From Tony Veneziano
Concord, NC – A class act: Tim Kaeding was one of the first people to congratulate Jason Sides after his thrilling win on Saturday night, giving him a high-five on the front straightaway before a very enthusiastic crowd at Houston Raceway Park. The pair battled for the entire 40-lap distance trading slide job on countless occasions with Sides using a strong run through turns three and four on the final lap to score the win.
“I was happy to see him win,” said Kaeding in Victory Lane. “He is one of the low buck teams if you will out here. He is quick all the time. I gave it as much as I could and I slipped up just a little bit. Jason did what he had to do and that was win the race. He didn’t give it away.”
A new track record : Lucas Wolfe lowered the track record at Houston Raceway Park on Saturday night blistering the ¼-mile in 11.561 seconds to break the existing mark of 11.996 that was set by Joey Saldana in 2007. A total of 13 cars broke the shattered the mark on the blazing fast track.
And then there were three: Joey Saldana, Jason Meyers and Jason Sides are the only drivers that have finished in the Top-10 in all seven World of Outlaws A-Feature events this season. The trio is first, second and fourth in points respectively. Saldana has six Top-Five finishes with all seven runs being sixth or better with one win. Meyers has five Top-Five runs and lead the series with two A-Feature wins. Sides has three Top-Five finishes including his win on Saturday night and has been in the Top-Five in time trials a series-best five races to earn bonus points in the championship standings.
A complete team effort: While Jason Sides does not have as many crew members as most of the teams on the road (he has just one full-time mechanic this season- Doug Rankin) he certainly makes the most of what he has. He also gets a helping hand from a couple of members of Kraig Kinser’s crew when they are able. That trio joined Sides in Victory Lane on Saturday night and his entire family back home in Tennessee was cheering him on as they listened live on www.DIRTVision.com.
“I am so proud of this team and everyone that helps us,” said Sides. “Doug (Rankin) does a great job and Mikey (Kuemper) and Stevie (Kinser) help us out. It’s just great to win. My parents were listening online back home as well as Farrah and Skylar and my brother was tuned in also. It’s great to win for all of them.”
Another strong run: Jason Meyers opened the weekend with a fourth-place finish at Lone Star Speedway on Friday night. It was his third consecutive four-place finish at the high-banked track in East Texas and his fifth Top-Five finish of the season. He actually lost a spot in points after that race and fell to third, but moved back into second after wrapping up the weekend with a 10th-place effort at Houston Raceway Park to keep his streak of Top-10 runs in 2010 going,
“I feel good and it’s a good start, but it’s a long season and there are a lot of races to go,” said Meyers on Saturday afternoon at Houston Raceway Park. “We’ve had our share of struggles and still been able to do that (finish in the Top-10 every race). We’ll keep battling and staying up front, I think it’s going to be a very tough year. Donny (Schatz) is always tough. Joey (Saldana) is tough again this year and Steve (Kinser) looks like he’ll be tough all year. You can’t count out your other four or five contenders that are there every night. It’s going to be a very competitive year and if you can believe it, a more competitive year that last year. It’s going to be a great year and a good time. Hopefully we can keep the GLR No. 14 up front.”
From the back to the front: Lucas Wolfe rebounded from engine trouble early in the night at Lone Star Speedway that forced him to change power plants and miss time trials. He would go on to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award in the main event after coming from 25th to finish 11th. He followed that up on Saturday night by setting fast time and a new track record at Houston Raceway Park. It was his second fast time honor in 2010. He wrapped up the weekend with a solid eighth-place performance to earn his third Top-10 finish of the season and is currently 10th in points.
“We’ve been fast almost every race this year and that’s what we always shoot for,” shared Wolfe. “Unfortunately we have had a few things that haven’t gone our way, but we’ll get that together and have a good result. It was definitely a good night for us to come up through the feature after not being able to time trial.”
Back in the saddle After sitting out the finale at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California on March 6, Brian Ellenberger, the reigning Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year, returned to action in the Texas Two-Step Weekend. The native of Butler, Pennsylvania got into the wall very hard at Tulare and hit his head, thus leading him to sit that following race. Ellenberger was in action at both Lone Star Speedway and Houston Raceway Park, as he continues his sophomore season on the road.
“I’m getting pretty close to being back to normal, just a few aches and pains,”shared Ellenberger on Saturday afternoon. “I’m feeling a lot better than I did last week and I think another week of rest and I’ll be back to normal. These cars as so fast that you definitely have to be on your game and sometimes the hardest thing after a hard wreck is getting everything functioning again.”
First time visitor : Lance Dewease, one of the winningest drivers ever in Central Pennsylvania, made the tow south to Texas over the weekend to compete in both World of Outlaws events. He finished sixth on Saturday night at Houston Raceway Park in his debut at the racy ¼-mile. He’ll be with the World of Outlaws again next weekend at Volunteer Speedway for Kasey’s King of Bulls Gap on Friday and Saturday.
“It was fun,” said Dewease. “I had never been to Texas before to race and we got to see a couple of different race tracks. Next weekend we’ll get to see another new track at Bulls Gap, I have never been there either. We’re going to have some fun this year and hit some more other shows and we are excited about this year.”
