By Susan Arnold
HANFORD, Calif. (April 8, 2013) – World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car driver Joey Saldana has been idle too long. By the time he climbs into his Motter Equipment Fatheadz Eyewear 71M sprint car Friday, April 12 at Kings Speedway, it will have been one week since his second place finish at Antioch, Calif.
“I would rather be racing every day,” said Saldana. “When you have a good race car and you have some good momentum going, you want to capitalize on it right away and not have any down time.”
World of Outlaws officials had to cancel last Saturday’s event in Calistoga due to rain that had plagued the area for over a week.
The Motter team, crew chief Davey Whitworth, Bob Curtis and Sean Strausbaugh, used the unexpected night off to do some scouting at the Hanford 3/8-mile track. They watched a 360 sprint car race to see if they could learn about the track’s nuances to give them some advance knowledge to help with the 71M set-up.
“This shows real dedication by our team,” said Dan Motter, owner of the Motter Equipment Fatheadz Eyewear team. “With over 90 races on the schedule this season, it would have been easy for these crew members to take a night off, but they chose to do some investigating. I feel very fortunate to have men that are putting forth 110 percent effort and a driver in Joey Saldana who will drive the wheels off the car.
“This is a new team and these are a couple of reasons why I feel we’ll continue to be a force to be reckoned with.”
Saldana was a 2000 winner at Kings Speedway and he holds the track record of 12.293 seconds set Feb. 23, 2001, but the series hasn’t completed an event there since 2003.
“I’m definitely looking forward to Hanford,” said Saldana. “We are looking for our first win this season and we have a good car. We have been oh-so-close to a win this season and now it’s time to seal the deal.”
The World of Outlaws will wrap their early-season West Coast swing with a finale at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway Saturday, April 13. Saldana, the most recent winner at the half-mile clay oval, would love to make it back-to-back victories with a trophy run in the SoCal Showdown.
“The California crowd really supports sprint car racing,” said the Brownsburg Bullet. “It’s a great atmosphere.”
After all, what is better than a celebration in your last night in Perris?
The Motter Motorsports Team is currently third in World of Outlaws point standings with
one quick time, one track record, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes.