Lanigan Rules Independence to Claim 10th World of Outlaws Late Model Series Victory of the Season
Two-time Champion tops Heckenast to Win Independence for Third Straight Year
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa – July 24, 2014 – Darrell Lanigan is fast at almost all of the tracks on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series schedule, but he may be best at Independence Motor Speedway.
Lanigan, the two-time WoO LMS champion and current series points leader, claimed Independence’s WoO LMS event for the third straight year Thursday night, topping Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., at the 3/8-mile oval to earn $10,650 for his 10th WoO LMS victory of the season.
The second-starting Lanigan, 44, of Union, Ky., led every lap of the 50-lap race to extend his lead atop the national tour’s all-time wins list with his 63rd-career WoO LMS A-Main victory. Lanigan’s self-designed Club 29 Race Car crossed the finish line 3.2 seconds ahead of Heckenast, who also drove a Club 29 car in an event slowed by a single caution on lap 18.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., advanced from sixth to finish third in the Rocket Chassis house car. Third-starting Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., used a high-side charge to move his Rocket Chassis to second early in the race before fading back to fourth at the finish. Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., finished fifth in his Longhorn Chassis.
Starting from the outside of the front row, Lanigan pulled ahead of Heckenast on the start of the 50-lap race and used the middle groove of the racetrack to quickly build a comfortable lead on the low-running Heckenast.
The high-running McCreadie briefly closed in on Lanigan when he took second around lap 10, but he faded following the lap-18 restart.
The resurgent Heckenast pressured Lanigan as the leaders raced through traffic around race’s halfway point, but Lanigan’s superior experience showed as he knifed his way through traffic and pulled away in the second half of the race.
“He’s got a good car and he’s definitely coming on here at the end of the year,” Lanigan said of Heckenast. “I never did see his nose there, but I had a guy on the backstretch giving my signals. He gave me a big signal there at the end, so I just kinda bided my time with those lapped car.”
Heckenast, who switched to a Club 29 car in late June, fell short of claiming his first career WoO LMS victory, but the 26-year-old driver strengthened his command of the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year chase with his solid performance.
“Everything went our way and we had a pretty good night,” said Heckenast, who recorded his first top-five of the season in a WoO LMS A-Main. “Darrell, he’s got a lot of experience racing in traffic and being out front. I don’t have the confidence just yet to move around on the racetrack.
“He was so much better through traffic, so he’d get out on me. But after the restart… my car was really good. I hung with him there for a while and didn’t wanna show him everything. But he’s so good, he normally gets faster from lap 40 to 50.”
The third-place finish leaves Eckert still looking for first WoO LMS victory of the season, but the 2011 series champion was pleased with his team’s progress.
“It’s not from lack of effort because we’ve been working hard to get there,” Eckert said of the frustration of his current winless streak. “We couldn’t race by them tonight, but we were pretty close. We’ll take that.
“The guys have been working real hard and giving me a good car. Tonight was about as good as we’ve got. We had a really decent car, so I think we can work from that.”
The WoO LMS moves to Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway on Friday to kick off the Prairie Dirt Classic weekend at the popular quarter-mile oval. Friday night’s preliminary action will set the lineup for Saturday’s $25,000-to-win main event.
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 at Independence Motor Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Darrell Lanigan $10,650
2. (1) Frank Heckenast Jr. $5,850
3. (6) Rick Eckert $3,650
4. (3) Tim McCreadie $2,150
5. (4) Billy Moyer $2,200
6. (12) Jimmy Mars $1,700
7. (13) Tim Fuller $1,400
8. (10) Shane Clanton $1,850
9. (19) Eric Wells $1,750
10. (8) Morgan Bagley $1,700
11. (15) Brian Birkhofer $1,050
12. (5) Chase Junghans $1,550
13. (7) Wendell Wallace $1,450
14. (17) Clint Smith $1,450
15. (16) Boom Briggs $1,450
16. (18) Tyler Bruening $800
17. (23) Dustin Virkus $770
18. (21) Jason Rauen $750
19. (9) Spencer Diercks $730
20. (11) Chad Smith $700
21. (14) Chub Frank $700
22. (20) Curt Martin $700
23. (22) Chris Simpson $700
24. (24) Mike Fryer $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 16 Mins., 26 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 3.2 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (lap 18)
Lap Leaders: Lanigan (1-50)
Provisional Starters: Dustin Virkus, Mike Fryer
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Wendell Wallace ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 98-Jason Rauen/Farley, Iowa, 14.00
2. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, Ar., 14.04
3. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, Ky., 14.08
4. 24-Rick Eckert/York, Pa., 14.37
5. 25-Chad Simpson/Mount Vernon, Iowa, 14.40
6. 18c-Chase Junghans/Manhattan, Kan., 14.40
7. 99jr-Frank Heckenast Jr./Frankfort, Ill., 14.41
8. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, Pa., 14.41
9. 28m-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, Wis., 14.41
10. 1-Wendell Wallace/Batesville, Ark., 14.42
11. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, N.Y., 14.46
12. 29d-Spencer Diercks/Davenport, Iowa, 14.51
13. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, Ga., 14.55
14.14m-Morgan Bagley/Longview, Texas, 14.56
15. 15b-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, Iowa, 14.58
16. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, N.Y., 14.60
17. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, Ga., 14.76
18. 32-Chris Simpson/Oxford, Iowa, 14.63
19. 99B-Boom Briggs/Bear Lake, Pa., 14.71
20. 18-Eric Wells/Hazard, Ky., 14.80
21. 16-Tyler Bruening/Decorah, Iowa, 15.50
22. 45-Curt Martin/Independence, Iowa, 14.90
23. Mike Fryer/Freeport, Ill., 15.08
24. Dustin Virkus/Clarkfield, Minn., 15.09
25. 2-Rory Metcalf/West Union, Iowa, 15.38
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Heckenast, Eckert, Wallace, Clanton, Fuller, Rauen, Briggs, Martin, Metcalf.
