From the World of Outlaws
BEAVER DAM, Wis. — July 9, 2011 — Joey Saldana let out a big breath before crawling out of his Kasey Kahne Racing #9 Red Bull Maxim in the Beaver Dam Raceway victory lane on Saturday night. He had just held off Craig Dollansky to win the Jim Boyd Memorial for his fourth victory of the season, but his first win since early May.
Saldana withstood struggles in June to stay in the hunt for the championship, and now after winning at 1/3-mile Beaver Dam for the second consecutive season, finds himself only 6 points behind championship leader Jason Meyers heading into the Month of Money events.
“It feels great to be back in victory lane after the past month,” said Saldana, of Brownsburg, Ind. “A good start has kept us in this points battle and if you’re going to beat guys like Donny Schatz and Jason Meyers, you have to be spot on, night after night. We haven’t been doing that lately. It’s been a struggle. It’s easy to lose your confidence out here but this win helps. The high line was good for us and I knew Craig was closing in but I was just patient and held on.”
On a night that saw the top three in the points standings (Meyers, Schatz and Saldana) separated by only 11 points, stakes were high as the series completed its Wisconsin weekend. Fresh off of his victory Friday night at Cedar Lake Speedway, Meyers continued to be the model for consistency with another strong showing. He timed in quickest on the night to pad his overall championship lead and started the feature from the outside of the front row. Pole-sitter Brooke Tatnell tried to hold on to the lead but saw Paul McMahan rocket by out of turn four to lead lap one. McMahan opened up considerable advantages as the race wore on but was caught in lapped traffic as the low line bottled up and allowed his teammate, Saldana, to slide past on the outside.
As Saldana charged to the point, ninth-starting Dollansky surged through the field as the laps clicked off. The Elk River, Minn., native weaved through the field and raced alongside Saldana as the final laps ticked off. In the end, Saldana’s momentum on the high side was too much for Dollansky to overcome.
“We dug ourselves into a little bit of a whole in qualfiying,” Dollansky said. “But as the night went on, D.J. (Lindsey) and this team did a great job of getting the car where I needed it to be. We fought hard and really wanted to pull one off since we are in Karavan (Trailers) country.”
For his efforts, McMahan wound up with a third-place finish but felt he could’ve done better.
“We tried a softer tire for the feature and that probably hurt us as the night wore on,” said McMahan, of Nashville, Tenn. “Hats off to the crew, though. They had me up front and this thing was incredibly fast all night long.”
Meyers settled for a fourth-place showing and, combined with the 5 points he earned for setting quick time, extended his points lead to six markers over Saldana. Donny Schatz wound up eighth and dropped to third in the points, 14 behind Meyers. Kasey Kahne Racing’s Brad Sweet rounded out the top-5.
The Outlaws now head for the state of Ohio as the 23rd Annual Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by Racing Optics is slated for Wednesday, July 13.
BEAVER DAM RACEWAY NOTEBOOK
QUICK TIME – Jason Meyers was the night’s fastest qualifier with a lap around the one third-mile oval in 11.226 seconds, earning five championship points. Kraig Kinser, Paul McMahan, Brooke Tatnell and Chad Kemenah also earned qualifying points. It marked Meyers’ third quick time of the season.
WINNERS – There have been 28 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events in 2011. The winners include: Craig Dollansky – 5 (Silver Dollar Speedway on March 12, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 3, River Cities Speedway on June 17 and 18, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 1); Steve Kinser – 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 11 and 12, Pike County Raceway on Feb. 25, the Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 4, Lakeside Speedway on June 4); Sammy Swindell – 4 (Royal Purple Raceway on Feb. 26, Merced Speedway on April 1, Tri-State Speedway on April 30, Knoxville Raceway on June 11); Joey Saldana – 4 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 19, Eldora Speedway on May 6, Beaver Dam Raceway on July 9); Jason Sides – 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Calistoga Speedway on April 2, I-96 Speedway on May 30, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 2); Paul McMahan – 2 (the Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 28, Belleville Highbanks on June 3); Donny Schatz – 2 (Attica Raceway Park on May 20, Princeton Speedway on June 25); Jason Meyers – 1 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 8); Daryn Pittman – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 13.)
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; Beaver Dam (Wis.) Raceway; July 9, 2011
A-Main – (40 Laps) – 1. 9-Joey Saldana [5] [$10,000]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky [9] [$5,500]; 3. 83-Paul McMahan [3] [$3,200]; 4. 14-Jason Meyers [2] [$2,800]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [15] [$2,500]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [19] [$2,300]; 7. 11-Steve Kinser [8] [$2,200]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [4] [$2,100]; 9. 1-Sammy Swindell [7] [$2,050]; 10. 59-Brooke Tatnell [1] [$2,000]; 11. 91-Cody Darrah [17] [$1,500]; 12. 63-Chad Kemenah [10] [$1,200]; 13. 92-Kerry Madsen [13] [$1,100]; 14. 7S-Jason Sides [18] [$1,050]; 15. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [11] [$1,000]; 16. 19-Todd King [21] [$900]; 17. 80K-Mike Kertscher [14] [$800]; 18. 2B-Ben Gregg [12] [$800]; 19. 10V-Matt Vandervere [16] [$800]; 20. 21J-John Haeni [22] [$800]; 21. 1M-Jim Moughan [23] [$800]; 22. 21T-Travis Luedke [24] [$800]; 23. 6-Kraig Kinser [6] [$800]; 24. 6R-Bill Rose [20] [$800].
