World of Outlaws Late Model Series Regulars Eckert, Moyer & Lanigan Earn Top-Five Starting Spots In Saturday’s 100-Lap Knoxville Late Model Nationals Finale
Kevin Kovac, World of Outlaws Late Model Series P.R. Director

KNOXVILLE, IA  (Sept. 29, 2006) – World of Outlaws Late Model Series stars Rick Eckert, Billy Moyer and Darrell Lanigan will be in the thick of the battle for victory in Saturday night’s 100-lap Knoxville Late Model Nationals finale at the famed Knoxville Raceway.

Thanks to solid performances that put them among the points leaders from preliminary action on Thursday and Friday night, the three standouts from the nation’s premier dirt Late Model tour find themselves in solid position for success in the third annual event. Eckert is unofficially scheduled to start third, Moyer fourth and Lanigan fifth in Saturday’s long-distance A-Main, which pays $35,000 to win.

Darren Miller of Chadwick, Ill., who won Friday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature, earned the pole position for the 100 by tallying the highest single-night points total (498) over the two days. Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., who beat Moyer’s 24-hour-old track record with a lap of 17.433 seconds during Friday’s time trials, finished eight points behind Miller to secure the outside pole for the Nationals A-Main.

Eckert, 40, of York, Pa., was the top-finishing WoO LMS regular in Friday night’s preliminary feature, placing fourth. It was a welcomed strong run for Eckert, who has been mired in an extended slump since scoring the last of his tour-best eight WoO LMS victories on July 8 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio.

But Eckert’s top-five finish didn’t come easy. After his Thursday-night outing was dive-bombed by a blown tire early in the preliminary feature, Eckert and his Raye Vest Racing crew worked hard throughout Friday’s program to secure a coveted up-front starting spot in the 100-lap finale.

Eckert timed fourth-fastest in Friday’s 59-car qualifying session, but he wasn’t satisfied with the power of his Rocket car’s engine so a header change was made. He proceeded to win the fourth heat from dead last in the starting lineup, but a slightly overheating motor prompted his team to replace the car’s mud-caked radiator.

Eckert never slipped further back than his fourth starting spot in the preliminary main, but his No. 24 wasn’t quite good enough to outrun Miller, runner-up Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, and third-place Shaver. His said his machine was a bit too tight, so he plans to make setup changes that will loosen it up for Saturday’s 100.

Moyer, 48, of Batesville, Ark., stood on his Thursday-night points total after a tough outing on Friday. He was running inside the top 10 on lap 14 when an apparent broken birdcage contributed to a cut tire that sent him hard into Knoxville’s outside steel guardrail.

The defending WoO LMS champion wasn’t injured, but his two-week-old MasterSbilt car sustained significant rearend damage. He is expected to compete on Saturday night in his Rayburn machine, which he drove on Thursday.

Lanigan, 36, of Union, Ky., was the best WoO LMS time-trialer on Friday, turning the third-fastest lap. He slipped from the third starting spot to a seventh-place finish in the preliminary feature, but he bettered his starting position for the 100 by surpassing his Thursday-night points total.

Including Eckert, Moyer and Lanigan, seven of the 10 WoO LMS regulars on hand at Knoxville made the cut for Friday night’s feature. It was the second straight night that the tour was represented by seven of its racers.

Other WoO LMS drivers in Friday’s preliminary main were Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky. (ninth place), Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va. (15th), Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (16th) and Eric Jacobsen of Santa Cruz, Calif. (21st).

WoO LMS non-qualifiers on Friday included Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., whose miserable Nationals continued; Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., who dropped out of the B-Main with engine trouble; and John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., who was an early B-Main retiree.

McCreadie raced a backup car after tearing up his primary Sweeteners Plus No. 39 in a Thursday heat-race wreck, but his luck didn’t improve. Ignition problems forced him out of his heat race, and after winning the C-Main he pulled out of the B-Main due to terminal engine trouble.

With McCreadie scheduled to start 10th in Saturday night’s B-Main, his crew was exploring the possibility of pulling the engine from their wrecked car and installing it in the backup machine – provided it was found to not be damaged in the Thursday wreck. The team did not have another engine available.

Joining Eckert, Moyer and Lanigan as locked-in starters for Saturday night’s 100 are Richards (11th starting spot), Francis (13th) and Jacobsen (21st). Frank, Carrier, McCreadie and Blankenship are all unofficially slated to run the B-Main, which will transfer its top-four finishers to the A.

Unofficial Knoxville Late Model Nationals Points Standings (Each Driver’s Best Points Total of Two Preliminary Nights – WoO LMS Drivers In Caps):

1. Darren Miller 498
2. Steve Shaver 490
3. RICK ECKERT 488
4. BILLY MOYER 484
5. DARRELL LANIGAN 481
6. Scott Bloomquist 475
7. Brian Birkhofer 471
8. Jimmy Mars 470
9. Dan Schlieper 467
10. Brady Smith 467
11. JOSH RICHARDS 460
12. Chris Madden 455
13. STEVE FRANCIS 454
14. Brian Shirley 445
15. Donnie Moran 442
16. Shannon Babb 439
17. Tony Stewart 439
18. Matt Furman 429
19. Steve Kosiski 424
20. Jeep VanWormer 422
21. ERIC JACOBSEN 419
22. Bart Hartman 418
23. Scott James 415
24. Billy Drake 414
25. Justin Fegers 410
26. CHUB FRANK 406
27. EDDIE CARRIER JR. 393
28. Kerry Hansen 391
29. Curt Martin 387
30. Ken Schrader 382
31. Andy Eckrich 380
32. Jeff Aikey 379
33. Trent Follmer 372
34. TIM McCREADIE 369
35. Mike Balcaen 369
36. Todd Shute 367
36. Jackie Boggs 367
38. Chris Spieker 366
39. Dennis Woodworth 363
40. Nick Marolf 362
41. JOHN BLANKENSHIP 349
42. Chris Smyser 345
43. Johnny Spaw 345
44. G.R. Smith 343
45. Jay Johnson 341
46. Johnny Johnson 337
47. Mitch Johnson 331
48. John Seitz 330
49. Mike Marlar 321
50. Andrew McKay 317
51. Jeff Tharp 316
52. Matt Aukland 305
53. Boone McLaughlin 300
54. Paul Glendenning 294
55. Richard Bell 292
56. Todd Cooney 290
57. Levi Benn 278
58. Jason Conoyer 258
59. Alonzo Grosse 258
60. Jill George 257
61. Darrell DeFrance 246
62. Curt Schroeder 240
63. Junior Coover 234