Steve Francis
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has a big weekend set for June 18-20 with a trio of $10,000-to-win races slated for Fayetteville Motor Speedway in Fayetteville, NC then the Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC and finally concluding in Maryville, Tenn. at Smoky Mountain Speedway. Among those competing for victories and championship points will be driver Steve Francis, who will enter his Clint Bowyer owned Barry Wright Race Car in each of these events.
Prior to the World of Outlaws Late Models race held on May 9 at Smoky Mountain(where Francis ultimately finished 10th), the veteran racer previewed the upcoming LOLMDS on the same track.
So where there any advantages gained over the rest of the Lucas Oil competition by competing in a race sanctioned by another series on a track that Francis would see again just weeks later?
“That kind of goes both ways,” Francis explained. “You can learn a little bit here. I wasn’t real good the two or three times we were here at Smoky Mountain last year. As a matter of fact, I was horrible. It’s a different tire rule and that can affect things a little bit. It will also be a different time of the year, even though this feels like June weather right now. But yeah, we’re here to learn and put a few things in our notebook. And with all the rain outs we’ve had this year, we’re just trying to race some.”
Numerous rain outs during the spring of the 2015 season left many race teams with no places to race. That, in turn, led to missed opportunities to learn as well as make money. As a result, schedules had to be reorganized. Francis explained that such difficulties can cause teams to get out of their normal rhythm.
“From Florida to The Dream, we usually race 25 times,” Francis pointed out. “But this year it’s probably going to only be about fourteen or fifteen times. It seems like we’ve worked harder and haven’t raced any.”
But there were some unexpected opportunities for improvement that arose from the postponements.
“We were fortunate in that some of the Lucas races that got rained out were cancelled early enough that we didn’t have to make those trips,” the 47-year-old Kentucky native said in an exclusive interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “But you’ve still done all that preparation and got ready to leave so you kind of change up your preparation a little bit or go test or something in that week anyway.”
Steve Francis in the Clint Bowyer owned BWRC
While Francis and his No. 15 team did race on the same track they will compete on this Saturday night, there are differing factors between the World of Outlaws Late Models and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. In particular, the driver known as the ‘Kentucky Colonel’ pointed to a difference in the tire rules of each series.
“I didn’t really think the tire rule was that big of a deal until I had some friends come from Australia,” the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member declared. “It seems like every series has a different tire rule for the same tire anymore- you know, they’re stamped. They’re this, they’re that and it’s really become a pain in the butt. I was always a fan of the open tire thing then we thought this Lucas deal was going to be a simple thing. It’s even complicated because we come here(for the WoO event) and we’re 1300, 1350, 1450, 1600. When we come back here for the Lucas race, and they’re spec right rear I think will be a 1, 3 and 6 or something like that, so it seems like we’re buying extra tires now just to get to run extra races.
“If we ran all World of Outlaws, or all Lucas or all Southern All Stars, or Ray Cook’s, or whatever, it wouldn’t be as bad. But we’re trying to make it where racers can travel around and do more stuff, but it seems to me like we’re making that harder.”
Referring to Smoky Mountain Speedway in particular, Francis counts the facility as a favorite because of the high speeds and the relationship he has with the man who prepares the track.
“I’ve known David(Bryant) for probably 25 years or so,” Francis said. “He’s a little bit old school, and that’s good. I like it when they make it fast, but as long as we’ve got two lanes we can race on it doesn’t really matter.”
