#FantasyDirt Primer: World of Late Models Quad Cities 150 Presented by Hoker Trucking

The World of Outlaws Case Construction Late Models are headed to Davenport Speedway in Davenport, Iowa for the second edition of the Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking. The Quad Cities 150 is a three-day event, culminating in Saturday's 70-lap feature for $30,000.

To prepare for this event, I've put together all you'll need to know about the format, drivers (including stats), and strategy to get the most bang for your buck on Dirt Draft. Take a gander at what I've put together and if you like it, subscribe for more #FantasyDirt content.

The Format: "Every Lap Matters"
With a three-day event, we get the WoO "Every Lap Matters" format. Thursday and Friday are run as standard WoO shows with Qualifying, Heats, LCS, and Features. Drivers are awarded points for their placement in each of these races. Thursday and Friday's cumulative points are then used to lineup the Heat races for Saturday. Saturday then consists of Heat races, the Last Chance Showdown, and the 70-lap Feature.  

Importantly, there are no "locked in" drivers after Friday. Rather, those drivers who have performed well across the two preceeding days will have favorable starting spots in their respective heats (and LCS should it come to that).

Who's Gonna Be 'Der & What Do We Know 'Bout 'em?: WoO Late Model Series Drivers, the Defending Champ, and Regional Stars

As one might expect, a three-day event in the midwest will turn out a large field of drivers. The number of World of Outlaws series regulars are a bit low this season with only 8 drivers making it out to every event this season. Josh Richards has had a bit of a snakebitten season, but is the 9th and final series regular. In addition to the WoO regulars, I've been able to identify 26 additional drivers who could be in attendence (these are either drivers currently loaded into Dirt Draft or confirmed on Twitter by the driver or @WoOLateModels).

Below are the drivers I've identified (sorted by Series Regulars and Non-Regulars, for the purposes of available Provisionals) who may be in attendance. I've also included the drivers Dirt Draft Salary for tonight (if available and as of publishing) and their Average Finish and Average Qualifying position (if available) as provided by Dirtrackr.com (reprinted here with permission) with the amount of attempts in parantheses.

WoO Series Regulars
Shane Clanton ($22,100)- Avg. Finish: 4.00 (1) - Avg. Qual: 9.00 (2)
Ryan Gustin ($21,900) - Avg. Finish: 15.67 (3) - Avg. Qual: 5.00 (2)
Dennis Erb Jr. ($21,600) - Avg. Finish: 11.57 (7) - Avg. Qual: 10.33 (6)
Tanner English ($21,400)
Max Blair ($20,700)
Josh Richards ($20,500)
Brent Larson ($19,800) - Avg. Finish: 18.00 (7) - Avg. Qual: 12.67 (6)
Gordy Gundaker ($19,700)
Boom Briggs ($18,900)  - Avg. Finish: 12.57 (7) - Avg. Qual: 10.17 (6)

Non-Series Regulars
Devin Moran ($22,500) - Avg. Finish: 1.67 (3) - Avg. Qual: 2.00 (2) - 2021 Winner
Bobby Pierce ($22,000) - Avg. Finish: 6.14 (7) - Avg. Qual: 6.50 (6)
Brian Shirley ($21,200) - Avg. Finish: 11.00 (3) - Avg. Qual: 7.00 (2)
Tyler Bruening ($21,000) - Avg. Finish: 14.33 (3) - Avg. Qual: 9.50 (2)
Shannon Babb ($20,300)- Avg. Finish: 8.80 (5) - Avg. Qual: 4.00 (4)
Frank Heckenast Jr ($20,100) - Avg. Finish: 10.00 (5) - Avg. Qual: 5.00 (4)
Chris Simpson ($20,000) - Avg. Finish: 13.86 (7)- Avg. Qual: 6.50 (6)
Chad Simpson ($19,600) - Avg. Finish: 20.20 (4) - Avg. Qual: 9.20 (5)
Jason Feger ($19,500) - Avg. Finish: 13.00 (5) - Avg. Qual: 5.50 (4)
Cade Dillard ($19,400) - Avg. Finish: 7.43 (7) - Avg. Qual: 5.50 (6)
Ashton Winger ($19,300) - Avg. Finish:16.333 (3) - Avg. Qual: 7.67 (3)
Billy Moyer Sr ($19,200)
Spencer Diercks ($19,100) - Avg. Finish: 19.75 (4) - Avg. Qual: 9.00 (6)
Tony Jackson Jr. ($18,800)
Jimmy Mars ($18,700) - Avg. Finish: 8.50 (5) - Avg. Qual: 10.40 (5)
Jake Timm ($18,500)- Avg. Finish: 21.00 (2) - Avg. Qual: 11.50 (2)
Justin Kay ($18,300) - Avg. Finish: 15.00 (4) - Avg. Qual: 13.67 (6)
Andrew Kosiski ($17,800) - Avg. Finish: N/A - Avg. Qual: 6.50 (6)
Kent Robinson ($17,600)
Matt Furman ($17,500)  - Avg. Finish: 20.00 (2) - Avg. Qual: 16.00 (2)
Tim Simpson ($N/A) - Avg. Finish: 20.00 (1) - Avg. Qual: 20.50 (2)
Mike Guldenpfennig ($N/A) -  Avg. Finish: N/A- Avg. Qual: 17.25 (4)
Chad Finley ($N/A)
Kye Blight ($N/A)
Jeff Larson ($N/A)
Chad Mahder ($N/A)

