By Tony Veneziano
Concord, NC—November 8, 2010—
Truly the World Finals: More than 14,000 fans from 48 states, eight Canadian provinces, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom were in attendance for the finale of the Lowes Foods World of Outlaws World Finals Presented By Bimbo Bakeries and Tom’s Snacks last Saturday nigh at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The race also aired live on SPEED in High Definition, marking the first time ever the World of Outlaws have been broadcast in HD.
A star studded field: A stout 56-car field was in attendance for the Fourth Annual World Finals at The Dirt Charlotte. Drivers from 17 states and Australia were represented. A number of champions were in attendance. In addition to former World of Outlaws champions: Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz and Sammy Swindell, two-time and reigning All Star Circuit of Champions title winner Tim Shaffer was on hand, as well as the 2009 American Sprint Car Series champion Shane Stewart.
A new deal: Kasey Kahne Racing has formed an alliance with Roth Motorsports to keep Paul McMahan on the road next season aboard the No. 83 machine. The team will be based out of Kahne’s state-of-the-art shop in Mooresville, North Carolina, with the exact same crew the No. 91 had this season. McMahan finished a career-best sixth in points this past season, winning once and picking up 51 Top-10 finishes with 30 Top-Five performances. The California native was tied for the series lead with 10 fast time honors.
“I can’t thank Kasey (Kahne) enough for everything that he has done for me this past year,” said McMahan. “I would be retired right now if it weren’t for Kasey. He gave me another shot to do what I love to do. It will be cool to race with Dennis and Teresa again. They were the first team owners that I had in the World of Outlaws Series.”
Charging hard: Danny Lasoski worked his way from the 19th starting spot in the finale of the World Finals to come home sixth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award. There was just one caution during the 25-lapper, with Lasoski utilizing the bottom of the race track for the majority of the contest.
Back in the saddle: Cody Darrah, who won in his first race back in a Sprint Car on October 31 at Hagerstown Speedway, after missing nearly nine months after breaking his leg in a road accident on the first day of the season in Florida, made his first start with the World of Outlaws in 2010 during the World Finals. He earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award in the first feature coming 23rd to finish 13th. Darrah will be back in the fold for Kasey Kahne Racing next season with the World of Outlaws battling for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award.
A solid weekend: Despite some trouble en route to The Dirt Track at Charlotte, as the pickup pulling their trailer broke down, Daryn Pittman and the Heffner Racing team made it to the track and had a very solid weekend. The veteran qualified fourth and ninth on Thursday in the two rounds of time trials. He raced his way into the dash in both events on Saturday. He finished third in the opener and led the first 10 laps of the finale on his way to a season-best runner-up finish.
“All in all it was a good weekend,” said Pittman. “We would have liked to have won and it’s disappointing when you are that close, but the car was good. Jason (Meyers) and his guys had a great year, so congratulations to them for winning both races and the title.”
Lernerville connection: Three drivers that have claimed titles at Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania were among the Top-six in time trials in the first qualifying session of the World Finals held last Thursday. Tim Shaffer topped the list in second (he was also second in the second session), with Ed Lynch Jr., the winningest driver in Lernerville history third. Reigning track champion Danny Holtgraver turned in his best-ever qualifying effort with the World of Outlaws, a sixth.
A couple of firsts: Second generation driver Cole Duncan won the third heat race in the finale of the World Finals to score his first career World of Outlaws heat race win. That put the native of Lockbourne, Ohio in the dash for the first time in his career as well. He finished 10th in the dash to earn a fifth row starting spot in the main event.
On the air: Jason Meyers, the 2010 World of Outlaws champion, will be a guest on Race Time Radio with host Joe Chisholm on Tuesday night between 8-9 p.m. Eastern on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 98 “The Score.” For more information on Race Time Radio and a complete broadcast schedule visit www.racetimeradio.com.
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. A photo gallery from the World Finals is already posted.
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 5,600 “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 2011 40th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park, February 11-13 are on sale now. 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.