World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Canandaigua Motorsports Park
June 25, 2013
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McCool Breaks Through For First World of Outlaws Late Model Series Victory Of 2013 Tuesday At Canandaigua Motorsports Park
Mississippi Driver Vaults From Third To First On Lap-29 Restart Of Sweeteners Plus 40



by Kevin Kovac
CANANDAIGUA, NY (June 25) - Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., charged from third to first on a lap-29 restart and held off Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., down the stretch to capture Tuesday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series Sweeteners Plus 40 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.

Racing just five days after celebrating his 36th birthday, the 2012 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year broke through for his first victory of the season and the second of his career on the national tour. The $8,550 triumph culminated a successful swing through New York and Canada for McCool, who finished no worse than eighth in four starts behind the wheel of his family-owned Victory Circle car.

“We’ve been working hard at it,” said McCool, whose victory came two nights after he matched his season-best finish with a third-place run at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway. “I think we found a little something on the car that’s working good and the last couple nights we’ve done a little more to it. I felt like we may have figured something out.”

Fuller, 45, equaled his top finish of ’13 on the WoO LMS after starting 11th in the Kennedy Motorsports Capital Race Car. The former DIRTcar big-block Modified regular at Canandaigua vaulted from fourth to second on the eventful lap-29 restart and raced within striking distance of McCool for the remainder of the distance but fell short at the checkered flag by 0.588 of a second.

WoO LMS rookie Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, placed third, registering a career-best tour finish and first-ever top-five outing on the circuit in his Rocket car. Polesitter Rick Eckert of York, Pa., finished fourth in his Team Zero by Bloomquist machine after leading laps 1-7 and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who owns 14 career DIRTcar big-block Modified feature wins at Canandaigua, completed the top five in the Sweeteners Plus Warrior.

Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who sailed around the outside of Eckert to take the lead on lap eight and held the top spot until McCool gained control on lap 30, faded to an eighth-place finish after his soft tires gave out during the race’s second half.

The pivotal moment of the A-Main came after the caution flag waved for the first time on lap 29 for Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., who slowed between turns one and two. As Smith, whose commanding early lead had shrunk to almost nothing over Eckert just before the caution, struggled to fire off on the restart, McCool turned up the wick and surged past both Eckert and Smith to assume command as lap 30 was scored.

“When (Smith) and Eckert both took off (at the start) they probably got half a track or better on us,” said McCool, who started third. “I couldn’t even see ‘em up there no more, so I was just gonna try to drive my line and hold on to third there.

“We started running ‘em down, and then we had the caution (on lap 29). I tried to have my right-rear in the wet up there on the top (of turn four) when (Smith) fired (on the restart) and cut down and have a little more run than he did. I did on Eckert, and then we got by (Smith) when he slowed down getting into one.”

McCool’s strategy of cooling his jets until later in the race on the sprawling half-mile oval proved prescient.

“I knew they was a little softer than I was on tires,” McCool said of Smith and Eckert, “and if I could just keep it straight and keep it under me we’d be O.K. because I had a good car. It all ended up working out good.”

Fuller, who has one career DIRTcar big-block Modified feature win at Canandaigua, attempted to challenge McCool during the final circuits but couldn’t summon enough speed.

“I could run with him, but I didn’t know how I was gonna pass him unless he screwed up in lapped traffic,” said Fuller, whose winless streak reached 119 races since his last WoO LMS score on June 17, 2010, at Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ont. “When it’s that black and this shape of track you just gotta keep turning left and not scrub any speed, and he was doing that real well. I could run with him but then I’d lose the nose, and then I’d try to get down lower and I couldn’t make no ground up that way.

“He was good,” he added. “Maybe more laps would’ve helped, but he ran a good race.”

Fuller credited his strong run from mid-pack to his pre-race selection of Hoosier rubber.

“We had the right tires,” said Fuller. “In the beginning of the race those 1325s (compound) took off really well, but in the end when it got black and shiny and slippery the 1425s were the tire to have – and the top three had ‘em.”

Bagley, who celebrated his 27th birthday on June 10, moved forward from the seventh starting spot to nail down his career run on the WoO LMS. He sat sixth when the caution flag flew on lap 29, then picked up two spots on the restart and overtook Smith to reach third on a lap-31 restart following a caution flag for debris.

“That last restart ‘Cat’ (Smith) couldn’t get going,” said Bagley, who made his first-ever start at Canandaigua. “We got by him, but that just put a distance between us and Fuller and Bub. We started to get back to them at the end with some help from lapped traffic, so I would’ve loved 50 laps. I was real comfortable riding out there.”

Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., finished a steady sixth after starting ninth; WoO LMS rookie Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., moved up from the 14th starting spot to place seventh; Smith settled for eighth two nights after finishing a season-best second at Cornwall; former Canandaigua DIRTcar big-block Modified regular Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., placed ninth; and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., rounded out the top 10.

WoO LMS points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who entered the evening riding a two-race win streak after sweeping the tour’s Canadian swing, experienced rare subpar nights. Richards started 12th and was never a factor while struggling to a 13th-place finish – a run that cut his points lead to eight markers over Clanton – and Lanigan backed up from the sixth starting spot to a 14 th-place finish.

Smith’s lap of 18.262 seconds in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials topped the night’s 23-car field. It was his seventh career WoO LMS fast-time honor but first since May 7, 2010, at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway.

Heat winners were Smith, Eckert and Lanigan, who rallied to capture the third prelim after officials penalized him from the pole starting spot to third place for firing early at the initial green flag. No B-Main was run, but Fuller earned $740 for winning a special 4-lap dash for drivers with DIRTcar big-block Modified roots over McCreadie, Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., and Coffey.

The WoO LMS next heads to Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., for the three-day Firecracker 100 Presented by GottaRace.com on June 27-29. Full WoO LMS programs topped by 30-lap, $6,000-to-win A-Mains will be contested on Thurs., June 27, and Fri., June 27, with the $30,000-to-win Firecracker 100 finale set for Sat., June 29.

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

Results of WoO Late Model Series at Canandaigua Motorsports Park
(Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (3) Bub McCool/40 $8,550
2. (11) Tim Fuller/40 $5,290
3. (7) Morgan Bagley/40 $3,500
4. (1) Rick Eckert/40 $3,000
5. (5) Tim McCreadie/40 $2,650
6. (9) Shane Clanton/40 $2,150
7. (14) Eric Wells/40 $2,000
8. (4) Clint Smith/40 $1,850
9. (8) Vic Coffey/40 $1,750
10. (16) Chub Frank/40 $1,650
11. (10) Dan Stone/40 $1,000
12. (2) Billy Decker/40 $900
13. (12) Josh Richards/40 $1,500
14. (6) Darrell Lanigan/40 $1,450
15. (17) Larry Wight/40 $800
16. (20) John Volpe/40 $750
17. (13) Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/39 $710
18. (18) Dave Zona/38 $640
19. (19) John Mason/37 $620
20. (23) Alan Fink/37 $610
21. (21) Gil Tegg Jr./20 $600
22. (15) Greg Oakes/15 $600
23. (22) Jon Rohacevich/2 $625
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 20 Mins., 16.229 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.588 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (lap 29, 31)
Lap Leaders: Eckert (1-7); Smith (8-29); McCool (30-40)
Provisional Starters: none
Rookie of the Race: Bagley ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Coffey ($500)

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw for A-Main): Smith, McCreadie, Bagley, Stone, Briggs, Frank, Mason, Rohacevich
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw for A-Main): Eckert, McCool, Coffey, Fuller, Wells, Wight, Volpe, Fink
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 2 redraw for A-Main): Lanigan, Decker, Clanton, Richards, Oakes, Zona, Tegg

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 18.262
2. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 18.288
3. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 18.311
4. 2-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 18.339
5. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 18.408
6. 91-Billy Decker/Unadilla, NY 18.510
7. 14M-Morgan Bagley/Longview, TX 18.529
8. 53-John Volpe/Lakewood, NY 18.647
9. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 18.702
10. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 18.742
11. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 18.754
12. 99z-Dave Zona/Montrose, PA 18.762
13. 99b-Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 18.801
14. 18-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 18.811
15. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, GA 18.830
16. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 18.870
17. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 18.902
18. 22-Greg Oakes/Franklinville, NY 19.223
19. 24J-Jon Rohacevich/Prattsville, NY 19.460
20. 99L-Larry Wight/Phoenix, NY 19.510
21. 22x-Gil Tegg Jr./Rochester, NY 19.705
22. 72-John Mason/Millersburg, OH 19.880
23. 15-Alan Fink/Central Square, NY 20.077

2013 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of June 25
22 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 3090
2. Shane Clanton 3082 (-8)
3. Darrell Lanigan 3044 (-46)
4. Rick Eckert 3012 (-78)
5. Tim Fuller 2860 (-230)
6. Tim McCreadie 2838 (-252)
7. (tie) Eric Wells 2822 (-268)
7. (tie) Bub McCool 2822 (-268)
9. Chub Frank 2808 (-282)
10. Morgan Bagley 2796 (-294)
11. Clint Smith 2672 (-418)
12. Scott James 1958 (-1132)
13. Dillon Wood 1426 (-1664)
14. Dan Stone 1270 (-1820)
15. Gregg Satterlee 1248 (-1842)