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Clanton Looks To Regain Winning Rhythm With Return To I-55
Raceway For ‘Pepsi Nationals' On Saturday Night (Sept. 19)
PEVELY, MO (Sept. 16) - One year ago Shane Clanton was the hottest
dirt Late Model driver in the country when he visited I-55 Raceway – and he
just got hotter with a stirring victory in the track's World of Outlaws Late
Model Series event.
But when the national tour returns to the one-third-mile oval on Saturday
night (Sept. 19) for the 27th annual Pepsi Nationals, Clanton will be
looking to recapture the winning rhythm he flashed through the late-summer
and early-fall of 2008.
Clanton, 34, of Locust Grove, Ga., entered the 2009 campaign as a driver
expected to contend for the $100,000 WoO LMS points championship, but he
didn't pick up right where he left off last year. He has just one win this
season – a $20,000-plus score way back on April 4 in the Illini 100 at
Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway – and sits a distant sixth in the points
standings.
“Last year everything just flowed, especially later in the season,” said
Clanton, whose career-best '08 campaign included four wins and a
fourth-place finish in the WoO LMS points race plus a dozen triumphs in
non-series events. “It didn't matter what we did; we seemed to hit things
right more often than not. But this year has been a different story.”
Clanton pulled into I-55 Raceway last September literally on top of the
world – he had, after all, won the prestigious UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned
World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, the previous week. He
cemented his status as a national superstar with a victory in the 50-lap
A-Main at the well-known Missouri facility owned by NASCAR veteran Ken
Schrader and Ray Marler, advancing from the seventh starting spot to cap an
impressive run of three wins in six WoO LMS events over a five-week span.
The I-55 checkered flag even ended Clanton's personal struggles in Missouri,
a state he had taken to calling ‘Misery' because of his inability to win
there over the years.
Clanton started the 2009 WoO LMS schedule decently enough, with a string of
top-10 finishes and his Illini 100 triumph helping push him into the points
lead after the season's seventh event, at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor
Speedway. But then the bottom fell out; he was replaced atop the points
rankings the next night and never got close to the lofty position again.
“It's pretty frustrating, but what can you do?” Clanton said of his '09
season, which shows nine top-five and 26 top-10 finishes in 37 events (he
had 22 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes in 43 races last year). “You just
keep working, trying different things. We've been all over the map trying to
find things that fit me and fit the race car and just haven't hit on it yet.
“We've tried changing just about everything except the driver – and we've
thought about that,” he added with a smile. “I don't blame (the struggles)
on one particular thing. It's just that everyone is always changing things
and some guys have gotten a little bit better than us this year, so we have
to catch up.
“We're still trying, that's for sure. We're all trying to work together to
get everything back in a row. When we do that, we'll start winning races
again.”
Clanton feels as if he's getting his RSD Enterprises Rocket cars closer to
where they need to be, but he's not there yet. He recorded back-to-back
top-five finishes in the last WoO LMS A-Mains contested two weeks ago at
Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa., but he followed that up by failing to
qualify for last weekend's World 100 after starting his visit to Eldora in a
manner that would seem to sum up his season: he discovered a broken valve in
his primary engine while changing valve springs after unloading on Thursday,
forcing him to install a backup.
“When you work as hard as you can, you see the light at the end of the
tunnel,” said Clanton, who turned 34 on Aug. 29. “We're starting to see more
light.”
A repeat of his '08 effort at I-55 Raceway would be a nice way for Clanton
to get his groove back. He's confident that the 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event
at the high-banked track can serve as his tonic for a disappointing season.
“I feel good about going there,” Clanton said of I-55, where he preceded his
victory last year with WoO LMS finishes of eighth in 2007 and 15th in 2005.
“They do a good job of preparing the racetrack. It gets slick, but it's also
the shape and size of two of the favorite racetracks I go to back around
home – Talladega (Ala.) and North Georgia – so I like it.”
Clanton will face plenty of competition at I-55 Raceway – from his fellow
WoO LMS stars as well as a host of tough customers from across the Midwest.
Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., leads the WoO LMS points standings by four
points over Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., entering Saturday's action.
The traveling Outlaw roster will also include the red-hot Tim Fuller of
Watertown, N.Y., who has won seven of the last 11 tour events; Clint Smith
of Senoia, Ga., the 2007 Pepsi Nationals winner; defending champion Darrell
Lanigan of Union, Ky.; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake,
Pa.; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis.; and Rookie of the Year contenders
Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky.,
Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., Dustin Hapka of Grand Forks, N.D., and
14-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif.
Meanwhile, Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., who finished fourth in last
year's Pepsi Nationals, and two-time defending UMP DIRTcar national champion
Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., will continue their neck-and-neck
battle for the 2009 UMP DIRTcar national points crown at I-55. Saturday's
event is co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar and will be run using the
organization's Hoosier LM20, LM30 and LM40 compound tires.
Other drivers planning to enter the Pepsi Nationals include Brian Birkhofer
of Muscatine, Iowa, Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., former WoO LMS champion
Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., Randy Korte
of Highland, Ill., 2009 I-55 champion Bryan Collins of Elsberry, Mo., and
2008 I-55 titlist Billy Faust of Lebanon, Ill.
Gates will open at 3 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 19). Practice is scheduled to
begin at 6 p.m., followed by time trials at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.
The big program will also include a $1,000-to-win special for the UMP
DIRTcar Modifieds and a UMP DIRTcar Sportsman event paying $500 to win.
Seats in the top three rows of the frontstretch grandstands are reserved and
can be purchased in advance for $32 each by calling the track office at
636-479-3219. General admission tickets are $27, with kids 12 years old and
younger admitted free in the general admission sections. Pit passes will be
$35 for all ages.
Additional info on the Pepsi Nationals is available by logging on to
www.i55raceway.com.
I-55 Raceway is located 30 minutes south of downtown St. Louis, off Pevely
exits 180 and 178 of Interstate 55.
The Pepsi Nationals kicks off a Midwest doubleheader for the WoO LMS, which
will visit La Salle (Ill.) Speedway on Sunday night (Sept. 20) to contest
the Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country
by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts
(Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane
Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires),
Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), SuperClean (Official
Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to
contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tires, Integra
Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks, Racing Electronics, Quarter
Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams Engine Builder's Challenge
participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom Race Engines and Pro Power
Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder Challenge participants Rocket Chassis
and Team Zero by Bloomquist.
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