From Tony Veneziano
Rossburg, OH-July 16, 2010- After a couple of frustrating races that saw him have some bad luck and fall to second in the World of Outlaws championship standings, Joey Saldana got back on track in a big way on Friday night, scoring the win in the Knight Before the Kings Royal at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio and retaking the top spot in the standings as well.
The $10,000 win was Saldana’s series leading ninth of the 2010 campaign and his 18th career triumph at Eldora, with nine of those coming in World of Outlaws events. With the victory, Saldana moved into sole possession of eighth-place on the all-time World of Outlaws win list with 68 A-Feature wins.
Saldana lined up second with Lucas Wolfe leading the field into turn one, before he blasted around the high side of turn two to take the top spot and quickly jumped out to a comfortable lead in the Budweiser Maxim.
“We worked hard and it was a great effort by everyone,” said Saldana. “This is the motor we should have won Lakeside (Speedway) with and I destroyed it. Rick Long with Speedway Engines worked really hard to get it back to us. There are a lot of people that helped us to get this motor back for this weekend and I can’t thank them enough for getting us an engine that can compete and win these races.”
Saldana was out front during two yellow flag and one red flag period on Friday night. He chose the high side of the track on each restart and charged into turns one and two to quickly open a lead. He would pace all 30 circuits to score his second win of the season at Eldora Speedway.
“I’ve seen this place so many times throughout the years just from watching and the top is faster,” shared the winner. “It seems like if you can get momentum faster than the next guy you’ll be ok. This track is definitely a momentum place and its fun when it’s like that, but it’s still pretty tough to drive.”
During a long green flag stretch that lasted 25 laps, following a third lap caution, Saldana set a blistering pace around the high side of the legendary high-banked half-mile and wound up lapping up to the 12th-place finisher. He looks for the track to be a little bit different tomorrow for the 27th Annual Kings Royal, an even he has won twice in his career.
“The track was pretty treacherous on the cushion tonight and I don’t think they’ll let it be like that tomorrow,” noted Saldana. “They’ll probably make it slicker so it’s more even for everybody. I was told there were a lot of lapped cars between us tonight. We’ll just have to wait and see. We learned a lot tonight and I know that lapped traffic will be very tough tomorrow. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Donny Schatz used a strong double file restart with three laps to go, to take second from Paul McMahan. He would end up in the runner-up spot aboard the Armor All/STP J&J. The four-time and defending series champion started third and fell back to fifth on the opening lap. He then worked his way by Jason Sides for fourth, before tracking down Lucas Wolfe for third with just four laps remaining and then McMahan.
“We got better as the race went on and that’s all you can ask for,” Schatz said. “Tomorrow is 40 laps and that’s like another whole race. I’m just glad to get a second-place finish tonight. The Armor All guys did a great job and we learned a lot. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow and be better.”
Paul McMahan continued his strong summer coming home third in the Great Clips Maxim to earn his 14th Top-Five finish of the season. He started fourth and charged past Donny Schatz on the opening lap, before getting by Lucas Wolfe on the second lap. He was running second on the final restart with three laps to go and lined up on the low side of the track.
“I don’t think I had anything for Joey (Saldana),” McMahan said. “I spun the tires on that restart and it was just a mistake on my part. It was a great night for KKR and everyone involved with this team. This is five straight Top-Fives and hopefully we can move up a couple of spots tomorrow and get that 50-grand.”
Steve Kinser ended up fourth in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim to earn his series leading 35th Top-10 finish of the season. Lucas Wolfe was fifth in the Allebach Racing Maxim. Jac Haudenschild came all the way from the 23rd starting spot to finish sixth in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass XXX. He was caught up in a second lap incident which sent him to the work area and then stormed back through the field.
Dale Blaney was seventh in the Ti-22 Performance Maxim, with Jason Sides eighth piloting the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Craig Dollansky was ninth in the Big Game Treestands Maxim, with Daryn Pittman rounding out the Top-10 in the Indy Race Parts Eagle.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, July 17 with the 27h Annual Kings Royal at the famed Eldora Speedway which will again pay $50,000 to-win. The cameras from SPEED will be on hand to capture all of the action for broadcast on August 7.
