|
Babb, who started ninth in a Donley Trucking/Petroff Towing Rocket car that he debuted one month ago, waited until just after the race's halfway point to make his move. He had advanced just one position when two of the A-Main's three caution flags flew on lap 29 - the first for the ambulance to leave the infield and the second for a slide-and-stop by outside polesitter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who led laps 1-14 and was still running second when he lost control of his car on the inside of turn four.
On the second restart, Babb found traction on the extreme inside of the track and passed five cars in the span of a lap. One circuit later he overtook Moyer for second and almost immediately began to challenge Lanigan for the lead.
"It surprised me," Babb said of his sudden surge into contention. "Our car seemed to be good right from the start, but it was so competitive out there I didn't know what I was gonna do at the beginning. I moved around top-to-bottom so I knew that bottom was there, but you can't keep up when the top's as good as it was.
"I had to wait for the middle and top to slow down. Once that happened, I moved down and the bottom was the place to be for the last 30 laps."
Babb praised the I-55 racing surface, which produced three-wide racing for the lead - early with Lanigan, McCreadie and Moyer, and later with Babb replacing McCreadie in the pacesetting trio - that had the evening's large crowd standing and cheering.
"(Ray) Marler and (Ken) Schrader (who co-own the speedway outside St. Louis) put an awesome racetrack together tonight," said Babb. "They went the extra mile and worked the racetrack really good (just prior to the start of the A-Main). All the way to the end we were battling - that's probably the best racing surface I've seen here."
Moyer, who started third, thought he was in position to win the race several times during the frenetic late-race struggle but simply couldn't get his Victory Circle chassis through lapped traffic well enough to beat Babb. The former WoO LMS champion nevertheless seemed energized by his race with Babb, who received a hearty congratulatory handshake from Moyer in Victory Lane.
"The fans had to love that race," said Moyer, who over the past three months won Northeast All-Stars, Summer Nationals and MARS DIRTcar Series events at I-55. "That was fun. The fans saw a heck of a show."
Finishing in positions 6-10 was Richards, who climbed as high as fourth; Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who ran fifth for much of the race's first half; a rallying McCreadie, who was presented the $100 Chizmark Larson Insurance Hard Luck Award; 19th-starter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; and 2010 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del.
Wendell Wallace of Batesville, Ark., faded to an 11th-place finish after starting fourth and running in the top five until nearly the halfway mark, but he still earned the $500 'Bonus Bucks' cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn't won a WoO LMS A-Main and wasn't ranked among the top 12 in the points standings.
The Pepsi Nationals served as the seventh leg of the LaCrosse Extreme Tough Challenge, a unique mini-series that awards points to the top-five fulltime WoO LMS and Sprint Car Series drivers in 16 selected events - eight Late Model and eight Sprint Car - and will earn the champion of the combined standings a $5,000 bonus from a $15,000 points fund. Lanigan earned five points for being the highest-finishing WoO LMS regular, while Clint Smith (four), Richards (three), Francis (two) and McCreadie (one) also collected points.
Lanigan and Richards ended the night tied for the lead in the LaCrosse Extreme Tough points standings with 19 points each, one point ahead of WoO Sprint Car star Donny Schatz. The WoO Sprint Car racers, however, have three LaCrosse events remaining while the Late Model contingent has just one, on Nov. 5 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Francis was quickest in the 31-car Ohlins Shocks Time Trials session, ripping off a lap of 12.768 seconds for his fourth fast-time honor of 2010.
Heat winners were Francis, Richards and Moyer, and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., topped the B-Main.
The A-Main was run under the threat of approaching thunderstorms, but while lightning danced in the sky throughout the 55-lapper the precipitation held off until nearly a half-hour after the checkered flag.
