Red-Hot Babb Gives The Locals Something To Cheer About In World of Outlaws Late Model Series Event At Farmer City Raceway

FARMER CITY, IL – April 27, 2007 – Shannon Babb gave the locals what they came to see. The Moweaqua, Ill., native defended his home turf well on Friday night, scoring a powerful flag-to-flag victory in the ‘Farmer City 50’ at the venerable Farmer City Raceway.

It was the third win in the last four World of Outlaws Late Model Series events for Babb, who departed Farmer City – a quarter-mile fairgrounds oval at which he raced often early in his career – with sole possession of the tour points lead.

“It’s always nice to win close to home,” said Babb, who is the only repeat winner this season through eight WoO LMS A-Mains. “When it’s a big show, it’s even better.”

Babb dominated the feature, blasting off the outside pole to lead the entire distance in his Car City/J&J Steel Rayburn No. 18. He was fast enough to stay a step ahead of three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who made a late bid but settled for second place in his Banner Valley Hauling Rayburn No. 21.

Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., finished a distant third in his Mark Richards Racing/Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket, followed closely by Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., in his Valvoline Rocket and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., in his J.P. Drilling/Cliburn Tank Lines GRT.

Babb, 33, actually battled the testy, springtime track surface more than any single driver to secure the $10,000 top prize. Storms that ripped through Illinois in the days leading up to Friday’s program dumped several inches of rain on the Farmer City area, naturally contributing to the spongy, rough conditions that made the night a survival test.

“Part of the game was just keeping your car together and not tearing it up,” commented Babb, who entered the race expecting the track surface to be an issue. “This early-season racing (in the Midwest) is like this year after year – you can just count on it, just like you can count on the heat in August.”

Of course, Babb conceded that he has a combination that’s well suited for the conditions teams faced on Friday night.

“These cars really run well on this type of track,” Babb said of C.J. Rayburn-built dirt Late Models. “I don’t know if they’re really any better for these conditions than other cars, or if it’s just the setup we run in ‘em, but something makes them work.”

Babb’s vast experience at Farmer City told him that he couldn’t race too conservatively, however. The track won’t allow that strategy.

“There’s no finesse here,” said Babb. “It’s all stomp-and-steer.”

Babb was at his Farmer City, full-throttle best in the race’s closing laps, after Moyer, who passed Francis for second on lap 29, closed within striking distance.

Moyer got as close as a car’s length to Babb, on lap 40, before Babb turned up the wick and surged through lapped traffic to triumph by roughly a half-straightaway margin.

“I knew Billy was there,” said Babb, whose car is owned by Moyer’s father, Billy Moyer Sr. “He runs super-good on this (heavy) stuff. I just had to keep him behind me, so I just ran as hard as I needed to go to keep him there. If I needed to step it up, I could’ve.”

Moyer, 49, knew that passing Babb would be a difficult chore.

“He gets around this place as good as anybody in the country,” Moyer said of Babb. “Honestly, my only shot was if he got caught up behind a lapped car. I think he was only going as fast as he had to.

“Considering where we started (seventh), I’m happy to get what we did out of the night.”

The runner-up finish was Moyer’s second of the season on the WoO LMS. He also owns one victory.

Babb, who entered Friday’s action tied for the tour points lead with Smith, won the fourth WoO LMS feature of his career. His only previous win prior to his current two-week checkered-flag explosion was on Feb. 6, 2004, at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park.

Richards, 19, registered his best WoO LMS finish since winning the 2007 season opener on Feb. 17 at Volusia Speedway Park. He slipped by Francis for third on lap 43 and repelled both Francis and Smith over the remaining circuits.

Richards raced most of the distance with his car’s right-side door caved in and a header broken off – the result of an early encounter with Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., who also continued on and finished sixth.

But the biggest problem for ‘Kid Rocket’ was the frenetic pace and physical nature of the event, which ran caution-free from lap 17 to the finish.

“I didn’t know the race was actually over,” said Richards, who never saw the checkered flag displayed because he was so focused on his battle to keep third place. “But I was glad it was over. I had some pizza before the race, and I felt like I was gonna throw up the whole race.

“The pizza was good,” he added with a smile, “but I ate too much and the track was rough, so that wasn’t too good on my stomach.”

Francis, 39, ran second for more than half the distance, but he was a beat off the leaders’ pace when it counted down the stretch. He saw his winless streak on the WoO LMS stretch to 31 races, dating back to his last win, on May 5, 2006, at Brushcreek Motorsports Complex in Peebles, Ohio.

“At the end we just got so tight,” said Francis. “The track was really tough on us.”

Smith, 42, just tried to finish the distance without getting into any trouble and was successful – to an extent. While he was satisfied with his fifth-place finish, which left him second in the point standings (10 points behind Babb), early in the race he was hit in the helmet by a airborne rock or chunk or mud, stunning him momentarily.

Bloomington, Ill.’s Billy Drake came from 20th to finish seventh, followed by 16th-starter Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., 18th-starter Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and a quiet Rick Eckert of York, Pa.

Three caution flags slowed the A-Main. The problems included Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., spinning off the backstretch while running sixth on lap three; Muscatine, Iowa’s Brian Birkhofer and New London, Wis.’s Terry Casey tangling in turn three as they battled for fifth on lap seven; and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., breaking a spindle on lap 17.

