From Kyle Luetters
EDMONTON, Alberta — Aug. 27, 2011 — As he rolled out of turn four and towards the start finish line after clearing the scales, Cody Darrah’s crew greeted him with shouts and fist’s in the air. Darrah, a native of Red Lion, Pa. had just held off 20 time champion Steve Kinser and teammate Brad Sweet for his second career victory and, in the process, became the overall Oil Cup Champion for the weekend at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
“If I would have been the boss, I would have fired me a long time ago,” Darrah said as high fived crewmembers in front of his #91 Great Clips Maxim. “We’ve been through a lot this year and this victory makes it all worth it. There are a ton of people to thank but first and foremost I have to thank Kasey (Kahne) for sticking by my and keeping a ride for me after I got injured last year and through all the things we’ve been through this year. I watched Steve (Kinser) on a few of those restarts and kind of learned a few things. We had an awesome car tonight. This feels amazing and I am so happy to be back in Victory Lane.”
Darrah had to work for the win as he started 12th when the 35 lap main event took the green flag. From the get go, it was obvious that Darrah had one of the top cars in the field as he sliced and diced his way to the front. Kinser started from the pole position and led the first 20 circuits until his Tony Stewart Racing teammate, Donny Schatz, muscled around him to take the lead in lap traffic. Schatz would continue to pace the field until a late race red flag ended up being his downfall. As the car’s tried to slow down, Schatz tangled with a lap car which sent the four time champion to the work area. With Schatz in the work area, Darrah assumed the lead and never looked back. Throughout the two Green-White-Checker attempts, Darrah held on and even ran away from the back on the second one. Kasey Kahne Racing teammate Brad Sweet worked his way around Kinser for second.
“This feel’s like a win to me even though we finished second,” said Sweet as he watched his teammate celebrate. “it’s a great team effort from everyone at KKR. Cody is a great driver and to see him over there means an awful lot to us. He’s one of my best friends. Our Red Bull Maxim was great tonight and hopefully we’ll be in Victory Lane soon.”
Kinser eventually settled for third and admitted that he didn’t have the greatest of restarts.
“I just didn’t get to going there and didn’t get to where I needed to be on that last restart,” said Kinser. “We had a great Bass Pro Shops car early on but I just made a few mistakes late in the going.”
Owner driver Chad Kemenah made the most of his outside pole position start to come home in the fourth spot with Paul McMahan finishing in the fifth spot. Series points leader Jason Meyers looked strong early on but mechanical woes regulated him to a 11th place finish. Schatz would up finishing 10th after his late race troubles.
The Outlaws will now head for the West Coast and the Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. for a two day race on Friday, September 2, and Saturday, September 3.
CASTROL RACEWAY NOTEBOOK
WINNERS – There have been 47 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events in 2011. The winners include: Craig Dollansky – 7 (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, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 24, I-55 Raceway on August 6); Steve Kinser – 7 (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, River Cities Speedway on August 19, Huset’s Speedway on August 20); Donny Schatz – 6 (Attica Raceway Park on May 20, Princeton Speedway on June 25, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 13, Bloomington Speedway on August 5, Knoxville Raceway on August 13, Black Hills Speedway on August 23); Jason Meyers – 4 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 8, Williams Grove Speedway on July 23, Autodrome Drummond on July 30, Castrol Raceway on August 26); 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 – 3 (the Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 28, Belleville Highbanks on June 3, Brockville-Ontario Speedway on July 29); Tim Shaffer – 2 (Eldora Speedway on July 15, Lernerville Speedway on July 19); Dale Blaney – 1 (Lernerville Speedway on July 19); Cody Darrah – 1 (Castrol Raceway on august 27); Greg Hodnett – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 22); Daryn Pittman – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 13); Tony Stewart – 1 (Oshweken Speedway on July 27); Tyler Walker – 1 (Eldora Speedway on July 16.)
TIME TRIALS– Jason Meyers was the fastest qualifier around the 3/8th’s mile oval with a time of 12.561 seconds and earned five championship points. Also earning points were Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Chad Kemenah and Lucas Wolfe. It marked Meyers eight Quick Time of the season.
WE’RE ONLINE – 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; Castrol Raceway; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Aug. 27, 2011
A-Main – (35 Laps)
1. 91-Cody Darrah[12][$12,000]; 2. 9-Brad Sweet[8][$5,700]; 3. 11-Steve Kinser[1][$3,500]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah[2][$3,000]; 5. 83-Paul McMahan[7][$2,600]; 6. 6-Kraig Kinser[9][$2,400]; 7. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[6][$2,300]; 8. 39C-Jason Solwold[15][$2,200]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides[5][$2,150]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz[3][$2,100]; 11. 14-Jason Meyers[4][$2,000]; 12. 44-Kelly Miller[20][$2,000]; 13. 16-David Miller[19][$2,000]; 14. 3-Dennis MacEachern[21][$2,000]; 15. 11EH-Marc Duperron[22][$2,000]; 16. 59-Eric Fisher Jr[18][$2,000]; 17. 75-Jesse Dakus[17][$2,000]; 18. 55-Gord Kynoch[23][$2,000]; 19. 12-Casey Adams[11][$2,000]; 20. 31-Colton Akerstrom[24][$2,000]; 21. 38-Trevor Turnbull[14][$2,000]; 22. 7-Craig Dollansky[13][$2,000]; 23. 6R-Bill Rose[10][$2,000]; 24. 4X-Toni Lutar[16][$2,000]
Lap Leaders: Steve Kinser 1-19, Donny Schatz 20-32, Cody Darrah 33-35
KSE Hard Charger Award: 91-Cody Darrah[+11]
Qualifying –
1. 14-Jason Meyers, 12.561; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.631; 3. 11-Steve Kinser, 12.706; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah, 12.742; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 12.783; 6. 12-Casey Adams, 12.810; 7. 91-Cody Darrah, 12.850; 8. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.852; 9. 83-Paul McMahan, 12.884; 10. 6R-Bill Rose, 12.894; 11. 9-Brad Sweet, 12.933; 12. 6-Kraig Kinser, 12.952; 13. 7-Craig Dollansky, 13.108; 14. 38-Trevor Turnbull, 13.117; 15. 39C-Jason Solwold, 13.133; 16. 4X-Toni Lutar, 13.418; 17. 75-Jesse Dakus, 13.503; 18. 59-Eric Fisher Jr, 13.578; 19. 16-David Miller, 13.645; 20. 44-Kelly Miller, 13.743; 21. 3-Dennis MacEachern, 13.813; 22. 31-Colton Akerstrom, 13.838; 23. 33-Justin Bienert, 13.930; 24. 11EH-Marc Duperron, 13.937; 25. 1M-Drew MacDonell, 13.966; 26. 55-Gord Kynoch, 14.048; 27. 5-Allan Green, 14.083; 28. 9X-Sean MacDonell, 14.243
Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 6R-Bill Rose[1] ; 2. 14-Jason Meyers[4] ; 3. 91-Cody Darrah[2] ; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah[3] ; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky[5] ; 6. 4X-Toni Lutar[6] ; 7. 31-Colton Akerstrom[8] ; 8. 16-David Miller[7] ; 9. 9X-Sean MacDonell[10] ; 10. 1M-Drew MacDonell[9]
Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7S-Jason Sides[2] ; 2. 9-Brad Sweet[1] ; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[3] ; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[4] ; 5. 38-Trevor Turnbull[5] ; 6. 75-Jesse Dakus[6] ; 7. 44-Kelly Miller[7] ; 8. 55-Gord Kynoch[9] ; 9. 33-Justin Bienert[8]
Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 83-Paul McMahan[2] ; 2. 6-Kraig Kinser[1] ; 3. 11-Steve Kinser[4] ; 4. 12-Casey Adams[3] ; 5. 39C-Jason Solwold[5] ; 6. 11EH-Marc Duperron[8] ; 7. 59-Eric Fisher Jr[6] ; 8. 3-Dennis MacEachern[7] ; 9. 5-Allan Green[9]
Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1. 11-Steve Kinser[2] ; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah[1] ; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[3] ; 4. 14-Jason Meyers[4] ; 5. 7S-Jason Sides[6] ; 6. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5] ; 7. 83-Paul McMahan[7] ; 8. 9-Brad Sweet[9] ; 9. 6-Kraig Kinser[10] ; 10. 6R-Bill Rose[8]
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 59-Eric Fisher Jr[1] [-]; 2. 3-Dennis MacEachern[4] [-]; 3. 16-David Miller[2] [-]; 4. 44-Kelly Miller[3] [-]; 5. 55-Gord Kynoch[8] [-]; 6. 31-Colton Akerstrom[5] [-]; 7. 1M-Drew MacDonell[7] [$1,000]; 8. 33-Justin Bienert[6] [$1,000]; 9. 9X-Sean MacDonell[10] [$1,000]; 10. 5-Allan Green[9] [$1,000]