (19) Clint Smith, (20) John Lobb, (21) Brent Dixon, (22) Pat Doar, (23) Brandon Sheppard, (24) Austin Hubbard, (25) Mike Marlar, (26) Greg Johnson, (27) Gregg Satterlee, (28) Scott James, (29) Shannon Babb. Fast qualifier (among 56 cars): Lanigan, 14.305 seconds. Heat race winners: Lanigan, Clanton, Marlar, Cook, Babb. Consolation race winners: James, McCool, Satterlee. Last-chance winner: Sullivan. Provisional starters: Frank, Smith, Coffey, Fuller, Doar, Lobb.

Provisionals and pre-feature notes

Chub Frank and Clint Smith will start the feature thanks to WoO provisionals based on the tour's final 2011 points standings. Vic Coffey, Tim Fuller, Pat Doar and John Lobb will all use emergency WoO provisionals, pushing the number of starters to 29. ... The six rookie starters are a record number to start a series main event. The only two of the tour's eight rookies to miss the lineup were Billy Moyer Jr. and Dan Stone.

Last-chance qualifier

World of Outlaws rookie contenders Jack Sullivan and Brandon Sheppard made the most of the last-chance qualifier, finishing first and second respectively in the 10-lapper. The two front-row starters assumed the top two spots on the start and held them the entire distance of the caution-free race.

Finish: Jack Sullivan, Brandon Sheppard, Dillan White, Scott Shirey, Dan Stone, Chesley Dixon, John Henderson, Pat Doar, Tim Fuller, Billy Moyer Jr.

Third consolation race

Greg Satterlee powered to the lead from the outside of the front row and led every lap to win the third consolation race. Austin Hubbard pressured Satterlee for much of the race, but settled for the runner-up finish after fading late. He'll join Satterlee in the main event. Dennis Franklin started from the pole but never contended in fading to seventh at the finish. The race was slowed by one caution when Casey Barrow spun on lap six.

Finish: Greg Satterlee, Austin Hubbard, Dan Stone, Scott Shirey, Josh McGuire, John Collins, Dennis Franklin, Casey Barrow.

Second consolation race

Bub McCool moved to the lead on the start on the second consolation race and led every lap for the victory. After fading early in the race, polesitter Brent Dixon recovered to finish in the second and final transfer position after holding off a late charge from Jack Sullivan. Billy Moyer Jr. held the second spot until Dixon went by on a lap-five restart. Moyer faded to fifth at the finish and will go to a last-chance qualifier.

Finish: Bub McCool, Brent Dixon, Jack Sullivan, Dillan White, Billy Moyer Jr., John Henderson, John Lobb, Chad Hollenbeck, Phil Pittman.

First consolation race

Scott James and Hunter Peacock raced through the field in the first consolation race and secured main event starting spots. The seventh-starting James, who has two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victories at Screven, overtook polesitter Chesley Dixon midway through the race and led the remaining distance of the 10-lapper. Ninth-starting Peacock pulled alongside second-running Brandon Sheppard on a lap six and outdueled the WoO rookie contender in a side-by-side battle for the final transfer position. Peacock pulled ahead at the white flag. The race was slowed by one caution when Chub Frank spun in turn one.

Finish: Scott James, Hunter Peacock, Brandon Sheppard, Chesley Dixon, Clint Smith, Pat Doar, Tim Fuller, Vic Coffey, Jill George, Chub Frank.

Redraw and hot laps notes

In a redraw among Friday night's heat race winners, Shane Clanton drew the pole for tonight's main event. Ray Cook will start alongside with Mike Marlar and Darell Lanigan sharing the second row. Shannon Babb drew the fifth starting position. ... After a long delay for track prep, hot laps rolled relatively smoothly with the only mishap occurring when Brian Nutall Jr. tagged the wall. He continued on with minimal damage. ... Qualifying and heat races for both the Crate Late Models and sprint cars were scheduled before the Super Late Model consolation races. The first sprint heat rolled out at 9 p.m. ... Temperatures have dipped into the low 30s and are projected to drop well into the 20s later tonight.

Pre-race notes

DirtonDirt.com has had technical issues regarding its server and video loads slowly; we're trying to fix the problem. The issues don't seem to affect our mobile video if you have a smartphone. ... Hot laps were scheduled for 5:30 p.m., but were pushed back to nearly 8 due to wet track conditions. Track crews had to grade mud off the bottom half of the racetrack. ... Fifteen of 56 drivers who entered the event transferred into the feature lineup through Friday’s heat races. The five heat winners will redraw to determine the first five starting positions. Heat winners were: Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga.; Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn.; Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C.; and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill. ... Multiple drivers including Billy Moyer, Jordy Nipper, Johnny Pursley, Benji Cole, Brian Reese and Jason McBride left Screven after Friday's prelims and will compete tonight at Waycross (Ga.) Motor Speedway. ... Illinois driver Mike Spatola isn't competing during Speedweeks, but he's made the trip down to work as a crew member for WoO rookie contender Billy Moyer Jr. Spatola plans to start his season later in the spring and intends on follow the entire UMP DIRTcar Summernationals tour this summer. ... Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., is at Screven helping Ron Davies of Warren, Pa. ... NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is competing in a sprint car this weekend. ... The event also drew 31 Crate Late Models and 26 All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint cars. Both divisions will run complete shows tonight.

Main event lineup

Row 1: Shane Clanton, Mike Marlar
Row 2: Mike Marlar, Darrel Lanigan
Row 3: Shannon Babb, Josh Richards
Row 4: Tim McCreadie, John Garvin Jr.
Row 5: Steve Shaver, Ron Davies
Row 6: Casey Roberts, Rick Eckert
Row 7: Greg Johnson, Kent Robinson
Row 8: Jared Hawkins, Consy transfer
Row 9: Consolation race transfers
Row 10: Consolation race transfers
Row 11: Consy transfer,Last-chance
Row 12: Last-chance, Provisional
Row 13: Provisional

Consolation race lineups

10 laps; top two transfer to main event
Third through sixth transfer to last-chance qualifier

First consolation
Row 1: Chesley Dixon, Brandon Sheppard
Row 2: Chub Frank, Vic Coffey
Row 3: Scott James, Tim Fuller
Row 4: Clint Smith, Pat Doar
Row 5: Hunter Peacock, Jill George

Second consolation
Row 1: Brent Dixon, Bub McCool
Row 2: Billy Moyer Jr., John Lobb
Row 3: Jack Sullivan, Chad Hollenbeck
Row 4: Dillan White, Brian Nuttall Jr.
Row 5: Scott Phillips, John Henderson

Third consolation
Row 1: Dennis Franklin, Greg Satterlee
Row 2: Austin Hubbard, Mike Collins
Row 3: Dan Stone, Josh McGuire
Row 4: Scott Shirey, Casey Barrow
Row 5: Phillip Pittman