From Sam Martin
Chico, CA — (September 6, 2013) — Joey Saldana drove his Motter Equipment machine to the lead with seven laps to go on Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway then held on to win his first World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series race of the season and kick off the 60th Gold Cup Race of Champions weekend in style.
Pole-sitter Jason Sides led twice and held onto second as Andy Forsberg, an ecstatic local racer, was cheered by the partial California crowd after earning the third spot on the podium. Shane Stewart recouped from a wreck on Wednesday night at Cottage Grove Speedway to finish fourth while Tim Kaeding, winner of the previous two World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car events, was fifth after charging from 19th to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award.
Sides started on the pole of the 30-lap feature event and worked the bottom while second-place running Brad Sweet worked the top side of the high-banked quarter-mile oval. On lap four, following a restart, Sweet got the drive he needed off of turn two to take the lead.
Sweet led the next 10 laps, holding the lead over the course of several cautions. On lap 16, following a restart and a pair of single file restarts, the field again came to the green flag with Sweet leading Sides. Sides jumped to the inside of Sweet entering one and he was unable to slow his car down and get it turned. The ensuing contact flipped Sweet into turns one and two, while Sides drove away from the accident scene. Sweet rejoined the field following another caution. Sides later apologized to Sweet, a native Californian who clearly had a lot of support in the grandstands.
Saldana immediately joined the fight for the lead after the incident. Saldana stalked Sides, but for several laps was unable to mount a charge. Finally Saldana saw his chance on lap 22 while Sides was attempting to navigate lap traffic. Sides slipped up and Saldana pounced to lead lap 23.
Saldana also holds the provisional top spot for the Gold Cup Race of Champions. Both nights of racing will be tallied up and the competitor with the best combined finish will earn a $5,000 bonus.
“We started sixth and worked out way up to third and obviously with Jason and Brad getting together that changed the scenario of the race,” said Saldana, of Brownsburg, Ind. “Jason had a good car and when we got into lapped traffic he slipped up and we got him. Honestly when we were racing I was thinking top three and I’d be content with that. This is a very tough series and to be out here competing with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is what I want to do. To win one of these races is very, very hard and anybody that does it has earned an awesome accomplishment.”
Sides attempted to gain the lead back in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, but Saldana was determined to put his first-year Motter Motorsports team in victory lane for the first time since it rejoined the series after nearly 15 years of being on the sidelines.
After the race Sides fielded no questions, but issued an apology to Sweet for the contact earlier in the race.
Forsberg, of Auburn, Calif., started the event second and after falling back, charged back up to a podium finish in the A&A Stepping Stone and Autism Awareness Maxim.
“We’ve run decent with the Outlaws before, but it’s been a long time,” Forsberg said. “This year we’ve been decent here on Friday nights with the 410 this year. The Outlaws are up here and the locals are down here and every now and then the proverbial blind squirrel finds a nut.”
The championship battle seemed to be at near status quo with Daryn Pittman and Donny Schatz separated by just single position. Schatz however, suffered a mechanical failure on the final lap of the race in the final corner, sending him over the berm. With a caution-laden race, there were few cars lapped. Schatz fell from the eighth position to 22nd while Pittman crossed the line sixth.
With the difference in the finish positions Pittman earned 32 points in the championship hunt to open his lead to 58 points over Schatz.
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is back at Silver Dollar Speedway Saturday night for the finale of the Gold Cup Race of Champions before invading Antioch Speedway on Sunday to wrap up the West Coast Gold Rush Tour for 2013.
COTTAGE GROVE SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
NOTES – Kraig Kinser was the fastest qualifier around the high-banked 1/4-mile oval with a time of 10.329 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Brad Sweet (4 points), Daryn pittman (3), Sammy Swindell (2) and Tim Kaeding(1). … Paul McMahan, Donny Schatz and Cody Darrah won heat races. … The dash draw was a 8 for the 15th time this year… Joey Saldana won the dash for the fourth time this year.
