Steve Francis wasn’t happy with his performance on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Wild West Tour,’ but he at least headed home from the four-race swing on a positive note after finishing third in the ‘Great Plains 50’ on July 10 at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D.  

 “We ran across something (at Huron),” said Francis, who started from the pole and led the first lap of the ‘Wild West Tour’ finale. “We were so horrible this whole trip, and so inconsistent this whole year, that when we unloaded Tim (Logan, his crew chief) and I talked about changing some things around. Our car’s been carrying the wheels and acting all kinds of stupid – and we have no rhyme or reason for it – so we finally decided we were gonna give the car what it was saying instead of doing what common sense tells ‘ya.  

“We definitely made some progress. For the feature we were just way too tight – in the heat race (which he won easily) the track was just right for us, a little bit slippery then. We didn’t do too much before the feature, and when that rubber came we were just way too tight. I was scared to change much because we’ve been that bad – when you’ve been bad and all of a sudden your car is that good in a heat race, it’s hard to change a whole lot – so we’ll take that and try to build on it.”  

 Driving the Rocket car owned by Tim Logan in all four ‘Wild West Tour’ events, Francis was superb in qualifying. He set fast time for the ‘Gopher 50’ on July 7 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., and the ‘Mid-States Hydraulics 50’ on July 8 at Superior (Wis.) Speedway and then timed third-fastest on July 9 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., and fourth-fastest at DSFS. He also won a heat race at every track except Superior.  

 But Francis didn’t get the A-Main finishes he was looking for. At Deer Creek, he started sixth and finished seventh in a quiet, steady run. He finished one lap down in 12^th at Superior after drawing a caution flag on lap 16 when he tangled with Austin Hubbard while battling for sixth and executed a 360-degree spin; he pitted moments later to change a flat left-rear tire. And at River Cities he was credited with a ninth-place finish after rain stopped the race with 21 of 50 laps complete, forcing official to declare the event official because the series could not return to the track this season.  

With the WoO LMS idle until the five-race Ohio/Pennsylvania Speedweek starts on July 27 at Central PA Speedway in Clearfield, Pa., Francis has no plans to enter any races during his down time.  

 “We’ll take the next two weeks off and try to get everything geared back up,” said Francis, who sits fourth in the WoO LMS points standings, 116 points behind leader Josh Richards. “I’m gonna take a few days and take my daughter on vacation, do nothing but spend time with her and then come back and really get focused the last week before we go back to it. Tim and Deric (his other crewman) are gonna take a few days and get away too – you know, let everybody recharge their batteries and then be wide open for the rest of the year.”

A holiday-weekend World of Outlaws Late Model Series doubleheader in the Volunteer State produced a pair of top-10 finishes for Steve Francis — including a near-win on Saturday night (July 3) at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway.

Francis kicked off his trip with an eighth-place finish in Friday night’s ‘Invasion 50′ at Wartburg (Tenn.) Speedway. He started 12th and had his attempts to move further forward hampered by the quarter-mile oval’s track surface, which took rubber midway through the A-Main.

The veteran was in the thick of the battle all night 24 hours later at Tazewell, a high-banked one-third-mile oval he had last visited seven years ago. He started fourth and was second by lap 15; he spent the remainder of the distance running there, trying hard to unseat eventual winner Shane Clanton.

“I think I was more maneuverable, but he could run a faster lane in the open every lap,” Francis said of Clanton. “There wasn’t enough off of (turn) four to really pass. He was gonna have to make a mistake for me to get by him.   “We ran first and second, though, so I’m happy. Me and Shane have been working on a lot of stuff together, so it was a good race for both of us.”

Francis, who is ranked fourth in the WoO LMS points standings, headed back to his shop in Ashland, Ky., following Tazewell’s checkered flag for a quick prep stop-over before heading out for the four-race WoO LMS ‘Wild West Tour,’ which begins on Wed., July 7, at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. The swing also includes events on July 8 at Superior (Wis.) Speedway, July 9 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., and July 10 at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D.

ASHLAND, KY – June 29, 2010 – Steve Francis hopes that he’s found his rhythm as the racing calendar turns to the month of July.  

 Coming off an up-and-down ‘Great Northern Tour’ swing with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, Francis feels that he’s on the verge of breaking out with his self-owned, Valvoline-sponsored team.  

 “Like I’ve said before, we’re not exactly where we need to be yet,” said Francis, who heads into July with a total of two wins, eight top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in his 28 overall starts to date. “We’re not doing bad and we’re still making money, but we know we can be better. We just need to find that consistency with our program.  

“We’re gonna go home and regroup a little bit this week (after a very busy month of June) and see if we can get geared up for the rest of the summer. With a little work, I think we’ll get this thing figured out.”  

