PEVELY, MO – Sept. 16, 2009 – One year ago Shane Clanton was the
hottest dirt Late Model driver in the country when he visited I-55
Raceway and he just got hotter with a stirring victory in the track's
World of Outlaws Late Model Series event.
But when the national tour returns to the one-third-mile oval on
Saturday night (Sept. 19) for the 27th annual Pepsi Nationals, Clanton
will be looking to recapture the winning rhythm he flashed through the
late-summer and early-fall of 2008.
Clanton, 34, of Locust Grove, Ga., entered the 2009 campaign as a
driver expected to contend for the $100,000 WoO LMS points
championship, but he didn't pick up right where he left off last year.
He has just one win this season a $20,000-plus score way back on
April 4 in the Illini 100 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway and sits a
distant sixth in the points standings.
Last year everything just flowed, especially later in the season,
said Clanton, whose career-best '08 campaign included four wins and a
fourth-place finish in the WoO LMS points race plus a dozen triumphs in
non-series events. It didn't matter what we did; we seemed to hit
things right more often than not. But this year has been a different
story.
Clanton pulled into I-55 Raceway last September literally on top of the
world he had, after all, won the prestigious UMP DIRTcar
Racing-sanctioned World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, the
previous week. He cemented his status as a national superstar with a
victory in the 50-lap A-Main at the well-known Missouri facility owned
by NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader and Ray Marler, advancing from the
seventh starting spot to cap an impressive run of three wins in six WoO
LMS events over a five-week span.
The I-55 checkered flag even ended Clanton's personal struggles in
Missouri, a state he had taken to calling Misery' because of his
inability to win there over the years.
Clanton started the 2009 WoO LMS schedule decently enough, with a
string of top-10 finishes and his Illini 100 triumph helping push him
into the points lead after the season's seventh event, at Fayetteville
(N.C.) Motor Speedway. But then the bottom fell out; he was replaced
atop the points rankings the next night and never got close to the
lofty position again.
It's pretty frustrating, but what can you do? Clanton said of his '09
season, which shows nine top-five and 26 top-10 finishes in 37 events
(he had 22 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes in 43 races last year). You
just keep working, trying different things. We've been all over the map
trying to find things that fit me and fit the race car and just haven't
hit on it yet.
We've tried changing just about everything except the driver and
we've thought about that, he added with a smile. I don't blame (the
struggles) on one particular thing. It's just that everyone is always
changing things and some guys have gotten a little bit better than us
this year, so we have to catch up.
We're still trying, that's for sure. We're all trying to work together
to get everything back in a row. When we do that, we'll start winning
races again.
Clanton feels as if he's getting his RSD Enterprises Rocket cars closer
to where they need to be, but he's not there yet. He recorded
back-to-back top-five finishes in the last WoO LMS A-Mains contested
two weeks ago at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., but he followed
that up by failing to qualify for last weekend's World 100 after
starting his visit to Eldora in a manner that would seem to sum up his
season: he discovered a broken valve in his primary engine while
changing valve springs after unloading on Thursday, forcing him to
install a backup.
When you work as hard as you can, you see the light at the end of the
tunnel, said Clanton, who turned 34 on Aug. 29. We're starting to see
more light.
A repeat of his '08 effort at I-55 Raceway would be a nice way for
Clanton to get his groove back. He's confident that the 50-lap,
$10,000-to-win event at the high-banked track can serve as his tonic
for a disappointing season.
I feel good about going there, Clanton said of I-55, where he
preceded his victory last year with WoO LMS finishes of eighth in 2007
and 15th in 2005. They do a good job of preparing the racetrack. It
gets slick, but it's also the shape and size of two of the favorite
racetracks I go to back around home Talladega (Ala.) and North
Georgia so I like it.
Clanton will face plenty of competition at I-55 Raceway from his
fellow WoO LMS stars as well as a host of tough customers from across
the Midwest.
Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., leads the WoO LMS points standings by
four points over Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., entering Saturday's
action. The traveling Outlaw roster will also include the red-hot Tim
Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who has won seven of the last 11 tour
events; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., the 2007 Pepsi Nationals winner;
defending champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; Rick Eckert of York,
Pa.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis.;
and Rookie of the Year contenders Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio,
Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va.,
Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and 14-year-old Tyler Reddick of
Corning, Calif.
Meanwhile, Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., who finished fourth in
last year's Pepsi Nationals, and two-time defending UMP DIRTcar
national champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., will
continue their neck-and-neck battle for the 2009 UMP DIRTcar national
points crown at I-55. Saturday's event is co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar
and will be run using the organization's Hoosier LM20, LM30 and LM40
compound tires.
Other drivers planning to enter the Pepsi Nationals include Brian
Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., former WoO
LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Shannon Babb of Moweaqua,
Ill., Randy Korte of Highland, Ill., 2009 I-55 champion Bryan Collins
of Elsberry, Mo., and 2008 I-55 titlist Billy Faust of Lebanon, Ill.
Gates will open at 3 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 19). Practice is scheduled
to begin at 6 p.m., followed by time trials at 6:30 p.m. and racing at
7 p.m.
The big program will also include a $1,000-to-win special for the UMP
DIRTcar Modifieds and a UMP DIRTcar Sportsman event paying $500 to win.
Seats in the top three rows of the frontstretch grandstands are
reserved and can be purchased in advance for $32 each by calling the
track office at 636-479-3219. General admission tickets are $27, with
kids 12 years old and younger admitted free in the general admission
sections. Pit passes will be $35 for all ages.
Additional info on the Pepsi Nationals is available by logging on to www.i55raceway.com.
I-55 Raceway is located 30 minutes south of downtown St. Louis, off Pevely exits 180 and 178 of Interstate 55.
The Pepsi Nationals kicks off a Midwest doubleheader for the WoO LMS,
which will visit La Salle (Ill.) Speedway on Sunday night (Sept. 20) to
contest the Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the
country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona
Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care
Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires
(Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost),
SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing
Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs,
Hoosier Tires, Integra Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks,
Racing Electronics, Quarter Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams
Engine Builder's Challenge participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom
Race Engines and Pro Power Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder
Challenge participants Rocket Chassis and Team Zero by Bloomquist.