On the air: Jason Sides will talk about his thrilling win at Houston Raceway Park and strong start to the 2010 season live on Monday night (March 15) on the long-running CARQUEST Gasoline Alley Show with hosts Steve and Ed Pados. The show airs between 6 -8 p.m. Eastern. Live audio of CARQUEST Gasoline Alley can be accessed at www.walncableradio.com, with live video available at: http://www.livestream.com/walncableradio/old.
Also on the air: Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws champion, will be a guest on The Racing Zone on ESPN Radio out of Chattanooga, Tennessee on Monday (March 15) between 7-8 p.m. Eastern, with host Steve Hixson, a long-time racing journalist and broadcaster. The show can be heard via streaming audio online at http://www.espnchattanooga.com. Hixson will discuss the upcoming Kasey’s King of Bulls Gap at Volunteer Speedway among other things with the living legend.
Up next: The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee for Kasey’s King of Bulls Gap Presented by Budweiser.
Keep up with all the action: The number of “Followers” keeping up with the World of Outlaws via Twitter online and through text messages on cell phones continues to grow and recently surpassed the 3,000 “Follower” mark. Updates are provided throughout race nights beginning with hot laps and continuing all the way through the final checkered flag of the night. To sign-up visit: http://twitter.com/worldofoutlaws and receive live race updates, anywhere, anytime.
2010 World of Outlaws Championship Standings through March 13
Position
Driver
Pts.
Difference
Earnings
Wins
Top-5
Top-10
1.
Joey Saldana
1021
$33,300
1
6
7
2.
Jason Meyers
998
-23
$34,800
2
5
7
3.
Steve Kinser
996
-25
$28,100
1
5
6
4.
Jason Sides
983
-38
$23,100
1
4
7
5.
Donny Schatz
968
-53
$23,550
1
5
5
6
Kraig Kinser
924
-97
$12,00
0
1
4
7.
Danny Lasoski
910
-111
$12,500
0
1
4
8.
Tim Kaeding
903
-118
$14,900
0
3
4
9.
Jac Haudenschild
886
-135
$10,550
0
1
2
10.
Lucas Wolfe
884
-137
$9,525
0
0
3
11.
Craig Dollansky
871
-150
$17,000
1
1
3
12.
Paul McMahan
852
-169
$10,175
0
1
4
13.
Terry McCarl
843
-178
$8,800
0
0
2
14.
Sam Hafertepe Jr.
814
-207
$8,150
0
0
2
15.
Daryn Pittman
776
-245
$6,810
0
0
1
16.
Chad Kemenah
771
-250
$5,590
0
0
1
17.
Ben Gregg
730
-291
$5,000
0
0
0
18.
Brian Ellenberger
696
-325
$4,200
0
0
0
19.
Toni Lutar
661
-360
$3,625
0
0
0
20.
Fred Rahmer
652
-369
$8,400
0
1
2
2010 STAT ATTACK
There has been seven World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events this season.
A-Feature winners (6 Different Drivers) Driver, Hometown – Wins
1- Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 2
Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota – 1
2- Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tennessee – 1
Lap leaders, Driver, Hometown – Total laps led (10 Different Drivers)
1- Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 46 laps
2- Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 38 laps
3- Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana – 36 laps
4- Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tennessee – 30 laps
5- Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 23 laps
6- Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 17 laps
7- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota – 12 laps
8- Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio – 10 laps
Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania- 10 laps
9- Paul McMahan, Nashville, Tennessee – 8 laps
Time trial leaders (5 Different Drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Quick times
1- Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tennessee- 2
2- Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania -2
3- Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 1
Terry McCarl, Altoona, Iowa- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
Track Records established in 2010 World of Outlaws events (2)
*Tim Kaeding, March 5, Thunderbowl Raceway (1/3-mile), Tulare, California, 12.651 seconds at 94.759 mph
*Lucas Wolfe, March 13, Houston Raceway Park, (1/4-mile), Baytown, Texas, 11.561 seconds at 77.848 miles per hour
Dash Winners (6 Different Winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Dash Wins
1- Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California – 2
2- Paul McMahan, Nashville, Tennessee- 1
Fred Rahmer, Salfordville, Pennsylvania – 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota – 1
Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania – 1
Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tennessee – 1
Pole Positions (6 Different Drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Poles
1- Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 2
2- Paul McMahan, Nashville, Tennessee- 1
Fred Rahmer, Salfordville, Pennsylvania – 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania- 1
Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tennessee – 1
B-main Winners (5 Different Winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – B-Main Wins
1- Evan Suggs, Scotts Valley, California- 2
2- Brian Ellenberger, Butler, Pennsylvania- 1
Dale Blaney, Hartford, Ohio- 1
Cale Conley, Vienna, West Virginia- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Terry McCarl, Altoona, Iowa – 1
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award
1- Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania- 2
2- Chad Kemenah, Findlay, Ohio- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana – 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 1
Daryn Pittman, Owasso, Oklahoma – 1
Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award Standings
Ben Gregg 730
Toni Lutar 661 -69
Engine Builder Challenge
Speedway Engines 28
Shaver Specialties 24 -4
Kistler 24 -4
Don Ott 22 -6
Chassis Builder Challenge
Maxim 34
J&J 26 -8
XXX 24 -10
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo; Engine Builder’s Challenge participants Don Ott Racing Engines, Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines; and Chassis Builder’s Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.