Lap Leaders: Paul McMahan 1-16, Joey Saldana 17-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 21-Brian Brown [+13]
Qualifying – 1. 14-Jason Meyers, 13.361; 2. 6-Kraig Kinser, 13.477; 3. 83-Paul McMahan, 13.617; 4. 59-Brooke Tatnell, 13.652; 5. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.702; 6. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.727; 7. 2B-Ben Gregg, 13.735; 8. 92-Kerry Madsen, 13.779; 9. 9-Joey Saldana, 13.797; 10. 80K-Mike Kertscher, 13.799; 11. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.806; 12. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.844; 13. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.908; 14. 7-Craig Dollansky, 13.920; 15. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.922; 16. 10V-Matt Vandervere, 13.935; 17. 91-Cody Darrah, 13.982; 18. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.996; 19. 21-Brian Brown, 14.047; 20. 1M-Jim Moughan, 14.086; 21. O2-Mike Reinke, 14.273; 22. 6R-Bill Rose, 14.409; 23. 19-Todd King, 14.460; 24. 21J-John Haeni, 14.498; 25. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 14.535; 26. 21T-Travis Luedke, 14.681; 27. 4K-Kris Spitz, 14.756; 28. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 14.798; 29. 114AJ-Brad Kuhn, 14.827; 30. 1H-Kurt Davis, 14.977.
Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 14-Jason Meyers [4]; 2. 11-Steve Kinser [5]; 3. 80K-Mike Kertscher [1]; 4. 59-Brooke Tatnell [3]; 5. 21-Brian Brown [7]; 6. 10V-Matt Vandervere [6]; 7. 6R-Bill Rose [8]; 8. 2B-Ben Gregg [2]; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder [9]; 10. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [10].
Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky [5]; 3. 92-Kerry Madsen [2]; 4. 6-Kraig Kinser [4]; 5. 91-Cody Darrah [6]; 6. 63-Chad Kemenah [3]; 7. 21T-Travis Luedke [9]; 8. 1M-Jim Moughan [7]; 9. 114AJ-Brad Kuhn [10]; 10. 19-Todd King [8].
Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [1]; 2. 9-Joey Saldana [2]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [5]; 5. 83-Paul McMahan [4]; 6. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 7. 21J-John Haeni [8]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz [9]; 9. O2-Mike Reinke [7]; 10. 1H-Kurt Davis [10].
Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 59-Brooke Tatnell [1]; 2. 14-Jason Meyers [4]; 3. 83-Paul McMahan [2]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [7]; 5. 9-Joey Saldana [6]; 6. 6-Kraig Kinser [3]; 7. 1-Sammy Swindell [8]; 8. 11-Steve Kinser [9]; 9. 7-Craig Dollansky [10]; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah [5].
B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 2B-Ben Gregg [1] [-]; 2. 6R-Bill Rose [4] [-]; 3. 19-Todd King [5] [-]; 4. 21J-John Haeni [6] [-]; 5. 1M-Jim Moughan [2] [-]; 6. 21T-Travis Luedke [8] [-]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder [7] [$200]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz [9] [$180]; 9. 114AJ-Brad Kuhn [11] [$175]; 10. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [10] [$160]; 11. O2-Mike Reinke [3] [$150]; 12. 1H-Kurt Davis [12] [$150].
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championship Standings, through July 9, 2011
| Pos. | Driver |
Total |
Diff |
W |
T5 |
T10 |
QT |
| 1. | Jason Meyers |
3880 |
1 |
16 |
24 |
3 |
|
| 2. | Joey Saldana |
3874 |
-6 |
4 |
15 |
22 |
3 |
| 3. | Donny Schatz |
3866 |
-14 |
2 |
14 |
22 |
2 |
| 4. | Steve Kinser |
3833 |
-47 |
5 |
13 |
23 |
1 |
| 5. | Jason Sides |
3802 |
-78 |
4 |
13 |
21 |
3 |
| 6. | Craig Dollansky |
3799 |
-81 |
5 |
14 |
20 |
1 |
| 7. | Paul McMahan |
3705 |
-175 |
2 |
7 |
18 |
7 |
| 8. | Sammy Swindell |
3512 |
-368 |
4 |
12 |
18 |
4 |
| 9. | Cody Darrah |
3502 |
-378 |
0 |
5 |
11 |
0 |
| 10. | Lucas Wolfe |
3461 |
-419 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
| 11. | Chad Kemenah |
3442 |
-438 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
| 12. | Kraig Kinser |
3428 |
-452 |
0 |
2 |
10 |
0 |
| 13. | Bill Rose |
3228 |
-652 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| 14. | Kerry Madsen |
2196 |
-1684 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
| 15. | Ben Gregg |
2159 |
-1721 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| 16. | Brad Sweet |
1417 |
-2463 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
| 17. | Terry McCarl |
1043 |
-2837 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| 18. | Danny Lasoski |
1033 |
-2847 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
| 19. | Sam Hafertepe Jr. |
1029 |
-2851 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
| 20. | Lance Dewease |
982 |
-2898 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |