From Susan Arnold
Burlington, IA — (May 6, 2013) — Three races.ย Three days.ย Three states.ย Thatโs how the World of Outlaws rolls.
The racing trifecta begins Friday, June 7 at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa.ย Joey Saldana, driver of the Motter Equipment Fatheadz Eyewear 71M, is the defending winner of this event, having won in 2009, the last time the Outlaws competed on this 3/8-mile dirt oval.
โThis is a cool track,โ said Saldana, โand the last time we raced there Donny Schatz and I battled and traded the lead.ย It was a lot of fun and exciting side-by-side racing through traffic.ย I led the first 11 laps and then Donny got the lead, but I got the lead back with four laps remaining and held on for the win.
โIt would be nice to have an encore performance at 34 Raceway.โ
On Saturday night, the Outlaws will set up pit side at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.ย This will be the seventh appearance for the Outlaws at this semi-banked track since 2001.
โWe have run well at Lakeside in the past,โ said Saldana, โbut we havenโt won there
yet.ย I think itโs time to add this track to our win list.โ
On Sunday, Saldana will catch up with many of his relatives at I-80 Speedway for the NAPA Auto Parts Outlaw Showdown in Greenwood, Neb.ย It will be the first time the Outlaws have raced here in 10 years.
โMy family is from nearby Lincoln, Neb.,โ confided Saldana.ย โMy dad was born there and itโs a good time for the relatives to come to a race.
โSince itโs been so long since the Outlaws have raced at I-80, weโre all pretty much starting with a clean piece of paper as far as chassis setup goes.ย Weโll have a few hot laps to feel the track out and weโll need to be dialed in for qualifying in order to get a good position in the heat race.
โThe last time we raced here I remember we had two grooves and could run the bottom or the top.ย It is an awesome facility and weโre looking forward to racing there.โ
The travel schedule and race track setup and tear down alone is a big commitment of time and energy, but most of these teams converge on the nearest do-it-yourself car wash immediately after the event, where they disassemble the sprint cars and wash them sparkling clean before the next eveningโs run in the dirt.ย Many times all the stalls at the car wash are filled with winged sprint cars.
โWe love racing,โ said Saldana.ย โI think adrenaline drives us.ย Sometimes we run on just a little sleep, but then thereโs Davey (Whitworth, crew chief) who keeps firing on all cylinders by drinking Diet Mountain Dew.ย ย This is shaping up to be a big Diet Dew weekend thatโs for sure.โ