FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - It didn't take Chris Ferguson long to prove his first career World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory was no fluke.
One night after scoring a breakthrough WoO LMS triumph at Friendship Motor Speedway, Ferguson, 25, of Mount Holly, N.C., led every lap of Saturday's Tar Heel 100 main event at Fayetteville Motor Speedway in Fayetteville, N.C. to complete a sweep of the weekend's WoO LMS North Carolina doubleheader.
Much like he did Friday at Friendship in Elkin, N.C., Ferguson dominated the entire program at Fayetteville, setting fast time in qualifying, running unchallenged in his heat race and dominating the majority of the 50-lap A-Main. He cruised through most of the race in his Clements-powered Longhorn Chassis and smoothly handled lapped traffic on his way to a $10,050 victory.
"This is unbelievable. It's the greatest weekend of my whole life," said Ferguson, who became just the second repeat WoO LMS winner of the season. "This car is amazing. I'm not even doing nothing special. The car is so fast, I'm just holding the steering wheel."
Leading WoO LMS rookie Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., equaled his best career WoO LMS finish with a runner-up performance. Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., ran second for much of the way but slid back to third after a back-and-forth battle with fourth-place finisher Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind. Rick Eckert of York, Pa., rounded out the top five in a race slowed by six cautions.
Starting from the pole, Ferguson easily pulled away from Lanigan and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., early in the race and built more than a half-straightaway advantage before lapped traffic slowed his pace around lap 10.
Ferguson struggled to overtake the slower cars using the track's preferred low groove, allowing Lanigan and Richards to close the gap. Langian pulled alongside Ferguson exiting turn two on lap 13, but Ferguson charged the top of the track entering turn three on that lap and pulled back ahead.
The move to the outside line also allowed Ferguson to begin passing traffic more easily, and he soon began to ease away from his challengers.
"I was kind of worried because I wasn't sure how good the top was," Ferguson said. "Everybody was running the middle to the bottom. I thought I might have saw (Lanigan) on the left side of me coming off of two one time, so I just started pressing the issue and driving in as hard as I could. I thought I was gonna be over there on the dragstrip a few times going into turn one."
The fourth-starting Overton faded early in the race, dropping as far back as seventh before charging forward after the halfway mark. He moved by both Lanigan and Casebolt to take second following a lap-33 restart. But he never could mount a serious challenge on Ferguson and instead had to hold off a resurgent Lanigan in a side-by-side finish for the runner-up spot.
"That wasn't too bad," said Overton, whose previous second-place WoO LMS finish came in the tour's season opener at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga. "We definitely got the car a little better. We just gotta keep digging and we'll keep getting better."
Dennis Franklin of Gaffney, S.C., finished sixth in the final rundown, while Richards slid back to seventh after running third for much of the race. Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., was eighth, while Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., salvaged an otherwise forgettable night with a ninth-place finish. Johnny Pursley of Clover, S.C., rounded out the top 10 finishers.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series returns to action Fri., May 8 with its first ever visit to Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky., for a $10,000-to-win program at the 3/8-mile track. The series then moves to Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., on Sat., May 9 for another $10,000-to-win event at the Mountain Outlaw 50 Presented by NAPA.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit WorldofOutlaws.com.
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Fayetteville Motor Speedway – Fayetteville, NC
Tar Heel 100 – May 2, 2015
1. (1) Chris Ferguson/50 $10,050
2. (4) Brandon Overton/50 $5,850
3. (2) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,600
4. (7) Steve Casebolt/50 $2,550
5. (5) Rick Eckert/50 $2,650
6. (8) Dennis Franklin/50 $2,200
7. (6) Josh Richards/50 $2,000
8. (10) Eric Wells/50 $1,850
9. (12) Shane Clanton/50 $1,750
10. (9) Johnny Pursley/50 $1,100
11. (21) Boom Briggs/50 $1,650
12. (16) Chub Frank/50 $1,550
13. (23) Chase Junghans/50 $1,550
14. (3) Frank Heckenast Jr./50 $1,450
15. (14) Jordan Yaggy/48 $900
16. (18) Morgan Bagley/36 $1,350
17. (11) Dean Bower/35 $770
18. (15) Tim McCreadie/32 $1,400
19. (22) Dustin Mitchell/30 $780
20. (13) Justin Labonte/30 $700
21. (20) G.R. Smith/22 $700
22. (19) Donald Bradsher/15 $700
23. (17) Jeff Smith/14 $700
24. (24) Brian Ligon/1 $725
Time of Race: 35 Mins., 50 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.443 Secs.
Yellow Flags: Six (laps 21, 30, 33, 35, 35, 41)
Lap Leaders: Ferguson (1-50)
Provisional Starters: Junghans, Ligon