KNIGHT BEFORE THE KINGS ROYAL NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Paul McMahan paced the 47 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 13.311 seconds at 135.227 mph. For his qualifying effort, McMahan earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Joey Saldana (4), Daryn Pittman (3), Dale Blaney (2) and Donny Schatz (1).
•KNIGHT BEFORE THE KINGS ROYAL QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jason Sides, Steve Kinser, Kasey Kahne and Craig Dollansky won heat races. Lucas Wolfe won the dash. Kerry Madsen won the Last Chance Showdown. Rob Chaney won the C-Main
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 37 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, I-55 Raceway, Eldora Speedway-twice, Dodge City Raceway Park, River Cities Speedway, LaSalle Speedway and Beaver Dam Raceway), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway, I-96 Speedway and North Central Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, River Cities Speedway and Lakeside Speedway), Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park , Tri-City Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway and Cedar Lake Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway and Knoxville Raceway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park and The Dirt Track at Charlotte), Sammy Swindell (Dodge City Raceway and Huset’s Speedway), Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway and Junction Motor Speedway), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway) and Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway).
•HALF-WINNERS: Eldora Speedway is a high-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced 17 times at a track that size in 2010. The winners include: Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway and Lakeside Speedway), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway and I-96 Speedway), Joey Saldana (Eldora Speedway-twice), Jason Sides (Tri-City Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Knoxville Raceway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park) and Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Eldora Speedway; Rossburg, OH; July 16, 2010
Qualifying
1) 91-Paul McMahan 13.311
2) 9-Joey Saldana 13.387
3) 13-Daryn Pittman 13.464
4) 2-Dale Blaney 13.499
5) 15-Donny Schatz 13.502
6) 83X-Tim Shaffer 13.506
7) 6-Danny Lasoski 13.547
8) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.556
9) 1Z-Stevie Smith 13.558
10) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 13.561
11) 83-Tim Kaeding 13.570
12) 3C-Cale Conley 13.598
13) 7S-Jason Sides 13.601
14) 11-Steve Kinser 13.606
15) 4-Kasey Kahne 13.616
16) 7-Craig Dollansky 13.663
17) 1-Sammy Swindell 13.667
18) 3-Kerry Madsen 13.680
19) 55-Dave Blaney 13.685
20) 53-Phil Gressman 13.724
21) 7K-Kyle Sauder 13.739
22) 2B-Ben Gregg 13.739
23) 11K-Kraig Kinser 13.754
24) R19-Jac Haudenschild 13.781
25) 1X-Randy Hannagan 13.871
26) 24H-Lee Jacobs 13.872
27) 4X-Toni Lutar 13.895
28) 14-Jason Meyers 13.895
29) 22-Brian Ellenberger 13.897
30) 63-Chad Kemenah 13.897
31) 71M-Paul May 13.993
32) W20-Greg Wilson 13.997
33) 1R-Chad Blonde 14.016
34) 17-Tyler Walker 14.017
35) 20-Tony Stewart 14.019
36) 97-Dean Jacobs 14.053
37) 45-Rob Chaney 14.055
38) 15C-Chris Andrews 14.069
39) 89G-David Gravel 14.093
40) 56R-Ryan Myers 14.110
41) O-Jonathan Allard 14.277
42) 1B-Keith Baxter 14.321
43) 70-Steven Lines 14.393
44) 5M-Jamie Miller 14.446
45) 20AU-Domain Ramsay 14.795
46) 96AU-Bruce White 14.996
47) 22D-Josh Davis 15.083
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7S-Jason Sides[1]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[3]
