ON AUTO RACING: SHANKS TAKES FUN ROUTE TO SUCCESS

Experience has helped Alex Shanks narrow what once was a wide emotional gap between winning and losing. The wins remain thrilling, just not as crucial. The losses have become easier to take.

The focus has turned to consistency and fun, two areas where Shanks has excelled in his 11th season in a sprint car.

"I still remember back in 1991 or '92, we ran second for about four weeks in a row," said Shanks, now 27. "I was young and thinking in totally different terms then I would get so frustrated with that, but now I realize it's part of it. Now we focus on having a good time when we're at the track, and that's a big reason why we keep doing it."

Shanks, of Marion, Ill., has discovered extra initiative this season at Auto Tire and Parts Racepark near Benton, Mo. In his seven appearances this year at ATPR, Shanks has finished in the top five four times, including second on June 23, third the following week and first on July 14. It was his first ATPR feature race win since the track opened in 1991.

"We've been getting good starting spots in the heat races and then in the features, and that's helped so much," said Shanks, who drives the white No. 1C car. "We've been using fresher tires the past few weeks, which we didn't have before since we're running on sort of a limited budget. And the car was a little off early in the season, and it's come together now. All those things have added up.

"It seems like things are clicking for us right now."

A smaller budget has meant sacrifices for Shanks and his car owner, Gary Cravens of Herrin, Ill. The team's only car is a four-year-old chassis, so one hard crash could leave Shanks off the track for weeks. The engine has been reliable, but it's a year old. Even the car's top wing is a symbol of cost-effective racing: One side of it was replaced by a scrap piece after an early season crash, but the new part had to be turned upside-down to fit. Cravens and Shanks decided not to re-letter the new panel, so now it features an inverted car number and sponsor name.

"I guess it makes sense we could go down there Saturday and tear it up again and would have wasted 100 bucks for the lettering job," Shanks said. "Besides, it still says "1" either way you look at it."

Shanks' parnership with Cravens and sponsors Industrial Trucking and LTS Express has been a winning experience regardless of budgeting. Shanks and Cravens paired up in 1995 when Shanks had to park his own orange No. 38 car after he ruined his only two engines. Cravens offered Shanks the chance to race his car, and the two have since raced to 13 victories.

"I knew that the way we were going this season, we'd have to finally win another one," Shanks said. "It's a game of confidence, and right now we want to keep it going."

A muddy good time

A rare Wednesday night event at St. Francois County Speedway near Farmington, Mo., paid off with a capacity crowd and a big turnout of United Midwestern Pomoters-sanctioned cars despite afternoon rain that left the sprawling facility floating in mud. Illinois' Rodney Melvin led a field of 27 late models for a $2,000 win, denying veteran Washington, Mo., racer Ed Dixon his 500th career win. Dixon finished seventh.

St. Louis native Ken Schrader, driving his own No. 99 late model, finished third. ATPR frequenters Mike Abney (ninth), Charlie Savage (13th), Henry Nash (15th) and Greg King (16th) also made the starting lineup.

Here and there

* Officials at Fredericktown (Mo.) Raceway expect big turnouts for their Friday night events with the immediate addition of the UMP sanction for their late model division. The affiliation means that racers there can compete with drivers at other tracks across the Midwest for points that apply toward high-paying season championships.

* Paducah (Ky.) Raceway will host the annual World 50 for UMP late models tonight. The 50-lap event is worth $5,000 to the winner. Defending champion Terry English is among the likely entries. For information, call (270) 898-7469.

* Terry Babb has swept three consecutive feature race events for the sprint class at SFCR after he won again last week. Racing continues there Saturday.

Jamie Hall is the editor of graphics and design for the Southeast Missourian. Reach him at (573) 335-6611, extension 174, or at jhall@semissourian.com