Francis, 42, of Ashland, Ky., enjoyed his highlight of the past month on June 20 at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway, a quarter-mile Canadian oval that he mastered en route to a flag-to-flag victory in a 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main. He was never seriously challenged as he marched away to his second tour win of 2010, worth $10,600.  

 The Cornwall triumph, which came in his first WoO LMS start of ’10 behind the wheel of a Rocket car owned by his crew chief Tim Logan, was a huge pick-me-up for Francis and his team. He began the Great Northern Tour with a frustrating 13^th-place run on June 15 at Can-Am Motorsports Park in Lafargeville, N.Y. – an outing that prompted Francis to say, “That was absolutely the worst race car I’ve ever sat in.”  

Yes, something was amiss with his normally dependable Rocket machine that evening at Can-Am. He was so disgusted with his performance that he nearly pulled out Logan’s car for the next show, on June 17 at Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ont., but he opted to stay with the same car and get it back on the right track.  

 After driving Logan’s car to victory at Cornwall, Francis explained why he stuck with his own mount for the event at Merrittville, where he ended up leading laps 7-28 and finishing fifth in the track’s inaugural 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main. Only an incorrect tire choice prevented him for contending for the victory to the finish.  

 “We were gonna run this (Logan car) at all three Canadian racetracks (that were scheduled as part of the Great Northern Tour),” said Francis. “But after we ran so bad with my car at Can-Am we held off on running (Logan’s car) for one more race. I’m one of those people that’s kind of stubborn, kind of hard-headed, so I had to figure out what was wrong with my car.  

“We worked all day long and part of the night to get it ready for Merrittville. We found that we had three or four different little things wrong – we put a different motor in it, the brake caliper was acting up on it, we had a couple heim ends we weren’t real happy with. The way we ran at Merrittville made me feel a lot better.”  

Francis, who suffered Great Northern Tour rainouts on June 19 at Quebec’s Autodrome Drummond and June 22 at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway (the races will be made up on Aug. 23 and 24, respectively), closed the month of June with three days of racing on June 24-26 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., as part of the Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com. He was solid but not spectacular, finishing 11^th (Thursday) and seventh (Friday) in the 30-lap preliminary A-Mains before closing out the weekend with a ninth-place run in the $30,000-to-win Firecracker 100.   Francis, who started 11^th in the 100-lapper, was hampered throughout the distance by a stuck carburetor that made it difficult for him to negotiate the four-tenths-mile oval’s slick turns.  

Francis will kick off his July racing schedule this weekend with a WoO LMS trip to the Volunteer State for events on July 2 at Wartburg (Tenn.) Speedway and July 3 at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway. He enters the doubleheader ranked fourth in the tour’s points standings, 114 points behind leader Josh Richards.  

Fans can stay up-to-date on all the latest Steve Francis news and information by visiting his Web site at www.stevefrancisracing.com.  

Steve Francis Racing carries support from Valvoline, Rocket Chassis, Custom Racing Engines, Keyser’s Port City Racing, VP Race Fuels, Performance Rod & Custom, Harbaugh Amusement, Duralite Racing Wheels, Tim Logan Racing and Hoosier Racing Tire.

CORNWALL, ONT – June 20, 2010 – Steve Francis got his groove back on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series with a dominant performance in Sunday night’s 50-lap A-Main at Cornwall Motor Speedway.

Making his first WoO LMS start of the season in a Rocket car owned by his crew chief Tim Logan, Francis took advantage of a pole position start to lead every lap of the national tour’s third annual visit to Ron Morin’s finely-manicured Canadian quarter-mile oval.

Francis, 42, of Ashland, Ky., rolled to his second series victory of 2010, staying safely ahead of the sometimes wild position-swapping that went on behind him. In fact, second place changed hands five times among three drivers during the event, but no one was able to seriously challenge the 2007 WoO LMS champion.

“As the racetrack slicked off (the car) just got better and better and better,” said Francis, who earned $10,600 for becoming the fourth repeat winner of the 2010 WoO LMS campaign. “In the feature the thing was basically on a rail. You could drive it about anywhere. We ran the top of (turns) one and two and the top of three and four at points, which shows how good it was.” Read more »

Steve Francis and his Tim Logan-led crew worked hard to earn their pair of top-10 finishes in last weekend’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘RaceFest World Championships’ at West Virginia Motor Speedway.

