Post by Racerchaser on Aug 25, 2010 18:11:16 GMT -5
Kevin Kovac
BREWERTON, N.Y. (August 24) - Ricky Elliott is a winner on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series - finally.
The 44-year-old driver from Seaford, Del., made his long-awaited breakthrough on Tuesday night, ending his dogged pursuit of victory on the national tour with a dramatic win in the second annual 'Dirt Demon 50' at Brewerton Speedway.
Driving the Super Deuce Racing Rocket No. 2, Elliott outdueled WoO LMS stars Rick Eckert of York, Pa., Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., to join the elite group of racers with an Outlaw triumph on their resume. He secured the lead from Clanton lap 39 and held off Eckert's late-race bid to bank a payday of $10,575, including the $500 'Bonus Bucks' cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hadn't previously won a series event and wasn't ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.
"This is absolutely fantastic," said Elliott, whose list of near-wins in limited WoO LMS appearances over the past six years included a previous personal-best finish of second on July 8, 2005, at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. "Any time you win a race it's great, but this is my first World of Outlaws win so for me it ranks right up there with winning the big-block (Modified Super DIRTcar Series event at The Dirt Track at) Charlotte (in 2004). It's one of the biggest thrills of my racing career."
Elliott dedicated his win to the memory of the late Jack Starrette, a prolific dirt Late Model owner and sponsor from Augusta, Ga., who died on Aug. 19 at the age of 78 from severe injuries suffered when he fell from a front-end loader at the Starrette Trucking sand pit. Elliott received sponsorship support from Starrette and drove a Starrette-owned car several times over the past three years.
Eckert, 44, crossed the finish line 0.548 of a second behind Elliott in second place, just a car length ahead of the charging Clanton. The 34-year-old Clanton, who advanced from the seventh starting spot to lead laps 19-36 and lap 38, settled for third place.
Lanigan started from the pole position and led the race's first 18 laps, but he slipped to fourth at the finish. That was good enough, however, to push him into the WoO LMS points lead by two markers over defending champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who struggled to an 11th-place finish after an incorrect tire-compound choice caused him to tumble backward from the third starting spot and eventually pit for a tire change on lap 34.
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., completed the top five, charging forward to finish fifth after starting 18th. It was his second consecutive top-five run.
Elliott's triumph came in just his third WoO LMS A-Main start of 2010 behind the wheel of a car fielded by four partners from the Indianapolis area, including former Empire State resident Leo Milus, and currently maintained by veteran DIRTcar big-block Modified mechanic Randy Kisacky of Johnson City, N.Y. He steered the machine to a 14th-place finish on June 20 at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway and a third on Aug. 19 at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, N.Y.
The Super Deuce Racing mount is slated to eventually be driven by former IndyCar and USAC star Andy Michener, but Elliott was commissioned to help the new team get headed in the right direction. He proved the Custom-powered car is more than capable with a virtually flawless performance at the one-third-mile, D-shaped Brewerton oval, sweeping the night by preceding his feature win with a fast-time award and heat-race victory.
"We had a great car tonight and that's because we have some really good people working on it," said Elliott, a former DIRTcar big-block Modified regular. "With Randy Kisacky - who knows this track because he comes here all the time (for Modified races) - and Mark Zekalowski - a buddy of mine from Charlotte, N.C., who's come back up here to help me - putting their brain-power together, we have something going on."
Elliott, who started fourth, kept his car glued to Brewerton's inside groove to come out on top of an entertaining race slowed by five caution flags. His insistence on running the hub was the key to his success.
"I knew I had to hold the bottom," said Elliott, who won using American Racer tires. "I wanted to move up bad when Shane passed me (for second on lap 14), but I said, 'No, I'm just gonna hang out here on the bottom.' It just got slicker and slicker and slicker and I got a good rhythm going, and that got me into the lead.
"Then I hit the (uke) tire down (on the inside of turn two) with two (laps) to go and I said, 'Oh ----, I'm gonna give it away,'" he added. "Fortunately I held on to it and was able to stay ahead of Eckert and Clanton."
Eckert, who started sixth in his Team Zero by Bloomquist car, couldn't take advantage of Elliott's misstep.
"Ricky and I looked like we had about equal cars," said Eckert, who reached second place when he swept past Clanton on a lap-39 restart. "When he caught that uke tire off two with a couple laps to go I thought he was gonna try to give it to me. I was gonna wheel it out there and try to go around him, but he collected it right up."
Eckert remained close to Elliott rounding turn four with the white flag flying, but Elliott snuck by the lapped car driven by Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on the homestretch to give himself just enough breathing room. Eckert cleared George between turns one and two but spent the remainder of the circuit primarily racing Clanton.
"I was right with (Elliott) off four on the last lap, but he caught Jill and knocked her out of the way on the frontstraightway and I got held up there behind her for a second," said Eckert, who recorded his second runner-up finish during the three-race WoO LMS Northeast swing. "Then I turned in under her (in the first corner) and Clanton went around the pair of us on the top, so I had to fend him off for the last lap. It had to be pretty exciting for the fans."
Clanton made his last-ditch effort with a Rocket car that was less than 100 percent.
"We had a pretty good race car," said Clanton. "We got the lead and I thought I was O.K., but me and (Austin) Hubbard got together (as Clanton lapped Hubbard on lap 31) and it knocked the toe-in out a little bit. I guess it bent a spindle and it quit steering."
DIRTcar big-block star Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., finished sixth, running just outside the top five for virtually the entire distance. Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., salvaged a seventh-place finish after starting the night in a hole because a dead battery caused him to miss time trials, while John Lobb of Frewsburg, N.Y., placed a solid eighth. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., struggled to a ninth-place finish after drawing a caution flag on lap 11 and then pitting to change a tire and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., rounded out the top 10.
The most serious of the event's five caution flags involved Lanigan and Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., who used a provisional to start 24th but was making an inside-lane bid for fourth place on lap 43 when he tangled with Lanigan in turn three. Stone's car sustained a broken right-front suspension from the contact with Lanigan, sending Stone straight across the track and causing Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who had run in the top five for the entire race, to spin to avoid him. Fuller's night ended moments later when the nose of his car was bent by a hit from Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, who slid sideways into the pileup.
Elliott was quickest of the 29 cars that were signed in for Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, lapping the bullring in 14.619 seconds. It was his third career fast-time honor on the WoO LMS but first since 2005, when he topped qualifying on Feb. 17 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barbersville, Fla., and June 30 at Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway.
Heat winners were Elliott, Richards and Lanigan, and Lobb captured the B-Main.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (4) Ricky Elliott/50 $10,575
2. (6) Rick Eckert/50 $5,500
3. (7) Shane Clanton/50 $3,500
4. (1) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,100
5. (18) Clint Smith/50 $2,500
6. (5) Billy Decker/50 $1,700
7. (17) Vic Coffey/50 $1,400
8. (19) John Lobb/50 $1,350
9. (10) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,800
10. (8) Chub Frank/50 $1,600
11. (3) Josh Richards/50 $1,650
12. (20) Larry Wight/50 $1,000
13. (9) Dale Planck/50 $950
14. (15) Greg Oakes/50 $900
15. (14) Steve Francis/50 $1,450
16. (11) Austin Hubbard/49 $1,550
17. (22) Dale Caswell/49 $770
18. (12) Alan Fink/49 $800
19. (16) Jill George/46 $730
20. (24) Dan Stone/42 $700
21. (2) Tim Fuller/42 $1,200
22. (21) Russell King/37 $1,200
23. (23) Rick 'Boom' Briggs/32 $700
24. (13) Dave Zona/20 $725
Time of Race: 40 Mins., 33.514 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.548 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 5 (Laps 11, 21, 34, 39, 43)
Lap Leaders: Lanigan (1-18); Clanton (19-36); Elliott (37); Clanton (38); Elliott (39-50)
Provisional Starters: Briggs, Stone
Rookie of the Race: Hubbard ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Elliott ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 2-Ricky Elliott/Seaford, DE 14.619
2. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 14.815
3. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 14.875
4. 91-Billy Decker/Unadilla, NY 14.964
5. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 14.978
6. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 14.987
7. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 15.027
8. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.047
9. 72-Alan Fink/Central Square, NY 15.085
10. 99z-Dave Zona/Montrose, PA 15.091
11. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 15.140
12. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 15.254
13. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 15.276
14. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 15.284
15. 99BX-Dale Planck/Homer, NY 15.299
16. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 15.314
17. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 15.332
18. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 15.406
19. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 15.423
20. 99L-Larry Wight/Baldwinsville, NY 15.498
21. 22G-Greg Oakes/Franklinville, NY 15.546
22. 1*X-Peter Mantha Jr./Gatineau, QUE 15.619
23. 714-Gordy Button/Kirkville, NY 15.739
24. 99B-Rick 'Boom' Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 15.821
25. R19-Dale Caswell/Central Square, NY 15.832
26. M7-Sean Beardsley/Central Square, NY 15.880
27. 13b-James Cornell/Harpersville, NY 16.416
28. 70-Michael Trapp/Gouverneur, NY 16.430
29. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY N/T
Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Elliott, Decker, Clanton, McCreadie, Zona, George, Stone, Mantha, Caswell, Trapp
Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Richards, Fuller, Frank, Hubbard, Francis, Coffey, King, Wight, Button, Beardsley
Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Lanigan, Eckert, Planck, Fink, Oakes, Smith, Lobb, Briggs, Cornell
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Lobb, Wight, King, Caswell, Stone, Mantha, Button, Beardsley, Cornell, Trapp (DNS) Briggs