By Tony Veneziano
Franklin, PA- May 30, 2010- Winning a World of Outlaws event is never an easy task. Winning one over 20-time series champion Steve Kinser, the winningest driver in series history, is a monumental feat unto itself. Jason Sides was able to accomplish this on Sunday night as he was victorious in the inaugural World of Outlaws event at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pennsylvania before a huge crowd on a picture perfect evening.
Sides took the lead on the ninth lap on the bottom of the front straightaway and would lead the remainder of the 25-lap contest, holding off a couple of late charges by Kinser to score his second win of the season and the sixth of his World of Outlaws career. For the native of Bartlett, Tennessee it was his first career win in the state of Pennsylvania.
“Anytime you can win, whether it’s once a month or two or three in a row is good,” said Sides. “Another win for us is great. It was another good night for us. Doug (Rankin) works so hard and it’s a great night for all of our sponsors as well.”
Sides lined up second in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim and looked low in turn one at the start and then in turns three and four on the opening circuit, nearly taking the lead from Kinser, who started on the pole. Following Sides move to the lead on the ninth lap, the lead pair split a lapped car in turn one with Kinser on the high side of the track and Sides on the low groove. They would split a lapped machine again later in the going.
“We were just trying to get up underneath them and not really root them out of the way, but just let them see who is coming so they are not racing you,” noted Sides when asked about the lapped traffic. “A lot of them were very considerate about that.”
The 25-lap contest went green-to-checkers without a caution in just under eight minutes. Sides found himself in lapped traffic for most of the race and withstood a couple of spirited challenges from Kinser for the top spot.
“It really was surprising, but I’m glad it did because it kept us in traffic,” said Sides of the caution free race. “When I could clear some of the traffic it made me like I had a little leeway before Steve got to them or past them.”
Kinser led the first eight laps on Sunday night aboard the Bass Pro Shops Maxim for Tony Stewart Racing en route to the runner-up finish which was his series leading 20th Top-10 in 21 races. He used the top of the track for a large part of the race as he tried everything he could to track down Sides as the laps wound down. The second-place run helped the 20-time series champion move back into second in points, just 18 markers behind Joey Saldana as he chases his record 21st title.
“The top gave away on me and I should have gone back down to the bottom and stayed out there a little bit too long and Jason (Sides) got by me,” shared Kinser. “He was running fast and I couldn’t do anything with him. I had a chance to win it and gave it away.”
Dale Blaney, who began the night by turning the fastest lap in time trials, scored his best World of Outlaws finish of the season coming home third in the Ti-22 Performance Maxim. The veteran lined up sixth for the main event and got around Jason Meyers on the opening lap to move into fifth before setting his sights on Lucas Wolfe for the fourth spot. Once in fourth, it took Blaney just a couple of laps to pass Jac Haudenschild to move into third.
“We’re happy to take third,” said Blaney. “I wasn’t that great the last half (of the race), so I don’t know if a caution would have helped. It would have gotten me in the second row in a double file restart and I could have ended up second or ended up sixth out of that, so you never know.”
Lucas Wolfe followed up a podium finish at Charlotte with a fourth-place performance on Sunday night at Tri-City Speedway in just his second career start at the half-mile. He dropped back to fifth early in the race before moving back into fourth. He then battled Jason Meyers for a number of laps, eventually taking the fourth spot on the final circuit.
“We were pretty good tonight and continue to improve,” said Wolfe. “This was a very hard slick track and I think that’s a good sign for what’s coming later this summer. Hopefully we’ll be able to repeat these performances and stay consistently in the Top-Five and hopefully that will translate into wins in the future. That’s what we keep working on and we’ll get there soon.”
Donny Schatz, the four-time and defending World of Outlaws champion, came all the way from the 17th starting spot to finish fifth aboard the Armor All/STP J&J to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.
Jason Meyers finished sixth in the GLR Investments KPC, with Joey Saldana, the current World of Outlaws point leader coming home seventh in the Budweiser Maxim. Andy Priest, who was second fastest in time trials, scored the best finish of his career with the World of Outlaws coming home eighth aboard the Priest Enterprises Maxim. Danny Lasoski was ninth in the Casey’s General Store JEI, with Jac Haudenschild rounding out the Top-10 in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass XXX.
The World of Outlaws return to action June 3-5 at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa for the Hall of Fame Classic.
TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Dale Blaney paced the 34 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked half-mile oval at 15.850 seconds at 113.565 mph. For his qualifying effort, Blaney earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Andy Priest (4), Jason Meyers (3), Jason Sides (2) and Rob Eyler (1).
•TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Dave Ely, Toni Lutar, Joey Saldana and Jason Sides won heat races. Steve Kinser won the dash. Brad Knab won the Last Chance Showdown.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 21 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway and I-96 Speedway), Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, I-55 Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park and Jackson Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park and The Dirt Track at Charlotte), Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park and Tri-City Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway).