3) 1Z-Stevie Smith[2]
4) 91-Paul McMahan[4]
5) 1-Sammy Swindell[5]
6) 1X-Randy Hannagan[7]
7) 7K-Kyle Sauder[6]
8) O-Jonathan Allard[11]
9) 45-Rob Chaney[10]
10) 22-Brian Ellenberger[8]
11) 1R-Chad Blonde[9]
12) 20AU-Domain Ramsay[12]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser[1]
2) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[2]
3) 9-Joey Saldana[4]
4) 83X-Tim Shaffer[3]
5) 63-Chad Kemenah[8]
6) 3-Kerry Madsen[5]
7) 24H-Lee Jacobs[7]
8) 17-Tyler Walker[9]
9) 2B-Ben Gregg[6]
10) 1B-Keith Baxter[11]
11) 96AU-Bruce White[12]
12) 15C-Chris Andrews[10]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 4-Kasey Kahne[1]
2) 83-Tim Kaeding[2]
3) 13-Daryn Pittman[4]
4) 6-Danny Lasoski[3]
5) 11K-Kraig Kinser[6]
6) 4X-Toni Lutar[7]
7) 20-Tony Stewart[9]
8) 89G-David Gravel[10]
9) 71M-Paul May[8]
10) 70-Steven Lines[11]
11) 22D-Josh Davis[12]
12) 55-Dave Blaney[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7-Craig Dollansky[1]
2) 3C-Cale Conley[2]
3) 2-Dale Blaney[4]
4) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3]
5) R19-Jac Haudenschild[6]
6) 14-Jason Meyers[7]
7) 53-Phil Gressman[5]
8) 97-Dean Jacobs[9]
9) W20-Greg Wilson[8]
10) 56R-Ryan Myers[10]
11) 5M-Jamie Miller[11]
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1]
2) 9-Joey Saldana[3]
3) 15-Donny Schatz[2]
4) 91-Paul McMahan[4]
5) 83-Tim Kaeding[5]
6) 7S-Jason Sides[7]
7) 3C-Cale Conley[6]
8) 11-Steve Kinser[8]
9) 7-Craig Dollansky[10]
10) 4-Kasey Kahne[9]
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 45-Rob Chaney[1]
2) O-Jonathan Allard[5]
3) 89G-David Gravel[3] [$125]
4) 56R-Ryan Myers[4] [$125]
5) 70-Steven Lines[7] [$125]
6) 1B-Keith Baxter[6] [$100]
7) 5M-Jamie Miller[8] [$100]
8) 20AU-Domain Ramsay[9] [$100]
9) 96AU-Bruce White[10] [$100]
10) 22D-Josh Davis[11] [$100]
11) 15C-Chris Andrews[2] [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 3-Kerry Madsen[1]
2) 55-Dave Blaney[2]
3) 53-Phil Gressman[3]
4) 7K-Kyle Sauder[4]
5) 14-Jason Meyers[9] [$200]
6) 24H-Lee Jacobs[7] [$180]
7) 1X-Randy Hannagan[6] [$175]
8) 17-Tyler Walker[14] [$160]
9) 4X-Toni Lutar[8] [$150]
10) 2B-Ben Gregg[5] [$150]
11) W20-Greg Wilson[12] [$150]
12) 20-Tony Stewart[15] [$150]
13) 22-Brian Ellenberger[10] [$150]
14) 97-Dean Jacobs[16] [$150]
15) 71M-Paul May[11] [$150]
16) 1R-Chad Blonde[13] [$150]
17) O-Jonathan Allard[18] [$150]
18) 45-Rob Chaney[17] [$150]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[2] [$10,000]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[3] [$5,500]
3) 91-Paul McMahan[4] [$3,200]
4) 11-Steve Kinser[8] [$2,800]
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1] [$2,500]
6) R19-Jac Haudenschild[23] [$2,300]
7) 2-Dale Blaney[12] [$2,200]
8) 7S-Jason Sides[6] [$2,100]
9) 7-Craig Dollansky[9] [$2,050]
10) 13-Daryn Pittman[11] [$1,200]
11) 83-Tim Kaeding[5] [$1,500]
12) 14-Jason Meyers[25] [$400]
13) 83X-Tim Shaffer[13] [$1,100]
14) 1-Sammy Swindell[17] [$1,050]
15) 11K-Kraig Kinser[22] [$1,000]
16) 3C-Cale Conley[7] [$900]
17) 4-Kasey Kahne[10] [$800]
18) 6-Danny Lasoski[14] [$800]
19) 1Z-Stevie Smith[16] [$800]
20) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[15] [$800]
21) 2B-Ben Gregg[26] [$0]
22) 7K-Kyle Sauder[21] [$800]
23) 3-Kerry Madsen[18] [$800]
24) 55-Dave Blaney[19] [$800]
25) 53-Phil Gressman[20] [$800]
26) 63-Chad Kemenah[24] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Joey Saldana 1-30
KSE Hard Charger Award: Jac Haudenschild
Penske Power Position Award: Ben Gregg
Chizmark-Larson Hard Luck Award: Chad Kemenah
Note: Jason Meyers and Ben Gregg used World of Outlaws Provisionals to start the A-Feature.
