Steve Francis
Hometown: Ashland, KY
Birthday: Sept. 10, 1967
Marital Status: Single
Children: Daughter Alexis
Car: No. 19 Valvoline/Reliable Painting Rocket
Car Owner: Dale Beitler/Beitler Enterprises
Website: www.stevefrancisracing.com 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Stats:
Events: 45
Starts: 44
Wins: 4 (Drummond, Que.; Tri-City, Pa.; Paducah, Ky.; Bulls Gap, Tenn.)
Top 5: 27
Top 10: 40
Fast Times: 4
Heat Wins: 18
B-Main Wins: 2
Points Standings Finish: 1st
Total Season Earnings: $243,575
WoO LMS History: Participated in the first incarnation of the WoO LMS organized by late promoter Ted Johnson. Failed to win a feature while finishing 24th in the 1988 standings and second in 1989… Signed as one of original 12 contract drivers when World Racing Group (WRG) restarted WoO LMS in 2004… Won first career series feature on Feb. 3, 2004, at Volusia Speedway Park – the inaugural event of the tour’s new era under WRG… Finished second in the 2004 point standings, 13 points behind champion Scott Bloomquist… Three ’04 victories highlighted by a $40,000 score on Aug. 7, 2004, at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.Dak… Suffered heartbreaking defeat in 2005 title battle to Billy Moyer, who passed Francis on the final lap of the season-finale ‘Gator 100’ at Volusia Speedway Park to finish second and end the campaign tied for the points lead with Francis. Moyer was crowned champ by virtue of the tour’s second tie-breaker: most second-place finishes (5-2)… Five triumphs in ’05 included a sizzling mid-summer stretch in which he won three straight and four out of five races… Won twice in 2006, at Volusia Speedway Park and Ohio’s Brushcreek Motorsports Complex. Finished sixth in points standings… Snapped 45-race WoO LMS winless streak with first victory of 2007, on June 23 at Quebec’s Autodrome Drummond. It was the tour’s first-ever event held in Canada… Record a total of four wins in 2007, scoring victories down the stretch at Pennsy’s Tri-City Speedway, Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and Tenn.’s Volunteer Speedway (Tennessee Fall Brawl 100 worth $20,000)… After two early-season DNFs in ‘07, ran off 38 consecutive lead-lap finishes to clinch first career WoO LMS title in season’s next-to-last event… Owns 14 career wins, ranking him third on the tour’s alltime WRG-era win list (2004-2007)… One of only two drivers (Rick Eckert is the other) who has started all 154 features run to date during tour’s WRG-era… Decided to park his self-owned team and drive Maryland car owner Dale Beitler’s No. 19 in pursuit of a second consecutive WoO LMS championship in 2008…
Other Racing History: Born and raised in Ashland, Ky., began racing cars at 15 years old with help from his father and brother… Won first career dirt Late Model feature in 1984 (in Virginia) and now has over 200 triumphs to his credit… First major sanctioned victory came in 1992 STARS (later Renegade DirtCar Series) event at Florida’s Putnam County Speedway… Earned national recognition by winning three consecutive STARS/Renegade championships (1996-98)… Enjoyed a spectacular 1999 season, winning the World 100 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, Dirt Track World Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway and Commonwealth Cup at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway. Also finished fourth in first season as regular on UDTRA/Xtreme DirtCar Series… Welcomed Valvoline as sponsor in 2000 and finished second in UDTRA/Xtreme standings. Added backing of Mopar Performance Parts in 2001 and recorded another runner-up finish in UDTRA/Xtreme points… After death of his brother/crew chief Chris in August 2001, spent ’02 and ’03 seasons driving Rocket Chassis house car and registered points finishes of third and fifth on UDTRA/Xtreme tour… Resumed operation of his own dirt Late Model team in 2004… Sixth-place WoO LMS points finish in 2006 snapped his streak of finishing among top five in a sanctioned dirt Late Model series every year since 1994… Drove Tim Logan’s No. 11 in selected events during the 2007 season, winning six times…
Interesting Facts: In 1997, Francis was given one of Kentucky’s highest honors. For his achievements in the auto racing arena, the governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky recognized Francis as an "official and honorary" Kentucky Colonel…