FRANKLIN, Pa. -- Matt Lux is definitely focused on this weekend's Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic at Tri-City Speedway.

'I was lying in bed (on Wednesday night) and I couldn't sleep,' said Lux, an up-and-coming regional dirt Late Model racer whose home in Franklin, Pa., is just a few miles south of the half-mile oval. 'I just kept thinking, What do I need to do to the car'

'It would really mean a lot to me if I could run well in the biggest races of the year at my hometrack. A bunch of my family members are going to be there watching ' some of them who don't even know anything about all this racing I do ' so it would be nice to put a decent show on in front of them.'

Lux, 35, enters the two-day World of Outlaws Late Model Series spectacular ' which features complete shows topped by 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Mains on both Saturday and Sunday nights (Sept. 5-6) ' at the tail end of the most ambitious season of his seven-year dirt Late Model career. He's hit the road to enter 16 of the 35 WoO LMS events contested to date ' a trial by fire that he hopes has prepared him for the tour's invasion of his home turf.

'We really haven't been super-successful this year, but we've learned a lot,' Lux said of his World of Outlaws endeavors. 'When you run with the Outlaws, if you're off just a little bit they'll make you look real bad ' and believe me, we've experienced that this year. But running different tracks is how you hone your skills quicker, so hopefully it will all pay off for us somewhere down the road.

'Maybe everything will come together for us this weekend. If there's any place things could click, it's Tri-City. I have enough laps around that place where I can have a car that's a little off and still be O.K.'

A winner of 11 E-Mod features (and the 2005 track title) and nine Pro-Stock races (all during the 1999-2000 seasons) at Tri-City, Lux would love to make one of this weekend's A-Mains his first dirt Late Model victory at the Venango County facility, which hasn't hosted the class on a weekly basis since 1997. He knows the Outlaws can be turned back at Tri-City after Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., pulled off a storybook upset triumph in the second half of the 2007 Classic, but in the same vein Lux admits he's not riding high with confidence about his chances.

'We're not running real well right now,' said Lux, whose three dirt Late Model starts this season at Tri-City show two fifth-place finishes in ULMS events and a sixth in an O'Reilly All-Star Sprint Series show. 'It's been a tough year and we're still struggling to find out what works for us, so I'm not going in (this weekend) thinking I can win, that's for sure. We're gonna try our best, but a win is so far out there. I think at least one top-five (finish) is within the realm of possibility if everything goes right.'

Lux has found the WoO LMS stars to be very willing to answer his technical questions during his '09 tour excursions, which included June's 'Great Northern Tour' that had Lux with the Outlaws for 10 straight days. He's just found that it isn't easy to sift through all the information to find what fits him best.

'Our knowledge isn't quite to the point yet where we can absorb what they're telling us,' said Lux, whose M3 Autosports team carries primary sponsorship from the Alturnamats company (where he also works as Operations Production Manager). 'Chub (Frank) is a guy who's helped us a lot, but I don't drive like Chub so what works for him isn't always gonna work for me.

'We have to find something that works for us. When you're struggling pretty soon you have 15 different people telling you 15 different things and then you're all screwed up, so we're going to start from square one this weekend and see if we can get back on track.'

Lux has only one top-10 finish in the 10 WoO LMS A-Mains he's qualified for this season (a seventh on July 25 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio), but he's shown his potential by making the starting fields of several major tour events, including the Colossal 100 (finished 28th), the Illini 100 (13th) and the Firecracker 100 (13th). His lack of positive results hasn't made him second-guess his decision to test his talents against the country's best drivers.

'We're taking small steps right now,' said Lux, who counts visiting new tracks as the most exciting part of his WoO LMS travels. 'I know we can run with these (WoO) guys because we have before (his career-best tour finish is a fifth on Aug. 4, 2006, at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.), but we're in 'searching' mode. As soon as we figure some things out we're gonna turn that corner.'

Lux has started five WoO LMS A-Mains at Tri-City, with his top finish of ninth coming in the first 50-lapper of last year's Classic.

More than 100 motorhomes and campers were already parked in Tri-City's parking lot on Thursday, awaiting the start of a huge weekend of action on the track and fun off of it.

The Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic has rapidly developed into one of the region's most popular multi-day short-track events since its launch in 2006 as a WoO LMS doubleheader by former Tri-City owners Mike Graham and Roger Crick. The tradition continues this weekend under H&H Motorsports partners Rich Hetrick and Roy Hill, who purchased the track in January.

Tri-City's new management team is bringing back the tried-and-true elements (including the Ray's Racing Specialties/Engles Trucking Services 'Ghetto South' Party ' a bash that will be rocked by a band ' after Saturday night's racing) and adding some new twists (most notably an additional night of competition on Fri., Sept. 4, for the BRP Big-Block Modified Tour, Detroit Iron Pro Stocks and Thundercars).

Joining the WoO LMS on the Saturday and Sunday programs will be the ULMS E-Mod Series, Fastrak Northeast Late Model Tour Series and Pro Stocks. The FASTTrack Late Models and Pro Stocks will run heats on Saturday and B-Mains and features on Sunday.

Action is scheduled to begin on Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. with WoO LMS hot laps and time trials.

The raindate for the Saturday or Sunday programs is Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7.

For ticket information and more details about the Armstrong Cable Oil Region Labor Day Classic, log on to www.tricityspeedway.com or call the speedway at 814-676-1681 (track) or 814-676-0477 (office).

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tires, Integra Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks, Racing Electronics, Quarter Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams Engine Builder's Challenge participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom Race Engines and Pro Power Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder Challenge participants Rocket Chassis and Team Zero by Bloomquist.