Pumped Up For The ‘Cash Cow 100’

Shane Clanton can’t wait to get to Columbus (Miss.) Speedway for this weekend’s inaugural ‘Cash Cow 100.’

That’s a pronounced turnaround from the vibe he gave off just one month ago following the season-opening World of Outlaws Late Model Series events at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. I saw him briskly walking through the quiet souvenir area behind the grandstands after picking up his paycheck for the finale of the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, grumbling, “I’m just gonna forget about this week” as he passed by en route to his waiting hauler and a six-hour ride home to Fayetteville, Ga.

Clanton and Green (mrmracing.net photo)

The DIRTcar Nationals were a bitter disappointment for Clanton, who began the week with high hopes when he unloaded a brand-new Capital Race Cars machine that he constructed over the winter with former dirt Late Model standout Marshall Green. He couldn’t get the car running up to his satisfaction in the three DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned events that kicked off the DCN, so he reluctantly switched back to his older Rocket Chassis mount and struggled to finishes of ninth (after using a provisional spot) and 23^rd in the WoO LMS 50-lappers.

Despite the unspectacular debut, Clanton maintained that the Capital car remained his focus for the 2011 season. He said he just needed some track time to figure it out.

Oh, how correct Clanton seems to have been. After testing the Capital car on March 3 at Boyd’s Raceway in Ringgold, Ga., and in an open practice session last Friday night (March 11) at Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway, Clanton drove the vehicle to a convincing $10,000 triumph in last Saturday evening’s ‘Shamrock 60’ at Cleveland.

“I think it was more just being able to practice and make the right adjustments,” an upbeat Clanton said by phone on Tuesday. “We didn’t get a chance to test before going to Florida and it showed. Any time you got a new race car, ride heights and other little things mean something. We found that what we had down in Florida wasn’t what we really wanted, so we came home, changed some stuff, practiced a little and we’re a little better now.

“The main thing today is finding a balance with our cars. It’s not just a setup for this type racetrack or that type racetrack anymore. Everything we look for now has to do with balance – does it steer good and is it tight enough? If you’re loose, the back end’s gonna come around. If the front end’s wanting to push up the racetrack, than you’re tight. You just try to find a happy medium in between, and if you get that you’ve got a balanced car. That’s basically what we had at Cleveland.”

Clanton’s triumph not only erased any lingering memories of Florida but also provided him a unique sense of pride. After all, he worked right alongside Green throughout the construction of the Capital Race Car.

“Anytime you win it’s real satisfying,” said Clanton. “But anything you do on your own, win you win with it the magnitude of the satisfaction is just multiplied. It’s been a long time since I built a race car I won with. We had a lot of success in Limiteds (Limited Late Models) with the first car I built for myself (more than a decade ago), and hopefully we’ll have the same success in this.”

Clanton's new Capital Race Car (mrmracing.net photo)

Now Clanton takes a car that’s no longer unproven back into the WoO LMS wars this weekend – at a demanding one-third-mile, high-banked track where he happens to excel. He’s been superb in the track’s prestigious late-season event, the Magnolia State 100, over the last four years, winning it in 2007 and 2009, finishing second in 2010 (with a damaged car) and leading 86 laps of the 2008 edition before a flat tire with six circuits remaining relegated him to an eighth-place finish. He also finished third in the last WoO LMS show there, in March 2007.

“Oh yeah, I’m excited about Columbus,” Clanton smiled as thoughts of the $20,000 ‘Cash Cow 100’ top prize danced in his head. “I’ve been pretty good there the last few years and I think we can be right up front again with this car.”