LEBANON, MO – July 1, 2007 – Brian Shirley has nothing but fond memories of Lebanon I-44 Speedway.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series Rookie of the Year contender is hoping to maintain that good vibe when the famed tour visits the Show-Me State track on Tuesday night (July 3) for a 50-lap/$10,000-to-win holiday spectacular.
 
Shirley, 26, of Chatham, Ill.,  is undefeated at Lebanon I-44 in his career – he’s been there once, and he was victorious. He invaded the Randy Mooneyham-promoted facility last September for the MARS DIRTcar Series ‘Larry Phillips Memorial’ and rode off with a convincing triumph.
 
The local fans “didn’t even know who I was when I won that night,” quipped Shirley, a rising young star in the dirt Late Model ranks. “They were questioning our operation.”
 
There will be no sneaking in under the radar for Shirley on Tuesday night, however. I-44’s regulars will certainly remember Shirley’s impressive high-side run to the checkered flag last fall, and his profile has since increased thanks to his win in last year’s Knoxville (Iowa) Late Model Nationals and strong performances on the 2007 WoO LMS.
 
The all-star competition that Shirley figures to face in Tuesday’s WoO LMS/MARS DIRTcar Series Shootout at Lebanon I-44 will be tough, but he feels good about his chances after his successful debut at the track nine months ago.
 
“I’m looking forward to going back,” said Shirley, who drives the Petroff Towing/Jayco Construction No. 3s fielded by longtime St. Louis area car owner Ed Petroff. “It’s definitely a place that I like. It’s a big, fast racetrack with some banking where you can just get out there and put the hammer down.
 
“The track was good from top-to-bottom when I was there last year. I’ve heard they brought in some dirt this year, but hopefully the surface is still the same and doesn’t take anything different (setup).”
 
Shirley will take to the three-eighths-mile oval with a bunch of drivers he can now consider friends. That list includes NASCAR Nextel Cup veteran Kenny Schrader, who will bring his own dirt Late Model team to I-44 to compete in the night’s program, and the WoO LMS regulars.
 
Schrader, of course, put Shirley in his familiar No. 99 dirt Late Model for April’s Circle K Colossal 100 event at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
 
The WoO LMS travelers, meanwhile, have accepted Shirley into their ‘fraternity’ during his first season following a majority of the tour’s grueling schedule.
 
“I feel like these (WoO LMS) guys have taken me in pretty good,” said Shirley, a former flat-track motorcycle racer who has been driving dirt Late Models for only five years. “They all look out for me because they know it’s just me and one other (crew) guy out on the road.
 
“I believe that if you respect them, they’ll respect you, so that’s what I try to do when I race with them.”
 
Shirley didn’t begin the 2007 season with plans to place much of his focus on the WoO LMS, but he started putting more emphasis on it after learning that he could apply for Rookie of the Year consideration. This year’s WoO LMS Rookie of the Year program provides a $15,000 prize to the eligible first-year driver whose best 30 finishes are worth the most points.
 
Shirley submitted his Rookie of the Year application to tour officials the same day he won his first career WoO LMS A-Main, on May 13 at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway. A panel that included three veteran WoO LMS drivers and three media members then looked over Shirley’s dirt Late Model resume to determine whether he should be granted rookie status with the WoO LMS.
 
By unanimous vote of the panel, Shirley, who had not strayed far from the dirt Late Model tracks of the Midwest prior to this season, was declared a WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender.
 
Going into Tuesday’s card at Lebanon I-44, Shirley has entered 20 of the 25 WoO LMS programs contested to date and missed qualifying for only two A-Mains. He sits 11th in the overall point standings and is primed to battle for the Rookie of the Year Award with Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.
 
“We have to wait until we get to that 30-race deal to see where we stand against Fuller,” said Shirley. “Then we’ll see what happens.
 
“Fuller is a good race car driver, so if he wins, he deserves it. If we win it, it’s a little extra bonus for us.”
 
Regardless of the rookie race’s outcome, Shirley is gaining the most intense on-the-job education of his dirt Late Model career by racing with the WoO LMS.
 
“Running with these guys definitely brings up the learning curve a lot,” said Shirley, who flashed some true dedication recently by making a virtual non-stop, 22-hour haul from Illinois to Drummondville, Que., after deciding at the last minute to compete in the June 23 WoO LMS event at Canada’s Autodrome Drummond. “It’s a lot different when you race every night against 20 good cars that have a chance of winning. You just get sharper, because you know you have to be focused since there’s not just four or five guys who can win like in a lot of local races.
 
“Right now we’re not even close to where we should be, but we’re doing O.K. We’re learning.”
 
At Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Tuesday, gates will open at 4:30 p.m., hot laps will begin at 6:45 p.m., and racing will commence at 7:30 p.m.
 
Kenny Schrader will compete in I-44’s WoO LMS program for the second consecutive season. Last year he finished 17th in the A-Main after switching to his backup car due to ignition problems during hot laps.
 
Schrader will meet fans during an autograph session in the spectator area beginning at 5:30 p.m.
 
A talented field is expected to join Shirley and Schrader, including WoO LMS standouts such as points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Rick Eckert of York, Pa., Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.; MARS travelers like Bill Frye of Greenbrier, Ark., Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kans., Jeremy Payne of Springfield, Mo., Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., and Lebanon, Mo.’s favorite son Brandon McCormick; and possible superstar entries Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who won a WoO LMS event at Lebanon in 1988, and Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, who captured last year’s WoO LMS show at the track.
 
Grandstands and tier parking will cost $30 for adults and $10 for children 13-15, with kids 12 and under admitted free.
 
For more information, visit www.lebanoni44.com or call 417-532-2060.
 
Additional info on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.