McCreadie set for ‘Great Plains 50’ at Dakota State Fair Sdwy

[NickHolt]

‘Great Plains 50’ On Saturday (July 10) At Dakota State Fair Speedway Brings McCreadie Back To Site Of His Historic Victory

 

HURON, South Dakota (July 8, 2010) - Delightful memories will flood Tim McCreadie’s mind when he pulls through the pit gate of Dakota State Fair Speedway on Saturday night (July 10) for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Great Plains 50.’

 

The last time the native of Watertown, N.Y., visited the four-tenths-mile oval, after all, he made history with the renowned national tour.

 

McCreadie, 36, was an up-and-coming, second-year WoO LMS follower when he put on a breathtaking show on June 5, 2005, at DSFS, becoming the first – and still only – driver to win a series A-Main from the last starting spot. It was a performance for the ages by the former DIRTcar big-block Modified regular who would go on to win the WoO LMS championship in 2006.

 

“That was probably our most exciting win ever in a Late Model,” said McCreadie, who has become of dirt Late Model racing’s most popular drivers. “It’s tough to beat the feeling you get when you win a race from last – especially when you do it against the best guys in the country. It was definitely one of those races you remember for a long time.”

 

With McCreadie back as a WoO LMS traveler this season for the first time since his title-winning ’06 campaign, he’s anxious for the opportunity to return to his personal hallowed ground in South Dakota. He didn’t compete in last year’s tour event at DSFS, which was won by defending WoO LMS champ Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and came just a couple weeks after McCreadie made his comeback from a serious back injury that had sidelined him for five months.

 

McCreadie can’t believe it’s been five years since his spectacular evening at DSFS, which was set up by his bad luck midway through the program. He set fast time and won a heat race to stamp him as the racer to watch, but a blown engine during the dash – an event no longer used to determine starting positions in WoO LMS A-Mains – forced him to park his fleet machine and hastily pull out a backup. Switching cars, of course, meant he had to start last in the 50-lap headliner.

 

“We didn’t get any (practice) laps on the car at all,” recalled McCreadie, the son of DIRTcar big-block Modified legend ‘Barefoot’ Bob McCreadie. “We just unloaded the car, took a guess on setup and tires, and went out there. We were just hoping to salvage the night, but I think I passed like seven or eight cars in the first 10 laps and I thought, Well, we’re gonna be alright.”

 

But did McCreadie actually think he could pull off a worst-to-first run? Not really – until his fortunes turned around for the better when a caution flag flew with just three laps remaining.

 

“Eventually I got to third and the yellow came out, and I said, ‘We might have a shot at this,’” said McCreadie. “We’d been running (leader Darrell) Lanigan and (second-place Rick) Eckert down, so during that caution I was just hoping that they didn’t know there was an outside (groove).

 

“The track was in really good shape. It rained for like three days straight (the event was, in fact, postponed one day by the wet weather) so the track was really wet and had a big cushion, and that’s where I was running. Nobody else was really running up there – and on the (final) restart those guys stayed on the bottom instead of moving up, so I went to the top and passed ‘em. We just got lucky.”

 

The victory effectively thrust McCreadie into the national dirt Late Model conversation. It was just his second WoO LMS win of the season and his career, but he went on to lead the tour with eight triumphs in 2005 and finished a head-turning third in the points standings. The 2004 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year then closed the deal the following season by winning the points crown.

 

“A lot of people in dirt Late Model racing didn’t even know who we were yet – especially people in South Dakota – when we won that race (in 2005),” said McCreadie. “That made it nice to win a race like that.”

 

McCreadie hopes he won’t need to go to such extremes to win again at DSFS this Saturday night. Considering the momentum he’s carrying into the finale of the four-race ‘Wild West Tour,’ he just might take a much smoother route to a $10,000 victory.

 

The driver known as ‘T-Mac’ is one of the hottest drivers on the WoO LMS, with three wins in his last five starts after kicking off the ‘Wild West Tour’ on Wednesday night with a triumph in the NAPA Auto Parts ‘Gopher 50’ at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. He left Deer Creek ranked second in the points standings – just 16 points behind leader Richards – and on an emotional high after becoming a father for the first time with the July 5 birth of his son Gavin Chase.

 

McCreadie will face tough competition at DSFS from his WoO LMS rivals, including his fellow former tour champions Richards (DSFS Outlaw finishes of eighth in ’05, first in ’09), Union, Ky.’s Lanigan (second, seventh) and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky. (seventh, second).

 

Other WoO LMS regulars (and their previous finishes at DSFS) include York, Pa.’s Eckert (third, fourth), Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga. (fourth, fifth), Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (13th, sixth), Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (third in ’09), Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga. (eighth in ’09), Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio (10th in ’09), Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va. (18th in ’09) and Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, who finished 20th in ’09 when she became the first female driver to qualify for a WoO LMS A-Main through a heat race. Rookie sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., is this year’s only Outlaw traveler who will make his first career start at DSFS on Saturday night.

 

Saturday night’s program, which is sponsored by KOKK Radio and Sturdevent’s Auto Parts, will also include racing for the WISSOTA Super Stocks and Midwest Mods.

 

Pit gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. and the grandstands will be unlocked at 6 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:45 p.m. with WoO LMS time trials to immediately follow.

 

Adult general admission is $25 on race day, with juniors (youngsters 50 inches in height to 16 years of age) charged $12 and kids under 50 inches admitted free.

 

A raindate of Sun., July 11, has been established for the event.

 

Additional information is available at www.dakotapromotions.com or by calling 605-352-4848.

 

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.