Results of WoO Late Model Series 'Pepsi Nationals' (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (9) Shannon Babb/55 $10,000
2. (3) Billy Moyer/55 $5,225
3. (13) Brady Smith/55 $3,000
4. (1) Darrell Lanigan/55 $3,600
5. (11) Clint Smith/55 $3,000
6. (6) Josh Richards/55 $2,800
7. (5) Steve Francis/55 $2,500
8. (2) Tim McCreadie/55 $2,000
9. (19) Chub Frank/55 $2,250
10. (10) Austin Hubbard/55 $2,350
11. (4) Wendell Wallace/55 $1,550
12. (8) Rick Eckert/55 $1,500
13. (7) Tim Fuller/55 $1,950
14. (14) Jason Feger/55 $900
15. (12) Shane Clanton/55 $1,850
16. (18) Ricky Frankel/54 $800
17. (20) Bobby Pierce/53 $770
18. (22) Chris Hall/53 $750
19. (23) Jill George/52 $730
20. (16) Russell King/36 $1,700
21. (17) Ken Schrader/22 $700
22. (21) Scott Weber/15 $700
23. (15) Matt Miller/13 $700
24. (24) April Farmer/12 $725
Time of Race: 23 Mins., 44.656 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.411 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 29, 29, 38)
Lap Leaders: McCreadie (1-14); Lanigan (15-25); Moyer (26); Lanigan (27-41); Babb (42); Moyer (43); Babb (48-55)
Provisional Starters: George, Farmer
Rookie of the Race: Hubbard ($250)
WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Wallace ($500)
Chizmark Larson Insurance Hard Luck Award ($100): McCreadie
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 12.768
2. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 12.773
3. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 12.819
4. 88-Wendell Wallace/Batesville, AR 12.868
5. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 13.019
6. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 13.142
7. 44F-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 13.161
8. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.167
9. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 13.224
10. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 13.298
11. 32-Bobby Pierce/Oakwood, IL 13.379
12. 7-Matt Miller/Waterville, OH 13.431
13. 99Jr.-Frank Heckenast Jr./Orland Park, IL 13.454
14. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 13.485
15. 33F-Ricky Frankel/Quincy, IL 13.507
16. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 13.515
17. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 13.526
18. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 13.542
19. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 13.628
20. 1HR-Ron McQuerry/St. Albans, MO 13.654
21. 6K-Michael Kloos/Trenton, IL 13.666
22. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 13.681
23. 9-Ken Schrader/Concord, NC 13.747
24. 00-Scott Weber/Festus, MO 13.859
25. 66-Chris Hall/Sikeston, MO 13.860
26. 13-Dewayne Keifer/St. Genevieve, MO 13.911
27. 8BALL-Brant Kehrer/Albers, IL 14.193
28. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 14.208
29. 14-April Farmer/Livingston, TN 14.226
30. 3d-Lou Driemeier/Valles Mines, MO 14.562
31. B1-Randy Bingham/Greenville, IL N/T
Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Francis, Wallace, Fuller, Hubbard, B. Smith, King, Frank, Hall, Heckenast, George (DNS) Bingham
Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Richards, Lanigan, Eckert, C. Smith, Feger, Schrader, Pierce, Farmer, Keifer, McQuerry
Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 6 Transfer): Moyer, McCreadie, Babb, Clanton, Miller, Frankel, Weber, Kloos, Driemeier, Kehrer
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Frank, Pierce, Weber, Hall, Farmer, McQuerry, Keifer, Kloos, Heckenast, George, Driemeier, Kehrer (DNS) Bingham
2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Sept. 18 - 41 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Darrell Lanigan 5492
2. Josh Richards 5490 (-2)
3. Tim McCreadie 5400 (-92)
4. Steve Francis 5274 (-218)
5. Shane Clanton 5178 (-314)
6. Rick Eckert 5168 (-324)
7. Austin Hubbard 5114 (-378)
8. Tim Fuller 5050 (-442)
9. Chub Frank 4968 (-524)
10. Clint Smith 4940 (-552)
|
