June 19th Thunder Valley

MCDOWELL STEALS THE THUNDER

Photo By Tony Hammett

June 19, 2004

By Mike Sotosky

Central City, PA.

The "Us versus Them" theme this past Saturday night at Thunder Valley Raceway's first ever World of Outlaws sanctioned "Thunder'in 50" certainly kept the overflow crowd excited and intrigued throughout the night.

Particularly during time trials and heat events as local hopes hinged on the likes of TVR regulars Scott Rhodes, Jeff Miller, Rick Singleton and Ron Delano, Jr. However, when all was said and done, the World of Outlaws and it's "Dirty Dozen" again proved why the nations premier Late Model series and its drivers are able to beat anybody and win anywhere.

Despite Rhodes' win in the four-car, 4-lap dash over Dale McDowell, Steve Francis and Rick Aukland --- which earned him the pole starting position for the feature--- it was WoO LM series points runner-up McDowell getting the jump from his outside front row starting spot. The Chicamauga, Georgia pilot proceeded to not only lead, but dominate all 50-laps of the first ever TVR/Rhodes Performance and Machine of Somerset, Pa "Thunder'in 50 to collect the $10,000 to prize.

Rhodes, Miller and the rest of the TVR "posse" were able to hang with the Outlaws early on yet the "Dirty Dozen" as a whole flexed it's collective speed and talent, and by races end had filled the entire top-ten.

Union, Kentucky driver Steve Francis in his Valvoline sponsored Dodge Intrepid crossed the line in second with Buckeye State pilot Rick Aukland coming home third. Zanesville, Ohio native and fast time qualifier Bart Hartman, piloting his Imler's Poultry and Transportation machine finished fourth. The "No Weak Links" tour 2004 continued for current Outlaw points leader Scott Bloomquist as the Mooresville, Tennessee pilot rounded out the front-five.

Rick Eckert of York, Pa. placed his Raye Vest Excavating/Ford Taurus in sixth, being one of only two Keystone State drivers to place among the top-10. Senoia, Georgia driver and Dirty Dozen member Clint Smith was seventh with nationally renowned Batesville, Arkansas driver Billy Moyer earning an eighth-place finish.

Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania's Chub Frank crossed the line in ninth as Tim McCreadie of Watertown, New York, son of legendary big-block DIRT Modified driver "Barefoot" Bob McCreadie, rounded out the top-ten.

Representing nine states, 35 competitors participated in two-lap time trials with Hartman posting the quickest time of 20.525 seconds. McDowell, Rhodes, Auckland, and Francis were the heat race winners respectively while McCreadie picked up the win in the 15-lap B-main.

Finishing Order
1. 17m Dale McDowell - Chicamauga, Georgia $10,000.
2. 15 Steve Francis - Ashland Kentucky
3. 12 Rick Auckland - Zanesville, Ohio
4. 75 Bart Hartman - Zanesville, Ohio
5. 0B Scott Bloomquist - Mooresville, Tennessee
6. 24 Rick Eckert - York, Pennsylvania
7. 44 Clint Smith - Senoia, Georgia
8. 21 Billy Moyer - Batesville, Arkansas
9. 1* Chub Frank - Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania
10. 39 Tim McCreadie - Watertown, New York
11. E1 Mike Balzano - Parkersburg, West Virginia
12. 23 John Blankenship - Williamson, West Virginia
13. 10 Gary Lyle - Hyde Park, Pennsylvania
14. 33 Scott Haus - Hamburg, Pennsylvania
15. 1 Josh Richards - Shinston, West Virginia
16. 84 Rodney Sweitzer - Stoystown, Pennsylvania
17. s9 Dan Schleiper - Sullivan, Wisconsin
18. 0 Ron Delano, Jr. - Stoystown, Pennsylvania
19. 29 Darrell Lanigan - Union, Kentucky
20. 57 Jeff Miller - McConnelstown, Pennsylvania
21. 47F Earl French - Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania
22. 83R Scott Rhodes - Somerset, Pennsylvania
23. 43A Tom Meyers - Greencastle, Pennsylvania
24. 47 Matt Gaston - Rochester Mills, Pennsylvania
25. S2 Tim Scenic - Elkins, West Virginia

