By Tony Veneziano
Bulls Gap, TN–March 19, 2010–Growing up in California, Paul McMahan had the chance to race at his home state tracks quite a bite with the World of Outlaws. Having called the Nashville, Tenn. area home for the last several years, it’s not very often that McMahan gets to race close to home anymore. McMahan will have an opportunity this weekend as the World of Outlaws return to Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. for Kasey’s King of Bulls Gap Presented By Budweiser, which is being promoted by his car owner NASCAR star Kasey Kahne in partnership with the World Racing Group.
The two-day event on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 which will be co-sanctioned with the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars will mark the first two races of a four-race mini-series being promoted by Kahne dubbed the Showdown for the Bud Crown. In addition to promoting this weekend, Kahne will also strap into an 850-plus horsepower machine and compete.
“I always enjoy getting to race close to home,” McMahan said. “That’s going to be a great race with Kasey (Kahne) putting it on. Hopefully I can do for Kasey what I did in the first time I was there and pull off a win for him. I’m really looking forward to it. That’s a neat track over there.”
McMahan won in his debut at Volunteer Speedway in 2000 in a Gumout Series race over Jason Meyers and Kraig Kinser. In his most recent start at the track in 2007 when the World of Outlaws competed at the ultra high-banked and blazing fast four-tenths-mile he charged from the 20th starting spot to finish ninth in the 35-lap main event.
“Bulls Gap kind of has its own characteristics,” he noted. “I’’s flat on the bottom and has the high banks in the corners. The straightaways are also pretty high banked. You just have to have your car good and be comfortable. Last time I was there I didn’t run as well, I think we were ninth. Going back this time, we’ll see if we can run better than last time.”
McMahan joined Kasey Kahne racing earlier this season to fill-in for Cody Darrah who was injured in a highway accident just prior to the season opener at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida. While Kahne will be promoting this weekend’s event at Volunteer Speedway, he will also being racing, though McMahan does not see that as any added pressure with the boss on the track. He had raced against him many times over the years and is looking forward to competing with him again this weekend.
“Kasey is a race fan and he understands racing,” stated McMahan. “It would nice if one of the cars brought home a win for him there, but there are a lot of tough competitors out here. Joey’s (Saldana) been good there before and like I said, I’ve won there before, so hopefully we can get KKR a one-two finish there.”
McMahan had a very strong weekend last weekend in Texas as he continues to get up to speed in the Great Clips Maxim. He led eight laps in the opener at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore before finishing sixth and followed that up with his best finish of the season, a fifth-place performance at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown last Saturday. Since joining Kasey Kahne Racing at Las Vegas he has four Top-10 finishes in five races.
“We’re getting a lot better,” noted the veteran driver. “We were pretty good at Tulare (Thunderbowl Raceway) and broke a motor running sixth (and wound up eighth). The final night we started 11th and got to sixth and were battling with the guys in third, fourth and fifth. I just caught a rut the wrong way in turn two and that allowed Steve (Kinser) to get by. Being a few races in now, we are getting better and better.”
McMahan is teamed with fellow veteran Joey Saldana at Kasey Kahne Racing. The pair has known each other for years and are able to easily communicate and help each other and share information as they look to make both cars as fast as possible.
“It works great for me,” shared McMahan. “Joey is probably my best friend out here on the road and we get along really well. We bounce things off each other and he has been at KKR for a while and he can explain to me what he is feeling in the car and I can bounce things off him and try to adjust the race car to how I drive and also adjust how I drive to the race car to get me comfortable.”
McMahan heads to Volunteer Speedway on the heels of four straight runs of eighth or better and is just outside of the Top-10 in the series championship standings. After leading laps last weekend and picking up a season-best finish, he looks to be a contender this weekend at Volunteer Speedway, a track he knows very well having won there in the past and finished ninth or better in both of his starts at. His main goal right now is to return to Victory Lane. He began the 2010 season with seven career World of Outlaws A-Feature wins.
“Winning races,” he deadpanned when asked what will make it a successful time filling in for Darrah. “We have to start contending to win races. You have to run in the Top-Five before you can win a race. If we start running consistently in the Top-Five, we’ll get out fair share of wins.”
On Friday, March 19 at Volunteer Speedway, reserved tickets will be $29 if purchased in advance and $35 the day of the race. General admission tickets for adults will be $29 if purchased in advance and $35 the day of the race, with general admission tickets for youth (ages 11-15) $15, with children 10-under admitted free of charge in the general admission section. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling the World of Outlaws at: 704-795-7223 or online at http://dirtcar.ticketforce.com.
On Saturday, March 20 at Volunteer Speedway, reserved tickets will be $29 if purchased in advance and $35 the day of the race. General admission tickets for adults will be $29 if purchased in advance and $35 the day of the race, with general admission tickets for youth (ages 11-15) $15, with children 10-under admitted free of charge in the general admission section. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling the World of Outlaws at: 704-795-7223 or online at http://dirtcar.ticketforce.com.