•HALF-MILE WINNERS: Tri-City Speedway is a semi-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced 12 times at a track that size in 2010. The winners include: Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway and I-96 Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park and Jackson Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Joey Saldana (Eldora Speedway), Jason Sides (Tri-City Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway) and Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Tri-City Speedway; Franklin, PA; May 30, 2010
Qualifying
1) 2-Dale Blaney 15.850
2) 21N-Andy Priest 15.978
3) 14-Jason Meyers 16.100
4) 7S-Jason Sides 16.148
5) 5A-Rob Eyler 16.186
6) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 16.189
7) 6-Danny Lasoski 16.232
8) 11-Steve Kinser 16.234
9) R19-Jac Haudenschild 16.238
10) 4-Rod George 16.316
11) 91-Paul McMahan 16.323
12) 11K-Kraig Kinser 16.324
13) 75-Dave Ely 16.346
14) 4X-Toni Lutar 16.378
15) 9-Joey Saldana 16.400
16) 63-Chad Kemenah 16.493
17) 15-Donny Schatz 16.523
18) 89G-David Gravel 16.545
19) 38-Brad Knab 16.549
20) 22-Brian Ellenberger 16.578
21) 2B-Ben Gregg 16.676
22) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. 16.693
23) 12-Jared Ridge 16.734
24) 83-Tim Shaffer 16.769
25) 7-Craig Dollansky 16.796
26) 6R-Bill Rose 17.123
27) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 17.137
28) 8-Mike Lutz 17.262
29) 6F-Bob Felmlee 17.321
30) 33-Brent Matus 17.366
31) 24S-Brian Steinman 17.444
32) D4-Danny Holtgraver 17.574
33) 23S-Russ Sansosti 17.607
34) 13-Brandon Matus 17.697
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 75-Dave Ely[1]
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2]
3) 2-Dale Blaney[4]
4) 15-Donny Schatz[5]
5) 5A-Rob Eyler[3]
6) 7-Craig Dollansky[7]
7) 6F-Bob Felmlee[8]
8) 2B-Ben Gregg[6]
9) 23S-Russ Sansosti[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 4X-Toni Lutar[1]
2) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[3]
3) 4-Rod George[2]
4) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[6]
5) 21N-Andy Priest[4]
6) 6R-Bill Rose[7]
7) 89G-David Gravel[5]
8) 13-Brandon Matus[9]
9) 33-Brent Matus[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[1]
2) 14-Jason Meyers[4]
3) 6-Danny Lasoski[3]
4) 91-Paul McMahan[2]
5) 12-Jared Ridge[6]
6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[7]
7) 24S-Brian Steinman[8]
8) 38-Brad Knab[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 7S-Jason Sides[4]
2) 11-Steve Kinser[3]
3) 11K-Kraig Kinser[2]
4) 63-Chad Kemenah[1]
5) 83-Tim Shaffer[6]
6) 22-Brian Ellenberger[5]
7) 8-Mike Lutz[7]
8) D4-Danny Holtgraver[8]
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 11-Steve Kinser[1]
2) 7S-Jason Sides[3]
3) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[2]
4) R19-Jac Haudenschild[7]
5) 14-Jason Meyers[4]
6) 2-Dale Blaney[6]
7) 21N-Andy Priest[5]
8) 9-Joey Saldana[10]
9) 75-Dave Ely[8]
10) 4X-Toni Lutar[9]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 38-Brad Knab[2]
2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[7]
3) 7-Craig Dollansky[5]
4) 89G-David Gravel[1]
5) 6F-Bob Felmlee[9] [$200]
6) 2B-Ben Gregg[4] [$180]
7) 8-Mike Lutz[8] [$175]
8) 22-Brian Ellenberger[3] [$160]
9) 33-Brent Matus[10] [$150]
10) 6R-Bill Rose[6] [$150]
11) D4-Danny Holtgraver[12] [$150]
12) 23S-Russ Sansosti[13] [$150]
13) 13-Brandon Matus[14] [$150]
14) 24S-Brian Steinman[11] [$150]
A-main (25 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 7S-Jason Sides[2] [$10,000]
2) 11-Steve Kinser[1] [$5,500]
3) 2-Dale Blaney[6] [$3,200]
4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[3] [$2,800]
5) 15-Donny Schatz[17] [$2,500]
6) 14-Jason Meyers[5] [$2,300]
7) 9-Joey Saldana[8] [$2,200]
8) 21N-Andy Priest[7] [$2,100]
9) 6-Danny Lasoski[12] [$2,050]
10) R19-Jac Haudenschild[4] [$2,000]
11) 4-Rod George[13] [$1,500]
12) 75-Dave Ely[9] [$1,200]
13) 63-Chad Kemenah[16] [$1,100]
14) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[20] [$1,050]
15) 91-Paul McMahan[14] [$1,000]
16) 83-Tim Shaffer[22] [$900]
17) 11K-Kraig Kinser[15] [$800]
18) 4X-Toni Lutar[10] [$800]
19) 7-Craig Dollansky[23] [$800]
20) 22-Brian Ellenberger[26] [$0]
21) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[24] [$800]
22) 89G-David Gravel[18] [$800]
23) 6F-Bob Felmlee[27] [$600]
24) 12-Jared Ridge[21] [$800]
25) 2B-Ben Gregg[25] [$0]
26) 38-Brad Knab[19] [$800] 27)5A-Rob Eyler [$200]
Lap Leaders: Steve Kinser 1-8, Jason Sides 9-25
KSE Hard Charger Award: Donny Schatz
Penske Power Position Award: Andy Priest
Note: Ben Gregg and Brian Ellenberger used World of Outlaws Provisionals to start the A-Feature.
World of Outlaws Championship Standings through May 30
1. Joey Saldana 2983
2. Steve Kinser 2965 -18
3. Jason Meyers 2962 -21
4. Donny Schatz 2840 -143
5. Jason Sides 2829 -154
6. Paul McMahan 2701 -282
7. Lucas Wolfe 2700 -283
8. Jac Haudenschild 2683 -300
9. Danny Lasoski 2676 -307
10. Craig Dollansky 2657 -326
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), Chizmark & Larson Insurance , 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 , R2C Performance, 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.