September 3, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRANKLIN, PA – Chub Frank knew he stole a victory in Sunday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Tri-City Speedway.

“We really didn’t have the winning car tonight, but it don’t matter,” said the driver affectionately known as ‘Chubzilla.’ “They paid me the money.”

Frank, 44, of Bear Lake, Pa., pocketed the evening’s $10,000 top prize after pulling off a dramatic, go-for-broke pass of defending WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer on the final lap.

The local favorite’s triumph came at the expense of Batesville, Ark.’s Moyer, who absorbed a crushing defeat in the rough-and-tumble main. Contact with Frank as the leaders rounded turn four with the checkered flag waving caused Moyer to spin onto the track’s inside berm, and only a risky maneuver allowed him to pull back into the pack and cross the finish line in eighth place.

Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., narrowly avoided Moyer’s spinning car and finished second, 1.769 seconds behind Frank.

Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., who was the track champion when Tri-City last ran dirt Late Models regularly in 1997, finished third, followed by 18th-starter Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who rallied after pitting to change a blown left-rear tire on lap 16.

Frank, whose shop is barely a half-hour’s drive from the half-mile oval, entered a brand-new Lester Buildings Rocket No. 1* in the opening round of the two-night Oil Region Labor Day Weekend Classic. The car performed solidly, if not spectacularly, in its debut.

“I really didn’t think my car was all that good,” said Frank, who plans to run the machine in the Sept. 8-9 UMP-sanctioned World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. “I was having trouble at both ends of the track.”

But as the main neared its conclusion, Frank found himself closing in on Moyer, who had inherited the top spot when race-long pacesetter Rick Eckert of York, Pa., finally succumbed to a leaking oil line on lap 30.

Frank, who started from the pole position but slipped back as far as third, prepared to make a final bid for the win when Moyer lost some momentum upon approaching the slower car driven by Bob Salathe of Bedford, Pa., on the last lap.

“Those last five laps (Moyer) started slowing down, and that just gave me a chance,” said Frank. “On the last lap I was thinking, If he just leaves me that top (in turn three), I’m gonna hammer it in one time around there on the cushion and hope it don’t flip over.”

Throwing caution to the wind, Frank tossed his car to the outside of the track and it stuck. He emerged with the lead off turn four and flashed to his third WoO LMS victory of the season. It was Frank’s fourth career win at Tri-City.

“I never cracked the throttle – I just mashed it,” described Frank. “I just ran ‘er in there wide-open.

“I don’t know if I hit the wall, but it was damn close as I was coming across the finish line. I wasn’t liftin’ until I got there.

“It sure was exciting for me,” he added of his heroics, “because I thought I was gonna wreck.”

Frank felt the contact with Moyer, but he didn’t realize Moyer had spun out of contention.

“He slid up and hit me right there in front of my left-rear tire,” said Frank, who recorded his seventh career win on the WoO LMS. “He’d been sliding up across the track and coming off the (fourth) corner high, and I think that’s what he was trying to do on the last lap.

“But I just tried to run ‘er in there wide-open and get beside him before he got a chance to get up there, so he probably didn’t even know I was up there until it was too late.”

Moyer, 48, didn’t see the race’s deciding moment in quite the same manner.

“There were lapped cars in the way and no lay-over flag (from the starter) to get them to move,” said a dejected Moyer, whose pace was slowed over the final five laps by a deflating right-rear tire. “And Chub didn’t lift any for sure. He turned me on around. When I felt him hit me, I knew he was there.”

Moyer’s Rayburn car sustained significant front-end damage, but that didn’t stop him from completing the final yards of the feature. After spinning to a stop inside of turn four with his nose pointed toward the outside wall, Moyer stepped on the gas and lurched forward when he thought he saw some daylight.

Moyer pulled directly in front of WoO LMS points leader Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who was attempting to hold off Lanigan and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., for a sixth-place finish. McCreadie got on the brakes hard, but contact from Moyer squeezed him into the outside wall.

