By Tony Veneziano
Concord, NC-October 11, 2010-
A huge crowd: For the second straight year one of the largest crowds in Rolling Wheels Raceway Park history came out to see the World of Outlaws as part of Super DIRT Week. Fans began camping at Rolling Wheels earlier in the week as the sprawling 5/8-mile hosted a Super DIRT Week satellite event last Friday night prior to the World of Outlaws making their annual visit to the track on Saturday. The World of Outlaws have now been a part of Super DIRT Week 19 different times, dating back to the series inaugural 1978 season.
Getting closer and closer: Jason Meyers finished third at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park last Saturday night to earn his 53rd Top-10 finish of the season as he continues to chase his first career series title, after three separate runner-up finishes dating back to 2005. The native of Clovis, California has finished in the Top-10 in 15 of the last 16 races beginning with the finale of the Gold Rush Tour on August 20 at Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota. During that span he has also earned qualifying bonus points in 10 different races to lead all drivers and has earned the most bonus points this season of the drivers competing full-time with the series. Meyers is seeking to become the first driver ever from the state of California to win a World of Outlaws title.
“We’ll keep digging and we have three (races) to go,” said Meyers. “We’ll keep doing what we are doing and hopefully take this championship home to California.”
Fast yet again: Steve Kinser and his team brought down a different car following a hard wreck at Williams Grove Speedway two weekends ago. The 20-time series champion picked up a win with the car at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park last Saturday night to score his ninth win of the season and the 11th of his career at the New York oval. Kinser leads the series with 55 Top-10 finishes this season along with 38 Top-Five finishes as he chases his record 21 st title. With three races remaining he trails Jason Meyers by 98 points, with his teammate Donny Schatz just behind him with Joey Saldana fourth in what is the closest-ever four-way point race.
“We’ve been running pretty good and we tore a car up so we brought out a new frame and it felt pretty good,” shared Kinser after his win at Rolling Wheels. “We always seem to run pretty good here and really have been fast everywhere this year in the feature.”
Taking for the mile: Lucas Wolfe became the second generation of his family to turn laps in a Sprint Car at the New York State Fairgrounds last Friday afternoon as he took part in the King of the Mile exhibition. Wolfe’s father Randy, the reigning World of Outlaws Crew Chief of the Year, competed 11 times over the years at “The Moody Mile” including in eight World of Outlaws events, scoring three Top-10 finishes. Jason Sides, Chad Kemenah and Keith Dempster also took part in the King of the Mile.
“I’m glad I had the opportunity to be part of this,” shared Lucas after climbing from his car last Friday afternoon. “My dad raced here quite a bit and for me to now get to take to the mile was pretty special. It was fun and the cars are definitely fast out there.”
Nearly a new track record: Donny Schatz was fastest in time trials at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, circling the sprawling 5/8-mile in 16.037 seconds at 140.301 miles per hour, which was less than two-tenths of-a-second off from the track record that Craig Dollansky set in 2004 during time trials at the New York oval, which is the largest track the World of Outlaws race on all season. For Schatz, it was the fourth fast time honor he has garnered this season.
Oh so close: Kraig Kinser led the first 16 laps of the New Yorker 25 at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park last Saturday night before his father Steve got around him. For the third generation driver it was his sixth four-place finish of the season as he looks for his first win of the year. For Kinser it was second Top-Five finish in his last three starts at Rolling Wheels and his eighth Top-Five of the 2010 campaign. The native of Bloomington, Indiana has led 49 laps in feature events this season.
A solid night: Daryn Pittman, who has had a very strong season on the always tough Central Pennsylvania Sprint Car circuit, made the trip to Rolling Wheels Raceway Park aboard the Heffner Racing machine. The veteran opened the night by turning the sixth-fastest lap in time trials. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the second heat race to earn a spot in the dash where he ran third. He wound up coming home fifth in the 25-lap main event to score his second Top-Five finish of the season with the World of Outlaws in a limited number of starts.
A fan favorite: Jessica Zemken had the huge crowd at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on their feet in the first heat race last Saturday night as she snagged the win from George Suprick III on the final lap of the eight-lap contest to earn a spot in the dash. With the dash invert being a six, that put the native of Sprakers, New York on the pole for the dash, where she finished fifth to earn a third row starting spot in the main event.
Passing some cars: Randy Hannagan, who was victorious, last Friday night at Cayuga County Fair Speedway in a Super DIRT Week satellite event, earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award at Rolling Wheels, coming from the 24th starting spot to finish 13th driving for Canadian Miles Hill’s team. Jason Sides also gained double digit spots in the main event, working his way from 17th to finish seventh.
First time in the dash: George Suprick III, who hails from Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, finished second in the first heat race last Saturday night at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park to earn a spot in the dash for the first time in his career with the World of Outlaws. He lined up ninth and wound up finishing 10th in the dash to earn a Top-10 starting spot in the 25-lap main event.
On the air: The finale of the National Open will air on SPEED on Saturday, October 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern, as a super-sized three hour show. Bobby Gerould will call all the action from the legendary half-mile with Hall of Famer Brad Doty offering expert analysis, along with Shane Andrews and Sarah Jane Hunt reporting from the pit area. Tune in to SPEED on Saturday, October 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern to see all the action from the National Open.
Up next: The World of Outlaws head to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana on Saturday, October 16 for an event that was postponed by rain earlier this season. The season then wraps up November 4-6 with the Fourth Annual World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Photo galleries: The Media Gallery section of www.worldofOutlaws.com continues to be updated after each event. Visit http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint/MediaGallery.aspx to see Photo Galleries from all 2010 World of Outlaws events. Photo Galleries from both the King of the Mile and The New Yorker 25 will be posted shortly.
Keep up with all the action: The number of “Followers” keeping up with the World of Outlaws via Twitter online and through text messages on cell phones continues to grow and recently surpassed the 5,400 “Follower” mark. Updates are provided throughout race nights beginning with hot laps and continuing all the way through the final checkered flag of the night. To sign-up visit: http://twitter.com/worldofoutlaws and receive live race updates, anywhere, anytime.
On sale now: Tickets for the Fourth annual World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte November 4-6 remain on sale, as well tickets for the 2011 40th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park, February 8-19. For tickets visit www.WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets.
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.