BEAR LAKE, PA – Feb. 7, 2013 – After a typically busy winter, Chub Frank is ready to begin his 35th season behind the wheel of a race car.
The 51-year-old veteran from Bear Lake, Pa., will hit the milestone this weekend (Feb. 8-9) when he enters the ‘Winter Freeze’ at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., a doubleheader that kicks off the 2013 World of Outlaws Late Model Series. ‘Chubzilla’ will continue south with the Outlaws to compete in the Bubba Army Late Model Winter Nationals on Feb. 15-17 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., and the 42nd UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment on Feb. 21-23 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
“We’re looking forward to getting going,” said Frank, whose ’13 plans center on following the WoO LMS for the 10th consecutive year. “When you’ve raced as long as we have you learn that nothing ever gets easier, but that’s the challenge of it. We’re just gonna have to get up on the wheel and run as hard as we can all year.”
Frank failed to reach Victory Lane in WoO LMS competition for the third consecutive season in 2012, but he did put together a solid campaign. His finished as high as second while registering 10 top-five finishes – matching his top-five total from the previous two seasons combined – and placed fifth in the points standings.
The longtime owner-operator is hoping that 2013 will be the year he snaps his frustrating winless streak on the World of Outlaws tour. With a new Corry Rubber/Lake Shore Paving/Hino Toyota Rocket No. 1* prepared for duty starting this week and powerful Roush Yates engines once again ready to propel him, Frank feels he has the artillery necessary for success against the nation’s best dirt Late Model drivers.
“We’ll see what this new car is like when we get out there and run it, but I think it’ll be good so I’m hoping for more than just one win this year,” said Frank. “We made some strides last year. Our qualifying was definitely better, so if we can keep that up we’ll put ourselves in position to win races.
“We definitely have to qualify well down in Georgia and Florida. The way the (WoO LMS) points are, you’re gonna have to run good right off the bat or you’ll end up in a big hold by the time you leave Florida.”
As is normally the case, Frank just wishes the off-season was a bit longer. He and returning crew chief Brad Baum worked right to the last minute this week finishing up their new Rocket machine for the southern trip – largely because Frank spends a big chunk of his winter putting cars together for about a dozen customers.
“We were busy all winter,” said Frank. “We’re so busy doing work on customers’ cars, it’s hard to get our own stuff ready. We had about 14 cars go through our shop this winter, so it would’ve been nice to have at least one more week to get our own stuff ready.
“But that’s O.K. If we were just working on our own stuff we could get it done no problem for the start of the season, but we gotta work on other peoples’ cars to pay the bills. That’s how we keep racing.”
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.