By Shawn Miller
FARMER CITY, Ill. – April 25, 2012 – There were nearly a half-dozen drivers within striking distance of the lead eight laps into the World of Outlaws feature at Farmer City Raceway on Wednesday.
As the competitors banged wheels and narrowly negotiated lapped traffic, the packed stands took advantage of the first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event at the high-banked, quarter-mile oval since 2003.
“When we got to lapped traffic the first go-around, there were four or five guys that could have got the lead at any point,” four-time Outlaws champion Donny Schatz said. “It was like a hornets nest. We needed to stay out of that situation and that we did. When the race restarted those guys were all beating and banging on each other around there, and I just stayed out of the way on the bottom and got through there.”
The excitement elevated a few levels on a restart following a caution on lap 13 when Shane Stewart and Cody Darrah collided in turn two. Polesitter Kerry Madsen, who led from the drop of the initial green flag, and runner-up Daryn Pittman spun in turn one in front of the field.
Sammy Swindell, who was running fourth, had nowhere to go and skidded into the duo as they slid toward the middle of the track. Third-running Craig Dollansky slid off the top of the track and nearly tipped over during the process to avoid the melee as cars were sideways trying to avoid the mess.
Schatz was there to capitalize. After restarting fifth and maneuvering through the mess, he inherited the lead. Schatz led the final 28 laps of the race to become the first three-time winner this season.
“On the start I got next to Dollansky and he got a good run off into the corner and I needed to slow down because I saw cars in front of us,” he said. “I just went to the bottom and was lucky enough to miss them.
“It doesn’t help to have guys fall out in front of you. We like earning these races. We’ve earned plenty of them, but we’ve had them go that way against us (as well). You had to be smart and stay out of the trouble, and that we did.”
The race was anything but over at that point. Brad Sweet, who went from sixth to second during that restart, stayed within a car length of Schatz for most of the race as the track slicked off with each completed lap.
“I’d like to try it over again,” Sweet said after a season-best second-place finish. “I don’t really know if I could have done anything different. I was just really trying to take care of my tires. It was really slick down in turns one and two. When I was coming off (turn) two I was just trying to take care of my tires and it was kind of on the cushion in (turns) three and four.
“Donny just never made a mistake. I was right there. If he would have made one little mistake or we got some traffic, I think we could have at least made a race out of it. I don’t know if we would have been able to beat him or not.”
Kraig Kinser charged from seventh to third. After losing a couple of positions in the opening laps, he took advantage of the wild restart.
“We were fortunate that we avoided some of the collisions there early in the race and got away with a pretty respectable finish I think,” Kinser said.
He moved to fifth after the restart on lap 13, passed Austen Wheatley for fourth place on lap 15 and eventually worked by Danny Lasoski for the podium finish on lap 23.
Lasoski placed fourth and Brady Bacon charged from 17th to fifth. Joey Saldana was sixth and Steve Kinser drove from 22nd to seventh to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award. Randy Hannagan advanced from 18th to eighth and Chad Kemenah from 23rd to ninth. Wheatley rounded out the top 10.
Madsen, Wheatley, Dollansky and Kraig Kinser each claimed heat race wins and Bacon won the Last Chance Showdown. Sweet turned the quickest lap in qualifying with a time of 10.609 seconds.
Schatz’s victory combined with Swindell’s low finish allowed the duo to swap the points lead. Schatz now leads by five points with Kraig Kinser third – 27 points back – and Saldana fourth – 40 points behind Schatz.
Farmer City Raceway Notebook
NOTES – This was the first midweek event of the season for the World of Outlaws. … Eight drivers made their World of Outlaws season debut. … The 36 cars tied the season high for car count.
CONTINGENCY WINNERS – MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Lucas Wolfe; Armor All (case of product): Paul McMahan; STP ($50 cash): Brad Sweet; UNOH ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; JE Pistons (set of rings): Lucas Wolfe; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Paul McMahan; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Cody Darrah; Superflow ($50 cash): Bill Rose; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Bill Rose; JE Pistons (set of rings): Craig Dollansky; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Danny Smith.
WINNERS – Donny Schatz – 3 (Farmer City Raceway on April 25, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Craig Dollansky – 2 (Tri-State Speedway on April 21 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Tim Kaeding – 2 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8); Joey Saldana – 2 (Paducah International Raceway on April 13 and Perris Auto Speedway on March 10); Sammy Swindell – 2 (Missouri State Fair Speedway on April 20 and Merced Speedway on March 30); Danny Lasoski – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18).
TIME TRIALS – Brad Sweet was the fastest qualifier around the quarter-mile oval with a time of 10.609 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Danny Lasoski (4 points), Sammy Swindell (3), Daryn Pittman (2) and Lucas Wolfe (1).
WE’RE ONLINE – Make sure to check out WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com .
Farmer City Raceway Statistical Report; Farmer City, Ill.; April 25, 2012
A-Main – (40 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [8] [$6,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [5] [$3,500]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7] [$2,000]; 4. 33-Danny Lasoski [6] [$1,800]; 5. 99-Brady Bacon [17] [$1,500]; 6. 9-Joey Saldana [13] [$1,400]; 7. 11-Steve Kinser [22] [$1,350]; 8. 1X-Randy Hannagan [18] [$1,300]; 9. 63-Chad Kemenah [23] [$1,250]; 10. 44W-Austen Wheatley [10] [$1,200]; 11. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [11] [$900]; 12. O1-Paul McMahan [21] [$800]; 13. 4-Cody Darrah [20] [$700]; 14. 7S-Jason Sides [9] [$650]; 15. 7SX-Joey Moughan [15] [$600]; 16. 1M-Jim Moughan [16] [$550]; 17. 6-Bill Rose [12] [$500]; 18. 29-Kerry Madsen [1] [$500]; 19. 71-Daryn Pittman [2] [$500]; 20. 7M-Geoff Dodge [14] [$500]; 21. 7-Craig Dollansky [4] [$500]; 22. 1-Sammy Swindell [3] [$500]; 23. 3G-Shane Stewart [19] [$500]; 24. 4S-Danny Smith [24] [$500]. Lap Leaders: Kerry Madsen 1-12, Donny Schatz 13-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 11-Steve Kinser [+15].
Qualifying – 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 10.609; 2. 33-Danny Lasoski, 10.659; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell, 10.689; 4. 71-Daryn Pittman, 10.733; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 10.754; 6. 6-Bill Rose, 10.775; 7. 7-Craig Dollansky, 10.777; 8. 9-Joey Saldana, 10.778; 9. 29-Kerry Madsen, 10.797; 10. 7M-Geoff Dodge, 10.833; 11. 7S-Jason Sides, 10.856; 12. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 10.868; 13. 7SX-Joey Moughan, 10.889; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 10.894; 15. 1M-Jim Moughan, 10.911; 16. 15-Donny Schatz, 10.923; 17. 99-Brady Bacon, 10.977; 18. 71M-Paul May, 11.001; 19. 1X-Randy Hannagan, 11.014; 20. 3B-Brad Greer, 11.021; 21. 3G-Shane Stewart, 11.032; 22. 4-Cody Darrah, 11.059; 23. O1-Paul McMahan, 11.064; 24. 11-Steve Kinser, 11.078; 25. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.117; 26. 63-Chad Kemenah, 11.130; 27. 19-Stevie Smith, 11.141; 28. 4S-Danny Smith, 11.311; 29. 28P-Brian Paulus, 11.327; 30. 66-Alex Shanks, 11.403; 31. 84-Ben Wagoner, 11.458; 32. 4M-John Memmer, 11.601; 33. 28-Justin Springer, 12.082; 34. 53H-Matt Harms, 12.088; 35. 6B-Andy Baugh, 12.664; 36. 11B-Mark Brucker, 12.915.
Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 3. 7SX-Joey Moughan [1]; 4. 3G-Shane Stewart [6]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 7. 28-Justin Springer [9]; 8. 99-Brady Bacon [5]; 9. 28P-Brian Paulus [8].
Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 44W-Austen Wheatley [1]; 2. 33-Danny Lasoski [4]; 3. 4-Cody Darrah [6]; 4. 7M-Geoff Dodge [2]; 5. 6-Bill Rose [3]; 6. 63-Chad Kemenah [7]; 7. 66-Alex Shanks [8]; 8. 71M-Paul May [5]; 9. 53H-Matt Harms [9].
Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 7-Craig Dollansky [3]; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [2]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 4. 1X-Randy Hannagan [5]; 5. O1-Paul McMahan [6]; 6. 19-Stevie Smith [7]; 7. 1M-Jim Moughan [1]; 8. 84-Ben Wagoner [8]; 9. 6B-Andy Baugh [9].
Heat 4 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 3. 9-Joey Saldana [3]; 4. 71-Daryn Pittman [4]; 5. 11-Steve Kinser [6]; 6. 4S-Danny Smith [7]; 7. 4M-John Memmer [8]; 8. 3B-Brad Greer [5]; 9. 11B-Mark Brucker [9].
Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 71-Daryn Pittman [3]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky [2]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [6]; 6. 33-Danny Lasoski [5]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [10]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [7]; 10. 44W-Austen Wheatley [9].
B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 99-Brady Bacon [2] [-]; 2. 1M-Jim Moughan [1] [-]; 3. 63-Chad Kemenah [6] [-]; 4. 4S-Danny Smith [8] [-]; 5. 19-Stevie Smith [7] [$200]; 6. 71M-Paul May [3] [$180]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [5] [$175]; 8. 28P-Brian Paulus [9] [$160]; 9. 66-Alex Shanks [10] [$150]; 10. 84-Ben Wagoner [11] [$150]; 11. 3B-Brad Greer [4] [$150]; 12. 53H-Matt Harms [14] [$150]; 13. 28-Justin Springer [13] [$150]; 14. 6B-Andy Baugh [15] [$150]; 15. 4M-John Memmer [12] [$150]; 16. 11B-Mark Brucker [16] [$150].
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings
Pos.
Driver
Total
Diff
Wins
T5
T10
QT
1
Donny Schatz
1661
0
3
6
10
0
2
Sammy Swindell
1656
-5
2
7
9
2
3
Kraig Kinser
1634
-27
0
4
10
2
4
Joey Saldana
1632
-29
2
6
9
1
5
Steve Kinser
1621
-40
0
5
9
0
6
Jason Sides
1600
-61
0
5
8
0
7
Craig Dollansky
1554
-107
2
4
6
1
8
Cody Darrah
1490
-171
0
2
4
0
9
Chad Kemenah
1470
-191
0
1
4
2
10
Lucas Wolfe
1465
-196
0
0
3
0
11
Kerry Madsen
1411
-250
0
2
3
0
12
Bill Rose
1301
-360
0
0
1
0
13
Terry McCarl
1106
-555
0
1
2
0
14
Jason Meyers
1054
-607
0
3
4
1
15
Austen Wheatley
946
-715
0
0
2
0
16
Jac Haudenschild
853
-808
0
0
1
0
17
Danny Smith
823
-838
0
1
2
0
18
David Gravel
770
-891
0
1
3
0
19
Paul McMahan
756
-905
0
0
0
0
20
Sam Hafertepe Jr.
743
-918
0
0
3
0
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), Gravely Tractors (Official Lawn Equipment), University of Northwestern Ohio, VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel), Vicci (Official Apparel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, MSD Ignitions, Penske Shocks, Superflow Dynos and Wix Filters; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Astro Titanium, ButlerBuilt, Fuel Safe, Intercomp, J&J Auto Racing, Jake’s Carts, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo and TNT Rescue.