McCreadie kept his car straight and beat Moyer to the finish line, but Lanigan and Clanton drove by to leave him with a seventh-place finish.

“I have no idea what happened,” McCreadie said of his close call on the last lap. “I was shocked when Billy came up the track in front of me. It scared me. It’s not very safe to do that.

“It cost me some spots and some money.”

But it didn’t cost McCreadie his points lead. He entered the show with a 42-point edge over Moyer, and he ended the night with the same lead over Clanton, who grabbed second in the standings after coming back from a lap-20 spin in turn two to finish sixth.

The driver with the best seat in the house for the Frank/Moyer scrape was Richards, the 18-year-old sensation who was coming off a victory in the Aug. 26 WoO LMS event at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway.

“I started the last lap running third and thinking, We got a pretty good finish here,” said Richards, who started fifth in his father Mark’s Rocket Chassis house car. “Then I rolled into three and saw Chub go out there and go for the win.

“I think Moyer just turned and gassed up when Chub got alongside him, and then got himself around. Chub was already up against the cushion as far as he could go. It was just hard racing.

“When Moyer was going around I moved up and missed him, and I thought, This is gonna be bad for the rest of the guys.”

Eight caution flags slowed the event, which was run on a clay surface left spongy and very fast by heavy rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto. The deluge forced speedway officials to call off Saturday night’s program and reset the weekend doubleheader for Sunday and Monday nights.

Sunday’s weather remained unstable, with several quick showers and episodes of light mist hampering track-prep efforts. The start of on-track competition was delayed roughly an hour from the night’s scheduled starting time of 6 o’clock.

Blair set a new track record during the 45-car time-trial session, turning a lap of 17.830 seconds. He beat Todd Andrews’s mark of 17.983 seconds, established in 2004.

Heat winners were Blair, Moyer, Frank and Eckert. Brent Rhebergen of Clymer, N.Y., and Francis captured the B-Mains, and Frank won the pole dash.

The second round of the WoO LMS Oil Region Labor Day Weekend Classic at Tri-City hits the track today (Mon., Sept. 4) at 4 o’clock.

Results of WoO Late Model Series(Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won): 1. (1) Chub Frank/50 $10,000; 2. (5) Josh Richards/50 $6,000; 3. (4) Robbie Blair/50 $3,500; 4. (18) Steve  Francis/50 $2,500; 5. (6) Darrell Lanigan/50 $2,200; 6. (7) Shane Clanton/50 $2,000; 7. (12) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,800; 8. (3) Billy Moyer/50 $1,600; 9. (9) David Scott/50 $1,400; 10. (14) Alex Ferree/50 $1,200; 11. (10) Dale McDowell/50 $1,000; 12. (21) Clint Smith/50 $900; 13. (15) Rick Briggs/50 $800; 14. (16) Dutch Davies/50 $700; 15. (2) Rick Eckert/50 $700; 16. (17) Brent Rhebergen/50 $700; 17. (24) John Blankenship/50 $700; 18. (19) Eddie Carrier Jr./50 $700; 19. (22) Bob Salathe/50 $700; 20. (11) Garrett Durrett/35 $700; 21. (20) Bump Hedman/20 $700; 22. (21) Mike Blose/18 $700; 23. (8) Todd Andrews/17 $700; 24. (25) Matt Lux/16 $700; 25. (26) Darrell Bossard/14 $700; 26. (13) Jared Miley/2 $700.

Time of Race: 55 Mins., 19.740 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.769 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 8 (Laps 2, 5, 16, 17, 18, 20, 30, 36)
Lap Leaders: Eckert (1-30); Moyer (31-49); Frank (50).
Provisionals: Smith, Blankenship, Lux, Bossard.

