*Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the dirt racing topics of the day from east Tennessee and beyond.
Richard: My how things change. Last season Darrell Lanigan was absolutely crushing the competition on the World of Outlaws Late Models circuit. In his own Club 29 brand of chassis the Kentucky driver ultimately won a total of 17 feature races and cruised to the WoO title. But 2015 has not been so kind to the 45-year-old driver and car builder.
So far this season, Lanigan has managed three wins in the very early part of the season, none of which were WoO Late Models sanctioned, and he was languishing well behind leader Shane Clanton in the series standings. As a result, the ‘Bluegrass Bandit’ has made the decision to drop out of series racing to refocus on his team and take care of his Club 29 customers.
It wasn’t very long ago that we were writing of how good it would be for Josh Richards to return to full-time racing so there would be someone to challenge Lanigan’s dominance, was it?
Michael: I don’t think Richards’ return has had a lot to do with Lanigan’s struggles. Richards only has a few series wins while Shane Clanton is the one that has been tearing it up this season.
Lanigan is showing how hard it is to run a full national tour and build cars at the same time. We saw Scott Bloomquist pretty much go through the same thing a couple of years ago.
I almost think a driver that wants to build his own chassis needs to either just run regionally without having a set schedule or just stop racing. WoO has a grueling schedule and this time of the year is especially hard. They just came off a northeastern trip and now they’re on their western swing. It’s hard enough just to race that schedule let alone try to run a business at the same time.
Richard: I believe you have hit the proverbial nail on the head in that running a business and such a demanding schedule such as one of the two national touring series is very difficult. It would seem as if either or both the business customers and the driver’s own efforts would be sacrificed in the attempt. Lanigan essentially admitted as much in the press release that was sent out to break the news of his decision to drop off the WoO Late Models tour.
Not only has Lanigan himself suffered a lackluster(by his standards) campaign so far this year, but none of the Club 29 drivers have piled up wins to this point. The most prominent driver to move to Club 29 last year was Jimmy Owens when he left Bloomquist Race Cars for the new brand. And while the three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion did not win a title in 2014, he did achieve several wins.
This year, Owens has not posted the type of results we have been accustomed to seeing from him. Just how much of that is related to the chassis cannot truly be known, but the fact that Lanigan is also not winning could be a key indicator.
Your example of Bloomquist seems to be a good one. Right now, Jared Landers is the only prominent touring series driver I can think of who is using the Sweet-Bloomquist Chassis. I believe Eric Wells employs and older Bloomquist Race Car.
And not only has the number of drivers using Bloomquist’s cars fallen off, but his own performance has seen some significant peaks and valleys of late, hasn’t it?
Michael: It’s hard to gauge how much of Bloomquist’s highs and lows can be attributed to age or to his business ventures. I believe he has admitted in the past that running a demanding schedule and running a productive business is hard to do.
There is the philosophy that a chassis builder’s “house car” needs to be on the road and winning races to sell cars. While there may be a point to that, the opposite can be true too. If the house car isn’t winning races because they’re behind or running older equipment, that would hurt sales as well.
I’ll admit I’m surprised by the performance of the top drivers in Club 29 cars. After hearing how far behind Lanigan is on customer cars as well as still running older equipment for himself, that makes more sense. It will be interesting to see how much or little racing Lanigan does and how quickly other Club 29 cars win more races.
Richard: Along the line of drivers who have had disappointing 2015 seasons to date, Chris Madden has been on hiatus now for several weeks after having gone winless through the first third of the season. However, the Gray Court, SC driver has the entire Southern Nationals tour on his website schedule and could be looking to add an unprecedented sixth series title to his list of achievements if that schedule indeed comes to fruition.
I, for one, hope we have not seen the last of a competitive Chris Madden in Dirt Late Model racing. Strong regional stars such as himself, Randy Weaver, Billy Ogle, Jr., Vic Hill and Donald McIntosh are good for racing in this part of the country. Any of those guys, as they have proven in the past, can step and beat the national touring guys at any time. That adds an element of intrigue to Lucas Oil and WoO Late Models races every time those series come to the area.
The Southern Nationals has obviously suited Madden’s style over the years. If he does indeed race, can he win after such an extended time away from the track?
Michael: I normally don’t count out Madden when it comes to the Southern Nationals. But with this extended time away from racing, I’m not sure how he will fair. He wasn’t running all that great (to his standards) before he stepped away. It’s hard to make him the favorite being away so long, especially when drivers like Donald McIntosh seem to be in a good rhythm right now.
There have been all kinds of rumors about Madden’s sudden absence. We may never know the reason behind it. But I think Dirt Late Model racing in the southeast has a void with him not racing on a regular basis.
Richard: I think it’s fair to say that the next couple of weeks could be a very interesting time in the Dirt Late Model world.
