Chub Frank went back to basics.
And as a result, the veteran from Bear Lake, Pa., went back to Victory Lane on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
Driving a 2005-vintage Rocket car borrowed from Pennsylvania racer Chad Valone, Frank ended a 62-race winless streak on the national tour with a flag-to-flag triumph in Thursday night’s caution-free ‘Pepsi 40’ at Muskingum County Speedway.
Frank’s $7,600 triumph in a rescheduled event that was threatened all night by rain also snapped the four-race win streak of Watertown, N.Y.‘s Tim Fuller, whose third-place finish left him tied with Rick Eckert of York, Pa., for the WoO LMS modern-era consecutive win record.
Ironically, Frank said he got his groove back thanks to a big assist from Fuller.
“Fuller has helped me a lot,” remarked Frank, who recorded his first WoO LMS win since May 18, 2008, at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway. “He’s basically the one who said I should go back to the old stuff, run something I know and feel comfortable in. I’m glad I listened to him.”
Seeking an answer for his frustrating season-long slump, Frank, 47, decided on Monday afternoon to call Valone, who had an ‘05 Rocket sitting in his shop. Valone agreed to loan the car to Frank, who spent the next three days assembling the machine and re-skinning it with his familiar No. 1* and sponsors, including Corry Rubber, Hino Toyota and Lake Shore Paving.
“I just had to do something different,” said Frank, who entered Thursday’s program ranked eighth in the WoO LMS points standings with just three top-five finishes in 30 events. “We weren’t getting it done with the new stuff (2009 cars) – it ain’t that the new stuff is bad, we just were struggling with it. I had to go back to something I knew.”
Frank hit paydirt his first night out with the car, roaring off the outside pole to lead the entire A-Main. He built as much as a three-second advantage before crossing the finish line a modest 0.962 of a second in front of Ashland, Ky.‘s Steve Francis, who regained the WoO LMS points lead with his sixth runner-up placing in the last eight events driving the Beitler Motorsports Rocket.
Fuller settled for third in the Gypsum Express Rocket after starting seventh. Eighth-starter Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio, was just a couple car lengths behind Fuller in fourth with his Rocket, and polesitter Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., hung on to finish fifth in a Rocket after running second for the race’s first 28 laps.
“It feels great to get back into Victory Lane,” said Frank, who registered his 15th career win on the WoO LMS. “It’s been a long time. We needed this more than anyone can believe.”
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