From Tony Veneziano, Mike Campbell Photo
Chico, CA — Sammy Swindell won the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway for the first time in 1981 and has been trying to win the famed event ever since. The three-time World of Outlaws champion moved one step closer to that goal on Thursday night returning to Victory Lane in the opener of the three-day event to score his first triumph at the ¼-mile bullring since a preliminary feature win in 1996.
Swindell battled fellow Hall of Famer Jac Haudenschild for a majority of the 30-lap contest, trading the lead three times, and slicing in and out of traffic, running side-by-side. Swindell took the lead from Haudenschild for the first time on the fourth lap on the low side of turns one and two. Haudenschild retook the top spot on the 18th circuit coming off turn four in heavy traffic. Swindell moved back into the lead with three laps remaining when Haudenschild hooked a rut and got upside coming off turn four while out front.
“It’s great to get a win here and hopefully we can get two more,” said Swindell. “The whole crew did a great job tonight. We had a few issues early on in our heat that we had to work on and didn’t get a chance to do some of the things I wanted to do for the dash. We were able to make the adjustments I wanted to make for the main event. I could really hustle it (the car) in there and make it cut and get right back on the throttle. We had to work for it there a little bit.”
The race began with Evan Suggs, who started on the outside of the front row jumping to the lead. He spun coming off turn four on the second lap, handing the lead to Haudenschild, who chose the high side on the ensuing double file restart. Steve Kinser got the jump on the start and charged into turns one and two as the leader when the right rear hub on his machine broke, sending him into a flip and ending his night in the 24th spot. A total of eight cars were caught up in the incident, including Joey Saldana, who entered the night as the World of Outlaws point leader. Saldana would return to the race after repairs were made to his machine and finish 15th.
Jason Meyers came home fourth, coupled with setting fast time to earn five bonus points, to move to the top of the World of Outlaws standings by a mere two markers over Saldana, with Kinser third, only 25 points back.
Swindell endured two cautions and three red flag periods over the course of the 30-lap contest en route to the $8,000 win, which was his third of the season with the World of Outlaws aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim.
“I got in the traffic and got hung up on one of the back markers and nearly got up over his wheel and that let Haud (Jac Haudenschild) get by,” explained Swindell. “His car was a little too tight and kept standing up on him. I was just kind of waiting for my chance. A couple of times I was around him there in (turns) one and two and there wasn’t a lot to work with in three and four so I didn’t try that. The car was good enough that I could get down in there and I was just hoping to get another chance at him.”
Swindell chose the low line on the final double file restart of the night with three laps remaining and quickly shot out to a lead over Jonathan Allard to pull away for the win. The native of Germantown, Tennessee chose the low line both times he was out front on double file restarts.
“I knew when we took off that the car was very good and just kind of had to be patient and not get in trouble and not tear it up,” shared the winner. “That was the key and it was the same when I was behind Haud. I didn’t want to tear it up. I wanted to win and we had a pretty good race a couple of times. I was under him a couple of times and beside him a couple of times and he was able to shut the door enough that it wasn’t worth the gamble to go for it and take us both out.”
Jonathan Allard, who hails from Chico, ended up second after starting in the seventh row. He was up to the seventh spot just two laps into the 30-lapper and was in the Top-Five by lap-6 in the Red Line Oil A.R.T.
“It was a great start considering we lined up 13th,” stated Allard. “I didn’t think we would go through the pack like that. I thought it was going to be pretty narrow. We got a couple of lucky breaks and a couple good restarts and that definitely helped. That last red (flag) killed us. Sammy (Swindell) got pinned on the bottom and I started to get a good run through the middle and we had that restart and I just stumbled on the restart and couldn’t get after him. I’m really happy for my crew and it’s always great to do well in the hometown.”
Brad Sweet matched the best finish of his career with the World of Outlaws coming home third on Thursday night in the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Maxim. He lined up 10th and steadily worked his way to the front.
“It’s a big event for us and my home track, so to come out and run in the Top-Three with these guys is good,” Sweet said. “That’s the first step to winning the thing, is having a good first night and setting yourself up. We have to come out tomorrow and have a solid night and put ourselves up front for Saturday night.”
Jason Meyers finished fourth in the GLR Investments KPC, and earned the most event points of the 52 competitors in attendance, as he set fast time and won a heat. Event points earned on Thursday and Friday will set the feature lineups for Saturday night.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award coming all the way from 22nd to fifth in the Lone Star Speedway Maxim. Jason Sides was sixth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, with Paul McMahan seventh piloting the Great Clips Maxim. Donny Schatz came from 19 th to finish eighth in the Armor All/STP J&J, with Kerry Madsen ninth in the Halls Haulage KPC after lining up 18th. Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-10 in the Stadlehoffer Construction Maxim after starting 23rd.
