World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Independence Motor Speedway
August 5, 2013
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Lanigan Scores Another Hard-Fought World of Outlaws Late Model Series Victory At Independence Motor Speedway
Defending Tour Champ Finds Himself In Battle To Finish At Hawkeye State Track For Second Consecutive Year



by Kevin Kovac
INDEPENDENCE, IA (August 5) - Wins don’t come easy for Darrell Lanigan at Independence Motor Speedway.

But they definitely come – as evidenced by his hard-fought march to victory in Monday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main that put him in the spotlight at the Hawkeye State track for the second consecutive year.

Lanigan, 43, of Union, Ky., battled forward from the seventh starting spot to take the lead from Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., on lap 37 and turned back a furious late challenge from local hero Chad Simpson of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, to secure his series-leading eighth triumph of the 2013 season.

Closely following his path he took to a narrow victory over Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., in last year’s WoO LMS feature at Independence, Lanigan couldn’t take a breath until the checkered flag finally flew over his Rocket Chassis machine.

“It was pretty tough out there,” said Lanigan, who earned $10,600 for his series-best 49th career win. “The track was just super-racy – and just to get the lead starting where we did, that was pretty good. Then we just had to hold on.”

Clanton, who led laps 14-36, overtook Simpson for the runner-up spot on a lap-44 restart and finished there, 0.860 of a second behind Lanigan. Simpson, who started from the pole position, settled for a career-best WoO LMS finish of third after leading laps 1-13 and having his late-race bid for victory stymied by the lap-44 caution flag that ultimately cost him second place.

Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., who scored his first-ever WoO LMS A-Main triumph on July 30 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway, was steady from start-to-finish to place fourth in his first start at Independence. Outside-polesitter Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., completed the top five after rallying from the rear of the field because he pitted Larry Moring’s No. 1 on lap seven to check a vibration that he incorrectly thought was caused by a flat tire.

Lanigan mastered the inside groove of the three-eighths-mile oval, using the lane to steady advance to the front. He swapped second place with Simpson twice before gaining control of the position on a lap-22 restart and rocketed by Clanton for the lead off the inside of turn four on lap 37 moments before a caution flag flew.



“We were really good in the bottom,” said Lanigan, who won for the first time since July 6 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. (a span of six races). “We set the car up to traction up in the bottom and it definitely worked. We were really strong off of (turn) four on the bottom and got most of those guys coming off the corner.”

Clanton, 37, couldn’t stem Lanigan’s low-side charge.

“Darrell was just a little bit better on the bottom and snuck by me,” said Clanton, who hustled his Kennedy Motorsports Capital Race Car forward from the fourth starting spot. “I didn’t know I had to slow down that much in three and four (to run the inside). Maybe it would’ve been a different race if I did.”

Simpson, 34, emerged as Lanigan’s prime late-race threat. He sat third at the lap-37 caution flag, but he summoned some extra speed in his MasterSbilt car on the restart to pass Clanton and within two circuits was challenging Lanigan with high-side thrusts.
But just as Simpson appeared primed to make a final push for his first career WoO LMS victory, the race’s seventh and final caution flag, on lap 44, effectively snuffed out his hopes. He lost second to Clanton on the restart and never recovered.

“I didn’t need that last caution,” said Simpson. “I thought I had something for Darrell there at the end. He seemed to be slipping a little bit. He was riding the bottom down (in turns three and four) and I would get a heck of a run in one and two on him, but it is what it is. It’s our best Outlaw finish, so we’ll take it.”

Simpson did learn a valuable lesson from running with Lanigan and Clanton.

“I kind of screwed up the early part of the race and let these guys get by me,” said Simpson. “I didn’t drive hard enough. Once I followed them guys for a few laps I realized how hard they were driving and realized I had to push my stuff harder.”

Lanigan knew Simpson was chasing him late in the race, but he was confident enough to know that the Iowa driver would need to pull off a spectacular move to gain command.

“That top (lane) was way out there so really wasn’t worried too much about him,” said Lanigan. “I never did see him. I just ran my line and tried to be consistent.”



Both Lanigan and Clanton were able to find new life in the WoO LMS championship with their finishes thanks to the problems suffered by points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who followed a subpar qualifying effort (fourth place in a heat) with a rare DNF in the A-Main. Richards climbed to sixth place from the 13th starting spot in just 18 laps, but he spun in turn two on lap 22 while battling with Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., and stopped to bring out another caution on lap 37 due to a broken oil pump that left him with a 17th-place finish.

Richards’s woes shrunk his points lead to 48 over Clanton and 64 over Lanigan with 13 events remaining on the 2013 WoO LMS schedule.

Seven caution flags slowed the A-Main. Aside from Richards and O’Neal (slowed on lap seven), other drivers who brought out cautions were Curt Martin of Independence, Iowa (spun between turns one and two on lap one); Clay Fisher of Dewitt, Ark. (stopped on lap four); Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa (slid over the turn-one bank on lap 20); and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (stopped on lap 44).

Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., registered an eventful sixth-place finish driving the Team Dillon car normally steered by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Ty Dillon. After time-trialing on seven cylinders due to a broken rocker arm, the former WoO LMS struggled in the A-Main until a mid-race pit stop for a setup change propelled him from the rear of the field to the verge of a top-five finish.

Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., finished seventh after running fifth for much of the distance. Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., placed eighth, Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., finished ninth and McCool rounded out the top 10.

Thirty-two cars were entered in the event, which was run on schedule despite heavy storms that deluged the Independence area early Monday morning.

Ohlins Shocks Time Trials were split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups, with the first half competing for starting positions in heats 1-2 and the second half racing against the clock to align heats 3-4.

Chad Simpson turned the overall fastest lap in qualifying, clicking off a circuit of 13.865 seconds in Group ‘B.’ It was his fourth career WoO LMS fast-time honor and marked the third consecutive year that he has set fast time at least once on the tour.

Heat winners were Clanton, Feger and Chad Simpson – all driving cars numbered 25 – and Satterlee. The B-Mains were captured by Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., and Fisher.

The WoO LMS is idle until heading to Michigan for a doubleheader weekend on Aug. 16-17. Winston Speedway in Montague, Mich., will host the NAPA Auto Parts 50 Presented by Keyser Manufacturing on Fri., Aug. 16, and Merritt Raceway in Lake City, Mich., will present the NAPA Auto Parts 50 Presented by All-Star Performance on Sat., Aug. 17.

Results of World of Outlaws Late Model Series at Independence Motor Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (7) Darrell Lanigan/50 $10,600
2. (4) Shane Clanton/50 $5,600
3. (1) Chad Simpson/50 $3,500
4. (3) Gregg Satterlee/50 $2,600
5. (2) Don O'Neal/50 $2,000
6. (17) Dale McDowell/50 $1,750
7. (6) Jason Feger/50 $1,450
8. (11) Tim Fuller/50 $1,850
9. (9) Brandon Sheppard/50 $1,200
10. (10) Bub McCool/50 $1,800
11. (12) Rick Eckert/50 $1,700
12. (19) Chub Frank/50 $1,550
13. (24) Eric Wells/50 $1,750
14. (15) Curt Martin/50 $950
15. (14) Clint Smith/50 $1,400
16. (22) Tyler Bruening/50 $850
17. (13) Josh Richards/37 $1,420
18. (5) Bobby Pierce/33 $750
19. (23) Tim McCreadie/22 $1,380
20. (8) Chris Simpson/21 $700
21. (25) Jason Rauen/14 $700
22. (18) Clay Fisher/3 $700
23. (20) Dillon Wood/3 $700
24. (16) Kyle Bronson/1 $700
25. (21) Morgan Bagley/1 $1,250
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 37 Mins., 53.727 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.860 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 7 (laps 1, 4, 7, 20, 22, 37, 44)
Lap Leaders: Chad Simpson (1-13); Clanton (14-36); Lanigan (37-50)
Provisional Starters: McCreadie, Wells (WoO); Rauen (track)
Rookie of the Race: Wells ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Chad Simpson ($500)

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Clanton, Lanigan, Sheppard, Richards, Frank, Bagley, McCreadie, Furman
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Feger, Chris Simpson, McCool, C. Smith, McDowell, Wells, Wendling, Callahan
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Chad Simpson, O'Neal, Fuller, Martin, Fisher, Rauen, Bruening, Johnson
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Satterlee, Pierce, Eckert, Bronson, McKenna, Fryer, Stone, Wood
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): McDowell, Frank, Bagley, Wells, Furman, Wendling, Callahan, McCreadie
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Fisher, Wood, Bruening, Fryer, Johnson, McKenna, Stone, Rauen

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

Group 'A'
1. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, GA 13.907
2. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 13.927
3. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 13.963
4. 32s-Chris Simpson/Oxford, IA 13.978
5. b5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 14.014
6. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 14.064
7. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 14.068
8. 18W-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 14.152
9. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 14.159
10. 41-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 14.165
11. 14M-Morgan Bagley/Longview, TX 14.183
12. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 14.200
13. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 14.320
14. 40-Joel Callahan/Dubuque, IA 14.352
15. 51-Matt Furman/Columbus, OH 14.422
16. 78-Rick Wendling/Hazelton, IA 14.585

Group 'B'
1. 25-Chad Simpson/Mt. Vernon, IA 13.865
2. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 14.07
3. 45-Curt Martin/Independence, IA 14.072
4. 32-Bobby Pierce/Oakwood, IL 14.101
5. 1-Don O'Neal/Martinsville, IN 14.11
6. 40B-Kyle Bronson Tampa, FL 14.167
7. 16-Tyler Bruening/Decorah, IA 14.208
8. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 14.223
9. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 14.318
10. 1w-Dillon Wood/New Smyrna Beach, FL 14.32
11. 98-Jason Rauen/Farley, IA 14.397
12. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 14.399
13. 99-Clay Fisher/Dewitt, AR 14.502
14. 22M-Charlie McKenna/Clear Lake, IA 14.618
15. 93-Jay Johnson/W. Burlington, IA 14.619
16. 5M-Mike Fryer/Freeport, IL 15.565


Event Photos courtesy of Mike Ruefer