Land of Legends Raceway
Red-hot Lanigan denies T-Mac at Canandaigua
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Darrell Lanigan visits victory lane for the seventh time in 2012. (Kevin Kovac)
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (June 26) — Darrell Lanigan spoiled Tim McCreadie's home-track party Tuesday, driving to a convincing 40-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
In a midweek event carrying sponsorship from Sweeteners Plus — the nearby business owned by McCreadie's team owner Carl Myers — and Ballantyne RV & Marine, Lanigan sailed his Rocket car around the half-mile oval's outside lane to take the lead from race-long pacesetter Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., on lap 23 and never looked back. The 42-year-old star from Union, Ky., ran unchallenged for the remainder of the caution-free race, beating Watertown, N.Y.'s McCreadie to the finish line by 2.971 seconds. | Video | Hauler woes plague Eckert
The triumph was Lanigan's fifth in the last eight WoO events and his seventh overall of 2012. He moved within two victories of matching the tour's modern-day (2004-present) single-season win record of nine — with 24 races remaining on the schedule — and pushed his commanding points lead to 150 markers over defending champion Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who salvaged a ninth-place finish after using a provisional spot to start 23rd because engine problems at the start of his heat forced him to switch to his backup car.
Tim Fuller — like McCreadie, a resident of Watertown, N.Y., and a former big-block modified regular at Canandaigua — finished third despite running on seven cylinders because his engine sustained a broken engine lifter during heat action. It was his second straight third-place outing on the WoO.
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., advanced from the eighth starting spot to place fourth, giving him consecutive top-five finishes on the national tour for the first time this season. WoO Rookie of the Year points leader Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., took fifth thanks to a last-lap pass of Clanton, who started from the pole position but faded to a sixth-place finish as his car became harder to turn during the race's second half.
Lanigan's only moment of apparent vulnerability came early in the event. He started sixth but found himself running seventh after four laps, providing his rivals a false sense of hope that his Cornett-powered machine might be a slight bit off.
On lap nine, Lanigan passed Smith to crack the top five. He soared by both Fuller and Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., on lap 12 to reach third and drove around the outside of McCreadie for second on lap 14 before completing his charge on lap 23 by vanquishing Clanton.
"We fell back a little bit there at the beginning," said Lanigan, whose 33rd career WoO win moved him within five victories of Josh Richards for the top spot on the tour's win list since 2004. "We just lost some positions being in the wrong spot on the racetrack, but we rallied back there on the top. I was a little concerned (about the slow start), then I just moved up to that top and it was pretty good.
"Man, this car was good. I couldn't ask for a better car. I could almost run wide-open around that top."
Lanigan scored a very satisfying victory, shooting down McCreadie at a half-mile oval where the surging driver watched his father, legendary big-block modified star “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie, throughout the '80s and '90s and where he won 14 big-block features himself from 1999-2003. McCreadie had been triumphant in the last WoO event at Canandaigua three years ago and entered Tuesday's program with two wins in his last three tour starts.
"That was a good one," Lanigan said of his win. "It's good to come up here to (McCreadie's) home track and run well."
McCreadie, 38, started fourth and quickly hustled his Warrior mount to second on the race's opening lap. But he couldn't find a way by Clanton for the lead and ultimately fell to Lanigan's onslaught.
"I'm pretty well sure (Lanigan) had a different right-rear (tire) on than I did," said McCreadie, who has registered eight top-five finishes in the last 10 WoO events. "I just faded. It's just one of these deals — I moved off the top and (Lanigan) drove by me, and I'm like, 'Damn.’
"That's what happens sometimes. I'll tip our caps (to Lanigan), and hopefully we can go make 30-grand down at Lernerville (Speedway in Sarver, Pa.) this weekend.”
Fuller, 44, had one of the noteworthy drives of the evening, moving forward from the fifth starting spot in his handicapped Rocket car. He contemplated starting from the rear of the field in his backup after developing engine woes on his way to a heat-race win, but he decided to disengage one spark plug and run slightly underpowered.
"The motor really sounds bad with that spark plug missing, but that's what we had to do to make it live," said Fuller, whose powerplant sported a distinctive ticking noise. "Thanks to Clint Smith and Chub Frank — they're the ones who told me to run it. I wasn't even gonna run it, but they told it wouldn't hurt it to run it on seven cylinders — and actually, the track conditions were perfect for being on seven cylinders."
Fuller broke into third place with a lap-31 pass of Clanton and by lap 35 drew close enough to challenge McCreadie for second, but he lost ground to McCreadie in lapped traffic and settled for a finish that tied his best run of 2012.
Coffey finished seventh, slipping backward from the third starting spot in a race he had high hopes of making his first-ever WoO win. A former big-block modified regular at Canandaigua, Coffey is McCreadie's teammate on the Sweeteners Plus team and the stepson of Carl Myers, who is married to Coffey's mother Ann.
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., finished a quiet eighth, moving up from the 12th starting spot. Eckert was ninth on a night that saw him tow his trailer to the track using a borrowed truck because his own rig was at a Freightliner dealer in Syracuse, N.Y., for transmission repairs, and big-block modified veteran Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., rounded out the top 10 after starting 18th.
Thirty-two cars were signed in for the program, which drew a near-capacity crowd on a cool, clear early-summer day. It was one of the most successful promotions of Jeremie Corcoran's two-year run as promoter of the fairgrounds track.
Eckert started the evening on a strong note, earning fast-time honors for the second time this season with a lap of 17.972 seconds.
Heat winners were McCreadie, John Lobb of Frewsburg, N.Y. (first-ever WoO heat victory) and Fuller. Dan Davies of Warren, Pa., captured the B-Main in his second career Dirt Late Model start.
WoO competitors head to Lernerville Speedway for the three-day Firecracker 100 Presented by GottaRace.com on June 28-30. Full WoO programs topped by 30-lap, $6,000-to-win features will be contested on Thursday and Friday with the $30,000-to-win Firecracker 100 finale June 30.
WoO @ Canandaigua: (1) Darrell Lanigan, (2) Tim McCreadie, (3) Tim Fuller, (4) Clint Smith, (5) Bub McCool, (6) Shane Clanton, (7) Vic Coffey, (8) Chub Frank, (9) Rick Eckert, (10) Billy Decker, (11) John Lobb, (12) Dan Stone, (13) Jack Sullivan, (14) Kent Robinson, (15) Dave Zona, (16) Pat Doar, (17) Dylan Yoder, (18) Alan Fink, (19) Brent Rhebergen, (20) Dutch Davies, (21) Boom Briggs, (22) Dan Davies, (23) Ross Robinson, (24) Ron Davies. Fast qualifier (among 32 cars): Eckert. Heat race winners: McCreadie, Lobb, Fuller. B-main winner: Dan Davies.
