Bristol Motor Speedway
WoO drivers embark on nine-race Wild West Tour
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model SeriesGo west, young men. That’s the directive for the stars of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, which is about to embark on an unprecedented summertime odyssey across six states and one Canadian province located in the western half of North America.
Beginning with the 29th annual Featherlite Trailers Gopher 50 on July 9, at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., the WoO Wild West Tour will contest nine $10,000-to-win events over a 13-day period. The swing features two shows in Minnesota, two in North Dakota and one each in Kansas, Nebraska,South Dakota, Wyoming and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
The 2008 WoO will still have 19 shows remaining following the Wild West Tour, so the trip isn’t do-or-die for the drivers chasing the $100,000 series points championship. But the grueling stretch of racing that will keep teams far from their home shops for an extended period of time will certainly put an indelible stamp on the points battle.
“You can’t win the championship on the swing,” said Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who ranks third in the WoO points standings and enters the Wild West Tour as one of the hottest drivers on the trail. “But you can definitely lose it. If you have problems and start dropping out of races, you’re going to be in big trouble.”
There will be little time to rest for the WoO travelers, who figure to log over 2,250 miles in their haulers hustling between the tracks on the Wild West Tour. The swing is the most ambitious in the history of the WoO, both in number and frequency of dates (races in five consecutive nights to start the tour will be a first for the series) as well as geography (the series is making its biggest penetration ever into the west).
“You don’t want to have the snowball effect start happening to you out there,” said defending series champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who is hoping the western excursion gets him back on track after a subpar Great Northern Tour dropped him from the points lead to 70 points behind in fourth place. “If you happen to crash out a car at Deer Creek or one of the early races, we’re too far out west to do much other than try to patch it up so you’ll basically be behind for the rest of the trip.”
Preparation, preparation, preparation — that’s going to be the key to success on the Wild West Tour.
“We’re just gonna go out there with our stuff as ready to go as we can get it,” said WoO points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who heads west carrying an amazing streak of 10 consecutive top-five finishes in series events. “We’re gonna keep doing the same things we’ve been doing, but at the same time you know you have to be extra prepared to be out on the road for a few weeks.”
The Wild West Tour kicks off with a rush, running five nights in a row starting on July 9 at Deer Creek Speedway, a 3/8-mile oval that is the most senior host of WoO events on the swing. The Queensland family’s track will hold its fifth series event since 2006.
Following Deer Creek on the busy opening-week schedule are stops on July 10 at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minn., which returns to the WoO for the first time since 2006 and will have its action taped for broadcast on the Speed cable network at 4 p.m. EDT on Aug. 16; July 11 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., which is part of the series for the third consecutive season; July 12 at Saskatchewan’s Estevan Motor Speedway, which brings the Outlaws across the Canadian for the fourth time this season; and July 13 at Williston Basin Speedway in Williston, N.D.
Two well-deserved off-days (July 14-15) precede the second half of the Wild West Tour, which features stops on July 16 at Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway; July 18 at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D.; July 20 at the Belleville (Kan.) High Banks, which drew a standing-room-only crowd for its inaugural WoO event in 2007; and July 21 at Boone County Raceway in Albion, Neb., where the Outlaws action will be part of the annual Boone County Fair.
The WoO will make first-ever visits to Estevan, Williston Basin, Gillette, Brown County and Boone County, and eight of the nine A-Mains will be run over the 50-lap distance. Only the event at the wicked-fast Belleville half-mile will be shorter.
Francis, Lanigan and Eckert are among the WoO regulars who will headline the Wild West Tour. The series roster also includes 20-year-old Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who is tied with three-time series champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., atop the trail’s 2008 win list with four victories; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who won last year’s Gopher 50 at Deer Creek; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.; John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.; and 2008 Rookie of the Year contender Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y.
An array of top regional racers will challenge the Outlaws throughout the Wild West Tour, including Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis. (the entire swing is on his schedule); Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who plans to enter the first five shows; Kelly Boen of Henderson, Col. (slated to join the tour at River Cities and continue for the ensuing five events); John Anderson of Omaha, Neb. (the first three shows plus tentative appearances at Belleville and Boone County); and Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa.
Immediately following the Wild West Tour, the WoO will head back east for the Alltel Ohio Speedweek to continue the furious month of July. Speedweek events are scheduled for July 24 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio; July 25 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio; July 26 at Sharon Speedway inHartford, Ohio; and July 27 at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.
The tour’s postponed $40,000-to-win Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., will close out the month on July 29.
When the flurry of July racing is finally completed, WoO teams will have traveled anywhere from 4,800 to 5,600 miles from their shops and back.
