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One thing I looked forward to in moving from Northern Michigan to Southern Indiana is being able to attend races.  Last night, thanks to the folks at National Interstate Insurance, my wife and I were able to attend the first ever World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Lawrenceburg Speedway.

This was the first LMS race for us and I gotta say, it was a great evening.  The Lawrenceburg facility is excellent, very clean and well maintained, and the racing action was fantastic.  The only thing that could have been better would have been a victory by Josh.

Here’s Josh preparing to start the A Main.

The race was the opening event in the National Interstate Speedweek since Attica was rained out Wednesday night.   Here’s the report from Kevin Kovak

Lawrenceburg, IN — By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director

Patrick Sheltra didn’t hesitate when asked to rate the importance of his victory in Thursday night’s 40-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at Lawrenceburg Speedway.

“I’d consider it my biggest win ever,” said Indiantown, Fla.’s Sheltra, a 21-year-old who has been driving a dirt Late Model for only four years. “This has always been my dream – to win a World of Outlaws race against the best in the business.”

Sheltra sprung a major upset in the opening event of National Interstate Speedweek, leading from flag-to-flag to score his first career triumph on the national tour. He pocketed $7,500, including the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ for being the highest-finishing driver who wasn’t ranked among the top 12 in the series points standings and hadn’t previously won a WoO feature.

A regular this season on the ARCA stock-car circuit, Sheltra showed his strength on the dirt en route to a convincing victory in his family-owned Rayburn car. He shot off the outside pole to grab the lead from polesitter Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., at the initial green flag and was never challenged during the frenetic 39-lap stretch of caution-free action that closed the event.

The race got off to a rough start, with one caution flag and one red flag needed on the first lap.

The caution came first, for a multi-car tangle in turn two that began when a car got sideways, setting off a chain-reaction pileup. Scott James of Greendale, Ind., Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., were left stacked up on the inside of the track.

James and Shaver were forced to retire, but Richards returned to the fray after his crew made hasty repairs to his car’s front-end damage, including welding its left-front spindle back in place. He soldiered on to finish 11th.

The event’s wildest incident occurred on the ensuing restart, bringing out a red flag. Babb’s Billy Moyer Sr.-owned car dug into the spongy turn-one surface and bicycled onto its right-side wheels. While he did not flip, his bounce into the air caused a jam-up behind him that left Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., sitting atop the hood of Richmond, Ind.’s Duane Chamberlain.

Also involved in the tangle were WoO LMS title contenders Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis. Brady Smith ran only seven more laps before retiring, while Francis and Clint Smith made pit stops and returned to complete the distance.

Thirty-two cars entered the event, which was threatened by rain. The program appeared doomed when dark storm clouds closed in on the track around 4:30 p.m., but only a momentary light rain fell before the skies cleared.

Babb set a new track record in time trials, earning the $100 National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award with a lap of 12.068 seconds.

Heat winners were Babb, Casebolt, Ratliff and Lanigan, and the B-Mains were captured by Jared Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., and Richards.

The heats were marred by a frightening series of flips executed by Chad Ruhlman of Bemus Point, N.Y. During the fourth heat race he slipped over the berm in turn one and barrel-rolled several times before coming to rest upside down, but he escaped injury and later received the night’s National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award.

National Interstate Speedweek continues on Fri., July 27, at Eldora Speedway and Sat., July 28, at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio.

For more information, visit the WoO LMS and National Interstate Speedweek websites.

Josh Richards, WoO LMS