The 57th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California continues on Friday, September 10.
GOLD CUP RACE OF CHAMPIONS NIGHT #1 NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Meyers paced the 50 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/4-mile oval at 10.944 seconds at 82.237 miles per hour. For his qualifying effort Meyers earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jason Sides (4), Kraig Kinser (3), Sammy Swindell (2) and Steve Kinser (1).
•SILVER DOLLAR SPEEDWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jason Meyers, Jason Sides, Kraig Kinser, Jac Haudenschild and Evan Suggs won heat races. Jac Haudenschild won the dash. Donny Schatz won the Last Chance Showdown. Brent Kaeding won the C-Main
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 57 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, Beaver Dam Raceway, Lernerville Speedway, Nodak Speedway and Castrol 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, North Central Speedway, I-55 Raceway and Castrol Raceway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Lakeside Speedway, Eldora Speedway, Autodrome Drummond, Fulton Speedway and Skagit Speedway), Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park , Tri-City Speedway, Missouri State Fair Speedway and Ohsweken Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway and Nodak Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway, Knoxville Raceway and Skagit Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park, The Dirt Track at Charlotte and Ohsweken Speedway), Sammy Swindell (Dodge City Raceway, Huset’s Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway), Lance Dewease (Lernerville Speedway and Williams Grove Speedway), Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway and Junction Motor Speedway), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Doug Esh (Lebanon Valley Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Cottage Grove Speedway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway) and Tim Shaffer (I-55 Raceway).
•1/4-MILE-WINNERS: Silver Dollar Speedway is a high-banked 1/4-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced six times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Joey Saldana (River Cities Speedway and LaSalle Speedway), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Steve Kinser (River Cities Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Cottage Grove Speedway), Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park) and Sammy Swindell (Silver Dollar Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Silver Dollar Speedway Night #1; Chico, CA; September 9, 2010
Qualifying
1) 14-Jason Meyers 10.944
2) 7S-Jason Sides 10.966
3) 11K-Kraig Kinser 11.043
4) 1-Sammy Swindell 11.088
5) 11-Steve Kinser 11.104
6) O-Jonathan Allard 11.144
7) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 11.149
8) 91-Paul McMahan 11.174
9) 9-Joey Saldana 11.191
10) 11C-Roger Crockett 11.204
11) 3-Kerry Madsen 11.221
12) 7-Craig Dollansky 11.232
13) 15-Donny Schatz 11.234
14) R19-Jac Haudenschild 11.243
15) 33E-Evan Suggs 11.258
16) 51-Sean Becker 11.259
17) 121-Shane Golobic 11.331
18) 28X-Billy Strange 11.338
19) 49-Brad Sweet 11.348
20) 2B-Ben Gregg 11.366
21) 21-Tommy Tarlton 11.367
22) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.369
23) 6-Danny Lasoski 11.370
24) 44W-Austen Wheatley 11.394
25) 99-Kyle Larson 11.397
26) 33-Jayme Barnes 11.401
27) 94-Zach Zimmerly 11.406
28) 19-Tyler Wolf 11.427
29) 83-Tim Kaeding 11.439
30) 82-Robbie Whitchurch 11.442
31) 11VS-John Michael Bunch 11.463
32) 27-Keith Bloom 11.503
33) 8R-Travis Jacobson 11.527
34) 25C-Chad Groves 11.531
35) 63-Chad Kemenah 11.539
36) 4X-Toni Lutar 11.551
37) 2-Brad Furr 11.556
38) 12-Kevin Sharrah 11.559
39) 69-Brent Kaeding 11.560
40) 29-Bud Kaeding 11.564
41) 26-Sean McMahan 11.569
42) X1-Mason Moore 11.572
43) 25M-Bobby McMahan 11.575
44) 14S-Stephen Allard 11.593
45) 4S-Dan Simpson 11.690
46) 2L-Logan Forler 11.694
47) 3C-Cody Lamar 11.816
48) 20J-James Sweeney 11.850
