From the World of Outlaws, Image courtesy of Randy Ellen
CONCORD, N.C. — May 28, 2011 — Paul McMahan had no idea what his 2011 racing plans were when he took off for a vacation in Cancun, Mexico last fall. McMahan spent 2010 subbing for the injured Cody Darrah in the #91 Great Clips Maxim for NASCAR star Kasey Kahne. The Elk Grove, Calif. native picked up a victory at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio en route to an 8th place finish in the final standings. Even with his solid season, McMahan was still unsure of what the future held.
“I called Kasey and asked him what the plan was for 2011 and he told me to give him a few weeks,” said a smiling and relieved McMahan. “Dennis (Roth) called me when I was down in Cancun and told me to call Kasey. When I did, he told me that he had found a ride for me. Kasey had put it all together himself and I was extremely happy that I was going to be driving for him for another season.”
With Kahne looking on, McMahan wheeled his #83 HR Cattle Maxim into victory lane in the Circle K NOS Energy Drink Outlaw Showdown at the Dirt Track at Charlotte. Heavy rains had delayed the event 24 hours but as the ‘Greatest Show on Dirt,’ took to the speedway, McMahan was at the top nearly all night long. McMahan set quick time for the fifth time on the season and kept his nose clean throughout his heat and the dash. Germantown, Tenn. native Sammy Swindell started the A-main on the pole and led the first 14 laps until a restart bunched up the field and gave McMahan his shot. The two drivers raced feverishly and at one point made contact down the front stretch as the green flag flew.
“Sammy slid up into me a little bit and tried to block me but I was going to hold my ground,” said McMahan. “I wasn’t going to give an inch.”
While Kasey Kahne Racing got to victory lane with McMahan, two of the four KKR machines entered in to the nights events experienced trouble. Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year candidate Cody Darrah experienced motor issues and the #49 of Brad Sweet experienced an overheating motor after losing a left rear tire.
“We had an up and down night with the Great Clips Maxim,” said Darrah, a native of Red Lion, Penn. “We learned quite a bit that we can use for later on but unfortunately we lost a motor and that ended our night early. We’re disappointed. We won a heat race and had high hopes.”
Swindell was running second to McMahan until a flat left rear tire sent him into the pit area. When the Big Game Treestands crew arrived to change the tire, they discovered the front brake lines were broken which left Swindell with no brakes, effectively ending his night.
The Tony Stewart Racing tandem of Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz came home second and third respectively. According to Schatz, the race track lent itself to some great racing and tested the drivers stamina.
“We raced pretty hard tonight, there’s no doubt about that,” said the four time champion from Fargo, N.D. “The track widened out really well and we were just flat out the entire time. It was an extremely fast race track tonight and very demanding on us as drivers.”
2010 Champion Jason Meyers came home fourth with Mechanicsburg Penn. native Lucas Wolfe rounding out the top-5. NASCAR star Tony Stewart made it around Joey Saldana to finish 10th on the night. With his 11th place run, Saldana relinquished the points lead to Kinser and now trails the 20-time champion by 9 points.
The Outlaws now head back to I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., on Monday, May 30, to make up the “Rumble in Michigan,” which was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 21.
THE DIRT TRACK AT CHARLOTTE NOTEBOOK:
QUICK TIME – Paul McMahan was the night’s fastest qualifier with a lap around the four-tenths mile oval in 12.496 seconds, earning five championship points. Chad Kemenah, Jason Meyers, Bill Rose and Kerry Madsen also earned qualifying points. It marked McMahan’s series-leading fifth-quick time of the season.
WINNERS – There have been 17 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events in 2011. The winners include: Steve Kinser – 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 11 and 12, Pike County Raceway on Feb. 25, the Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 4); Joey Saldana – 3 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 19, Eldora Speedway on May 6); Sammy Swindell – 3 (Royal Purple Raceway on Feb. 26, Merced Speedway on April 1, Tri-State Speedway on April 30); Craig Dollansky – 2 (Silver Dollar Speedway on March 12, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 3); Jason Sides – 2 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Calistoga Speedway on April 2); Paul McMahan – 1 (the Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 28); Daryn Pittman – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 13); Donny Schatz – 1 (Attica Raceway Park on May 20.)
NEW ONLINE HOME – Make sure to check out the all-new WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com .
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; the Dirt Track at Charlotte; May 28, 2011
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 83-Paul McMahan[3][$10,000]; 2. 11-Steve Kinser[2][$5,500]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[9][$3,200]; 4. 14-Jason Meyers[4][$2,800]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[8][$2,500]; 6. 7-Craig Dollansky[15][$2,300]; 7. 92-Kerry Madsen[11][$2,200]; 8. 63-Chad Kemenah[7][$2,100]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides[13][$2,050]; 10. 14T-Tony Stewart[16][$2,000]; 11. 9-Joey Saldana[6][$1,500]; 12. 6R-Bill Rose[5][$1,200]; 13. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[17][$1,100]; 14. 6-Kraig Kinser[19][$1,050]; 15. 5T-Travis Philo[22][$1,000]; 16. 1-Sammy Swindell[1][$900]; 17. 59-Brooke Tatnell[21][$800]; 18. 49-Brad Sweet[14][$800]; 19. 1S-Kevin Swindell[12][$800]; 20. 21B-Brandon McLain[24][$800]; 21. 91-Cody Darrah[10][$800]; 22. 6W-Brad Wickham[23][$800]; 23. 1X-Matt Linder[20][$800]; 24. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[18][$800]
Qualifying –
1. 83-Paul McMahan, 12.492; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah, 12.535; 3. 14-Jason Meyers, 12.589; 4. 6R-Bill Rose, 12.594; 5. 92-Kerry Madsen, 12.597; 6. 1S-Kevin Swindell, 12.600; 7. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.617; 8. 11-Steve Kinser, 12.626; 9. 1-Sammy Swindell, 12.632; 10. 9-Joey Saldana, 12.636; 11. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.641; 12. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 12.666; 13. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.709; 14. 7-Craig Dollansky, 12.737; 15. 14T-Tony Stewart, 12.754; 16. 91-Cody Darrah, 12.763; 17. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 12.765; 18. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr., 12.797; 19. 6-Kraig Kinser, 12.845; 20. 2B-Ben Gregg, 12.880; 21. 1X-Matt Linder, 12.913; 22. 59-Brooke Tatnell, 12.917; 23. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.125; 24. 6W-Brad Wickham, 13.841; 25. 6X-Mark Cole, 13.851; 26. 21B-Brandon McLain, 14.251; 27. 69-Brandon Rekow, 14.758; 28. 3F-Rick Fraley, 15.043
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 91-Cody Darrah[6] ; 2. 9-Joey Saldana[1] ; 3. 83-Paul McMahan[4] ; 4. 59-Brooke Tatnell[8] ; 5. 6R-Bill Rose[3] ; 6. 6-Kraig Kinser[7] ; 7. 49-Brad Sweet[5] ; 8. 7S-Jason Sides[2] ; 9. 6X-Mark Cole[9]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 11-Steve Kinser[2] ; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[1] ; 3. 92-Kerry Madsen[3] ; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky[5] ; 6. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[6] ; 7. 21B-Brandon McLain[9] ; 8. 5T-Travis Philo[8] ; 9. 2B-Ben Gregg[7]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[2] ; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1] ; 3. 14-Jason Meyers[4] ; 4. 1S-Kevin Swindell[3] ; 5. 14T-Tony Stewart[5] ; 6. 1X-Matt Linder[7] ; 7. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[6] ; 8. 6W-Brad Wickham[8] ; 9. 69-Brandon Rekow[9]
Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[1] ; 2. 11-Steve Kinser[2] ; 3. 83-Paul McMahan[6] ; 4. 14-Jason Meyers[4] ; 5. 6R-Bill Rose[3] ; 6. 9-Joey Saldana[7] ; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah[5] ; 8. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[9] ; 9. 15-Donny Schatz[8] ; 10. 91-Cody Darrah[10]
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7S-Jason Sides[1] [-]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[2] [-]; 3. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[3] [-]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo[4] [-]; 5. 6W-Brad Wickham[5] [-]; 6. 21B-Brandon McLain[7] [-]; 7. 6X-Mark Cole[6] [$200]; 8. 69-Brandon Rekow[8] [$180]; 9. 2B-Ben Gregg[-] [$175]; 10. 3F-Rick Fraley[-] [$160]
Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-14, Paul McMahan 15-30
KSE Hard Charger Award: 7-Craig Dollansky
World of Outlaws Series Points Standings as of May 28:
(Name, points, deficit, wins, top-5’s, top-10’s, QT’s)
1. Steve Kinser 2506 4 9 16 1
2. Joey Saldana 2497 -9 3 10 12 3
3. Donny Schatz 2485 -21 1 11 13 1
4. Jason Meyers 2439 -67 0 7 14 1
5. Jason Sides 2409 -97 2 7 14 1
6. Craig Dollansky 2396 -110 2 7 12 1
7. Paul McMahan 2234 -117 1 6 11 5
8. Lucas Wolfe 2256 -250 0 2 8 0
9. Cody Darrah 2245 -261 0 4 8 0
10. Sammy Swindell 2229 -277 3 8 9 2
11. Chad Kemenah 2218 -284 0 1 6 1
12. Kraig Kinser 2182 -324 0 2 6 0
13. Bill Rose 2024 -482 0 0 1 0
14. Ben Gregg 1758 -748 0 0 0 0
15. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 1029 -1477 0 2 5 0
16. Lance Dewease 982 -1524 0 0 2 0
17. Brad Sweet 976 -1530 0 0 1 0
18. Jac Haudenschild 944 -1562 0 1 2 0
19. Kerry Madsen 936 -1570 0 0 2 0
20. Terry McCarl 804 -1702 0 0 1 0