Lanigan Turns Back McCreadie & Bagley to Win World of Outlaws Late Model Series Return to Brown County Speedway
Series Points Leader Survives Challenges to Score Ninth Victory of 2014
By Joshua Joiner, WoO LMS P.R. Coordinator
ABERDEEN, S.D. – July 15, 2014 – Darrell Lanigan may have led every lap of Tuesday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series race at Brown County Speedway, but collecting his ninth A-Main victory of the season was far from easy for the two-time series champion and current points leader.
Lanigan, 44, of Union, Ky., survived heavy pressure from Tim McCreadie midway through the 50-lap race and later turned back Morgan Bagley’s late charge to claim his second consecutive series victory in front of near-capacity crowd at the third-mile oval that hosted its first WoO LMS event since 2008.
Lanigan, who also won Sunday’s A-Main at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., led by 1.097 seconds at the finish in claiming the third of four races on the WoO LMS Wild West Tour.
“The car was good tonight, just got stuck in that lapped traffic a little bit,” said Lanigan, who added to his lead atop the national tour’s all-time wins list with his 62nd career WoO LMS victory. “McCreadie got up there on the outside of me and I had to move up a little bit. The car got better once I moved up and it definitely got better at the end.”
Advancing from his seventh starting spot, Bagley of Tyler, Texas, pressured Lanigan following the race’s only restart with 10 laps remaining. But the second-year WoO LMS competitor again came up one position short of claiming his first series victory in finishing runner-up to Lanigan for the second straight race.
Fifth-starting McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., was third at the finish after recovering from near disaster when he slipped over the banking while attempting to drive around Lanigan on lap 33. Third-starting Rick Eckert or York, Pa., finished fourth while sixth-starting Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., rounded out the top in a race slowed by one caution.
McCreadie gave Lanigan his biggest challenge when he chased down the leader in traffic just before the race’s halfway point. McCreadie took multiple looks under Lanigan amid heavy traffic between laps 25 and 30 before switching to the high groove once the leaders reached clear track.
McCreadie’s high line appeared to be quicker than Lanigan’s lane around the bottom of the track, but his bid to take the lead was denied when Lanigan also switched to the high side entering turn one on lap 33.
Lanigan’s abrupt lane switch forced McCreadie up the track and over the banking, effectively ending his chance at victory even though he maintained control of his car and drove back on the racetrack in the fourth position.
McCreadie recovered to move by Eckert for third late in the race but couldn’t run down Lanigan and Bagley in the closing laps. He settled for third but wasn’t pleased with the lap-33 incident.
“He’s doing whatever it takes to win and that’s what we gotta start doing I guess,” said McCreadie, who’s currently third in the WoO LMS points standings with just one victory on the year. “It’s tough. Sometimes it’s like he’s got eyes in the back of his head. I never would’ve thought he could’ve went to the top when I poked him on the bottom for five laps. But he’s good right now; we just gotta get better.”
Lanigan said he was aware that McCreadie was looking to his outside, but he felt he had moved back ahead of his challenger before making his move to the top groove.
“I knew it was close, but I thought I had him clear there when I moved up,” Lanigan said. “I don’t think I touched him. I think he kind of ran out of room up there and went over the lip a little bit. The lip’s really bad when you get to the top up there.”
Continuing his upswing on the series, Bagley, last year’s runner-up in the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year chase, notched his third straight top-five finish and his sixth top-10 result in the past seven series races. He was happy to score another solid finish but frustrated to once again fall just shy of a breakthrough victory.
“Maybe one night the tables will turn and you can talk to me first and Darrell second,” Bagley told WoO LMS announcer Ben Shelton during his post-race interview. “We got a good program working here, just trying to stick with it and do a little fine tuning and not get too far out of the ballpark.”
Fast qualifier Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., who won the Wild West Tour opener at Hibbing (Minn.) Raceway on July 10, notched his third straight top-10 finish on the tour with a sixth-place performance. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., was seventh, while leading series rookie Frank Heckenast Jr. placed eighth. Second-starting Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., dropped to ninth at the finish with hometown driver Kent Arment rounding out the top 10.
The race’s only caution occurred with 40 laps complete when Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., slowed woes on the front straightaway before heading to the pit area.
With three of four Wild West Tour events complete, World of Outlaws Late Model Series competitors head north to River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., for the Wild West Tour finale Friday night. The $10,000-to-win event is the tour’s only stop in North Dakota this season.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Fans can also follow the WoO LMS on Twitter at Twitter.com/WoOLateModels and Facebook at Facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws.