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. w11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 17.830 (NTR)
2. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 17.999
3. 58c-Garrett Durrett/Simsboro, LA 18.239
4. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 18.261
5. 5-Eric Jacobsen/Santa Cruz, CA 18.284
6. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 18.288
7. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 18.344
8. 42-Todd Andrews/Eldred, PA 18.440
9. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 18.444
10. 3H-Stephen Hollabaugh/Guys Mills, PA 18.456
11. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, WV 18.462
12. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 18.462
13. 1U-Matt Urban/North East, PA 18.474
14. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamagua, GA 18.499
15. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 18.507
16. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 18.533
17. 3d-David Scott/Garland, PA 18.543
18. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 18.649
19. 99B-Rick Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 18.663
20. 40-Dutch Davies/Warren, PA 18.699
21. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA 18.729
22. 4-Alex Ferree/Saxonburg, PA 18.733
23. 32-Jeff Hoffman/Clarendon, PA 18.749
24. 55-Denny Fenton/Clearfield, PA 18.761
25. 55s-Chris Schneider/Tarentum, PA  18.771
26. 07R-Brent Rhebergen/Clymer, NY 18.815
27. 47-Matt Gaston/Rochester Mills, PA 18.860
28. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 18.866
29. 48-John Flinner/Zelionople, PA 19.007
30. 22b-Darrell Bossard/Centerville, PA 19.017
31. No7-Jason Dupont/Lewis Run, PA 19.090
32. 111-Max Blair/Titusville, PA 19.104
33. 5-Mike Blose/New Bethlehem, PA 19.166
34. 90-Wally Fox/Cooperstown, PA 19.168
35. 33-Bob Moskey/St. Clairsville, OH 19.196
36. 22-Greg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 19.341
37. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 19.364
38. 21A-Pete Alspaugh/Russell, PA 19.452
39. RG3-Bob Salathe/Bedford, PA 19.468
40. 22H-Bump Hedman/Sugar Grove, PA 19.505
41. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 19.628
42. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 19.631
43. 33H-Chris Hackett/Erie, PA 19.647
44. 9I-Rick Isadore/Cyclone, PA 19.737
45. 26g-George Labarbera/Sugar Grove, PA 20.297

Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): R. Blair, Richards, Scott, Miley, Urban, Schneider, Stone, Lux, Labarbera, Flinner, Jacobsen.

Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Moyer, Lanigan, McDowell, Ferree, Hallabaugh, Rhebergen, Carrier, Hess, Fox, Bossard, Alspaugh.

Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Frank, Clanton, Durrett, Briggs, Francis, Salathe, Hoffman, Hackett, Dupont, Moskey, Gaston.

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Eckert, Andrews, McCreadie, Davies, M. Blair, Satterlee, Hedman, Blankenship, Fenton, Isadore, Smith.

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Rhebergen, Carrier, Blose, Hess, Urban, Stone, Flinner, Schneider, Bossard, Fox, Labarbera, Jacobsen, Lux, Hollabaugh (DNS) Alspaugh.

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Francis, Hedman, Salathe, Blankenship, Hackett, Isadore, Moskey, Hoffman, Smith, Satterlee, Dupont, Gaston, M. Blair, Fenton.

Dash (4 laps): Frank, Eckert, Moyer, Blair.

WoO Late Model Series Points Standings (after Sept. 3): 1. Tim McCreadie 3,712; 2. Shane Clanton 3,670; 3. Billy Moyer 3,668; 4. Darrell Lanigan 3,656; 5. Steve Francis 3,654; 6. Chub Frank 3,648; 7. Rick Eckert 3,574; 8. Dale McDowell 3,526; 9. Josh Richards 3,492; 10. Clint Smith 3,481; 11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 3,077; 12. John Blankenship 3,038; 13. Eric Jacobsen 2,953; 14. Garrett Durrett 2,942; 15. Mike Balzano 998.

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on Dirtvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.

To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.

Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail webmaster@dirtvision.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including Series sponsor Hoosier Tire; Promotional sponsors AMB i.t., Choice Hotels International, COESfx, The University of Northwest Ohio and Snap-on. Contingency sponsors include DART Machinery, Holley Performance Products Inc., MSD Ignition, Quarter Master, Ohlins and Wrisco Industries.