KANSAS CITY, Kan. (May 7) — Denny Woodworth didn't exactly look worried, but maybe a little concerned. After all, the Quincy, Ill., driver was watching Tim Karrick of Basehor, Kan., make the first laps of his career in a Late Model, and they were coming in Woodworth's backup No. 45 on the high-speedway half-mile oval of Lakeside Speedway. Woodworth had just met Karrick moments before, loaning him a driver's suit that fit Karrick like, well, a cheap driver's suit. | Slideshow | Payne wins at Lakeside

"Pretty smart, huh?" Woodworth joked about his decision to allow some guy he didn't even know to climb into one of his high-dollar cars. During Karrick's inconsistent hot laps, the decision didn't look too savvy, but at least Karrick didn't knock down the wall. And by the end of the night Karrick actually looked pretty good, bringing the car home in eighth position in O'Reilly Midwest LateModel Racing Association event that drew standouts like two-time Dirt Track World Champion Shannon Babb, former MLRA champs Terry Phillips, Al Purkey and Alan Vaughn along with World of Outlaws Late Model Series standout Clint Smith.

Karrick thought he was going to spend the night crewing for NASCAR star Clint Bowyer — Karrick maintains the modified Bowyer sometimes returns to Lakeside to drive — but instead ended up behind the wheel after track and series officials looked for ways to beef up the car count with weather threatening throughout the region.

"It was fun. I mean, it was just a good experience for me," Karrick said. "Hopefully when Clint comes back, we'll get to drive one of his Late Models. That's what the gameplan was last year on Cup weekend, we were going to drive one of his cars."

Karrick, 45, is an accomplished racer in 28 years of racing, mostly in modifieds since 1990. Overall he has 17 track championships on dirt and asphalt and, like Bowyer once was, is the modified guy to beat at Lakeside. Also like Bowyer, he's narrowly missed capturing NASCAR's Weekly Racing Series championship, but has pocketed more than $20,000 on three occasions for his efforts.

"I came out here to help Clint ... Dennis had an extra car up there and we just wanted to (increase) the car count for the fans. I think the rain kind of scared a lot of people away. (MLRA's) Harriett (Chancellor) and (Lakeside tech inspector) J.D. (Green), they came up and said, 'Do you want to drive?' I said, 'Well, which one, I don't want to hop in something dangerous.' Dennis had a good car here, so we hopped in it and it was pretty good. I don't think we changed anything all night. All we did was put a gear in it and we went. It was pretty good. Top eight MLRA, that's not bad."

Karrick struggled a bit in the final laps and wasn't exactly comfortable in the cockpit. "I thought the race was a 30-lapper, though. I was like 'Throw the white flag!' " he joked after the race. "The seat was so big I was holding myself up my elbow when I'd go in the corner. But the car was pretty close."

He thanked Woodworth for the opportunity, and was a little concerned about potential engine problems when he saw Woodworth's crew members mopping up oil on the rear deck of the car he drove. "Did it run hot?" Woodworth asked? "No, 195 degrees," Karrick replied. They decided it was probably oil from the overflow tank and not a problem, but one onlooker and friend of Karrick wisecracked with this: "They'll send you a bill."

Karrick wasn't initially sure he'd really be racing. He thought he might just be cruising around the track a couple of times to get starting money. "I said, 'Dude, you want me to pull off, I'll pull off. Just tell me what you want me to do.' It was a top 10. It was pretty good."

One fan came up and patted Karrick on the back, telling him he made his father proud. "You going to be OK for Friday?" the fan asked about Lakeside's next weekly event. Karrick said no problem. "I just got some laps in," he said.

"It's fun. Clint's deal, that's what I enjoy most of all, helping him and coming down here and racing my stuff, you know. And winning races. I hate losing, but when you run out there with these (MLRA) guys, they're cars fell like home, and my car felt like a borrowed car," he said. "I wasn't lacking anything. Just experience in Late Models."

Payne builds momentum for Wheatland

It's a little much to say Jeremy Payne would be the favorite for the May 9-10 SuperClean Diamond Nationals, but following his victory at Lakeside, he heads into the Lucas Oil-MLRA co-sanctioned event as MLRA's only winner of the season. He also has a pair of victories under his belt at the immaculate Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., one in a Late Model and one in a modified.

"It's always nice to get some confidence, but you know there's going to be a lot of good competitors there," said Payne, who finished 23rd in last year's Diamond Nationals after pulling out on the 35th lap with smoke coming from his car. "It'll be tough, but it's always nice to have a win behind you."

Payne always can lean on car owner Terry Phillips, one of the winningest Dirt Late Model racers in Missouri history, but he also this week was able to pick the brain of Dirt Track World Champion and Eldora Dream winner Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who spent a day at the Terry Phillips Motorsports shop in Springfield, Mo. Eckert helped Payne with a few pointers about how racing in open-tire rule events and how to set up the car to take advantage.

Purkey looks for air at Lakeside

With traction plentiful and speeds high at Lakeside Speedway, aerodynamics played a part in the MLRA action. Fourth-place finisher Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan., struggled a bit trying to keep his car under control and trying to keep up with third-finishing Terry Phillips.

"My car was so tight on the restarts. You hear the Winston Cup guys talk about (aerodynamics). You're going so fast here, and I was tight, that when I got on those restarts and we'd start and Terry would slide out there and block the air off the left side of my nose, I couldn't turn. And then I had to let him go a little bit and get some air so I could turn," Purkey said. "Any time you get to where you run 120 mph, 130 or whatever out there, and it's so round and it's you're on the gas so much, that air makes a big difference."

Eventually, Purkey couldn't keep up with the top three cars and settled for fourth, a half-track behind winner Jeremy Payne, rather than risk overheating his car or getting in a wreck. "I got stuck behind a couple of lapped cars, and then they got away, and after they get away that far, there's really no need in trying to knock the fence down," he said.