MINERSVILLE, Pa. — Everything is going Darrell Lanigan’s way in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
Proof positive came June 25 at Big Diamond Raceway where Lanigan continued his surge to the top of the tour’s standings with an eventful victory in the inaugural Jack Rich, Inc. Coal Country 40.
Angry after being penalized two spots from his outside-pole starting position because officials ruled he jumped the race’s original green flag, Lanigan came back to secure his second WoO LMS triumph of 2008, thanks to a little assist from Lady Luck.
Lanigan, 38, of Union, Ky., appeared headed to a runner-up finish in his GottaRace.com Rocket when Shannon Babb saw his thrilling high-side charge to the front end with a flat left-rear tire on lap 34, putting Lanigan in the lead for good.
“I figured we’d run second and be happy with that,” said Lanigan, who earned $7,150 for his 10th-career victory with the WoO LMS. “We got behind when (officials) put us back (to fourth) on that start, but it came back to us.”
Polesitter Clint Smith chased Lanigan for the final six circuits, but never offered a serious challenge, finishing second, 0.741 of a second behind his fellow WoO LMS traveler.
Josh Richards finished third in the Mark Richards Racing/Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket. He led laps 1-29 before losing the top spot — and two additional positions — when a scrape with Babb momentarily sent him sliding off the track in turn two, effectively ending his bid for a third-straight WoO LMS triumph.
Completing the top five was eighth-starter Shane Clanton and sixth-starter Rick Eckert.
The 34-year-old Babb, meanwhile, finished 10th — a tough pill to swallow for the driver who got the evening’s near-capacity crowd jumping with a show-stopping, cushion-pounding run to the front.
“I went into (turn) one, got into the (rough) stuff at the top and pulled the left-rear tire off the rim,” Babb said. “It was real disappointing after we got going so good on the outside, but actually, our day was doomed anyway. Our right-rear (tire) had a rock hole in it and was losing air, so we probably wouldn’t have made it to the finish.”
The finish:
Darrell Lanigan, Clint Smith, Josh Richards, Shane Clanton, Rick Eckert, Steve Francis, John Blankenship, Jason Covert, Chub Frank, Shannon Babb, Ricky Elliott, D.J. Myers, Jim Yoder, Jimmy Bernheisel, Vic Coffey, Joe Isabell, Danny Johnson, Scott Haus, Jeff Rine, Mike Marlar, Dan Stone, Tim Fuller, Jeremy Miller, Jeff Strunk, Chad McClelland.