Forty cars entered the event, which drew one of the largest crowds in the history of Farmer City Raceway.

Babb was fastest in time trials with a lap of 12.646 seconds, which was about three-tenths of a second off Ryan Dauber’s track record.

Heat winners were Owens, Carrier, Francis and Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill. Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., and Erb split the B-Mains.

The WoO LMS continues its weekend Midwest swing on Saturday night (April 28) at Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Ind.

Results of WoO Late Model Series (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):

1. (2) Shannon Babb/50 $10,000
2. (7) Billy Moyer/50 $5,000
3. (10) Josh Richards/50 $3,000
4. (4) Steve Francis/50 $2,500
5. (9) Clint Smith/50 $2,000
6. (6) Jimmy Owens/50 $2,200
7. (20) Billy Drake/50 $1,400
8. (16) Brian Shirley/50 $1,300
9. (18) Dennis Erb Jr./50 $1,200
10. (11) Rick Eckert/50 $1,100
11. (13) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,050
12. (12) Chris Madden/49 $1,000
13. (15) Chub Frank/49 $950
14. (8) Eddie Carrier Jr./49 $900
15. (14) Tim Fuller/49 $1,100
16. (24) John Blankenship/39 $800
17. (1) Jason Feger/39 $770
18. (21) Eric Smith/36 $750
19. (3) Brian Birkhofer/33 $730
20. (17) Wes Steidinger/26 $700
21. (23) Shane Clanton/26 $700
22. (25) Darren Friedman/16 $700
23. (5) Terry Casey/14 $700
24. (22) Joe Harlan/14 $700
25. (19) Kevin Weaver/3 $700


Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 3, 7, 17)
Lap Leaders: Babb (1-50)
Rookie of the Race: Tim Fuller ($250)
WoO Bonus Bucks Winner: Jimmy Owens ($500)

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 12.646
2. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 12.666
3. 42-Terry Casey/New London, WI 12.782
4. 15b-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 12.801
5. 20-Jimmy Owens/Newport, TN 12.835
6. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 12.874
7. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 12.887
8. 25x-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 12.926
9. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 12.964
10. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 12.967
11. 9d-Billy Drake/Bloomington, IL 12.992
12. 44M-Chris Madden/Gray Court, SC 13.004
13. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 13.034
14. 9-Eric Smith/Bloomington, IL 13.039
15. 28e-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 13.045
16. 88-Terry Babb/Decatur, IL 13.065
17. J1-Wes Steidinger/Fairbury, IL 13.098
18. B12-Kevin Weaver/Gibson City, IL 13.113
19. S10-JR Shickel/Bloomington, IL 13.125
20. 1W-Donnie Walden/Towanda, IL 13.153
21. 64-Ryan Dauber/Tonica, IL 13.218
22. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.221
23. 44H-Adam Hensel/Barron, WI 13.232
24. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 13.235
25. 27-Jeff Beyers/Pana, IL 13.272
26. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 13.301
27. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 13.318
28. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 13.320
29. 24x-Ryan Unzicker/El Paso, IL 13.628
30. 83-Scott Bull/Fairbury, IL 13.660
31. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 13.700
32. Z-Joe Harlan/El Paso, IL 13.706
33. 1M-Mike Mataragas/Dekalb, IL 13.737
34. 16-Nick Macklin/Oreana, IL 14.184
35. 1G-Rocky Griffin/Bloomington, IL 14.248
36. 14k-Kenny Adams/El Paso, IL 14.381
37. 15x-Lisa Shickel/Bloomington, IL 14.422
38. 4-Cody Bauman/Eureka, IL 14.451
39. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 15.468
40. 89-Darren Friedman/Forrest, IL N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Owens, S. Babb, C. Smith, Lanigan, Steidinger, Dauber, Clanton, Unzicker, Mataragas, L. Shickel

Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Carrier, Moyer, Richards, Fuller, Weaver, E. Smith, Bull, Macklin, Bauman, Beyers

Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Francis, Casey, Eckert, Frank, Erb, Blankenship, B. Smith, Drake, Griffin, JR Shickel

Heat No. 4 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer): Feger, Birkhofer, Madden, Shirley, Harlan, Walden, T. Babb, Friedman, Adams, Hensel

B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Steidinger, Weaver, E. Smith, Clanton, Dauber, Unzicker, Mataragas, Bull, Macklin, Bauman, L. Schickel (DNS)Beyers

B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Erb, Drake, Harlan, Blankenship, T. Babb, Walden, Griffin, Friedman, Hensel, JR Shickel (DNS) B. Smith, Adams

2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings (after 8 features):

1. Shannon Babb 1,118
2. Clint Smith 1,108
3. Rick Eckert 1,090
4. Steve Francis 1,082
5. Josh Richards 1,078
6. Shane Clanton 1,072
7. Chub Frank 1,070
8. Chris Madden 1,035
9. Darrell Lanigan 1,028
10. Brian Birkhofer 980
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 937
12. Tim Fuller (rookie) 931
13. Jimmy Mars 924
14. Billy Moyer 920
15. John Blankenship 687
16. Brian Shirley 603
17. Eric Jacobsen 559
18. Billy Decker (rookie) 536
19. Earl Pearson Jr. 519
20. Adam Hensel (rookie) 510



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