By Kyle Luetters, Mike Campbell photo
ROSSBURG, Ohio — July 15, 2011 — Tim Shaffer had a nearly unbeatable car for most of the Knight Before the Kings Royal Friday at famed Eldora Speedway. In the final World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event before the huge $50,000-to-win Kings Royal, Shaffer started from the pole, slid backwards then dueled with Jason Meyers until Shaffer finally pulled away down the stretch.
Shaffer, of Aliquippa, Pa., captured the dash and worked around Meyers, the defending World of Outlaws champion, on Lap 15 of the 30-lap A-main. The two drivers then thrilled the packed grandstands with a daring and breathtaking show for the fans.
“Jason and I raced each other clean and that’s what made it great,” said Shaffer, who won a World of Outlaws race at Eldora for the third time in his career and the first time since 2000. “The top line was the place to be and we could get such a run going up there. We were good both on and off the cushion and we could move around a lot so that helps us tremendously. Tomorrow night is a different race and we could be racing or we could be sitting but we feel like we have a strong car for that big pay day.”
(Click here for an interview with Shaffer)
Meyers was chasing his second win of the 2011 campaign in the DDNI/Allstar Performance KPC and appeared to be the only sprinter capable of keeping up with Shaffer, the winner of the 50th Goodyear Knoxville Nationals. With a couple of well timed slide jobs, Meyers was in the heat of it right to the end.
“It’s been one of those years,” said Meyers, when referencing a pass he made for the lead right as the yellow flag flew for an incident involving the #7k of Kyle Sauder and #49 of Brad Sweet. “Right as we get the lead the yellow comes out, which put us back to second. On the flip side, that was probably the best car I have had here at Eldora in three years. My guys put a great car under me tonight. It was fast and comfortable all night. Overall it was a good points night for us. We’ve got a good car to come back here with tomorrow night and hopefully avoid those yellow flags.”
With his runner-up finish, Meyers regained the series points lead over four-time champion Donny Schatz, who finished 10th in the STP/Armor All/Chevrolet. Paul McMahan continued his string of top-5 finishes with a 3rd-place run as quick-timer Joey Saldana and Steve Kinser rounded out the Top Five. Craig Dollansky, a five-time winner this season from Elk River, Minn., overcame a wreck in the first heat to finish eighth in the A-main and win the KSE Hard Charger Award.
A scary moment of the evening came in the third heat when the #5W of Lucas Wolfe caught fire in turn two as the checkered flag waved. The 2008 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year hustled out of the flames with what appeared to be only a minor burn on his hand, but parked his car for the evening.
“I’m alright,” said Wolfe, of Mechanicsburg, Pa. “Just a scary ordeal, but it’s racing and those kinds of things happen.”
With the Knight Before the Kings Royal in the books, the Outlaws set their sights on one of the biggest paydays of the season on Saturday night, the 28 th Annual Kings Royal. With $50,000 to the winner, each and every driver will bring their best to claim the crown.
ELDORA SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
QUICK TIME – Joey Saldana was the night’s fastest qualifier with a lap around the one half-mile oval in 13.347 seconds, earning five championship points. Daryn Pittman, Dale Blaney, Brad Sweet and Paul McMahan also earned qualifying points. It marked Saldana’s fourth Quick Time of the season.
WINNERS – There have been 30 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); Donny Schatz – 3 (Attica Raceway Park on May 20, Princeton Speedway on June 25, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 13); Paul McMahan – 2 (the Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 28, Belleville Highbanks on June 3); Jason Meyers – 1 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 8); Daryn Pittman – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 13); Tim Shaffer – 1 (Eldora Speedway on July 15.)
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; Eldora Speedway; Rossburg, Ohio; July 15, 2011
A-Main – (30 Laps) – 1. 83X-Tim Shaffer [1] [$10,000]; 2. 14-Jason Meyers [4] [$5,500]; 3. 83-Paul McMahan [3] [$3,200]; 4. 9-Joey Saldana [5] [$2,800]; 5. 11-Steve Kinser [8] [$2,500]; 6. 92-Kerry Madsen [13] [$2,300]; 7. 27-Daryn Pittman [6] [$2,200]; 8. 7-Craig Dollansky [22] [$2,100]; 9. 2-Dale Blaney [11] [$2,050]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz [7] [$2,000]; 11. 91-Cody Darrah [9] [$1,500]; 12. 63-Chad Kemenah [15] [$1,200]; 13. 7S-Jason Sides [21] [$1,100]; 14. 17-Tyler Walker [20] [$1,050]; 15. 6M-Jac Haudenschild [19] [$1,000]; 16. 1Z-Jessica Zemken [24] [$900]; 17. 6-Kraig Kinser [14] [$800]; 18. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. [10] [$800]; 19. 49-Brad Sweet [12] [$800]; 20. 7K-Kyle Sauder [23] [$800]; 21. 1-Sammy Swindell [16] [$800]; 22. 1ZX-Stevie Smith [18] [$800]; 23. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2] [$800]; 24. 22H-Randy Hannagan [17] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Jason Meyers 1-15, 22; Tim Shaffer 16-21, 23-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 7-Craig Dollansky [+14].