WoO Late Models Make Second

Appearance on Dirtvision.com

June 21, 2004

By DirtVision Public Relations - Fulton, NY

After rave reviews of our first ever LIVE World of Outlaws Late Model Broadcast on Sunday 6/20, Dirtvision is bringing its production crew to Fulton Speedway for another event. Thousands of Late Model fans tuned in to see what all the excitement was about, and they were treated to an outstanding first broadcast for Dirtvision. The on-demand archive of the Orange County event should also be available on Tuesday as well. The race video coverage from Fulton Speedway will include the entire race from green to checkered flag on a next-day tape delayed basis.

As an added bonus both 56k dialup users and broadband Internet (Cable/DSL) users will be able to view the on-demand video using Windows Media Player 9. Registration at http://www.dirtvision.com/ is FREE, and fans will be able to experience what thousands of other members have been enjoying since February of this year. By registering at http://www.dirtvision.com/, you are also automatically entered into the Mario Andretti Racing School Getaway in Las Vegas, NV. Full details and rules will be posted on the website later this week.

If you like what the Dirtvision Cybercast, please send an e-mail with your comments and suggestions to cybercasts@dirtvision.com.

Chub finishes 3rd at

ORANGE COUNTY Speedway

ECKERT TAKES ORANGE COUNTY CHECKERED FLAG

June 20, 2004

by Ted Schmidt - Middletown, NY.

York, Pa. Native Rick Eckert drove his way to victory in Wednesday night's Budweiser-Country Chevy Olds 50 World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at the Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York. Eckert forever etched his name in the World of Outlaws LM record book as became the first driver to capture a feature win in New York State during the Series' inaugural season.

The 50-lap finale came to chief starter Jim Weed's initial green flag with Ashland, KY.'s Steve Francis and Eckert sitting on the front row. Francis grabbed the early lead with Eckert setting off in hot pursuit and led the first six laps before Eckert made what would be the winning pass. Rick dropped underneath Francis down the backstretch, then completed the pass as the two long-time veterans of Late Model racing raced side by side out of the fourth turn.

Once out front Eckert was able to pull away from Francis as Rick's Rocket chassied Raye Vest Excavating #24 was exceptionally strong as he was able to pull away from Francis. With the first 33 laps of the event running off without a caution flag, the top-five running order carried no changes from the time Eckert took the lead on lap seven.
Due to the long green flag run, the top-five racers were spread out with no battles for position among the front runners during that time. Eckert led the event trailed by Francis, Tennesee's Scott Bloomquist, Pennsylvania's Chub Frank and Chickamaunga, Ga.'s Dale McDowell.
The first of only two caution flags to interrupt the racing action came on the 33rd lap as Clint Smith slowed to a stop on the frontstretch. Once the caution flag was displayed, Smith was able to restart the car and drive back to the pits. He rejoined the race soonafter only to finish two laps behind the field.

The rare slow down served to bunch up the field for the final 17 laps of the event. As the green flag was displayed Eckert was able to get away from Francis, who was now under heavy pressure from Scott Bloomquist. World of Outlaws Late Model Series points leader Bloomquist was all over the rear of Francis and working both high and low trying to find a way past. Bloomquist took the second spot away from Francis after three laps of side by side racing as Scott stuck an outside move in the first turn to get around the high side of Francis.
While Francis and Bloomquist were battling side by side, Eckert was able to open up a half straightaway advantage. But once Bloomquist cleared Francis he immediately began slicing into that lead as Scott was making a late race charge.

Bloomquist had his Miller Brothers Coal sponsored #0 working on the top side of the speedway and was able to use the outside groove to close down on Eckert. As the two laps to go sign was displayed to the field, Bloomquist had cut Eckert's lead in half.

