By Susan Arnold
WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (June 7, 2013) – As the defending champion of the World of Outlaws event at 34 Raceway, Joey Saldana had high expectations when he pulled onto the 3/8-mile oval in the Motter Equipment Fatheadz Eyewear 71M Sprint Car for tonight’s competition.
Saldana won in 2009, the last time the Outlaws raced at this track, and tonight marked 34 Raceway’s third ever Outlaws event. There were 43 of the winged sprint car’s finest drivers challenging for the trophy.
In preliminary action, Saldana turned a best lap of 12.645 seconds to seed him eleventh in the night’s qualifying order.
A benefit of that qualifying position was an outside front row starting position in the third heat. Eleven cars rolled off to do battle for 10 laps to see who would earn the five transfer spots in the A-Main. When the green flew, it was a three-wide fight for the lead.
Saldana vaulted to the head of the pack and led wire-to-wire to earn a starting position in the dash and a guaranteed position in the A-Main.
The inversion draw worked to Saldana’s advantage, consigning him to the outside of the front row once again, this time for the eight-lap dash that would determine the starting positions for the Feature.
“That was a great draw for us and we are looking for a good consistent night,” said Saldana in a pre-dash interview.
At the start of the dash, pole-sitter Craig Dollansky grabbed the lead, with Saldana in close pursuit in second position, fending off three-wide challenges from behind. With two laps to go, Cody Darrah slid by Saldana to take second. Saldana came home third and would start third in the A-Main.
When the green flag waved to unleash the field for the Feature, pole sitter Dollansky took the lead and Saldana drove on the inside of Cody Darrah to take second, while continuing a spirited battle with Darrah who was trying to regain position.
With six laps complete, the red flag flew for David Gravel who flipped between turns one and two. Gravel was okay and his team tried to repair his car so he could return to action but couldn’t make it within the two-minute time period.
When racing action resumed, before another lap could be completed, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. got up over the cushion and caught the wall, turning over. Hafertepe climbed out of the car quickly. During this extended red flag period, Gravel was able to finalize repairs
to his car and restart at the back of the field.
When racing resumed, second place Saldana and third place Darrah were back in wheel to wheel combat but Saldana protected his position.
On lap nine, Terry McCarl brought out the yellow when he caught a rut entering turn one and bounced, almost overturning.
Shortly after returning to racing action, Paul McMahan got by Darrah for third. With 12 laps complete, another yellow. Jason Johnson collided with Daryn Pittman, putting Pittman into the wall. Both drivers were okay. Back to green. With 22 laps remaining, McMahan chased down and passed Saldana.
With14 to go, the leaders began to fight their way through traffic. Now fourth place Donny Schatz was all over third place Saldana dicing through heavy traffic. The battle raged for the remainder of the race, but Saldana refused to surrender his position and came home third at the checkered flag. Craig Dollansky won the event and Paul McMahan was second.
“Yesterday we spent a lot of time in our Brownsburg shop making wholesale changes to our chassis setup,” said Saldana. “We were very enthusiastic tonight after winning our heat and finishing up front in the dash and now a podium finish in the A-Main. It seems we are headed in the right direction
“This was a good effort by the whole team. We had a car capable of running up front. The World of Outlaws drivers are tough competitors and they don’t give an inch and they eat you up if you’re off just a little bit. We think we can make this car even better.
“We are excited to keep the momentum going into Kansas City tomorrow night, Nebraska on Sunday and beyond.”