CONTINGENCY WINNERS – MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Jonathan Allard; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; STP ($50 cash): Jason Sides;Bruce High Performance Transporters ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Craig DollanskyUNOH ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; American Racing Custom Wheels ($50 cash): Sammy Swindell; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Steve Kinser; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Cody Darrah; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Cody Darrah; Superflow ($50 cash): Jason Statler; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; KSE Racing Products ($100 certificate): Tim Kaeding; Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Bill Rose; Armor All (case of product): Shane Stewart.; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Joey Saldana; Bruce High Performance Transporters ($200 certificates):Craig Dollansky and Jonathan Allard ; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose and Paul McMahan
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Silver Dollar Speedway; Chico, Calif.; Sept. 6, 2013
A-Main – (30 Laps): 1. 71M-Joey Saldana [6] [$8,000]; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [1] [$4,000]; 3. 92-Andy Forsberg [2] [$2,500]; 4. 77-Shane Stewart [5] [$2,200]; 5. 83-Tim Kaeding [19] [$2,100]; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman [11] [$2,000]; 7. 1-Sammy Swindell [9] [$1,800]; 8. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [14] [$1,600]; 9. 11-Steve Kinser [15] [$1,500]; 10. 24-Rico Abreu [18] [$1,300]; 11. 21M-Jason Meyers [21] [$1,200]; 12. 4-Cody Darrah [13] [$1,100]; 13. 7-Craig Dollansky [7] [$1,000]; 14. 3-Craig Stidham [23] [$700]; 15. OO-Jason Statler [24] [$600]; 16. 6-Bill Rose [25] [$]; 17. 63-Chad Kemenah [16] [$600]; 18. 49-Brad Sweet [3] [$600]; 19. 29-Kerry Madsen [26] [$]; 20. 88N-DJ Netto [12] [$600]; 21. 51-Paul McMahan [8] [$600]; 22. 15-Donny Schatz [10] [$600]; 23. 2W-Todd Wanless [17] [$600]; 24. O-Jonathan Allard [4] [$600]; 25. 7J-Justin Sanders [20] [$600]; 26. 19-Keith Bloom [22] [$600]. Lap Leaders: Jason Sides 1-5, 17-22; Brad Sweet 6-16; Joey Saldana, 23-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 83-Tim Kaeding [+14].
Qualifying: 1. 27-Sean Becker, 12.337; 2. 4-Cody Darrah, 12.348; 3. 83JR-Kyle Hirst, 12.350; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana, 12.354; 5. 25-Bobby McMahan, 12.363; 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.388; 7. 11-Steve Kinser, 12.391; 8. O-Jonathan Allard, 12.395; 9. 33E-Evan Suggs, 12.437; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah, 12.446; 11. 1-Sammy Swindell, 12.459; 12. 92-Andy Forsberg, 12.487; 13. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 12.511; 14. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.516; 15. 2W-Todd Wanless, 12.525; 16. 7-Craig Dollansky, 12.525; 17. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.529; 18. 51-Paul McMahan, 12.529; 19. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.529; 20. 77-Shane Stewart, 12.545; 21. 83-Tim Kaeding, 12.563; 22. 7J-Justin Sanders, 12.570; 23. 21M-Jason Meyers, 12.582; 24. 3C-Willie Croft, 12.605; 25. 88N-DJ Netto, 12.611; 26. 21X-Carson Macedo, 12.631; 27. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.659; 28. 19-Keith Bloom, 12.689; 29. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.735; 30. 23-Colby Copeland, 12.772; 31. 41-Dominic Scelzi, 12.778; 32. 3-Craig Stidham, 12.786; 33. OO-Jason Statler, 12.794; 34. 2F-Brad Furr, 12.799; 35. 9W-Brandon Wimmer, 12.832; 36. 29-Kerry Madsen, 12.836; 37. 35-Michael Tarter, 12.839; 38. 6-Bill Rose, 12.843; 39. 52-David Lindt, 12.846; 40. 2J-Jonathan Jorgenson, 12.852; 41. 55-Bud Walberg, 13.038; 42. 88X-Brad Bumgarner, 13.226; 43. 89-Branden Mansfield, 13.237; 44. 2-B.J. Martin, 13.251; 45. 40-Billy Strange, 13.295; 46. 27T-Jason Toft, 13.327; 47. 88-Koen Shaw, 13.372; 48. 53-Andy Gregg, 13.381; 49. 28B-Adam Brenton, 13.393; 50. 11X-Nick Rescino, 13.526; 51. 3T-Nick Ringo, 13.619; 52. 5-Brian Boswell, 13.660; 53. 15H-Pat Harvey Jr., 14.350.
Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 7-Craig Dollansky [1]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [2]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 4. 83-Tim Kaeding [5]; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen [8]; 6. 27-Sean Becker [4]; 7. 3T-Nick Ringo [11]; 8. 21X-Carson Macedo [6]; 9. 27T-Jason Toft [10]; 10. 55-Bud Walberg [9]; 11. 41-Dominic Scelzi [7].
Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 92-Andy Forsberg [2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 3. 11-Steve Kinser [3]; 4. 3-Craig Stidham [7]; 5. 4-Cody Darrah [4]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 7. 88X-Brad Bumgarner [9]; 8. 88-Koen Shaw [10]; 9. 35-Michael Tarter [8]; 10. 7J-Justin Sanders [5].
Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. O-Jonathan Allard [3]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 21M-Jason Meyers [5]; 4. 19-Keith Bloom [6]; 5. 6-Bill Rose [8]; 6. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [4]; 7. OO-Jason Statler [7]; 8. 53-Andy Gregg [10]; 9. 89-Branden Mansfield [9]; 10. 15H-Pat Harvey Jr. [11]; 11. 44W-Austen Wheatley [2].
Heat 4 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 7S-Jason Sides [2]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [6]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana [4]; 5. 2F-Brad Furr [7]; 6. 33E-Evan Suggs [3]; 7. 2-B.J. Martin [9]; 8. 28B-Adam Brenton [10]; 9. 52-David Lindt [8]; 10. 3C-Willie Croft [5].