The deciding moment of the event came on the 49th circuit as Eckert was attempting to lap Kerry Jones. Eckert and Jones tangled momentarily with Eckert riding up over the left side of the Jones machine. Eckert would continue on while Jones spun.

This situation prove disastrous for runner-up Bloomquist, who was forced to throw his mount sideways to avoid Jones' spinning machine. Bloomer also went around, costing him a second-place finish and dropping him to the rear of the field. When asked about the contact later, Eckert took responsibility for the incident. "He (meaning Kerry Jones) didn't do anything wrong," Eckert said. "He was trying to get out of the way and I had a run on him on the bottom and we touched."

This incident set up a final two-lap run to the checkered flag with Eckert now leading Francis, Frank, McDowell and Orange County Fair Speedway DIRT Modified star Jeff Heotzler, who was making his first ever Late Model start behind the wheel of Bloomquist's back-up car.
Eckert was able to motor away from Francis as the race restarted and run off the final two laps unchallenged to pick up his third World of Outlaws Late Model Series win of the season. Francis flashed across the line second ahead of Frank and McDowell.

DIRT Modified star Billy Decker also made his debut in the Late Model class and drove around Heotzler on the final lap to earn a fifth-place finish in his maiden voyage aboard the red no. 91 Gypsum Wholesalers entry. Jeff Heotzler placed sixth ahead of Josh Richards, Jeremy Miller, Rob Blair and Darrell Lanigan.

In victory lane Eckert gave credit for the win to his hard working pit crew. "The guys did a great job for me tonight," Eckert added. "The car was excellent, it was good all night long. I really needed to run the bottom of the track, especially once it started picking up rubber in the corners. The track was really fast tonight."

Earlier in the evening, Decker surprised the World of Outlaws' 'Dirty Dozen' when he turned the fastest lap of the evening during the time trial session. The veteran open-wheel pilot circled the 5/8-mile Hard Clay with a time of 20.918 seconds for an average speed of 107.563 mph.

Decker was the only driver among the 26 on hand to turn a lap under 21 seconds. Making this even more impressive is the fact that this was the first-ever Late Model appearance for the longtime DIRT Modified star from Unadilla, NY. Decker attributed his great run to "beginner's luck and a great team behind me. I've got to thank Jon Wight and the entire Gypsum Express team for putting this car together and giving me this opportunity. The crew put in a lot of time to make this happen," Decker said.

Prior to the start of the racing action, Strictly Dirt, an organization made up of area race fans who have tried to share their love for the sport and give something back, hosted a barbeque to benefit World of Outlaws Late Model driver Chubb Frank.

Earlier in the year Frank lost the majority of his racing equipment and supplies in a devastating fire at his garage which nearly wiped out the entire race team. Showing the determination of the champion that he is, Frank has not let the setback deter him from honoring his commitment of being part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series as he remains a loyal member of the "Dirty Dozen" and plans to compete in every event on the 2004 Tour.

When questioned about the benefit Frank said he felt honored that the dirt racing community was coming together to show it's support. "I am very appreciative of any kind of help," Frank said. "I just want to thank everyone who has stepped up in the past few months and supported us."

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series concludes it's first trip to New York State with Fulton Speedway hosting a 50-lap full-fender finale on Monday, June 21. A complete program of Late Model action includes time trials, qualifying races, consolation rounds and an A-Main paying $10,000-to-win.

Check out the current 2004 WoO LM Series schedule posted on the world wide web by clicking www.worldofoutlawslatemodelseries.com or select www.fultonspeedway.com for further information. The speedway can be contacted directly at 315/593-6531.

WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL SERIES
SUMMARY EVENT NO. 17

FEATURE(50 LAPS): 24-RICK ECKERT ($10,000), 15-Steve Francis, *1-Chub Frank, 17m-Dale McDowell, 91-Billy Decker, 00-Jeff Heotzler, 1-Josh Richards, 24m-Jeremy Miller, w11-Robbie Blair, 29-Darrell Lanigan, 12-Rick Aukland, 75-Bart Hartman, 21-Billy Moyer, e1-Mike Balzano, 39-Tim McCreadie, 0-Scott Bloomquist, 23-John Blankenship, 07-Brent Rhebergen, 44-Clint Smith, s9-Dan Schlieper, 6-Kerry Jones, 99-Allan Kellogg, 12j-Jeremy Stone, 1b-Boom Briggs.

