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In one dramatic minute on Friday night at U.S. 36 Raceway, Steve Francis went from cursing himself for making a crucial mistake to celebrating his third World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory of the season.
Francis, 41, of Ashland, Ky., thought he had let the first-ever WoO LMS event at the high-banked oval slip through his fingers when Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., charged under him for the lead on lap 44 of the 50-lap A-Main. But moments later the race fell back into his lap when Smith slowed off turn two on the final lap with a flat left rear tire, handing the checkered flag to Francis.
“I’d rather be lucky than good any day,” said Francis, the only driver with multiple wins on the 2009 WoO LMS. “We’ll take ‘em any way we can get ‘em. We feel like we’ve given a couple away this year, so maybe we got one back by accident tonight.”
Francis pocketed $10,700 for his 23rd career WoO LMS victory – the most of any driver on the national tour since 2004. It came in his initial start at the blazing-fast three-eighths-mile oval and made him eligible for the $10,000 Tri-State Late Model Challenge bonus if he can win Saturday night (May 23) at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, or Sunday night (May 24) at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wis.
Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who started from the pole position but fell to fifth in three laps due to an “extremely tight” Rocket car, emerged as the runner-up for the second consecutive WoO LMS event. He finished 1.023 seconds behind Francis and took over the tour’s points lead from defending champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who finished 21st after retiring with engine problems while running fourth on lap 20.
Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., battled forward from the 11th starting spot to place third in his Sheltra Motorsports/Petroff Towing Rocket. Smith managed to complete the last half-lap of the race on a flat tire to salvage a fourth-place finish in his Bloomquist ‘Team Zero’ car, and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., registered his first top-five finish of the season by outdueling Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., for fifth in his Gypsum Express Rocket.
The memorable finish was set up after Francis, who took the lead for the first time on lap 21 when he passed race-long pacesetter Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill., made a misstep in lapped traffic. When Francis kept his Dale Beitler-owned Rocket car in the high groove rounding turns three and four as he approached the slower machine driven by Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., Smith stuck to the bottom of the track and snatched the top spot.
“I just got a little too cautious with a couple lapped cars and screwed myself up,” said Francis, who started third. “I got to easing in there instead of just blasting in there like (Smith) was and it cost me. In that type of situation, it’s much better to be running second than leading.”
Smith, who turns 32 on May 31, appeared on his way to a slump-busting victory. He took the white flag with an edge of several car lengths on Francis, but that disappeared in a flash in turn two.”
“I hit a hole the wrong way and the left-rear tire just came off the rim,” mourned Smith, who started sixth. “It was just a bad break.”
“I guess we were fortunate to still get fourth. Considering that we’ve been a 10th-place car for the last few races, that’s not too bad. But it’s a major disappointment to lose the lead on the last lap when it looks like you’re going to win the race.”
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