Heat 5 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 77-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto [5]; 3. 2W-Todd Wanless [2]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah [3]; 5. 2J-Jonathan Jorgenson [8]; 6. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [7]; 7. 40-Billy Strange [9]; 8. 25-Bobby McMahan [4]; 9. 23-Colby Copeland [6]; 10. 11X-Nick Rescino [10].
Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 12 starting positions of A-feature): 1. 7S-Jason Sides [1]; 2. 92-Andy Forsberg [2]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [5]; 4. O-Jonathan Allard [4]; 5. 77-Shane Stewart [10]; 6. 71M-Joey Saldana [6]; 7. 7-Craig Dollansky [7]; 8. 51-Paul McMahan [9]; 9. 1-Sammy Swindell [3]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz [8]; 11. 9-Daryn Pittman [12]; 12. 88N-DJ Netto [11].
D-Main – (8 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 53-Andy Gregg [2] [-]; 2. 28B-Adam Brenton [3] [-]; 3. 88-Koen Shaw [1] [$100]; 4. 11X-Nick Rescino [4] [$100]; 5. 3T-Nick Ringo [5] [$100]; 6. 15H-Pat Harvey Jr. [6] [$100]; 7. 5-Brian Boswell [7] [$100].
C-Main – (10 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the B-feature): 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [2] [-]; 2. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [1] [-]; 3. 2J-Jonathan Jorgenson [6] [$125]; 4. 6-Bill Rose [4] [$125]; 5. 40-Billy Strange [11] [$125]; 6. 88X-Brad Bumgarner [8] [$100]; 7. 55-Bud Walberg [7] [$100]; 8. 28B-Adam Brenton [14] [$100]; 9. 53-Andy Gregg [13] [$100]; 10. 89-Branden Mansfield [9] [$100]; 11. 52-David Lindt [5] [$100]; 12. 2-B.J. Martin [10] [$100]; 13. 35-Michael Tarter [3] [$100]; 14. 27T-Jason Toft [12] [$100].
Last Chance Showdown – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 7J-Justin Sanders [7] [-]; 2. 4-Cody Darrah [2] [-]; 3. OO-Jason Statler [13] [-]; 4. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [3] [-]; 5. 25-Bobby McMahan [4] [$200]; 6. 41-Dominic Scelzi [12] [$180]; 7. 29-Kerry Madsen [15] [$175]; 8. 3C-Willie Croft [8] [$160]; 9. 21X-Carson Macedo [9] [$150]; 10. 33E-Evan Suggs [5] [$150]; 11. 23-Colby Copeland [11] [$150]; 12. 27-Sean Becker [1] [$150]; 13. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [16] [$150]; 14. 2F-Brad Furr [14] [$150]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10] [$150]; 16. 44W-Austen Wheatley [6] [$150].
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Championship Standings
| Pos. | Driver |
Total |
Diff |
Wins |
T-5 |
T-10 |
QT |
| 1 | Daryn Pittman |
8741 |
0 |
8 |
40 |
52 |
13 |
| 2 | Donny Schatz |
8683 |
-58 |
19 |
40 |
53 |
3 |
| 3 | Paul McMahan |
8445 |
-296 |
3 |
28 |
47 |
14 |
| 4 | Craig Dollansky |
8183 |
-558 |
6 |
17 |
36 |
1 |
| 5 | Joey Saldana |
8158 |
-583 |
1 |
18 |
37 |
5 |
| 6 | Sammy Swindell |
8153 |
-588 |
3 |
16 |
39 |
4 |
| 7 | Cody Darrah |
7893 |
-848 |
2 |
12 |
25 |
2 |
| 8 | Steve Kinser |
7788 |
-953 |
2 |
8 |
28 |
0 |
| 9 | Kerry Madsen |
7771 |
-970 |
3 |
14 |
32 |
1 |
| 10 | Jason Sides |
7691 |
-1050 |
0 |
11 |
30 |
1 |
| 11 | Chad Kemenah |
7686 |
-1055 |
0 |
12 |
22 |
2 |
| 12 | Kraig Kinser |
7627 |
-1114 |
1 |
8 |
29 |
1 |
| 13 | David Gravel |
6749 |
-1992 |
1 |
7 |
24 |
1 |
| 14 | Tim Kaeding |
6361 |
-2380 |
9 |
25 |
32 |
0 |
| 15 | Bill Rose |
4193 |
-4548 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| 16 | Brad Sweet |
3619 |
-5122 |
1 |
10 |
13 |
2 |
| 17 | Sam Hafertepe Jr. |
3598 |
-5143 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
| 18 | Brian Brown |
3136 |
-5605 |
0 |
5 |
12 |
0 |
| 19 | Greg Wilson |
2842 |
-5899 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
| 20 | Wayne Johnson |
2617 |
-6124 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |