By Susan Arnold
ROSSBURG, Ohio (May 3, 2014) – The Motter Equipment HE&M Saw Beltline Body Shop team with Joey Saldana at the wheel entered Saturday’s World of Outlaws event at Eldora Speedway on a roll following a runner-up finish last night. They had finished no worse than second in the last four outings, winning in Salina, Oklahoma, their second victory of the season. Leading the World of Outlaws point standings by 19 points over second place Paul McMahan, the team was hoping to continue to ride the momentum.
But then who knew what hand Eldora would play tonight.
Saldana’s wife Shannon, oldest son Reece, and father Li’l Joe gathered at Eldora to support Joey and the 71M team’s efforts.
In preliminary action, Saldana lapped the Eldora half-mile oval in 13.416 seconds, placing him fourth in the final qualifying order.
Saldana lined up fourth in the fourth heat. The first start was called back for a spin in turn 2. On the restart, polesitter Sammy Swindell took the lead while Saldana and Dale Blaney engaged in a full on wheel to wheel slug fest for second place. After a series of persistent slide jobs, at the checkered flag, it was Swindell with the win and Blaney second. Saldana secured his position in the dash with a third place finish in the heat.
“There’s a lot of wind out there tonight and the track is slicker than last night,” said Saldana. “The conditions are challenging but you just can’t make a mistake.”
After the inversion draw, the Brownsburg Bullet was assigned the third spot on the dash starting grid. Polesitter David Gravel assumed the lead at the green flag, followed by Pittman and Saldana. The Bullet was working offense trying to slide by Pittman, while also in defense mode holding Kerry Madsen at bay. At the finish line it was Gravel with the win and the pole for the A-Main, Pittman was second and Saldana third.
When the field was unleashed for the 30-lap A-Main, Pittman led the field followed by Gravel and Saldana. On the second lap, Saldana slid by Gravel to take second place. Saldana began to close in on Pittman, both drivers running high against the wall. On lap 9 Gravel returned the slide job to regain second place. The yellow came out with 11 laps complete when Madsen slowed with a shredded right rear tire.
When combat resumed, the running order was Pittman, Gravel and Saldana. With 17 laps in the books, the leaders encountered lapped traffic. Pittman and Gravel traded slide jobs and the lead through the next several laps. Saldana was strong and able to run with the leaders but during the last 10 laps the track really slicked off and he began to drop positions as the set up began to go away. Unable to keep up his early pace, he finished 12th.
Gravel won the event, Pittman was second and Randy Hannagan was third.
“Our set up wasn’t broad enough to keep up with the changing track conditions tonight,” said team owner Dan Motter. “The slicker the track became, the tighter the car became and Joey just couldn’t turn it. We felt like we could run down the leaders in the first two- thirds of the race, but the car became unmanageable at the end.
“We’ll work through this. Everyone has to have an ‘off’ night every once in a while.”
The Motter team packed up and left Eldora but they were looking forward to returning in July for Kings Royal weekend.
Next on the race calendar will be the Outlaws’ first ever appearance at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway, Wed., May 7.