The four-race World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Great Northern Tour’ was just that for Chub Frank.
With his fifth-place run in the inaugural ‘Firecracker 100’ on Saturday night at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., the superstar racer known as ‘Chubzilla’ completed a solid swing in his home region that no other driver could match. He won a 50-lap A-Main on June 24 at Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y., and was the only driver who scored a top-five finish in every ‘Great Northern Tour’ event.
“It’s been a good little stretch for us, ” said Chub. “We would’ve liked to win a few more – you always do – but getting top-fives helps pay some bills and helps with the points (standings). ”
The 45-year-old from Bear Lake, Pa., kicked off the ‘Great Northern Tour’ on June 20 with a fourth-place finish in the 40-lap A-Main at Port Royal (Pa. ) Speedway. He advanced from the eighth starting spot, making him one of the biggest movers in a race that saw passing at a premium because the half-mile oval took rubber.
Chub drove 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* to another fourth-place finish on June 23 in the ‘Quebec 50’ at Autodrome Drummond in Drummondville, Que. The event marked the first time the WoO LMS competed in Canada.
The highlight of the swing for Chub, of course, came at Cayuga County, where he continued his mastery of WoO LMS events run in central New York. He passed Rick Eckert for the lead on lap 42 and marched on to the $10,000 victory. It was the second straight year he emerged triumphant at CCFS and his fourth overall win of the 2007 WoO LMS season (tying him with Shannon Babb for the tour lead).
“There’s something about New York State that works for us, ” smiled Chub, who also won two Empire State shows in 2005 (Fulton and Rolling Wheels).
Chub had high hopes entering the weekend’s $30,000-to-win ‘Firecracker 100’ at Lernerville, a track where he’s historically run well. But he never quite found his usual rhythm in the 100-lap special and settled for a fifth-place finish.
“I just couldn’t make up any ground, ” Chub said of his ‘Firecracker’ effort. “That’s as slippery as I’ve ever seen this place, and we just didn’t hit the setup right. I couldn’t get any sidebite, any traction. ”
The Firecracker weekend provided a great promotional outlet for Chub Frank Racing and Lester Buildings. With a huge crowd filling the track to near capacity, Chub spent almost three hours on Saturday signing autographs for hundreds of fans who visited him under the grandstands, in the Slavic Merchandise Trailer and at the Lester Buildings display.
All the members of Chub Frank Racing thank the fans for stopping by to meet Chub during the weekend.
The string of top-fives did bring Chub to the doorstep of the WoO LMS points lead. He entered the swing 24 points out of the lead in third place, but ended it sitting second, just two points behind Steve Francis.
Before heading west to this week’s WoO LMS events on July 3 at Missouri’s Lebanon I-44 Speedway and July 6-7 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., Chub stopped at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway for Sunday night’s ‘Red Miley Memorial Penn National 53. ’ He finished second in the unsanctioned special to fellow WoO LMS regular Josh Richards after leading the race’s first eight laps.
“We just came up a little short, ” Chub said of his run at PPMS. “I think I might’ve had a shot on the last lap if a lapped car didn’t get in my way, but it would’ve been tight. Josh was running a little bit off the wall and I was running right against the wall, so it would’ve been exciting if I had a chance to squeeze in there to go for the win. ”
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