Darrell Lanigan won from the outside pole in Thursday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Brighton Speedway. Photo courtesy WoO LMS Media
One bad outing was enough for Darrell Lanigan.
Rebounding from an uncharacteristic subpar performance the previous evening, the defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion drove to a dominating victory in Thursday night’s Excel Tower Series 50 Presented by Dibbits Excavating, Campbellford Chrysler and J.J. Stewart Motors at Brighton Speedway in Brighton, Ontario.
Lanigan, 43, of Union, KY, roared off the outside pole starting spot to grab the lead from front-row mate Josh Richards of Shinnston, WV, at the initial green flag and never looked back. His two-race-old Rocket Chassis machine became stronger as the race wore on, propelling him to a convincing 3.187-second margin of victory over Richards.
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., advanced from the seventh starting spot to finish a season-best third and Dan Stone of Thompson, PA, placed fourth for his second consecutive top-five finish on the WoO LMS. Shane Clanton of Zebulon, GA, completed the top five after starting 12th.
The $10,650 triumph in Brighton’s first-ever WoO LMS event was Lanigan’s tour-leading fifth of the 2013 season. It came almost exactly 24 hours after he was nearly lapped while struggling to a 14th-place finish in a WoO LMS event at Fonda (NY) Speedway.
“We struggled to death last night, so man, it definitely pays off to work hard,” said Lanigan, whose streak of seven straight top-three finishes ended at Fonda. “Me, (chief mechanic) Jason (Jameson) and (crewman) Adam (Logan) put our heads together and we came up with a pretty good plan. We put some stuff that Jason learned last week on (a car) he drove and it definitely works good.
“I’m telling you – that car there was unbelievable. The car would just go anywhere. It didn’t matter if you were top, bottom – wherever, it was unbelievable.”
Lanigan’s impeccable mount was the same car he debuted so inauspiciously the previous night at Fonda. Everything the car didn’t do in its first racetrack appearance it did flawlessly in Canada.
“I thought we were good (at the start),” said Lanigan, “and then we moved to the bottom and got really good. I could actually run through the corner and not hardly even lift. It was just unreal.”
Richards, 25, stayed within a few car lengths of Lanigan during the race’s first 24 laps, which were slowed by caution flags for Gil Tegg Jr. of Rochester, NY (slowed in turn three on lap six); a turn-two tangle involving seventh-place Tim Fuller of Watertown, NY, and the lapped Jon Rohacevich of Prattsville, NY (lap 18); and Larry Wight of Phoenix, NY (slid to a stop high in turn four). But over the final 26 green-flag circuits Lanigan pulled away with ease.
“I knew I had a big lead,” said Lanigan, whose increased his alltime-best WoO LMS win total to 46. “But I could just roll right through the center and be just as good, so I just kept rolling.”
Richards conceded that Lanigan was the class of the field.
“I knew after we made one corner that we just didn’t tighten up enough (for the feature),” said Richards, who extended his WoO LMS points lead to 32 points over Clanton. “I’m frustrated that we started on the pole and got beat, but Darrell just had the better car and beat us tonight.
“The track had a lot more grip in it earlier and we really didn’t adjust our car enough for later. We just kind of left it alone. It still drove really good, but it just wasn’t quite right for that (slicker) condition in the feature.
“The track had shiny spots and traction spots and as long as I hit the traction spots I was fine,” he added. “The longer the race went on, though, the black (shiny) spots got a lot wider. I was a little too free in those spots, but Darrell could go right through them and maneuver through lapped real good.”
Beyond the top-two finishers, Frank, 51, was story of the race. He enjoyed his best outing of the season, reaching third by lap 20 and holding strong to the show position for the remainder of the distance.
“It was a good run for us,” said Frank. “We were a little tight if we slowed down and loose if we ran in there hard like them (leaders) were, but we’re happy. (Lanigan and Richards) are the two guys that you gotta beat, so I guess finishing behind them is almost like a win – for us anyway right now.”
Finishing in positions 6-10 was Rick Eckert of York, PA, who quietly inched forward from the 10th starting spot; WoO LMS rookie Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, who started third and briefly nosed ahead of Richards for second on two restarts before falling from the top five late after he was forced off the track’s wall-less backstretch; Bub McCool of Vicksburg, MS, who was celebrating his 36th birthday; Andrew Reaume of Blenheim, Ont.; and 17th-starter Billy Decker of Unadilla, NY.
Thirty-six cars were signed in for the evening’s action.
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Wells earned his second WoO LMS fast-time honor of 2013 in what was his first-ever start at a track in Canada.
Heat winners Richards, McCool, Fuller and Reaume, who became just the second Canadian driver in WoO LMS history to claim a heat. The B-Mains were captured by Decker and Corey Earl of Picton, Ont.
The WoO LMS will be silent for two days before returning to action on Sunday night (June 23) at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway. The 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event brings the tour back to the quarter-mile oval after a one-year absence caused by wet weather in 2012.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit worldofoutlaws.com.
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Brighton Speedway – Brighton, Ontario
Race Results – June 20, 2013
1. (2) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,650
2. (1) Josh Richards/50 $5,650
3. (7) Chub Frank/50 $3,600
4. (5) Dan Stone/50 $2,500
5. (12) Shane Clanton/50 $2,550
6. (10) Rick Eckert/50 $2,400
7. (3) Morgan Bagley/50 $2,250
8. (6) Bub McCool/50 $1,850
9. (4) Andrew Reaume/50 $1,750
10. (17) Billy Decker/50 $1,100
11. (15) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,700
12. (8) Tim Fuller/50 $1,550
13. (9) Eric Wells/50 $1,750
14. (11) Clint Smith/49 $1,450
15. (13) Charlie Sandercock/49 $1,300
16. (18) Corey Earl/49 $850
17. (16) Larry Wight/49 $770
18. (19) John Mason/48 $750
19. (20) Greg Belyea/48 $780
20. (22) Philip Potts/47 $700
21. (14) Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/33 $700
22. (23) Jon Rohacevich/18 $700
23. (21) Greg Oakes/16 $700
24. (24) Gil Tegg Jr./6 $725
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