49) 7B-Brent Bjork 11.916
50) 6UP-Danielle Simpson 11.976
51) 28-Brenton Nugent -.—
52) 22J-John Gaston -.—
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 14-Jason Meyers[4]
2) 51-Sean Becker[1]
3) 3-Kerry Madsen[2]
4) O-Jonathan Allard[3]
5) 21-Tommy Tarlton[5]
6) 33-Jayme Barnes[6]
7) 4X-Toni Lutar[8]
8) 26-Sean McMahan[9]
9) 2L-Logan Forler[10]
10) 11VS-John Michael Bunch[7]
11) 28-Brenton Nugent[11]
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 7S-Jason Sides[4]
2) 7-Craig Dollansky[2]
3) 121-Shane Golobic[1]
4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[3]
5) 94-Zach Zimmerly[6]
6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5]
7) X1-Mason Moore[9]
8) 27-Keith Bloom[7]
9) 3C-Cody Lamar[10]
10) 2-Brad Furr[8]
11) 22J-John Gaston[11]
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 11K-Kraig Kinser[4]
2) 6-Danny Lasoski[5]
3) 91-Paul McMahan[3]
4) 25M-Bobby McMahan[9]
5) 28X-Billy Strange[1]
6) 19-Tyler Wolf[6]
7) 8R-Travis Jacobson[7]
8) 12-Kevin Sharrah[8]
9) 20J-James Sweeney[10]
10) 15-Donny Schatz[2]
Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2]
2) 49-Brad Sweet[1]
3) 1-Sammy Swindell[4]
4) 9-Joey Saldana[3]
5) 83-Tim Kaeding[6]
6) 69-Brent Kaeding[8]
7) 7B-Brent Bjork[10]
8) 44W-Austen Wheatley[5]
9) 25C-Chad Groves[7]
10) 14S-Stephen Allard[9]
Heat 5 (10 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 33E-Evan Suggs[2]
2) 2B-Ben Gregg[1]
3) 11-Steve Kinser[4]
4) 99-Kyle Larson[5]
5) 11C-Roger Crockett[3]
6) 29-Bud Kaeding[8]
7) 82-Robbie Whitchurch[6]
8) 63-Chad Kemenah[7]
9) 4S-Dan Simpson[9]
10) 6UP-Danielle Simpson[10]
Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2]
2) 33E-Evan Suggs[1]
3) 7-Craig Dollansky[3]
4) 11-Steve Kinser[4]
5) 1-Sammy Swindell[5]
6) 7S-Jason Sides[7]
7) 11K-Kraig Kinser[6]
8) 51-Sean Becker[9]
9) 14-Jason Meyers[8]
10) 49-Brad Sweet[10]
11) 6-Danny Lasoski[12]
12) 2B-Ben Gregg[11]
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main) – Starting Position [#]
1) 69-Brent Kaeding[4]
2) 4X-Toni Lutar[1]
3) 29-Bud Kaeding[5] [$125]
4) 12-Kevin Sharrah[3] [$125]
5) 14S-Stephen Allard[8] [$125]
6) X1-Mason Moore[7] [$100]
7) 2L-Logan Forler[10] [$100]
8) 20J-James Sweeney[12] [$100]
9) 7B-Brent Bjork[13] [$100]
10) 3C-Cody Lamar[11] [$100]
11) 4S-Dan Simpson[9] [$100]
12) 22J-John Gaston[15] [$100]
13) 26-Sean McMahan[6] [$100]
14) 6UP-Danielle Simpson[14] [$100]
15) 2-Brad Furr[2] [$100]
16) 28-Brenton Nugent[16] [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15-Donny Schatz[2]
2) 11C-Roger Crockett[1]
3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5]
4) 21-Tommy Tarlton[4]
5) 94-Zach Zimmerly[8] [$200]
6) 83-Tim Kaeding[10] [$180]
7) 4X-Toni Lutar[18] [$175]
8) 69-Brent Kaeding[17] [$160]
9) 44W-Austen Wheatley[6] [$150]
10) 25C-Chad Groves[15] [$150]
11) 19-Tyler Wolf[9] [$150]
12) 27-Keith Bloom[13] [$150]
13) 33-Jayme Barnes[7] [$150]
14) 8R-Travis Jacobson[14] [$150]
15) 82-Robbie Whitchurch[11] [$150]
16) 63-Chad Kemenah[16] [$150]
17) 11VS-John Michael Bunch[12] [$150]
18) 28X-Billy Strange[3] [$150]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 1-Sammy Swindell[5] [$8,000]
2) O-Jonathan Allard[13] [$4,000]
3) 49-Brad Sweet[10] [$2,500]
4) 14-Jason Meyers[9] [$2,200]
5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[22] [$2,100]
6) 7S-Jason Sides[6] [$2,000]
7) 91-Paul McMahan[15] [$1,800]
8) 15-Donny Schatz[19] [$1,600]
9) 3-Kerry Madsen[18] [$1,500]
10) 99-Kyle Larson[23] [$1,300]
11) 6-Danny Lasoski[11] [$1,200]
12) 11K-Kraig Kinser[7] [$1,100]
13) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[14] [$1,000]
14) 121-Shane Golobic[20] [$700]
15) 9-Joey Saldana[16] [$600]
16) 11C-Roger Crockett[17] [$600]
17) 7-Craig Dollansky[3] [$600]
18) 25M-Bobby McMahan[24] [$600]
19) R19-Jac Haudenschild[1] [$600]
20) 2B-Ben Gregg[12] [$600]
21) 51-Sean Becker[8] [$600]
22) 21-Tommy Tarlton[21] [$600]
23) 33E-Evan Suggs[2] [$600]
24) 11-Steve Kinser[4] [$600]
Lap Leaders: Evan Suggs 1; Jac Haudenschild 2-3, 18-27; Sammy Swindell 4-17, 27-30
KSE Hard Charger Award: Sam Hafertepe Jr.
