BEAR LAKE, PA – Sept. 5, 2012 – Chub Frank isn’t looking forward to this weekend’s 42nd annual World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, merely because it’s the most prestigious event in dirt Late Model racing. He’s also just happy to put a frustrating month of August in his rearview mirror.
“We’ve struggled for the last month, there’s no doubt about that,” said Frank, a 50-year-old veteran from Bear Lake, Pa. “We definitely don’t have the momentum we’d like going into the World, but hopefully the worst is behind us. We’re gonna go to Eldora with a clear mind and try to get back on track.”
A winner of the coveted World 100 globe trophy in 2004, Frank has started the big A-Main six times since ’01. He enters this year’s event – time trials are scheduled for Friday night (Sept. 7) with heats, B-Mains and the feature set for Saturday evening (Sept. 8) – just three months removed from qualifying for the $100,000 Dirt Late Model Dream at the famed half-mile oval.
“We’ll run the same car we ran at the Dream,” said Frank, who will have Roush-Yates power under the hood of his Corry Rubber/Lake Shore Paving/Hino Toyota Rocket No. 1*. “Hopefully we’ll be better, though. We got a little luck to get in the (Dream) feature (through a heat), and then we weren’t all that good in the race before we broke a fifth-arm (leaving him 25th in the finish).”
The popular driver known as ‘Chubzilla’ certainly could use a pick-me-up in Eldora’s $45,000-to-win spectacular. He’s coming off a month in which he struggled mightily on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, recording only a pair of top-10 finishes in six tour events – eighth on Aug. 6 at Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway and 10th on Aug. 17 at Winston Speedway in Montague, Mich.
For the most part, Frank was plagued by misfortune throughout the past month. His most difficult outings were DNFs on Aug. 7 at Shawano (Wis.) Speedway (24th place finish) and Aug. 29 at Little Valley (N.Y.) Speedway (23rd), but he also absorbed finishes of 18th in the USA Nationals 100 on Aug. 4 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., and 17th on Aug. 18 at Merritt Raceway in Lake City, Mich.
“We’ve had DNFs for stupid stuff,” commented Frank, who also lost three WoO LMS events on his schedule to rain (Aug. 24 at Virginia’s Winchester Speedway, Aug. 25 at Pennsylvania’s Selinsgrove Speedway and Sept. 1 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va). “We’ve had issues with a broken rearend (Shawano) and wiring (Little Valley) – little things, things that we’ve rarely had break in our life. The problems we had had nothing to do with maintenance because it’s nothing you can see. It’s just bad luck.
“Sometimes freak deals get you – and unfortunately, the problems we’ve had have cost us a lot of money. We not only dropped out of races, but we probably would’ve been up to third in (WoO LMS) points instead of fifth like we are now.
“It’s been a disappointing stretch,” he continued, “but we’ll suck it up and dig through it all. We’re still working hard and we’ll see what we can do to get through the next few weeks.”
Frank, whose best finish during the past month was a third-place run in an unsanctioned event on Aug. 19 at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., did bring a new employee into his Chub Frank Racing fold in August. Frank’s former chief mechanic, Brad Baum, returned as the Pennsylvanian’s right-hand man.
For more information on Chub Frank, visit his Web site at www.chubfrank.com.
Chub Frank Racing receives support from many valued sponsors, including Corry Rubber, Lake Shore Paving, Hino Toyota, Sorbera Family Chiropractic, Horton Equipment, All-Star Performance, Slavic Corporation, GW Performance, Integra Shocks, Hoosier Tire and Roush-Yates Racing Engines.