Chub Finishes 2nd at

Fulton Speedway

Bloomquist Extends Winning Record

June 21, 2004

by Tom Skibinski - Fulton, NY

Photos by Mike Johnson

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series closed out its maiden voyage through the Empire State and it was five-time national champion Scott Bloomquist extending his record coast-to-coast with a command performance in the 60-lap A-Main held Monday night at Fulton Speedway.

"It's nice to finally get up to this area for a race, there's a lot of good tracks and I think the people around here want to see us put on a show," said Bloomquist, 40, who began his career racing dirt late models in California. 2004 marks his 25th season of full-fender activity. "I'm already looking forward to coming back (to Syracuse) in October."
While Bloomquist led all but two laps in the feature, it was only the text book ending that went as originally planned. Despite steering one of the fastest cars throughout the night, Bloomer first had to repeat his time trial run when his transponder (electronic timing mechanism) fell off the car and then overcome a power outage at the track which delayed the LM program for more than an hour.

"I think we had the best time on the first run but the transponder came off and we had to come back out," noted Bloomquist, who still set the third quickest time in his second attempt behind WoO regulars Steve Francis and Billy Moyer. Francis' only other top time trial was posted in the Series grand-opening at Volusia Speedway Park during the Florida Winter Tour last February.

"We had a really good car the rest of the night. We won our heat and then the dash to get the front row start. After that it was just a matter of keeping it together and staying out of trouble for the distance," Bloomquist said.

Photos by Mike Johnson

With 29 cars signed in, Francis circled the banked 3/8-mile clay oval in a time of 15.832 sec. for an average speed of 85.270 mph. Moyer (15.939) was second fastest followed by Bloomquist (15.968) and WoO LM Rookie of the Year contender and DIRT Modified mainstay Tim McCreadie (15.997) --- the only other cars to clear the 16-second barrier.

Bloomquist returned to dispose of the top-two finishers in the three qualifying heat races as he dominated the preliminary dash to earn the pole-position start for the main event.

Bloomer out-dragged front row partner Moyer when the initial green flag waved although Moyer edged ahead by a bumper as the pair crossed the line to complete lap one. The 'Dirty Dozen' duo swapped the lead the next two circuits before Bloomquist wrestled it away for good using the low lane on lap four.

Just as Bloomquist forged the final lead change, McCreadie's teammate Vic Coffey looped his Sweeteners Plus mount between the first and second turn to incur the initial caution period. With five laps scored it was Bloomer leading Mike Balzano and Moyer with Francis and WoO LM Series points leader Dale McDowell in close pursuit.
Touring stars Dan Schlieper and Chub Frank cracked the top-five with 10 laps logged and settled in behind the leaders when a second yellow flag flew on the 13th circuit to erase Bloomquist's nearly straightaway advantage. Pennsylvanian Robbie Blair and New Yorker Brent Rhebergen were involved in the turn four incident to force the slowdown while Schlieper was forced pitside for the remainder with a bent front end.

After fading to fifth, Francis followed Schlieper's early exit just three laps later as a broken driveshaft ended any chance of victory. A third of the way through Bloomquist maintained a comfortable lead over 11th-place starter Frank, Balzano, Moyer and McCreadie and at the halfway point veteran Rick Aukland had tracked down Bloomquist and Frank, with Moyer and a hard-charging Bart Hartman filling the new top-five.
After bringing out a caution flag for a minor spin on lap 22, Brady Wonderling stopped at the back stretch pit lane exit to send yellow lights flashing around the speedway for the fifth and final time with 18 laps to go. Only 14 cars remained trackside for the lap 43 restart with 10 scored on the lead lap.

