From Susan Arnold
Mechanicsburg, PA — (October, 5, 2013) — Mother Nature’s interference caused a rain delay of the start of tonight’s $50,000 to win National Open at Williams Grove Speedway. The big stakes clash between the World of Outlaws and Pennsylvania Posse drivers promised to be as epic as last night’s event which saw the Posse dominate on home turf though Joey Saldana drove the Motter Equipment Beltline Body Shop Fatheadz Eyewear 71M to quick time.
Saldana and the Outlaws were hoping to take back A-Main ‘king of the clay’ rights tonight.
Because the start of the night’s activities were delayed, Outlaws officials shaved time trials to one lap instead of two that competitors normally receive. For the second consecutive night at “The Grove”, Saldana was quickest out of 62 cars that completed time trials with a lap of 17.192 seconds.
And again tonight, Saldana and the 71M team were presented with the $300 Fast Tees Fast Time award in memory of the late sprint car driver Jimmy Nace.
After applying the Outlaws inversion qualifying formula, Saldana started fourth in the first heat. At the waving of the green flag, Fred Rahmer took the lead followed by Saldana. The two drivers, one representing the Posse and one representing the Outlaws, began to pull away from the field early in the heat and ran wire to wire in those positions. Both transferred to starting berths in the dash and the A-Main.
After the inversion draw, Saldana was relegated to the No. 8 starting position in the dash. In the short six-lap event, pole sitter Steve Buckwalter won with Fred Rahmer second. Saldana finished ninth and started on the inside of the fifth row for the A-Main.
The field fired engines at 12:06 a.m. Sunday morning and the biggest crowd in Williams Grove history cheered as 28 of the best sprint car drivers in the world took the green flag to start the 40-lap National Open. Fred Rahmer took the early lead followed by Steve Buckwalter, but in turn four, Buckwalter passed Rahmer to lead the first lap.
Buckwalter and Rahmer traded the lead through the first 14 laps when Rahmer moved to the front of the pack and began to pull away. On lap 25, Outlaws officials threw a red flag so that competitors could refuel in order to go the distance. Restart order: Rahmer, Buckwalter, Lance Dewease, Daryn Pittman, and Craig Dollansky. Saldana was eighth in the running order. With 12 laps to go, Pittman moved to third while Rahmer began to pull away from the rest of the field, creating a straightaway advantage. At the checkered flag, it was crowd favorite Rahmer with the victory, closing out his career with an emotional win. Pittman was second and Dewease was third. Saldana finished ninth.
“It was difficult to pass on this track,” said Saldana, “but we notched another top 10 finish. The dash inversion draw didn’t work in our favor tonight and that gave us an extra challenge.”
“We have now set quick time at two of the biggest events of the season,” said team owner Dan Motter. “We were quick at the prestigious Knoxville Nationals and now for the National Open. We are proud of those accomplishments.”
Tonight’s Williams Grove National Open is scheduled to air Sunday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. Eastern time on CBS Sports Network.
Next on the Outlaws agenda: Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, N.Y. Saturday, Oct. 12.