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Moyer, McCreadie, Bagley, Chad Simpson, Frank, Smith, Wells, Fryer.
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Lanigan, Junghans, Diercks, Mars, Birkhofer, Bruening, Chris Simpson, Virkus.
B-Main (12 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Wells, Martin, Rauen, Chris Simpson, Virkus, Metcalf, Fryer.
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): Billy Moyer
Comp Cams ($50 certificate to A-Main winner): Frank Heckenast Jr.
MSD Ignition ($50 cash to A-Main winner): Frank Heckenast Jr
Quartermaster ($100 certificate to A-Main winner): Frank Heckenast Jr
Wrisco (three sheets of aluminum/certificate to A-Main winner): Darrell Lanigan
STP ($50 cash to 2nd-place finisher in A-Main): Billy Moyer
Penske Racing Shocks ($50 to 3rd-place finisher in A-Main): Boom Briggs
Roush-Yates ($50 cash to 4th-place finisher in A-Main): Tim McCreadie
Mobil 1 ($50 cash to 4th-place finisher in A-Main): Billy Moyer
JE Pistons ($50 cash to 5th-place finisher in A-Main): Tim McCreadie
Lincoln Welders ($50 cash to 6th-place finisher in A-Main): Shane Clanton
American Racing Wheels ($50 cash to 7th-place finisher in A-Main): Brian Birkhofer
VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash to 8th-place finisher in A-Main): Shane Clanton
Edelbrock ($50 cash to 9th-place finisher in A-Main): Morgan Bagley
Comp Cams ($50 cash to 10th-place finisher in A-Main): Morgan Bagley
Cometic ($50 cash to 12th-place finisher in A-Main): Chase Wells
JRI Shocks ($50 cash to 13th-place finisher in A-Main): Boom Briggs
Superflow Dynos ($50 cash to 14th-place finisher in A-Main): Clint Smith
Quartermaster ($25 certificate to 15th-place finisher in A-Main): Justin Virkus
JE Pistons (one set of rings certificate to 16th-place finisher in A-Main): Justin Virkus
Roush-Yates ($50 certificate to 18th-place finisher in A-Main): Chub Frank
Quartermaster ($50 certificate to 19th-place finisher in A-Main): Justin Diercks
Arizona Sports Shirts ($100 certificate to 20th-place finisher in A-Main): Curt Martin
Mobil 1 (20% off certificate to 20th-place finisher in A-Main): Chub Frank
JE Pistons (one set of rings certificate to 21st-place finisher in A-Main): Curt Martin
Roush-Yates ($50 certificate to 22nd-place finisher in A-Main): Curt Martin
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): Frank Heckenast Jr.
Reliable Painting (one free tire to highest pill draw for full-time WoO driver): Clint Smith
2014 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 24 – 22 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 3170
2. Rick Eckert 2958 (-212)
3. Tim McCreadie 2942 (-228)
4. Morgan Bagley 2872 (-298)
5. Chub Frank 2844 (-326)
6. Eric Wells 2786(-384)
7. Shane Clanton 2782 (-388)
8. Frankie Heckenast Jr. 2726 (-444)
9. Clint Smith 2782 (-496)
10. Chase Junghans 2576 (-594)
11. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs 2526 (-644)
12. Tim Fuller 1660 (-1510)
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), 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, Mobil 1, MSD, Ohlins Shocks, QuarterMaster, Penske Shocks, Roush Yates Performance Parts, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, Jake’s Carts, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis, Velocita USA, and TNT Rescue.