So What's the Plan?: Win! Duh...
In seven WoO Features available in the dirtrackr.com database, the Feature Winner's Average Starting Postion was 2.8571. The one Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Feature from this year saw Hudson O'Neal win from the third starting position.

We're going to want to find guys who have a chance to start at the front if we want that 100 points. Following that thread, it looks like Devin Moran, Shannon Babb, Ryan Gustin, Jason Feger, Cade Dillard, Frank Heckanast Jr, Chris Simpson, Andrew Kosiski, Ashton Winger, Bobby Pierce, and Shannon Babb are guys we want on our radar leading into Qualifying, as they have a history of qualifying in the top 8 (arbitrary cutoff, but theoretically qualifying into the first 4 rows is as good as anywhere to draw the line).

Of those drivers, Babb ($20,300) and Heckanast ($20,100) are very close to the $20,000/driver average available to us and Chris Simpson is right on the $20,000 mark. Feger ($19,500), Dillard ($19,400) and Winger ($19,300) are all slightly below the $20,000 mark. Kosiski ($17,800) is way below and may be a dark horse if he qualifies well tonight. To me, these drivers all represent awesome value if their history of solid qualifying continues Thursday and Friday.

Moran ($22,500), Pierce ($22,300), and Gustin ($21,900) are all significantly above the $20,000 mark. Unless one of these guys blows the doors off the field in qualifying, its hard to justify their salary with so many other drivers available with similar qualifying records.

With Davenport Speedway being a 1/4 mile track, it would make sense that the Feature winners would come from the front. But what is also true is that drivers have plenty of opportunities to charge through the field. In reviewing the race results available on dirtrackr, it becomes pretty clear that drivers can move forward (or backwards) in a hurry. Generally speaking, there are a few drivers per race that managed to advance 6-8, or more, spots throughout the feature.

As an example, RTJ was able to advance 16 positions, from 23rd to 7th, earlier this year with LOLMDS. Unfortunately, RTJ in in Pennsylvania this weekend, but there are guys who have made similar runs in Davenport this weekend. Jimmy Mars ($18,700) charged from 11th to 2nd and Cade Dillard ($19,400) charged from 19th to 4th in the same 40-lap feature (Friday's) in 2020. Boom Briggs ($18,900) managed to go from 21st to 9th in the Thursday 40-lap Feature last year. In last years 70-lap Feature, Brian Shirley ($21,200) finished 2nd from the 13th starting position and Boom finished 3rd from the 10th starting spot.

With that knowledge, the Iceman, the Thriller, the Squirrel, and the Boom Stick (I just made that one up) should all be on your radar and maybe even in your lineup.

As for Saturday, the Dirt Draft salaries will fluctuate based on who is in a prime Heat starting spot. Be that as it may, we're going to want to pack as many Heat front row starters on our roster as possible. In the spots where we can't, we might want to keep those drivers in the previous paragraph in mind for some value picks to round out our roster.

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