Qualifying – 1. 9-Joey Saldana, 13.347; 2. 27-Daryn Pittman, 13.416; 3. 2-Dale Blaney, 13.464; 4. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.482; 5. 83-Paul McMahan, 13.501; 6. 92-Kerry Madsen, 13.530; 7. 6-Kraig Kinser, 13.538; 8. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.539; 9. 14-Jason Meyers, 13.551; 10. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.557; 11. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.566; 12. 83X-Tim Shaffer, 13.570; 13. 22H-Randy Hannagan, 13.571; 14. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.579; 15. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr., 13.582; 16. 91-Cody Darrah, 13.589; 17. 1ZX-Stevie Smith, 13.654; 18. 6M-Jac Haudenschild, 13.663; 19. 17-Tyler Walker, 13.673; 20. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.674; 21. 7-Craig Dollansky, 13.695; 22. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.704; 23. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.714; 24. 7K-Kyle Sauder, 13.718; 25. 14S-Tony Stewart, 13.744; 26. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 13.754; 27. 6R-Bill Rose, 13.801; 28. 1H-Brandon Wimmer, 13.802; 29. 7C-Tim Hunter, 13.829; 30. 4-Danny Smith, 13.840; 31. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.866; 32. 78-Todd Kane, 13.881; 33. 89G-David Gravel, 13.883; 34. 53-Phil Gressman, 13.943; 35. 39-Greg Hodnett, 13.971; 36. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.977; 37. 2M-Dustin Daggett, 14.013; 38. 44W-Austin Wheatley, 14.057; 39. 1R-Chad Blonde, 14.081; 40. 7L-Darren Long, 14.106; 41. 17M-Marty Perovich, 14.276; 42. 12-Jared Ridge, 14.307; 43. 60-Kory Crabtree, 14.438; 44. 2B-Ben Gregg, 14.455; 45. 96AU-Bruce White, 14.513; 46. 3F-Rick Fraley, 15.148
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 14-Jason Meyers [2]; 2. 83-Paul McMahan [3]; 3. 22H-Randy Hannagan [1]; 4. 9-Joey Saldana [4]; 5. 1ZX-Stevie Smith [5]; 6. 89G-David Gravel [9]; 7. 2M-Dustin Daggett [10]; 8. 7C-Tim Hunter [8]; 9. 17M-Marty Perovich [11]; 10. 14S-Tony Stewart [7]; 11. 96AU-Bruce White [12]; 12. 7-Craig Dollansky [6]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [6]; 2. 11-Steve Kinser [1]; 3. 92-Kerry Madsen [3]; 4. 27-Daryn Pittman [4]; 5. 6M-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 6. 44W-Austin Wheatley [10]; 7. 4-Danny Smith [8]; 8. 1Z-Jessica Zemken [7]; 9. 53-Phil Gressman [9]; 10. 3F-Rick Fraley [12]; 11. 1-Sammy Swindell [2]; 12. 12-Jared Ridge [11]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. [1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 3. 2-Dale Blaney [4]; 4. 6-Kraig Kinser [3]; 5. 17-Tyler Walker [5]; 6. 6R-Bill Rose [7]; 7. 39-Greg Hodnett [9]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [8]; 9. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [6]; 10. 1R-Chad Blonde [10]; 11. 60-Kory Crabtree [11]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 83X-Tim Shaffer [2]; 2. 91-Cody Darrah [1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah [3]; 5. 7K-Kyle Sauder [6]; 6. 7S-Jason Sides [5]; 7. 78-Todd Kane [8]; 8. 2B-Ben Gregg [11]; 9. 1H-Brandon Wimmer [7]; 10. 7L-Darren Long [10]; 11. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [9]
Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 83X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 3. 83-Paul McMahan [4]; 4. 14-Jason Meyers [3]; 5. 9-Joey Saldana [6]; 6. 27-Daryn Pittman [5]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [10]; 8. 11-Steve Kinser [7]; 9. 91-Cody Darrah [9]; 10. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. [8]
C-Main – (10 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the B-feature) – 1. 2M-Dustin Daggett [1] [-]; 2. 44W-Austin Wheatley [2] [-]; 3. 7L-Darren Long [3] [$150]; 4. 2B-Ben Gregg [6] [$125]; 5. 17M-Marty Perovich [4] [$125]; 6. 96AU-Bruce White [7] [$100]; 7. 3F-Rick Fraley [8] [$100]; 8. 12-Jared Ridge [5] [$100]; 9. 1R-Chad Blonde [9] [$100]; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree [10] [$100]
B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [1] [-]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky [3] [-]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [2] [-]; 4. 1Z-Jessica Zemken [6] [-]; 5. 14S-Tony Stewart [5] [$200]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [11] [$180]; 7. 1H-Brandon Wimmer [8] [$175]; 8. 6R-Bill Rose [7] [$160]; 9. 89G-David Gravel [13] [$150]; 10. 4-Danny Smith [10] [$150]; 11. 2M-Dustin Daggett [17] [$150]; 12. 39-Greg Hodnett [15] [$150]; 13. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [16] [$150]; 14. 44W-Austin Wheatley [18] [$150]; 15. 53-Phil Gressman [14] [$150]; 16. 78-Todd Kane [12] [$150]; 17. 7C-Tim Hunter [9] [$150]; 18. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [4] [$150].
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Points Standings, through July 15, 2011
Pos.
Driver
Total
Diff
Wins
T5
T10
QT
1.
Jason Meyers
4159
0
1
17
26
3
2.
Donny Schatz
4146
-13
3
15
24
2
3.
Joey Saldana
4123
-36
4
16
23
4
4.
Steve Kinser
4097
-62
5
14
24
1
5.
Jason Sides
4062
-97
4
13
22
3
6.
Craig Dollansky
4062
-97
5
14
21
1
7.
Paul McMahan
3995
-164
2
9
20
8
8.
Cody Darrah
3748
-411
0
5
11
0
9.
Sammy Swindell
3726
-433
4
12
18
4
10.
Chad Kemenah
3670
-489
0
2
8
2
11.
Lucas Wolfe
3656
-503
0
1
9
0
12.
Kraig Kinser
3619
-540
0
2
10
0
13.
Bill Rose
3378
-781
0
1
2
0
14.
Kerry Madsen
2470
-1689
0
2
9
0
15.
Ben Gregg
2309
-1850
0
1
1
0
16.
Brad Sweet
1675
-2484
0
3
6
1
17.
Sam Hafertepe Jr.
1279
-2880
0
3
6
0
18.
Jac Haudenschild
1168
-2991
0
1
2
0
19.
Terry McCarl
1043
-3116
0
0
2
0
20.
Danny Lasoski
1033
-3126
0
2
4
0
NRA Sprint Invaders
NRA Sprint Invaders – 37 cars
Fast Time – Randy Hannagan – 14.548
Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 2h-Dallas Hewitt [3];2. 7-Kyle Sauder [4];3. 49t-Greg Dalman [1];4. b20-Butch Schroeder [5];5. 56-Ryan Meyer [2];6. 22-Randy Hannagan [6];7. 18-Todd Heuerman [10];8. 11n-Ed Neumeister [7];9. 32m-Derek Hastings [9];10. 2p-Alex Pettas [8]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 6-Chad Kemenah [4];2. 89-David Gravelle [6];3. 17-Jared Horstman [5];4. 22-Ben Rutan [1];5. 49-Shawn Dancer [2];6. 27s-Beau Stewart [3];7. 4-Josh Turner [8];8. 10j-Jarred Delong [7];9. 2-Brent Gehr [9]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 82-Mike Miller [2];2. 34-Luke Hall [3];3. 11-Tim Allison [5];4. 28h-Hud Horton [4];5. 26-Ryan French [8];6. 21-Justin Grant [7];7. 2g-Joesph Geibe [9];8. 1-Kent Wolters [1];9. 35-Ron Blair [9]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps)
1. 40-Caleb Helms [4];2. 12m-Caleb Griffith [8];3. 2m-Matt Westfall [3];4. 3t-Tony Beaber [1];5. 22d-JR Stewart [6];6. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [5];7. 14-Andy Conley [2];8. 10c-Bob Carman [9];9. 4-Bob Gehr Jr. [7]
B Main – (10 Laps)
1. 35-Ron Blair [1];2. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [2];3. 27s-Beau Stewart [3];4. 49-Shawn Dancer [4];5. 18-Todd Heuerman [7];6. 32m-Derek Hastings [7];7. 2p-Alex Pettas [5];8. 2g-Joesph Geibe [8];9. 26-Ryan French [6]
B Main 2 – (10 Laps)
1. 22d-JR Stewart [1];2. 56-Ryan Myers [3];3. 11n-Ed Neumeister [5];4. 21-Justin Grant [6];5. 4-Josh Turner [7];6. 2-Brent Gehr [9];7. 14-Andy Conley [4];8. 4-Bob Gehr Jr. [8];9. 10c-Bob Carman [10]
A Main – (20 Laps)
1. 89-David Gravelle [3];2. 17-Jared Horstman [1];3. 22-Randy Hannagan [6];4. 6-Chad Kemenah [5];5. b20-Butch Schroeder [4];6. 11-Tim Allison [2];7. 40-Caleb Helms [7];8. 28h-Hud Horton [8];9. 3t-Tony Beaber [13];10. 34-Luke Hall [10];11. 49t-Greg Dalman [11];12. 22d-JR Stewart [18];13. 35-Ron Blair [15];14. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [17];15. 2m-Matt Westfall [9];16. 82-Mike Miller [12];17. 56-Ryan Meyer [19];18. 22-Ben Rutan [14];19. 27s-Beau Stewart [20];20. 12m-Caleb Griffith [20]