From Tony Veneziano
Mechanicsburg, PA- October 2, 2010- While he is not a full-time World of Outlaws driver, Sammy Swindell is certainly not a member of the Pennsylvania Posse either. Racing when he wants, where he wants, the three-time World of Outlaws champion put an end to the Pennsylvania Posse’s nine-race win streak at Williams Grove Speedway on Saturday night, taking the $50,000 top prize in the Morgan Hughes National Open at the famed half-mile in front of one of the largest crowds in track history, with the cameras from SPEED capturing all of the action for future broadcast.
The win for Swindell was his first at Williams Grove since 2000 and his second National Open triumph to go along with a victory in the prestigious event in 1997. He has four wins this season with the World of Outlaws and now has won at Williams Grove in four different decades, with the first of those coming in 1980.
“Sometimes it takes a while to get it right I guess,” said Swindell with a smile when reminded when the last time he won the National Open was. “These guys were able to give me something to work with and we put ourselves in a good position. We were fortunate that a lot of things played out for us tonight. We learned a lot and were making changes all weekend and just kept getting better. We had it right when it counted.”
Swindell took the lead from Jason Meyers on a lap-27 single file restart and never looked back on his way to the win. He opened the night by turning the fastest lap of the 56 cars that took to the track for qualifying. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the first heat race to earn a spot in the dash.
“This is a tough place,” said the native of Germantown, Tennessee. “Last night (Friday) for example we had a bad draw and were buried in the heat and got in that crash and bent some stuff up, so we just used it as a test. We tried some things and did some things we don’t normally do since we were back there and learned from that and it paid off tonight.”
Swindell lined up seventh aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim and worked his way into the Top-Five in the early going. He got under Stevie Smith for second coming off turn four on the 25th lap, then setting his sights on Meyers, who he would blast by two circuits later on a restart on the high side of turn two, following a couple of red flags.
“I knew that our car was really really good the first couple laps,” he said. “I was really hooked up and could run really hard, but with the double file restarts and some things I just couldn’t get the position. I knew when we had the single file deal that I had to get to the outside and if I could get to the outside I knew I could carry a lot more speed. It just worked out right for us. We were in the right place at the right time.”
The race began with Jason Meyers taking the lead from pole sitter Brian Montieth as the field charged down the front straightaway. Montieth stuck right with the leader in the early going and looked both high and low in turns one and two as well as three four in a bid for the lead. Meyers entered lapped traffic for the first time on the eighth lap, with the first caution of the night flying four circuits later.
Meyers was out front for two double file restarts and chose the high side of the speedway each time and used strong starts to quickly jump back out to a lead. A crash on the 27th lap following a double file restart led to a single file restart.
Lance Dewease made a late race charge and closed up on Swindell on the final lap in turns three and four, coming up less than four-tenths of-a-second away from a win aboard the Advanced Development J&J. He ended up second as he made a bid to become just the third driver-ever to win the National Open four times.
“We had a real good race car the whole time,” stated Dewease. “That last red (flag) the tires cooled off too much and we lost too much air. It just took me about five laps to get going again, but we had a good car. I can’t complain about it. We were just one lap too short.”
Meyers, who led the first 27 laps of the 40-lap contest, ended up third aboard the GLR Investments KPC to extend his lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings. He currently leads 20-time series champion Steve Kinser, who got caught up in an accident on the 12th lap which ended his night in 28th, by 102 markers, with Donny Schatz who finished 11th, third in points-111 markers back and Joey Saldana, who was 19th on Saturday night, fourth-115 markers out of the top spot. The lead for Meyers is the largest that any driver has had this season.
“We lost the battle tonight, but we are trying to win the war,” said Meyers. “It was still a good night. We had a good car and led a lot of laps. It was a good weekend for us. This is what it’s all about. We have four races to go and we have to keep digging. Good runs like tonight will help us. We want to win some more races before the year is over and we have a good race car right now. I’m looking forward to next weekend.”
Two open red flags gave the drivers and crews a couple of chances to work on their machines throughout the course of the 40-lap race. Dewease was running third both times when the red flag waved and had a very strong car on the longer green flag runs.
“We never touched our race car the whole night,” shared Dewease. “From the time we unloaded it, we just made a couple of minor adjustments. I thought I had a good enough car and after that red I felt like I had a car that was capable of winning the race. We made up a lot of ground on Sammy (Swindell) the last three or four laps and definitely had a good car.”
Steve Smith ended up fourth in the Zemco Speed Equipment Maxim, with Jason Sides fifth aboard the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Tim Shaffer was sixth in the Kistler Engines J&J with Kerry Madsen seventh aboard the Halls Haulage KPC. Paul McMahan came home eighth in the Great Clips Maxim while pole sitter Brian Montieth was ninth in the Premiere Auto Works XXX. Daryn Pittman rounded out the Top-10 piloting the Lealands.com J&J.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, October 9 at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in New York as part of Super DIRT Week.
NATIONAL OPEN NIGHT #2 NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Sammy Swindell paced the 56 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked half-mile oval at 16.676 seconds at 107.940 miles per hour. For his qualifying effort Swindell earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Tim Shaffer (4), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3), Stevie Smith (2) and Lance Dewease (1).
•WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Lucas Wolfe, Daryn Pittman, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Jason Sides and Jason Meyers won heat races. Brian Montieth won the Dash. Kraig Kinser won the Last Chance Showdown. Greg Hodnett won the C-Main. Justin Henderson won the D-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 65 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, Castrol Raceway and Deer Creek Speedway), 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, Castrol Raceway and Silver Dollar Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Lakeside Speedway, Eldora Speedway, Autodrome Drummond, Fulton Speedway and Skagit Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway, Knoxville Raceway, Skagit Speedway, Clay County Fair Speedway and Eldora Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park, The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Ohsweken Speedway, Silver Dollar Speedway and Lernerville Speedway), Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park, Tri-City Speedway, Missouri State Fair Speedway and Ohsweken Speedway), Sammy Swindell (Dodge City Raceway, Huset’s Speedway, Silver Dollar Speedway and Williams Grove Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway and Nodak Speedway), Lance Dewease (Lernerville Speedway and Williams Grove Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-twice), Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway and Junction Motor Speedway), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Doug Esh (Lebanon Valley 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).
•HALF-MILE-WINNERS: Williams Grove Speedway is a semi-banked half-mile. The World of Outlaws have raced 24 times at a track that size in 2010. The winners include: Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, Lakeside Speedway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway and I-96 Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-twice), Joey Saldana (Eldora Speedway-twice), Jason Sides (Tri-City Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway), Lance Dewease (Williams Grove Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Doug Esh (Lebanon Valley Speedway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park), Sammy Swindell (Williams Grove Speedway) and Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Williams Grove Speedway; Mechanicsburg, PA; October 2, 2010
Qualifying
1) 1-Sammy Swindell 16.676
2) 83-Tim Shaffer 16.705
3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 16.707
4) 1Z-Stevie Smith 16.728
5) 30C-Lance Dewease 16.778
6) 7L-Chad Layton 16.794
7) 91-Paul McMahan 16.825
8) 17-Tyler Walker 16.837
9) 7-Craig Dollansky 16.841
10) 63-Chad Kemenah 16.920
11) 69K-Donald Kreitz Jr. 16.922
12) 3-Kerry Madsen 16.931
13) 11K-Kraig Kinser 16.957
14) 21-Brian Montieth 17.006
15) 14-Jason Meyers 17.024
16) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 17.032
17) 27-Daryn Pittman 17.036
18) O-Rick Lafferty 17.050
19) 7S-Jason Sides 17.055
20) 39-Keith Kauffman 17.106
21) 16-Gerard McIntyre 17.114
22) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. 17.128
23) 2B-Ben Gregg 17.135
24) 25-Aaron Ott 17.141
25) 14Z-Jessica Zemken 17.163
26) 89G-David Gravel 17.166
27) 71-Brian Leppo 17.189
28) 14D-Doug Dodson 17.192
29) 55-Jason Solwold 17.225
30) 9-Joey Saldana 17.259
31) 51-Fred Rahmer 17.269
32) 59-Jim Siegel 17.270
33) 71X-Bill Stine 17.271
34) 15X-Adam Wilt 17.284
35) 99K-Cody Keller 17.285
36) 15-Donny Schatz 17.306
37) 22H-Greg Hodnett 17.319
38) 11-Steve Kinser 17.327
39) D4-Danny Holtgraver 17.331
40) 11E-Mike Erdley 17.335
41) R19-Jac Haudenschild 17.352
42) 7M-Mark Smith 17.354
43) 87-Alan Krimes 17.372
44) 48-Danny Dietrich 17.463
45) 4X-Toni Lutar 17.492
46) 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr. 17.506
47) 11C-Cory Haas 17.507
48) 19M-Brent Marks 17.520
49) 20S-Derek Sell 17.523
50) 35-Justin Henderson 17.543
51) 49-Brad Sweet 17.551
52) 6-Danny Lasoski 17.625
53) 93-Doug Esh 17.873
54) 12W-Troy Fraker 18.088
55) 46-T.J. Winegardner 18.110
56) 33-Brian Ehrenzeller 18.372
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1]
2) 1-Sammy Swindell[4]
3) 15-Donny Schatz[8]
4) 7L-Chad Layton[3]
5) 69K-Donald Kreitz Jr.[2]
6) 51-Fred Rahmer[7]
7) R19-Jac Haudenschild[9]
8) 16-Gerard McIntyre[5]
9) 89G-David Gravel[6]
10) 49-Brad Sweet[11]
11) 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr.[10]
12) 33-Brian Ehrenzeller[12]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 27-Daryn Pittman[1]
2) 3-Kerry Madsen[2]
3) 91-Paul McMahan[3]
4) 83-Tim Shaffer[4]
5) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[5]
6) 71-Brian Leppo[6]
7) 22H-Greg Hodnett[8]
8) 7M-Mark Smith[9]
9) 59-Jim Siegel[7]
10) 11C-Cory Haas[10]
11) 6-Danny Lasoski[11]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[4]
2) O-Rick Lafferty[1]
3) 17-Tyler Walker[3]
4) 11-Steve Kinser[8]
5) 87-Alan Krimes[9]
6) 2B-Ben Gregg[5]
7) 14D-Doug Dodson[6]
8) 19M-Brent Marks[10]
9) 93-Doug Esh[11]
10) 71X-Bill Stine[7]
11) 11K-Kraig Kinser[2]
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 7S-Jason Sides[1]
2) 21-Brian Montieth[2]
3) 7-Craig Dollansky[3]
4) 1Z-Stevie Smith[4]
5) 25-Aaron Ott[5]
6) 55-Jason Solwold[6]
7) 15X-Adam Wilt[7]
8) 20S-Derek Sell[10]
9) 12W-Troy Fraker[11]
10) 48-Danny Dietrich[9]
11) D4-Danny Holtgraver[8]
Heat 5 (8 Laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 14-Jason Meyers[2]
2) 63-Chad Kemenah[3]
3) 30C-Lance Dewease[4]
4) 9-Joey Saldana[6]
5) 39-Keith Kauffman[1]
6) 14Z-Jessica Zemken[5]
7) 11E-Mike Erdley[8]
8) 35-Justin Henderson[10]
9) 4X-Toni Lutar[9]
10) 99K-Cody Keller[7]
11) 46-T. J. Winegardner[11]
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 21-Brian Montieth[2]
2) 14-Jason Meyers[1]
3) 3-Kerry Madsen[3]
4) 1Z-Stevie Smith[5]
5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[6]
6) 63-Chad Kemenah[4]
7) 1-Sammy Swindell[8]
8) 83-Tim Shaffer[7]
9) 27-Daryn Pittman[10]
10) O-Rick Lafferty[11]
11) 7S-Jason Sides[12]
12) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[9]
D-main (8 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to C-main) – Starting Position [#]
1) 35-Justin Henderson[2]
2) 49-Brad Sweet[3]
3) 93-Doug Esh[5] [$100]
4) 46-T.J. Winegardner[7] [$100]
5) 12W-Troy Fraker[6] [$100]
6) 33-Brian Ehrenzeller[8] [$100]
7) 20S-Derek Sell[1] [$100]
8) 6-Danny Lasoski[4] [$100]
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main) – Starting Position [#]
1) 22H-Greg Hodnett[2]
2) 99K-Cody Keller[1]
3) D4-Danny Holtgraver[3] [$125]
4) 11E-Mike Erdley[4] [$125]
5) 48-Danny Dietrich[8] [$125]
6) 19M-Brent Marks[12] [$100]
7) 49-Brad Sweet[17] [$100]
8) 35-Justin Henderson[13] [$100]
9) 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr.[10] [$100]
10) 4X-Toni Lutar[9] [$100]
11) R19-Jac Haudenschild[5] [$100]
12) 7M-Mark Smith[6] [$100]
13) 87-Alan Krimes[7] [$100]
14) 11C-Cory Haas[11] [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 11K-Kraig Kinser[2]
2) 69K-Donald Kreitz Jr.[1]
3) 39-Keith Kauffman[3]
4) 16-Gerard McIntyre[4]
5) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[5] [$200]
6) 25-Aaron Ott[7] [$180]
7) 2B-Ben Gregg[6] [$175]
8) 55-Jason Solwold[12] [$160]
9) 14Z-Jessica Zemken[8] [$150]
10) 59-Jim Siegel[14] [$150]
11) 71-Brian Leppo[10] [$150]
12) 51-Fred Rahmer[13] [$150]
13) 14D-Doug Dodson[11] [$150]
14) 99K-Cody Keller[18] [$150]
15) 89G-David Gravel[9] [$150]
16) 71X-Bill Stine[15] [$150]
17) 15X-Adam Wilt[16] [$150]
18) 22H-Greg Hodnett[17] [$150]
A-main (40 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 1-Sammy Swindell[7] [$50,000]
2) 30C-Lance Dewease[13] [$12,000]
3) 14-Jason Meyers[2] [$7,500]
4) 1Z-Stevie Smith[4] [$4,000]
5) 7S-Jason Sides[11] [$3,500]
6) 83-Tim Shaffer[8] [$3,000]
7) 3-Kerry Madsen[3] [$2,700]
8) 91-Paul McMahan[15] [$2,500]
9) 21-Brian Montieth[1] [$2,200]
10) 27-Daryn Pittman[9] [$2,100]
11) 15-Donny Schatz[23] [$2,000]
12) 22H-Greg Hodnett[26] [$750]
13) 11K-Kraig Kinser[19] [$1,550]
14) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5] [$1,200]
15) 7-Craig Dollansky[17] [$1,100]
16) 7L-Chad Layton[14] [$1,050]
17) 16-Gerard McIntyre[21] [$1,000]
18) R19-Jac Haudenschild[25] [$50]
19) 9-Joey Saldana[22] [$950]
20) 69K-Donald Kreitz Jr.[18] [$950]
21) 39-Keith Kauffman[20] [$900]
22) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12] [$900]
23) 87-Alan Krimes[28] [$0]
24) 63-Chad Kemenah[6] [$900]
25) 6-Danny Lasoski[27] [$0]
26) O-Rick Lafferty[10] [$900]
27) 17-Tyler Walker[16] [$900]
28) 11-Steve Kinser[24] [$900]
Lap Leaders: Jason Meyers 1-26, Sammy Swindell 27-40
KSE Hard Charger Award: Greg Hodnett
Penske Power Position Award: Lance Dewease
Note: Jac Haudenschild and Danny Lasoski used World of Outlaws Provisionals to start the A-Feature. Greg Hodnett and Alan Krimes used Williams Grove Speedway Provisionals to start the A-Feature.
World of Outlaws Championship Standings through October 2
1. Jason Meyers 8741
2. Steve Kinser 8639 -102
3. Donny Schatz 8630 -111
4. Joey Saldana 8626 -115
5. Jason Sides 8504 -237
6. Paul McMahan 8489 -252
7. Craig Dollansky 8055 -686
8. Lucas Wolfe 7975 -766
9. Danny Lasoski 7951 -790
10. Kraig Kinser 7845 -896