HAMMETT, PA - Aug. 2, 2010 - When the World of Outlaws Late
Model Series last visited Wisconsin one month ago, Jimmy Mars made his
home-state fans proud with a powerful victory.
Can the superstar racer from Menomonie, Wis., shoot down the traveling invaders
again when the national tour returns to the Badger State on Wednesday night
(Aug. 4) for a much-anticipated 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event at Shawano
Speedway? Mars sure hopes so.
“Anytime you can win a race it’s exciting, but if you can win a big one in your
home state it’s more special,” said Mars, who dominated the first-ever WoO LMS
show at Superior (Wis.) Speedway on July 8. “Winning in front of the people who
know you a little more is pretty cool.”
Mars, 38, drew a loud ovation from Superior’s crowd when he downed the Outlaws
last month and he’ll certainly earn a similar reaction if he’s triumphant at
Shawano. But he conceded that he’ll have to work extra hard to go two-for-two
in Wisconsin WoO LMS action this season because he’s not quite as familiar with
Shawano’s sprawling half-mile oval as he is with Superior’s tighter
three-eighths-mile layout.
“I’ve never had a chance to run at that place much in my career,” Mars said of
Shawano, a venerable fairgrounds track located about 170 miles east of his
home. “I’ve run at Superior at least once or twice a year for quite awhile so I
had a pretty good idea of what I needed for the Outlaw show there and used that
to my advantage, but I’ve only been to Shawano maybe two or three times.”
Mars made his last start at Shawano on May 17, 2008 – and it was a good one.
With his then three-month-old son Taylor in the hospital battling a serious
case of bacterial meningitis, Mars stayed close to home for a WISSOTA Rumble
Series special at Shawano and road off with a convincing $10,000 victory.
“We had a pretty good car that night,” said Mars, who also remembers finishing
fifth in a Hav-A-Tampa/UDTRA Series event in 2001 at
Shawano. “I like racing on half-miles and the stuff we do with our (MB Custom)
cars on half-miles has been working pretty well, so hopefully we can have
another good night there. I’m looking forward to it.”
Mars will be well rested and his equipment fresh when he enters Wednesday
night’s action at Shawano, which hosts the WoO LMS for the first time since the
World Racing Group restarted the tour in 2004 after a 15-year hiatus. The
series did visit Shawano during its short-lived first-incarnation (1988-1989)
under late WoO Sprint Car Series founder Ted Johnson, running an event on June
5, 1989, that was won by Minnesota’s Rick Egersdorf.
Since Mars won two of the four A-Mains that made up last month’s WoO LMS ‘Wild
West Tour’ (he followed his Superior victory with a score on July 10 at Dakota
State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D.), he has competed in just three events. He
last raced on July 23, finishing second in a weekly program at his hometown Red
Cedar Speedway.
Mars has spent his off time gearing up for Shawano and the 23rd annual USA Nationals
on Aug. 5-7 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., a $50,000-to-win
spectacular that is sanctioned this season by the WoO LMS. He’s also enjoyed
going racing with his six-year-old son Sam, who registered the best finish of
his young career with a second-place run in a winged caged go-kart race on
Saturday night (July 31).
“We stripped our cars completely down and went through them with a fine-tooth
comb over the last two weeks,” said Mars, who has five top-five and six top-10 finishes in nine WoO LMS starts this season. “We
want to make sure we’re ready to be game-on for Shawano and Cedar Lake. It’s
going to be a big weekend of dirt Late Model racing in my home state and I’m
excited about it.”
Mars, who is the defending champion of the USA Nationals, will face off on
Wednesday night with arguably the most talented field of dirt Late Model
drivers ever to grace Shawano Speedway. His rivals will include former WoO LMS
champions Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who competed in the tour’s 1989 event at
Shawano as an up-and-coming young driver and returned for the 2001 Hav-A-Tampa-UDTRA show, Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.,
Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.
The roster of Outlaw regulars also features Rick Eckert of York, Pa. (an
entrant in Shawano’s ’01 Hav-A-Tampa/UDTRA event),
Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., Tim Fuller of
Watertown, N.Y., Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Russell King of Bristolville,
Ohio, rookie sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., Brent Robinson of
Smithfield, Va., and rookie Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Other well-known drivers expected to enter Wednesday’s program include
three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who set fast time
for Shawano’s 1989 WoO event but ran into problems in the A-Main, Brian
Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., Dennis Erb
Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and Jeep VanWormer of
Pinconning, Mich., as well as locals such as Nick Anvelink,
A.J. Diemel and Pete Parker.
Wednesday’s program, which also includes a $2,000-to-win feature for the IMCA
Modifieds, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for ages 12-and-over, with children 11-and-under admitted free
of charge. Seats can be reserved in advance by calling Shawano Speedway at
715-526-7069. Pit passes will be $40.
Shawano Speedway is located about 45 minutes northwest of Green Bay and
three-and-a-half hours east of Cedar Lake Speedway, where the WoO LMS heads for
the USA Nationals immediately after Wednesday night’s final checkered flag.
Additional information about Shawano Speedway is available by visiting www.shawanospeedway.net.
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), Hoosier
Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), SuperClean
(Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com
(Hard Charger Award) and Chizmark Larson Insurance; in addition to contingency
sponsors Eibach Springs, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pink Carburetors, Pro
Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance and Wrisco
Aluminum.
Ó SCMSRN.com/Paul J Miller 3rd, 2000-2010