Bloomquist wasted little time opening up another sizable margin between the trailing pack although Frank tried to use some late-race traffic to slice into the lead as the laps dwindled. Hartman was also searching for the fastest way around and found the high line to his liking as he took over fourth-place 10 laps from the end.

Yet with Bloomer consistently clinging to the low lane lap after lap, the order remained intact during the final stages. Under the checkers it was the potent no. 0 Miller Bros. Coal-Hawkeye Trucking/Ford Taurus entry besting the 25-car field for a $10,000 paycheck while Frank, Aukland, Hartman and Moyer settled into top point positions 10 car-lengths back.

"We race at so many tracks its just a matter of watching how they change from practice until the dash to decide on a feature set-up," said Bloomquist, as he explained his pre-race strategy in victory lane following his third tour win of the season. "The tracks are usually so different from start to finish and with so many tire compounds we just try to take the best guess and hope the track turns out like we figured. Tonight was one we had in our favor from the start."

The third straight day of full-fender competition continued to showcase the World of Outlaws LM Series 'Dirty Dozen' as Fulton's main event featured all 12 drivers on the starting grid. The top-five finishers were among that elite group as were McDowell (7th), Balzano (8th), Darrell Lanigan (9th), Rick Eckert (10th), Clint Smith (14th), Francis (16th) and Schlieper (22nd).

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series continues its trek across the Northeast with Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio hosting the all-star traveling show on Saturday, June 26. Check out the rest of 2004 WoO LM Series schedule and points standings posted on the world wide web by clicking www.worldofoutlawslatemodelseries.com for the most up-to-date information.

WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL SERIES
SUMMARY EVENT NO. 18

FEATURE(60 LAPS): 0-SCOTT BLOOMQUIST ($10,000), *1-Chub Frank, 12-Rick Aukland, 75-Bart Hartman, 21-Billy Moyer, 39-Tim McCreadie, 17m-Dale McDowell, e1-Mike Balzano, 29-Darrell Lanigan, 24-Rick Eckert, w11-Robbie Blair, 1r-Josh Richards, 91-Billy Decker, 44-Clint Smith, 11-Brady Wonderling, 15-Steve Francis, 23-John Blankenship, 6-Kerry Jones, 32c-Vic Coffey, z1-Mike Wonderling, 24m-Jeremy Miller, s9-Dan Schlieper, 07r-Brent Rhebergen, 7ny-Alan Sagi, 66m-Mike Christopher.

TIME TRIALS: STEVE FRANCIS (15.832 sec./85.270 mph), Billy Moyer (15.939), Scott Bloomquist (15.968), Tim McCreadie (15.997), Robbie Blair (16.089), Rick Eckert (16.104), Vic Coffey (16.107), Bart Hartman (16.126), Billy Decker (16.169), Jeremy Miller (16.203), Chub Frank (16.266), Mike Balzano (16.296), Dale McDowell (16.387), Clint Smith (16.429), Brent Rhebergen (16.512), Dan Schlieper (16.527), Josh Richards (16.533), John Blankenship (16.544), Mike Christopher (16.595), Rick Aukland (16.642), Brady Wonderling (16.674), Darrell Lanigan (16.681), Kerry Jones (16.727), Ed Carley (16.798), Mike Wonderling (16.874), Alan Sagi (16.963), Lou Johnson (17.171), Dave Zona (17.325), John Ritter (18.529).

HEAT 1: Francis, McDowell, McCreadie, Schlieper, M.Wonderling, Christopher.
HEAT 2: Moyer, Hartman, Blair, Frank, Jones, Aukland.
HEAT 3: Bloomquist, Balzano, Eckert, Rhebergen, Blankenship, B.Wonderling.
LAST CHANCE: Lanigan, Decker, Smith, Miller, Richards.
DASH: Bloomquist, Moyer, Francis, Balzano, Hartman, McDowell.
PROVISIONALS: Sagi, Coffey.

Photos by Mike Johnson

Don’t forget to stop by merchandise.

Chub Frank Racing

Rt.1 Box 146

Lottsville Niobe Rd.

Bear Lake, PA 16402