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'Chubzilla' Settles For Third-Place Finish In Prestigious North-South 100

Monday August 13, 2007

 

BEAR LAKE, PA – Chub Frank’s bid for a second career win in the prestigious North-South 100 at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., fell a bit short on Saturday night.

The popular Bear Lake, Pa., driver known as ‘Chubzilla’ was squarely in the hunt for the 25th annual event’s $50,000 top prize, but he settled for a third-place finish.

It was the second consecutive year that Chub placed third in the unsanctioned special, which saw Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., score the biggest victory of his career over Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis. Chub won the North-South 100 in 2002.

Settling for the $7,000 third-place check rather than the 50-grand that Owens took home didn’t sit especially well with the competitive Chub.

“It’s not like I’m upset with running third,” said Chub. “I just look at it as a missed opportunity at winning some big money, so that makes it a little disappointing to me.

“With the competition being so tough these days, you don’t get that many opportunities to race for a win in a big race. When you do get in position to win one, you want to take advantage of it.”

Chub kicked off the big weekend by timing fifth-fastest in Friday night’s qualifying session, which featured 86 drivers from 17 states. He then won his heat race on Saturday night from the fourth starting spot, earning him the fifth starting slot for the 100-lapper.

While Chub moved his Lester Buildings/Corry Rubber/All Star Performance/Corry Laser/Slavic Corporation/Farr MotorSports/Lake Shore Paving/Custom Race Engines Chevrolet Impala SS Rocket Chassis No. 1* to second place behind Owens early in the North-South 100, he never got close enough to challenge for the lead. He ultimately lost second to Smith on a late-race, double-file restart that forced him outside the lane of rubber that developed at one end of the track.

Chub felt he didn’t quite put the right setup in his car for the slick, half-mile oval.

“It’s a tough racetrack,” said Chub. “You gotta do some weird things to your car to make it work around the place. We threw some off-the-wall stuff at our car and it was pretty good, but it wasn’t good enough.”

Chub will return to action this Thursday night (Aug. 16) at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., where he’ll compete in a 35-lap dirt Late Model special that pays $3,000 to win. He will field a second car for NASCAR Nextel Cup veteran Kenny Schrader, who will invade the track with fellow NASCAR star Tony Stewart to battle the Late Model regulars in the ‘#1 Cochran Stars of NASCAR’ program.

Chub plans to take the remainder of the weekend off from action to prepare for the resumption of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, which ends a three-week hiatus with the $20,000-to-win ‘Scorcher 100’ Aug. 21-23 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. Chub ranks third in the current WoO LMS points standings, trailing leader Steve Francis by 44 markers.

Stop by Chub’s Web Site at www.chubfrank.com for his complete schedule.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Ren Jonsin.

 

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