Darrell Lanigan’s Top 10 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Tracks

In recognition of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series running its milestone 300^th A-Main since 2004 on July 26 at Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa., I presented a simple project to the four drivers and one car owner who participated in tour events at each of the 118 tracks in 30 states and three Canadian provinces that hosted World of Outlaws programs over the eight-and-a-half-year span: Make a Top 10 list of your favorite speedways.

Darrell Lanigan (Dalesandro photo)

Below is the Top 10 WoO LMS Tracks List for Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who won the tour’s historic 300^th A-Main. One of the original 12 contract drivers signed to run the series when it was re-launched in 2004 by the World Racing Group, the 40-year-old has started 302 of the 309 A-Mains contested to date. He failed to qualify twice in 2004, once in ’05 and twice in ’07, and there are two events that he did not enter – July 3, 2007, at Missouri’s Lebanon I-44 Speedway (mechanical trouble forced him to regroup) and the 2011 season opener at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. (due to health problems). Third on the tour’s career win list with 26 victories and the 2008 points champion, Lanigan has visited every track that the series has competed at since ’04.

Note: Lanigan’s tracks are listed in his order of preference. The number of WoO LMS events each track has held is in parenthesis, and Lanigan’s comments about each track are in quotes.

1) Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, Ohio (two races) – “I always like going there – they have the bigger races, so you’re always pumped up to go to them. I liked the ‘old’ Eldora more – it was racy from top-to-bottom and didn’t matter where you started – but even though it’s changed a little bit I still like it.”

2) Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway (one race, in 2007) – “It’s a wide-open, big racetrack, and you can race all over it. I’ve always liked the big tracks like Knoxville – it seems like you have more room to move around and race.”

3) Volusia Speedway Park/Barberville, Fla. (17 races) – “It’s a decent racetrack – a nice half-mile where you usually can go down and race without tearing a lot of stuff up.”

4) Virginia Motor Speedway/Jamaica, Va. (eight races) – “They treat you good there, it’s a great facility with nice pits, and it’s a racy half-mile.”

5) Deer Creek Speedway/Spring Valley, Minn. (nine races) – “Track-prep is definitely the big thing there – those guys go out and work on the track hard every night. I haven’t seen anywhere else in the country where they work as hard on the track as they do there.”

6) Lernerville Speedway/Sarver, Pa. (18 races) – “Just a real good racetrack. Early in the night it’s fast and hammer-down, and by feature-time it’s like glass and slick so you gotta have your stuff right. We’re usually good there, but we need a little bit more luck to win a race.”

7) The Dirt Track at Charlotte/Concord, N.C. (15 races) – “A wide-open track. We usually run good there and the atmosphere there is always pretty neat. I like it.”

8) Hartford (Mich.) Motor Speedway (one race, in 2011) – “We’ve only been there once, but I liked it. Of course, we won there, but it was definitely wide-open and hammer-down in the feature and fit our driving style.”

9) Tri-City Speedway/Franklin, Pa. (10 races) – “Another big, pretty-flat track. We run pretty decent there and it’s a place you can pass at.”

10) K-C Raceway/Alma, Ohio (four races) – “It’s close to the house, so it’s nice to go there. But it’s also a nice facility, and as long as they work on it enough to keep it from rubbering up it’s usually a pretty good race.”