Results of World of Outlaws Late Model Series Wild West Tour event at Brown County Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (1) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,575
2. (7) Morgan Bagley/50 $5,550
3. (5) Tim McCreadie/50 $3,500
4. (3) Rick Eckert/50 $3,050
5. (6) Tim Fuller/50 $2,050
6. (10) Jimmy Mars/50 $1,700
7. (4) Chub Frank/50 $2,050
8. (15) Frank Heckenast Jr./50 $2,100
9. (2) Eric Wells/50 $1,750
10. (13) Kent Arment/50 $1,600
11. (8) Brady Smith/49 $1,150
12. (9) David McDonald/49 $1,000
13. (17) Chase Junghans/49 $1,500
14. (21) Clint Smith/49 $1,450
15. (12) Jordan Yaggy/49 $950
16. (11) Boom Briggs/49 $1,350
17. (16) Lance Matthees/47 $770
18. (19) Chad Becker/44 $750
19. (24) Mike Stadel/44 $730
20. (20) Shane Clanton/39 $1,250
21. (23) Brian Diede/35 $700
22. (14) John Winge/32 $700
23. (22) Dustin Virkus/20 $700
24. (18) Pat Weisgram/10 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 16 Mins., 02Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.097 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (lap 40)
Lap Leaders: Lanigan (1-50)
Provisional Starters: Diede, Stadel
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Ament ($500)
WoO LMS Rookie Bonus: Heckenast ($250)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 28m-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, Wis., 13.205
2. 18-Eric Wells/Hazard, Ky., 13.210
3. 1-Rick Eckert/York, Pa., 13.237
4. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, N.Y., 13.257
5. 99B-Boom Briggs/Bear Lake, Pa., 13.272
6. 77-Jordan Yaggy/Rochester, Minn., 13.336
7. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, Ky., 13.336
8. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, Pa., 13.404
9. 52x-David McDonald/Huron, S.D., 13.410
10. 90-Lance Matthees/Winona, Minn., 13.422
11. 17j-John Winge/Sioux Falls, S.D., 13.533
12. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, N.Y., 13.660
13. 14m-Morgan Bagley/Tyler, Texas, 13.685
14. 99jr-Frank Heckenast Jr./Frankfort, Ill., 13.692
15. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, Wis., 13.718
16. 1QT-Brian Diede/Huron, S.D., 13.746
17. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, Ga., 13.787
18. 18c-Chase Junghans/Manhattan, Kan., 13.788
19. 32-Pat Weisgram/Aberdeen, S.D., 13.839
20. 9-Kent Arment/Aberdeen, S.D., 13.875
21. 12-Chad Becker/Aberdeen, S.D., 13.964
22. 81-Mike Stadel/Rapid City, S.D., 14.001
23. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, Ga., 14.115
24. 60-Dustin Virkus/Clarkfield, Minn., 14.134
25. 2s-Josh Skorczewski/Aberdeen, S.D., 14.172
26. 14-Shane Brick/Aberdeen, S.D., 14.527
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Lanigan, T-Mac, Bagley, Mars, Arment, Matthees, Clanton, C.Smith, Brick.
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Frank, Wells, B.Smith, Briggs, Winge, Junghans, Becker, Virkus, Thomas.
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Fuller, Eckert, McDonald, Yaggy, Heckenast, Wiesgram, Stadel, Skorczewski.
B-Main (12 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Becker, Clanton, C.Smith, Virkus, Skorczewski, Brick, Thomas, Stadel, Diede.
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners (awards presented to noted finisher/qualifier or next highest displaying decal):
Ohlins Shocks ($50 cash to fast qualifier): Jordan Yaggy
Comp Cams ($50 certificate to A-Main winner): Morgan Bagley
MSD Ignition ($50 cash to A-Main winner): Darrell Lanigan
Quartermaster ($100 certificate to A-Main winner): Tim McCreadie
Wrisco (three sheets of aluminum/certificate to A-Main winner): Darrell Lanigan
STP ($50 cash to 2nd-place finisher in A-Main): Morgan Bagley
Penske Racing Shocks ($50 to 3rd-place finisher in A-Main): Eric Wells
Roush-Yates ($50 cash to 4th-place finisher in A-Main): Rick Eckert
Mobil 1 ($50 cash to 4th-place finisher in A-Main): Chub Frank
JE Pistons ($50 cash to 5th-place finisher in A-Main): Tim Fuller
Lincoln Welders ($50 cash to 6th-place finisher in A-Main): Chub Frank
American Racing Wheels ($50 cash to 7th-place finisher in A-Main): Chub Frank
VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to 8th-place finisher in A-Main): Frank Heckenast Jr.
Edelbrock ($50 cash to 9th-place finisher in A-Main): Brady Smith
Comp Cams ($50 cash to 10th-place finisher in A-Main):Brady Smith
Cometic ($50 cash to 12th-place finisher in A-Main): Chase Junghans
JRI Shocks ($50 cash to 13th-place finisher in A-Main): Jordan Yaggy
Superflow Dynos ($50 cash to 14th-place finisher in A-Main): Clint Smith
Quartermaster ($25 certificate to 15th-place finisher in A-Main): Jordan Yaggy
JE Pistons (one set of rings certificate to 16th-place finisher in A-Main): Boom Briggs
Roush-Yates ($50 certificate to 18th-place finisher in A-Main): John Winge
Quartermaster ($50 certificate to 19th-place finisher in A-Main): Mike Stadel
Arizona Sports Shirts ($100 certificate to 20th-place finisher in A-Main): John Winge
JE Pistons (one set of rings certificate to 21st-place finisher in A-Main): John Winge
Roush-Yates ($50 certificate to 22nd-place finisher in A-Main): John Winge
MSD Ignition ($25 cash to 24th-place finisher in A-Main): Darrell Lanigan
Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO driver): Tim Fuller
2014 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 15 – 20 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 2970
2. Rick Eckert 2762 (-208)
3. Tim McCreadie 2736 (-234)
4. Morgan Bagley 2686 (-284)
5. Chub Frank 2652 (-318)
6. Eric Wells 2592(-378)
7. Shane Clanton 2580 (-390)
8. Frankie Heckenast Jr. 2538 (-432)
9. Clint Smith 2492 (-478)
10. Chase Junghans 2386 (-584)
11. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs 2350 (-620)
12. Tim Fuller 1450 (-1520)
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: American Racing Custom Wheels (Official Custom Wheel), Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), KMC (Official Custom Truck Wheel), Lincoln Welder (Official Welder), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award) and McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award); in addition to contingency sponsors: Butlerbuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, MSD, Ohlins Shocks, QuarterMaster, Roush Yates Performance Parts, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, GRT Chassis, Jake’s Carts, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue.