From Larry Boos
ROSSBURG, Ohio (May 3) – Although history and statistics favor the travelling stars of the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series whenever they invade the high-banks of Eldora Speedway, they are not invincible. In fact, the best the WoO headliners could produce last season was a 50% record in their four appearances. Joey Saldana carried the colors for the WoO teams with his two wins, while Tim Shaffer and Tyler Walker turned the trick for the challengers.
With two feature events on tap for this weekend’s (May 4 & 5) Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear and a clean slate going into the Eldora/WoO 2012 season, both sides will be gunning for the upper hand.
Shaffer, and fellow All Star Circuit of Champions competitor Dale Blaney, are considered to be at the head of the pack of challengers; while former WoO regulars Jac Haudenschild and Paul McMahan can be classified as members of the challenger camp.
All four have been to Eldora’s hallowed victory lane before, and relish any opportunity to best the WoO teams at their game.
Knowing that WoO teams can indeed be beaten at Eldora Speedway heightens their momentum going into the weekend’s chase. In addition, they are playing that the intense point battle among the top five WoO teams will throw them off guard against the invasion of the challengers.
Sammy Swindell leads that point race with a slim seven tally margin over Donny Schatz, while Joey Saldana, Steve Kinser and Kraig Kinser complete the top five. Swindell, Schatz, Saldana and S. Kinser have combined for 67 WoO wins at Eldora to date.
Friday’s opening leg of the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear weekend will be the 138th race in a colorful WoO history that began in 1978.
A doubleheader program each night will feature the Eldora Stock Cars on Friday and the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds on Saturday, as those two divisions continue their points chase and earn a position in the Feed The Children Prelude to the Dream invitational on June 6.
The Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear will be another flame, firework and pyrotechnic-filled weekend of sensory overloading excitement, mixed with unleashed horsepower.
Tickets for the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear, the Kings Royal weekend, and all other Eldora events are available through the track office at (937) 338-3815 or online 24 hours a day at www.EldoraSpeedway.com. Like us at www.Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway or catch all the behind-the-scenes preparation for the event on Twitter @EldoraSpeedway. –30–