Want one word to sum up Chub Frank’s trip south last week to The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Volunteer Speedway?
Try “frustrating. ”
From the rough conditions that beat up his green ‘Chubzilla’ car at The Dirt Track in Concord, N.C., to a struggle-filled weekend at the high-banked Volunteer oval in Bulls Gap, Tenn., there’s no doubt that Chub didn’t enjoy himself below the Mason-Dixon Line.
The final results will show that Chub had a pair of decent outings in the two World of Outlaws Late Model Series events, finishing seventh in Wednesday night’s 50-lap Jani-King Southern Showdown at The Dirt Track and 11th in Saturday night’s Tennessee Fall Brawl 100 at Volunteer. But the competitive driver from Bear Lake, Pa., wasn’t satisfied with his performance in either show.
Chub completed the entire feature distance at The Dirt Track, but not without his share of battle-scars. His Lester Buildings/Corry Rubber/All Star Performance/Corry Laser/Slavic Corporation/Farr MotorSports/Lake Shore Paving/Custom Race Engines Chevrolet Impala SS Rocket Chassis No. 1* sported plenty of bent bodywork and some possible frame damage and was even missing its air cleaner at the end of the race.
After being very complimentary about The Dirt Track’s surface following April’s Circle K Colossal 100, Chub was disappointed that the clay turned heavy and rough again for Wednesday night’s action.
“I hope they fix that place for the (Outlaws) World Finals, because if not the SPEED (television) people are gonna be a little upset, ” Chub said of the season-ending WoO LMS/Sprint Car doubleheader set for Nov. 1-3 at The Dirt Track. “Live TV (the Nov. 3 program will be broadcast live on SPEED) ain’t gonna work if the track is rough like that. The Sprint Cars will be in the catch fence every other lap.
“It was so rough (on Wednesday night), I pulled some muscles in my neck just from hitting the ruts and holes. And we ended up breaking an air cleaner off (the car) just from hitting a hole – just sheared the stud right off, the kind of stuff that just doesn’t happen very often.
“I know they can make it smooth, ” Chub continued. “I think Roger (Slack, The Dirt Track’s GM0 has his hands tied with the track preparation, and I don’t even think Randy (Grove), who does the racetrack, has any say. I think it’s all on Humpy’s shoulders (Humpy Wheeler of Lowe’s Motor Speedway). I really think that he’s the one who maybe needs to look at it.
“The fans don’t like that kind of racing, because it’s really one lane around the bottom. Yeah, you can run around in that rough junk around the top, but you’ll never last.
“You’ll have better racing if it’s black-slick from top to bottom like it was for the Colossal – and for the Sprints’ sake, it better be that way for the World Finals. ”
Chub ran his customary white-and-orange car in the weekend meet at Volunteer Speedway, which he entered sitting second in the WoO LMS points standings, 40 markers behind leader Steve Francis. He was hoping to finish ahead of Francis to close the gap a bit entering the ‘Outlaws World Finals, ’ but a quiet 11th-place finish combined with Francis’s $20,000 victory in the Tennessee Fall Brawl 100 left Chub 62 points behind with just the two A-Mains remaining at The Dirt Track.
It was a disappointing weekend for Chub, who timed 14th-fastest in Friday’s 52-car time-trial session and missed a transfer spot in the evening’s heat race. He qualified through a B-Main on Saturday and started 20th in the feature.
“We weren’t very good all night, ” said Chub after the event. “I don’t know what to do at this place. We ain’t found a setup that works.
“I think, ” he jokingly added, “they should just fill it with water and make a pond. ”
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