World of Outlaws Championship Standings through July 16
1. Joey Saldana 5158
2. Steve Kinser 5150 -8
3. Jason Meyers 5092 -66
4. Donny Schatz 4968 -190
5. Jason Sides 4931 -227
6. Paul McMahan 4857 -301
7. Lucas Wolfe 4802 -356
8. Craig Dollansky 4702 -456
9. Jac Haudenschild 4674 -484
10. Kraig Kinser 4641 -517
NRA Invaders – 42 cars
Fast Time: Butch Schroeder – 14.687
Heat 1:
1. Brad Greer[1]; 2. Mike Dussel[3]; 3. Butch Schroeder[6]; 4. Tim Hunter[2]; 5. Jon Agan[5]; 6. Luke Hall[4]; 7. Bob Gehr Jr.[7]; 8. Jeremy Aumend[10]; 9. Chris Plascak[11]; 10. Derek Hastings[9]; 11. Phillip Schneider[8];
Heat 2:
1. JR Stewart[3]; 2. Tony Stewart[5]; 3. Rob Chaney[11]; 4. Dwain Leiber[4]; 5. Davey Sammons[3]; 6. Zach Ames[7]; 7. Ryan Kirkendall[8]; 8. Tommy Kerce[9]; 9. David Gravel[6]; 10. Jessica Zemken[6]; 11. Mike Dunlap[10];
Heat 3:
1. Jared Horstman[3]; 2. Cale Conley[6]; 3. Tim Allison[4]; 4. Jeremy Keegan[1]; 5. Caleb Griffith[9]; 6. Hud Horton[5]; 7. Jarred Delong[7]; 8. Brent Gehr[8]; 9. Caleb Helms[2]; 10. Sean Robinson[10];
Heat 4:
1. Randy Hannagan[6]; 2. Ron Blair[5]; 3. Kent Wolters[3]; 4. Todd Heuerman[2]; 5. Ethan Hoy[8]; 6. Bob Carman[9]; 7. Kyle Sauder[4]; 8. Paul Sides[1]; 9. Travis Hery[7]; 10. Mark Grabill[10];
B Main :
1. David Gravel[1]; 2. Hud Horton[2]; 3. Jessica Zemken[3]; 4. Davey Sammons[4]; 5. Tommy Kerce[10]; 6. Ryan Kirkendall[8]; 7. Ethan Hoy[9]; 8. Bob Carman[11];
B Main 2:
1. Caleb Griffith[10]; 2. Luke Hall[2]; 3. Bob Gehr Jr.[5]; 4. Brent Gehr[8]; 5. Derek Hastings[9]; 6. Jeremy Aumend[11]; 7. Chris Plascak[13]; 8. Caleb Helms[4]; 9. Jarred Delong[6]; 10. Sean Robinson[12]; 11. Jon Agan[1];
A Main :
1. Tony Stewart[3]; 2. Randy Hannagan[4]; 3. Ron Blair[2]; 4. Tim Allison[1]; 5. JR Stewart[8]; 6. Butch Schroeder[6]; 7. Caleb Griffith[19]; 8. Mike Dussel[7]; 9. Tim Hunter[11]; 10. Todd Heuerman[12]; 11. Jared Horstman[9]; 12. David Gravel[17]; 13. Brad Greer[13]; 14. Hud Horton[18]; 15. Luke Hall[20]; 16. Jeremy Keegan[15]; 17. Kent Wolters[10]; 18. Dwain Leiber[14]; 19. Cale Conley[5]; 20. Rob Chaney[16];