World of Outlaws Championship Standings through September 9
1. Jason Meyers 7699 2. Joey Saldana 7697 -2 3. Steve Kinser 7674 -25 4. Donny Schatz 7571 -128 5. Jason Sides 7524 -175 6. Paul McMahan 7422 -277 7. Craig Dollansky 7104 -595 8. Lucas Wolfe 7062 -637 9. Kraig Kinser 7014 -685 10. Danny Lasoski 6959 -740
Gold Cup Event Points After Night #1
Pos No. Name Total points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9
1 14 Jason Meyers 494 200 100 — — — — — — 194
2 7S Jason Sides 488 198 — 100 — — — — — 190
3 1 Sammy Swindell 488 194 — — — 94 — — — 200
4 O Jonathan Allard 479 190 91 — — — — — — 198
5 11K Kraig Kinser 474 196 — — 100 — — — — 178
6 91 Paul McMahan 468 186 — — 94 — — — — 188
7 3 Kerry Madsen 458 180 94 — — — — — — 184
8 49 Brad Sweet 457 164 — — — 97 — — — 196
9 5W Lucas Wolfe 455 188 — 91 — — — — — 176
10 9 Joey Saldana 447 184 — — — 91 — — — 172
11 7 Craig Dollansky 443 178 — 97 — — — — — 168
12 11 Steve Kinser 440 192 — — — — 94 — — 154
13 11C Roger Crockett 440 182 — — — — 88 — 0 170
14 R19 Jac Haudenschild 438 174 — — — 100 — — — 164
15 121 Shane Golobic 436 168 — 94 — — — — — 174
16 15 Donny Schatz 435 176 — — 73 — — — 0 186
17 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. 435 158 — 85 — — — — 0 192
18 6 Danny Lasoski 433 156 — — 97 — — — — 180
19 33E Evan Suggs 428 172 — — — — 100 — — 156
20 51 Sean Becker 427 170 97 — — — — — — 160
21 99 Kyle Larson 425 152 — — — — 91 — — 182
22 2B Ben Gregg 421 162 — — — — 97 — — 162
23 21 Tommy Tarlton 406 160 88 — — — — — 0 158
24 94 Zach Zimmerly 386 148 — 88 — — — — 150 —
25 83 Tim Kaeding 380 144 — — — 88 — — 148 —
26 28X Billy Strange 378 166 — — 88 — — — 124 —
27 44W Austen Wheatley 375 154 — — — 79 — — 142 —
28 25M Bobby McMahan 373 116 — — 91 — — — — 166
29 33 Jayme Barnes 369 150 85 — — — — — 134 —
30 19 Tyler Wolf 369 146 — — 85 — — — 138 —
31 4X Toni Lutar 358 130 82 — — — — 0 146 —
32 82 Robbie Whitchurch 354 142 — — — — 82 — 130 —
33 27 Keith Bloom 353 138 — 79 — — — — 136 —
34 69 Brent Kaeding 353 124 — — — 85 — 0 144 —
35 8R Travis Jacobson 350 136 — — 82 — — — 132 —
36 25C Chad Groves 350 134 — — — 76 — — 140 —
37 11VS John Michael Bunch 339 140 73 — — — — — 126 —
38 63 Chad Kemenah 339 132 — — — — 79 — 128 —
39 29 Bud Kaeding 307 122 — — — — 85 100 — —
40 12 Kevin Sharrah 303 126 — — 79 — — 98 — —
41 X1 Mason Moore 294 118 — 82 — — — 94 — —
42 14S Steven Allard 283 114 — — — 73 — 96 — —
43 26 Sean McMahan 279 120 79 — — — — 80 — —
44 2L Logan Forler 278 110 76 — — — — 92 — —
45 2 Brad Furr 277 128 — 73 — — — 76 — —
46 7B Brent Bjork 274 104 — — — 82 — 88 — —
47 4S Dan Simpson 272 112 — — — — 76 84 — —
48 20J James Sweeney 272 106 — — 76 — — 90 — —
49 3C Cody Lamar 270 108 — 76 — — — 86 — —
50 6UP Danielle Simpson 253 102 — — — — 73 78 — —
51 22J John Gaston 250 98 — 70 — — — 82 — —
52 28 Brenton Nugent 244 100 70 — — — — 74 — —