Francis and Co. made a pair of engine changes — one after time trials on Saturday night (May 29) in search of a powerplant combination more suitable for the big five-eighths-mile oval, another on Sunday afternoon (May 30) because Francis was concerned about his motor running hot during Saturday’s A-Main (he attributed the overheating to nosepiece airflow problems he needs to correct). The engine he installed on Sunday was a Russell Baker-built piece that was fetched from Logan’s shop on Sunday morning by Steve’s wife, Amanda, who skipped Saturday’s action to help her parents run their weekly program at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, Ky.

All the work in the hot weather allowed Francis to finish ninth (from the 17th starting spot) in Saturday’s 30-lap A-Main and a solid fourth in Sunday’s 40-lapper, during which he was a contender throughout the distance but was hampered by a slight overheating condition. He ended the weekend ranked fourth in the points standings, 102 points behind leader Josh Richards.   “We want see if we can work our way back into this points thing a little bit,” said Francis, who entered the weekend 120 points out of first place. “We only gained a little this weekend, but there’s a long way to go. Maybe we can get ourselves into a fairly safe fourth and go from there.”

A pair of third-place finishes last week left Steve Francis feeling pretty good about his Valvoline-sponsored racing team.

Francis authored back-to-back third-place runs on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, on May 13 in the ‘First State 50′ at Delaware International Speedway and May 15 in the ‘Conococheague 50′ at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. He was a contender for victory in both events — at Delaware he chased eventual winner Josh Richards early until losing second to Brady Smith on a lap-23 restart and then easing his car home with an overheating engine, and at Hagerstown he actually passed Richards for the lead on lap 18 but lost it the following circuit and ultimately settled for third after Darrell Lanigan slipped by him on the final lap.

“We’ll take the top threes,” said Francis, who moved to fourth in the WoO LMS points standings, 120 points behind leader Richards after 14 events. “I feel like we’ve got the corner turned with our program. We’re getting to where we need to be.”

Francis closed out his weekend by entering Sunday’s O’Reilly All-Star Late Model Series event at West Virginia Motor Speedway behind the wheel of Tim Logan’s machine. He won a heat race to put himself in position for a solid evening, but rain forced the postponement of the A-Main to a date to be named later.

After sliding backward from the sixth starting spot to finish a disappointing 10th in the ‘Land of Lincoln 50′ on May 7 at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway, Steve Francis came back strong the next night to end his World of Outlaws Late Model Series weekend in the Midwest on a high note.

Racing at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, Ky. — the high-banked oval that is promoted by his new in-laws, David and Anita Ferrell — Francis recorded a strong second-place finish in the 50-lap ‘My Old Kentucky Home Shootout.’ Though he slipped back as far as fifth early in the event after starting from the pole position and leading the opening lap, he rallied to regain the runner-up spot from Darrell Lanigan on lap 43.

“I couldn’t run with (winner Jimmy) Owens,” said Francis. “But I can’t complain about a second. At one point I thought I was gonna be about a 10th-place car, so we were fortunate to get back to second.

“We kinda got our car a little too tight (at Bluegrass), which is is first for us this year. We’re still working on finding that balance. I think we’re gaining on a lot of things, but we’re still not where we want it to be.”

Francis pulled into a tie with Tim Fuller for fourth place in the WoO LMS points standings entering this weekend’ss East Coast doubleheader at Delaware International Speedway on Thurs., May 13, and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway on Sat., May 15.

Steve Francis came oh-so-close to experiencing a very enjoyable weekend in the Southeast with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

On Friday night (April 30) at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway, the ‘Kentucky Colonel’ won a heat race and advanced from the fourth starting spot in the 50-lap A-Main to grab the lead on lap six when Darrell Lanigan slowed with a flat tire. He was overtaken for the top spot on lap 16 by eventual winner Josh Richards, but Francis hung tough in second until some fender-rubbing racing with Tim McCreadie sent him spinning out of contention in turn four on lap 33. He restarted at the rear of the field and settled for a 13th-place finish.

Francis moved south to Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway on Saturday (May 1) and scored a quiet-but-steady sixth-place finish in the 50-lap A-Main. He started eighth and ran as high as fifth.

Patience and perseverance paid off on Saturday night (April 17) for Steve Francis, who benefited from a rash of flat tires suffered by drivers in front of him to finish a satisfying fourth in the inaugural World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Commonwealth 100′ at Virginia Motor Speedway.

After timing 20th-fastest in the 56-car field and transferring to the A-Main with a third-place finish in a 15-lap heat race on Friday night, Francis started 14th in the 100-lap headliner. He spent most of the distance running at the back end of the top 10, but calmly conserving his rubber allowed him to gain positions as other contenders popped tires late in the race.

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I actually had more tire left than I thought,” said Francis, who vaulted from eighth to fifth in the WoO LMS points standings with his top-five finish. “I probably could have run a little harder, but I was worried we wouldn’t make it.”