From J&J
McKENZIE, TN. (Aug. 2) – Tony Stewart’s first career World of Outlaws win highlighted a busy week of Sprint car action for J&J Auto Racing teams. The two-time NASCAR champion dominated the action in his J&J in Ohsweken while two-time defending All-Star champion Tim Shaffer was also a winner north of the border. Chad Layton, Dusty Zomer, Randy West, Danny Holtgraver, Carl Bowser and Brooke Tatnell were also winners in J&J’s last week.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS – OHSWEKEN
It was a goal that he wasn’t sure how long it would take, but as it turned out, it didn’t take that long. NASCAR’s Tony Stewart, who climbed the ranks in racing through USAC, has long loved the Winged Sprint cars and the World of Outlaws. Last Wednesday, he raced his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1/Coca-Cola J&J to victory in the 30-lap WoO A-Feature at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario.
“I’ve just been wanting to make World of Outlaw A-Mains. Top 10’s are what I’ve been shooting for,” said Stewart afterwards.”We were really good all night – qualified 5th, won our heat race, and ran 3rd in the dash, so it’s just been a really cool night.”
“This is huge,” continued Stewart. “I don’t know that all the people truly understand, because they think because we got to NASCAR that there’s nothing bigger than that. It’s not that this is bigger, but this is the best in this field, and to be able to run with these guys and be competitive and have a shot to win the main, that’s more than I dreamed we would have done this early.”
The victory came in his seventh WoO start of 2011 and eighth of his career. He tuned up for the victory by racing in a 360 event the night before at Ohsweken. He raced from 15th to finish 3rd in the No. 14 J&J.
ALL-STARS
Tim Shaffer kicked off the All-Stars Thunder Through the Plains Tour with a flag-to-flag victory at Red River Vally Co-op in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Shaffer raced the CH Motorsports No. 83 Kistler powered J&J to victory in the 30-lap race. It was his fifth All-Star win of 2011 and 40th of his career.
Shaffer took off from the pole position and fended off several challenges from Dale Blaney en route to the victory.
LERNERVILLE
Carl Bowser found himself in the right place at the right time in Friday night’s Sprint car feature at Lernerville Speedway. Bowser was sitting in second in his No. 10 J&J with a green-white-checker finish ahead of him. The leader ran out of fuel and Bowser assumed command and drove to victory.
RIVER CITIES SPEEDWAY
Mark Dobmeier has won a lot of races at River Cities Speedway, but not many from the 25th-starting spot. The driver of the Lunstra/Dobmeier No. 13L J&J lost a tire in his heat race and was forced to start at the back of the field. He stormed by All-Star regular Greg Wilson with five laps remaining and went on to capture his 10th victory of the season.
“That was a workout,” Dobmeier said. “Luckily, I passed some cars right away and got within reach of the leaders. As the race went on, I slowly picked cars off one by one.”
UMSS – CEDAR LAKE SPEEDWAY
Australian Sprint car champion Brooke Tatnell took the lead with only a couple of laps remaining in the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) at Cedar Lake Speedway in Somerset, Wisc. Tatnell raced Duane Nelson’s No. 14 Protofab Engineering J&J to victory for his second straight UMSS triumph at the track.
Lee Grosz raced his No. 4 J&J to a fourth-place finish.
PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY
Chad Layton tuned up for this week’s big-money race at Port Royal Speedway by taking home Saturday night’s feature event and earning his first win of 2011 in the Middleswarth No. 7 J&J. Early in the race, Layton battled fellow J&J racer, Ryan Taylor (No. 20 J&J), and holding him off during a pair of early restarts. A late caution opened the track up for Layton and he raced away to score his fifth career win at the track.
MERCER RACEWAY PARK
It was the high line around Mercer Raceway Park that led Danny Holtgraver to victory last Saturday night. Holtgraver drove the No. D4 J&J from the third-starting position and around the leaders on the high side. The youngster would continue to ride the cushion throughout the race and cruised to victory.
URC SPRINTS
Randy West had Fred Kennedy’s No. 56 J&J hooked up in last Saturday’s URC Sprint car feature in Boyertown, Pa. West won his heat and started on the pole for the feature event. He dominated the race leading every lap of the non-stop contest. The victory was his second of the season and fifth career URC triumph. Robbie Stillwaggon (No. 89 J&J ) finished fourth, Josh Weller (No. 63 J&J) was fifth, and JJ Grasso (No. 99 J&J) finished seventh.
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY
Dusty Zomer has been the man to beat recently at legendary Knoxville Raceway, and the competition is finding it hard to do. Zomer raced Derek Ingalls’ No. 91 J&J from the pole position and into the lead during the first seven circuits. He fell to second on lap eight and stayed there until the final lap when he made a dramatic pass of Tyler Walker to earn his second consecutive victory at the famed dirt oval.
“I think traffic helped me a little, but it was experience too,” said Zomer from Victory Lane. “I run here weekly, and if Tyler had the last lap to run again, he’d do it differently. My hat is off to him for coming in here and running strong. I think we put on a good show for the fans! I hope everyone enjoyed it. We were strong and never gave up. I hope it continues in the Nationals.”
Mark Dobmeier (No. 13L J&J) was the event’s hard-charger as he raced from the back to finish sixth. He bounced back from a heat race accident and transferred through the B-Main.