WoO Late Model Series Stars Will Chase Trademark Trophy

[rebelracewriter]

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Stars Will Chase Central PA Speedway’s Trademark Trophy On Tues., July 27

 

Carved Wooden ‘Big Bear’ Provides Unique Prize For National Tour’s First-Ever Visit To Tim Bainey Sr.’s Track

 

CLEARFIELD, PA - July 22, 2010 - Tim Bainey Sr. and his son, Dan, are ready to welcome the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to their Central PA Speedway for the first time on Tues., July 27.

 

And to pique the interest of the national tour’s superstar invaders, the father-and-son team will put more on the line than just the $8,000 top prize for the evening’s 40-lap A-Main that kicks off the five-race Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek.

 

Now in their third season at the helm of the four-tenths-mile oval, the Baineys have turned a unique trophy presentation begun by their promotional predecessors into a post-race tradition. Every feature winner at the track receives a distinctive three-foot-tall, 50-pound wooden bear created for CPS by a local carver – a fact that all the drivers in the historic WoO LMS event’s field will be well aware of when the green flag drops.

 

Pocketing the first-place cash is always a racer’s primary objective, but earning a special keepsake trophy allows the sweet memory of a victory to linger on. Just ask Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., the lone WoO LMS regular who owns a Central PA Speedway ‘Big Bear’ thanks to his triumph in the track’s unsanctioned 2006 Yankee Doodle 50.

 

“I have it sitting in the living room of the house,” said Clanton, a three-time winner on this year’s WoO LMS. “It’s right there next to my trophies from the World (100 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway) and the Firecracker (100 at Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway).”

 

Clanton, 34, will be part of a star-studded group of WoO LMS travelers hoping to hoist the wooden bear after Tuesday night’s program, arguably the biggest dirt Late Model event in Central PA’s modern dirt-racing era. Built in 1969 as a dirt track, the speedway was paved in 1986 and operated under several promoters until being shortened slightly from its half-mile size and covered with clay prior to the 2006 season.

 

Tim Bainey Sr., a 52-year-old who owns a Philipsburg, Pa.-based trucking company and has a long history as both a driver and car owner in local, regional and national racing levels, purchased the track before the start of the 2008 campaign. He installed his son, Dan, 29, as the speedway’s director of operations and the two have combined to present a successful series of special events that will reach its zenith with the arrival of the WoO LMS.

 

The elder Bainey’s racing background is primarily with the pavement scene – he raced Late Models on Central PA Speedway’s asphalt, competed in ARCA Racing Series events at such famed tracks as Daytona, Pocono and Atlanta and in recent years fielded vehicles that his son, Tim Jr., drove in USAR ProCup Series and NASCAR Truck Series action – but he recognized the stature of the World of Outlaws brand name in the dirt-track world when Dan Bainey suggested it was time to host a show for the renowned series.

 

“I thought a World of Outlaws race could be huge for us and I asked my dad what he thought,” said Dan Bainey, who has served as crew chief for his father and older brother’s USAR and Truck Series racing efforts over the past decade. “He was all for it. The World of Outlaws is pretty much the NASCAR of dirt, so it’s a big deal to bring the series to our track.

 

“Ever since we announced the World of Outlaws date, it’s been the talk around here. We’re expected a huge crowd to come out.”

 

There’s plenty of room for spectators at Central PA, which has a long, high set of bleachers running the length of its homestretch and a hillside drive-in section that stretches around most of the remainder of the track. The drive-in is extremely popular for its scenic view of the action, prompting “fans to start lining up in their cars early in the morning every time we have a race,” said Dan Bainey.

 

The racetrack, meanwhile, is “big and fast,” described Clanton. “It has a little bit of everything to make it an exciting place.”

 

Clanton is one of five WoO LMS regulars with experience circling Central PA Speedway’s ribbon of dirt. He’s joined by Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (finished second in a 2008 event after going to rear twice), Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga. (fifth in 2006 Yankee Doodle 50), 2006 tour champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (17th in 2009 Yankee Doodle 50 but had to change a blown engine after a heat win) and 2009 Rookie of the Year Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, who hasn’t run a dirt Late Model at the track but does have two big-block Modified starts there.

 

Outlaws who will be seeing Central PA for the first time, meanwhile, are defending champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., Rick Eckert of York, Pa., rookie sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., and Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va. Rookie Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, expects to miss the event because she has been invited to participate in a Roush-Fenway test/tryout.

 

The WoO LMS standouts will face a tough array of regional talent – none tougher than defending O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series champion Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., who is undefeated in four 2010 appearances at Central PA. He owns victories in All-Star events on May 30, July 2 and July 3 as well as an unsanctioned event on June 20.

 

Other drivers expected to enter Tuesday’s action include Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., who has a pair of top-five finishes this season in All-Star competition at Central PA; Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., who finished third in the May 30 All-Star event; and Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y.

 

Pit gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. and spectator gates at 3:30 p.m. on Tues., July 27. On-track action is set to get the green flag at 7 p.m. and will include racing for the four-cylinder division.

 

General admission is $26 and $12 for ages 11-15, with kids 10-and-under admitted free of charge. Pit passes will be $35.

 

Central PA Speedway is located just west of Clearfield, Pa., off Interstate 80.

 

Additional info on Central PA Speedway is available by logging on to www.thebigtrack.com or calling 814-768-FLAG.

 

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