From Richard Day
Mechanicsburg, PA (May 30, 1997) – On a night when it seemed like
everybody was inserting his name in the Williams Grove Speedway
record book, Jac Haudenschild inscribed his in bold print.
Not only did “The Wild Child” win the first Pennzoil World of
Outlaws Series “A” Feature of his career at Williams Grove, he
also lowered the single-lap record he set a week before.
Also setting Williams Grove speed records were Steve Kinser
in the (five-lap) Vivarin Dash, Dave Blaney in the (eight-lap)
First Heat Race and Todd Shaffer in the (12-lap) “B” Feature.
Haudenschild, who won a World of Outlaws Preliminary Feature
earlier in his career at Williams Grove, was glad to finally win
a main event at the legendary half-mile oval.
“This definitely means more (than the preliminary victory),”
Haudenschild said. “We’ve been fast all year, we just haven’t won
any features. The Pennzoil car was really hooked up.
“We’ve been promising our kids all year we’d get them a
checkered flag, and we finally got them one.”
The #22 Pennzoil Maxim was fast from the beginning of the
World of Outlaws’ 22nd event of the season. After Mark Kinser
lowered the standard he set during the preliminary program of the
Inaugural Channellock Spring Classic, Haudenschild recorded the
first sub-17-second lap in the 58-year history of Williams Grove.
The 16.977-second lap earned “The Wild Child” his eighth
Channellock Fast-Time Award of the year.
“We thought we had a pretty good first lap,” Haudenschild
said. “We jumped around some on the second lap, but the first one
was really nice.”
“The Wild Child” earned the right to start the 30-lap main
event inside the second row by following Steve Kinser and Danny
Lasoski across the finish line in the Vivarin Dash.
The high groove was definitely the fast lane early in the
race as Lasoski drove the #1W Conn West Freight Maxim high around
“The King of the Outlaws” in the fourth corner to take the lead
as the green flag fell in the “A” Feature. Haudenschild fell to
fourth place as Mark Kinser passed him high in turn four as well.
Defending Williams Grove National Open champion Lance Dewease
raced into fifth place from inside the fifth row during the first
three laps, only to have power steering problems force him to
stop on the front straightaway three laps later. Second Heat Race
winner Jeff Swindell, whose crew changed the engine in the #7TW
Gold Eagle J&J after hot laps, suffered more engine woes and also
dropped out of the race during the sixth lap.
Haudenschild started making his way toward the front as the
green flag replaced the yellow, taking the low line through turns
three and four to pass Mark Kinser for third place.
“The Dude” opened a 10-car-length advantage during lap 11 and
entered lapped traffic midway through the race. Steve Kinser,
winner of 21 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series “A” Features in his
career at Williams Grove, caught Lasoski late in the 15th lap and
took the lead with a low move through turn two the next time
around. Haudenschild relegated Lasoski to third place by passing
him deep in the fourth corner seconds later.
Sammy Swindell, winner of the Preliminary Feature in the
Inaugural Channellock Spring Classic a week ago, passed Greg
Hodnett for sixth place with a low move through turn one early in
lap 17. Seconds later, Mark Kinser steered the #5M Wirtgen Maxim
deep into turn three to pass “The Dude” for third.
Swindell continued his run toward the front the next time
around, steering his #1 Channellock Gambler to the rim in the
second corner to pass Stevie Smith for fifth place.
A back-straightaway collision involving Randy Hannagan and
former Williams Grove track champion Donnie Kreitz, Jr.,
temporarily stopped the race with 10 laps remaining.
Haudenschild started challenging “The King of the Outlaws”
for the lead as the green flag replaced the yellow. Swindell won
a front-straightaway drag race with Lasoski for fourth place at
the end of lap 23.
“The Wild Child” threaded the #22 between Kinser and the
berm deep in turn four late in the 25th lap, and built an eight
car-length advantage within three laps. Haudenschild maintained a
comfortable lead during the final three laps as Mark battled
cousin Steve for the runner-up spot.
“The car felt good, so I figured we’d just drive her in
there and see what happened,” Haudenschild said of the pass for
the lead. “The car started out tight, but we got it loosened up
there toward the end. The car was really good all night. After
the first 10 or 12 laps, I knew we had something for them.”
Guy Forbrook was just as happy as Haudenschild.
“This feels good,” the former car owner who now maintains
the #22 said. “We’ve been fast all year. I always wanted to win a
race at Williams Grove. I’ve come here before and not even made
the race.
“The last couple of weeks have been really good. Hopefully,
this will get the monkey off our backs and we can keep it going.”
Following Haudenschild and the Kinser cousins across the
finish line were Swindell, Hodnett, Smith, Blaney (from the 17th
starting position), Andy Hillenburg, Lasoski and Shaffer.
1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series
Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
Friday, May 30, Feature Program #22
Qualifications: 1. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 16.977 (new
one-lap record); 2. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 17.110; 3. Steve
Kinser, Kinser 11, 17.261; 4. Danny Lasoski, Wahlie 1W, 17.290;
5. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 17.296; 6. Stevie Smith, Smith 19,
17.301; 7. Kevin Gobrecht, Apple Motorsports 12, 17.306; 8. Lance
Dewease, Dyer 461, 17.354; 9. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 17.525; 10.
Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 17.542; 11. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47,
17.552; 12. Randy Hannagan, Roth 83, 17.692; 13. Billy Pauch,
Zemaitis 1Z, 17.597; 14. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 17.599;
15. Todd Shaffer, Beam 88, 17.612; 16. Paul McMahan, Stanton 75,
17.613; 17. Dave Blaney, Blaney/Hylton 10, 17.619; 18. Dave
Haight, Tanger 07, 17.683; 19. Jeff Shepard, Shuttlesworth 41,
17.689; 20. Len Thompson, Thompson 10T, 17.721; 21. Lance
Blevins, Blevins 21, 17.743; 22. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW,
17.752; 23. Donnie Kreitz, Jr., Kreitz 69K, 17.763; 24. Alan
Cole, Cole 17, 17.772; 25. Fred Rahmer, Hamilton 77, 17.777; 26.
Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 17.827; 27. Mike Wagner, Wagner 55,
17.840; 28. Will Cramer, Cramer 2C, 17.998; 29. Brian Gobrecht,
Gobrecht 7, 18.027; 30. Cliff Brian, Brian 16C, 18.053; 31. Brook
Weibley, Weibley 15D, 18.111; 32. Jeff Rohrbaugh, Swope 45,
18.117; 33. Jesse Wentz, Wentz 2W, 18.269; 34. Shawn Keen, Keen
53, 18.332; 35. Bill Brian, Jr., Brian 16, 18.415; 36. Dave
Cordier, Jr., Cordier 7C, 18.524; 37. Jess Thomas, Thomas 77T,
18.739; 38. Jeff Thompson, Niederer 10N, 18.948; 39. Mike Lutz,
Weikert 29, 22.322; 40. Cris Eash, E&G Classics 17E, no time; 41.
Rod George, Bomberger 56, no time; 42. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, no
time.
First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Dave Blaney, 2. Billy
Pauch, 3. Greg Hodnett, 4. Sammy Swindell, 5. Jac Haudenschild,
6. Fred Rahmer, 7. Lance Blevins, 8. Will Cramer, 9. Dave
Cordier, Jr., 10. Jeff Rohrbaugh. 2:21.7 – new
Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jeff Swindell, 2. Mark
Kinser, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Dave Haight, 5. Joe Gaerte, 6. Jesse
Wentz, 7. Donny Schatz, 8. Brian Gobrecht, 9. Jess Thomas, 10.
Andy Hillenburg. DNS – Dion Hindi. (first five qualified for the
“A” Feature)
Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jeff Shepard, 2. Donnie
Kreitz, Jr., 3. Johnny Herrera, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Kevin
Gobrecht, 6. Todd Shaffer, 7. Mike Wagner, 8. Shawn Keen, 9.
Cliff Brian, 10. Jeff Thompson. 2:33.0 (first five qualified for
the “A” Feature)
Fourth Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Alan Cole, 2. Len
Thompson, 3. Paul McMahan, 4. Randy Hannagan, 5. Danny Lasoski,
6. Lance Dewease, 7. Rod George, 8. Cris Eash, 9. Brook Weibley,
10. Bill Brian, Jr., 11. Mike Lutz. 2:28.4 (first five qualified
for the “A” Feature)
Vivarin Dash (five laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Danny Lasoski,
3. Jac Haudenschild, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Sammy Swindell, 6. Stevie
Smith, 7. Greg Hodnett, 8. Kevin Gobrecht. 1:29.8 – new five-lap
record (finish determined the first eight starting positions in
the “A” Feature)
B Feature (12 laps): 1. Todd Shaffer, 2. Lance Dewease, 3.
Andy Hillenburg, 4. Fred Rahmer, 5. Donny Schatz ($200); 6. Lance
Blevins ($180); 7. Mike Wagner ($150); 8. Cliff Brian ($110); 9.
Rod George, 10. Cris Eash, 11. Brian Gobrecht ($90); 12. Brook
Weibley ($80); 13. Jesse Wentz ($60); 14. Dave Cordier, Jr.
($50); 15. Jess Thomas ($50); 16. Shawn Keen ($50); 17. Mike Lutz
($50). DNS – Dion Hindi, Will Cramer, Jeff Rohrbaugh, Bill Brian,
Jr., Jeff Thompson. 3:38.6 – new 12-lap record (first four
qualified for the “A” Feature)
A Feature (30 laps): 1. Jac Haudenschild ($7,000); 2. Steve
Kinser ($4,000); 3. Mark Kinser ($3,000); 4. Sammy Swindell
($2,500); 5. Greg Hodnett ($2,300); 6. Stevie Smith ($2,200); 7.
Dave Blaney ($2,100); 8. Andy Hillenburg ($2,020); 9. Danny
Lasoski ($1,700); 10. Todd Shaffer ($1,620); 11. Joe Gaerte
($1,200); 12. Johnny Herrera ($1,150); 13. Fred Rahmer ($1,120);
14. Paul McMahan ($1,050); 15. Rod George ($1,020); 16. Cris Eash
($720); 17. Alan Cole ($600); 18. Dave Haight ($500); 19. Kevin
Gobrecht ($500); 20. Donnie Kreitz, Jr. ($500); 21. Randy
Hannagan ($500); 22. Jeff Shepard ($500); 23. Len Thompson
($500); 24. Billy Pauch ($500); 25. Lance Dewease ($520); 26.
Jeff Swindell ($500). Provisional starters: Cris Eash, Rod George
Lap leaders: Danny Lasoski 1-16,
Steve Kinser 17-24, Jac Haudenschild 25-30
Channellock Fast-Time Award winner: Jac Haudenschild
WoO