PONTOON BEACH, IL – June 3, 2011 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series will make a long-awaited return to Tri-City Speedway on Fri., Sept. 16, setting up a huge weekend of action for the national tour in the St. Louis area.
The WoO LMS will usher in the fall season with a Midwestern doubleheader, contesting a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event at promoter Kevin Gundaker’s Tri-City facility on Sept. 16, before crossing the Mississippi River to contest the Pepsi Nationals on Sat., Sept. 17, at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo.
“We’re really looking forward to our September World of Outlaws event,” said Gundaker, a former standout dirt Late Model driver who is in his seventh year at the helm of Tri-City Speedway. “It’s going to be a great weekend for World of Outlaws drivers and fans with races on consecutive nights at tracks less than 60 miles apart.”
Gundaker is expected to soon announce a sponsor for his WoO LMS program, which brings the tour to the track outside St. Louis for the first time since Aug. 1, 2004, when Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., emerged victorious. The ’04 date, however, was run on Tri-City’s old half-mile oval; Gundaker shortened the speedway to a three-eighths-mile layout prior to the 2008 season and racers and fans alike have pronounced the competition on the new speedway as being nothing short of spectacular.
“The smaller track has really brought the racing closer together,” said Gundaker, who is becoming well-known for hosting high-profile dirt Late Model events at Tri-City. “We have three- and four-wide racing for every event, so I can’t wait to see all the World of Outlaws get out there and show what they can do.”
Two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who recently signed a deal to run 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events in a Toyota Tundra fielded by NASCAR star Kyle Busch, will lead the tour’s star-studded roster to Tri-City as he continues his pursuit of another title. He’ll be joined by former series champions Lanigan and Tim McCreadie, who won a DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned special at Tri-City last year, as well as Pennsylvania-based Outlaws Chub Frank and Rick Eckert; teenage sensation Austin Hubbard; Georgians Shane Clanton and Clint Smith; New Yorkers Tim Fuller and Vic Coffey; female traveler Jill George; and a crop of Rookie of the Year contenders that includes Pennsylvania’s Ron Davies, Wisconsin’s Pat Doar and New York’s John Lobb.
The Outlaws will face off with a tough group of drivers from across the Midwest, including former DIRTcar UMP national champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., who pocketed $10,000 for winning Tri-City’s UMP-sanctioned ‘Bud 50’ over Memorial Day weekend.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.