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SHANE
CLANTON SPINS BUT STILL WINS FIRST WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL SERIES
EVENT OF 2006 MONDAY NIGHT AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY September 4, 2006 FRANKLIN, PA .... Shane Clanton won’t soon forget his first victory on the 2006 World of Outlaws Late Model Series. The reason is simple. “We worked hard for it,” Clanton pronounced after capturing Monday night’s 50-lap Oil Region Labor Day Classic finale at Tri-City Speedway. From a pre-feature engine change to a mid-pack starting spot, from a late-race spin to a dramatic twist of fate with the white flag waving – yes, it was a truly eventful march to the WoO LMS promised land for the tour regular from Locust Grove, Ga. Winless through the first 27 shows of the WoO LMS schedule, Clanton finally broke through after surviving a 360-degree twirl on lap 39 and benefiting from the misfortune of Union, Ky.’s Darrell Lanigan, whose cruise to victory was short-circuited by a final-lap tangle with a limping lapped car. “The breaks went our way for once,” said Clanton, who earned $10,000 for his third career WoO LMS triumph. “It’s been a long time coming.” Clanton, 31, took the lead from a handicapped Lanigan during the green-white-checkered finish that closed the race and beat Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., to the checkered flag by 1.143 seconds. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who won the previous night’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic opener, finished a close third. Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who rallied after losing seven positions on lap 20 when he executed a 360-degree spin off turn two while battling Frank for the lead, was fourth and WoO LMS Rookie of the Year points leader Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., placed fifth. Clanton’s night – and hopes of cutting into Tim McCreadie’s 42-point lead in the WoO LMS standings – seemed to be on thin ice after his RSD Enterprises Rocket No. 25 developed engine problems during heat competition. He secured a transfer spot, but a broken rocker arm and bent lifter prompted a motor swap prior to the feature. “We weren’t gonna take a chance (running a repaired powerplant),” said Clanton, whose crew received assistance with the engine change from fellow racers Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., plus McCreadie’s chief mechanic Tommy Grecco. Things didn’t get much better for Clanton when the main began. The race’s 13th starter lost several positions in the opening laps, putting him in a huge hole. But Clanton fought his way out. “We went with a little harder tire, and when it took off we were good,” said Clanton, who cracked the top five by lap 21. “I tightened the car up to run the bottom and we started making up ground down there.” Clanton moved into serious contention on lap 31, passing Lanigan for second. He quickly ran down Frank, who had overtaken Lanigan for the lead on lap 12. With a powerful surge to the inside of turns three and four, Clanton slid by Frank’s Lester Buildings Rocket No. 1* to assume command as lap 39 was scored. But later that same circuit Frank made contact with Clanton entering turn three, causing Clanton to spin in the middle of the track. “He got a good run down the backstraightaway,” Clanton said of Frank. “He got in there a little hot, and I didn’t see him. He got in my door and spun me out.” What was going through Clanton’s mind as his bid for victory was seemingly spinning away? “Kill Chub,” quipped Clanton, who is friendly with Frank. “I passed him clean, and then he got into me. I was mad, but that’s racing.” A caution flag flew as Clanton lost control of his car, but after spinning 360 degrees he blended into the field and tore off. WoO LMS competition director Bret Emrick then made the controversial decision to put Clanton back in the lead for the ensuing restart, reasoning that Clanton had not lost his forward momentum and thus couldn’t be blamed for precipitating the caution flag. “They threw a caution, but I never stopped turning,” described Clanton. “I kept the wheels going. I just stepped on the gas and spun it around 360. “I guess a lot of guys see it a couple different ways, but I feel like it was the right call.” So did Frank, who stood to regain the top spot if Clanton had been banished to the rear of the field. The local favorite accepted full responsibility for Clanton’s spin. “He passed me, and then I thought, Well, that bottom must be good, so I drove down there,” said Frank, who started from the pole position after winning the dash. “He slid up (entering turn three) and I got a run back underneath him. He thought I was on the outside, though, so he didn’t see me underneath him and we got together. “I felt real bad. I definitely didn’t want to spin him out and make him lose the race, plus he’s in the points deal. “I was so glad he got his position back and went on to win the race,” added Frank, who was hampered by a right-front suspension problem during the race’s late stages. “I know he just kept rotating, so he never stopped – and that means he deserved to get his spot back.” But Clanton didn’t parlay his new lease on life into a runaway victory. He pulled ahead on the restart, but, on lap 41, Lanigan, who had laps 1-11, used an outside charge to move back in front. “I don’t know if I killed the tires doing that 360,” analyzed Clanton. “But Lanigan got going back on the top (of the half-mile oval) and had a better car then.” Lanigan, 36, had his Lanigan Autosports Rocket No. 29 a half-straightaway ahead of Clanton when he took the white flag. Then disaster struck. When Lanigan barreled into turn one in the outside groove, he suddenly found Ashville, N.Y., veteran Dick Barton’s car directly in his path. Barton, a WoO LMS winner on July 1 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., had slowed with engine trouble. Lanigan slammed into the back of Barton’s machine, crushing the right side bodywork of his car. “When you’re going that fast, you’re already committed to a line,” said Lanigan. “You ain’t gonna change it at the last minute when somebody is crawling along in front of you. There was nothing I could do to avoid that guy.” Lanigan managed to keep his mount moving, however, and was still ahead of Clanton on the backstretch when the caution lights winked on for Barton’s stricken No. 28b. He was not happy to see the race’s sixth and final caution flag displayed; he felt it ended his only chance of holding on for the win. With his car’s right-front suspension significantly damaged, Lanigan knew he couldn’t stay in front for long during a green-white-checkered finish that extended the event to 51 scored laps. “They (the starter) already threw the white flag, so we (should) race back to the checker,” reasoned Lanigan. “Every race we’ve been to, if something happens after the leader starts the white-flag lap, we race back to the checker. “Last night we raced back to the checker (after second-place Billy Moyer spun in turn four on the final lap). Tonight they throw a yellow and we don’t race back.” Lanigan restarted at the head of the pack, but, hampered by an ill-handling car, he immediately ceded the lead to Clanton between turns one and two. He continued fading over the remaining distance and crossed the finish line eighth. “I thought he had a shot at holding on if he parked it on the bottom,” Clanton said of Lanigan. “But he couldn’t hold it there. He slid up and we got under him.” Clanton rolled to his first WoO LMS win since Oct. 26, 2005, at Golden Isles Speedway in Waycross, Ga. The victory also allowed him to move within 28 points of McCreadie, who finished a quiet seventh, with two events remaining on the tour’s ’06 schedule. “It feels good,” said Clanton. “There’s two more races to go and we have a little momentum. I got a chance now (in the points race).” Chasing Clanton across the finish line was Blair, who won the last dirt Late Model points championship at Tri-City, in 1997. He backed up his third-place run in Sunday’s main with a career-best WoO LMS finish. Blair said he didn’t “know what to say about (officials) putting that guy (Clanton) back up front” after the spin, but he was pleased with his performance. “I felt like I was as good as the guys I was racing with up front,” said Blair, who started fourth in his Rocket car. “If I could keep hitting (the groove) right in (turns) one and two, I thought I could even get ‘em. “But that spot I needed to hit was only a few feet wide, and I couldn’t hit it every lap.” Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., paced the 37-car time-trial session, turning a lap of 18.888 seconds. Heat winners were Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Blair, Lanigan and Frank. Chad Ruhlman of Beemus Pt., N.Y., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., split the B-Mains.
The WoO LMS is off until visiting
Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial, Pa., on Sept.
22-23 for the Pittsburgher 100. |