Category: Featured Other Series

Featured Other Series

Race No. 12: Pinty’s 250 presented by Dodge at Kawartha Speedway

The final race of the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 season is set to take place at Kawartha Speedway in Fraserville, Ontario. The focus is on the championship and whether Kennington can become a two-time series champion.

Fitzpatrick sits closest in points to Kennington, sitting 23 points behind. Therefore, Kennington has to finish 19th or better if Fitzpatrick was to win the race and lead the most laps as Kennington would then win the tie breaker.

A finish of 20th or worse is possible as proven at Barrie Speedway on September 8th when Kennington had fuel pump problems. However, that marks his only finish outside of the top five all season long.

“The Barrie thing was nobody’s fault,” Kennington says. “We couldn’t see that coming, but it’s crunch time now and we’ll see to everything we can.”

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]The St. Thomas, Ontario driver brings momentum to Kawartha following his sixth victory of the season last weekend at Riverside International Speedway. The sixth victory of the season ties the single-season mark that Ranger established in 2009. Kennington has a chance to take sole possession of the record and his chances look good, following two victories at Kawartha in the past, including last year.

“It’s been a phenomenal year. I’ve got the best race team out there and they’ve worked tirelessly to make this a possibility,” Kennington says. “We’ve got one race to go, though, and nothing is clinched yet.”

Along with the victories at Kawartha last season and in 2009, he also finsihed second in 2008 and third in 2010 for a total of four top five finishes at Kawartha in five outings. He has also led a series-best 252 laps at the .375 mile speedway.

On the flip side, Fitzpatrick has yet to score a victory at Kawartha despite leading 87 laps there. He came home with a third place finish last year.

While the focus is on the championship picture, Martin Roy has already clinched the 2012 Rookie of the Year title after being the top-fnishing[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit] rookie in four different races this season. His best finish of the season came at Edmonto City Centre Airport in July, where he finished fifth. He currently sits ninth in the series points standings with one top-five finish and five top 10s this season.

Roy made the adjustment to oval racing after success in the dirt modified ranks. He had fellow Quebec native Mario Gosselin in his corner as his crew chief. Gosselin has experience in NASCAR’s top three divisions, including 46 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts.

“From the very start of the season the communication with (Gosselin) has been very good,” Roy says. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without his knowledge of the sport.”

While the focus will be on those three, there is also a race to settle that could very well see one of the other competitors take the victory. Jason Hathaway, Pete Shepherd III and Scott Steckly each have won at Kawartha Speedway in the past.

Steckly won the series’ inaugural visit to Kawartha in 2007 and has four top 10 finishes in five Kawartha starts, including a second to Kennington last year.

Hathaway won the rain-shortened 2008 race at Kawartha and has three top 10 finishes in five starts. Last season didn’t work out well as he finished 21st.

Shepherd III won the 2010 event at Kawartha and has led 151 laps in three series starts. The series part-timer will be looking for his second victory of the season after winning at Barrie Speedway earlier this month.

Steve Mathews will be looking for his first career victory after finishing seventh last year, after leading over 40 laps and getting spun under caution. He also won his first career pole last year. Mathews has momentum following a fourth in his last series start at Barrie earlier this month.

September 22, 2012

Swindell Still Winning at Eagle Speedway

[media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]After a three year absence from Eagle Speedway, the Outlaws return was an exciting one. The Outlaw show brought with it some big names, Danny Lasoski, Brian Brown, and the current reigning Sprint Cup Champion, Tony Stewart. The 21 car field was a stacked deck. Every car was fast and every driver determined. When the night was over the World of Outlaws did not disappoint.

The evening started with a choppy one third mile track especially on the bottom in 1 and 2. But as the night went on with a little manicure it smoothed out and became a faster race surface. Qualifying would see Kraig Kinser set quick time. He was followed by Craig Dollansky, Jason Johnson, Sammy Swindell and Cody Darrah for the top 5. The 2nd spot in qualifying would give Dollansky 2 points in the points race against Donny Schatz who qualified 8th.

The heat races would progress quickly with only one yellow flag in the final heat. The first heat race was won by 4 time champion Sammy Swindell. Bill Rose, his return to the circuit after sustaining a deep leg bruise in a scarey crash in Deer Creek on Saturday, would come home second and transfer to the dash. Also transferring to the dash was the quick time holder Kraig Kinser.

The second heat would be won by Ian Madsen with Donny Schatz coming home second to transfer to the dash. Also transferring to the dash would be Cody Darrah and Craig Dollansky. The visiting Sprint Cup Champion would, Tony Stewart would come home 6th.

The third heat was taken by Danny Lasoski who held off a hard charging Jason Johnson who pulled a nasty slide job on 20 time champion Steve Kinser to take the second spot. Kinser would finish 4th. Lasoski and Johnson transferred to the dash.

The Dash was a fast paced no holds barred 8 lap event that saw Sammy Swindell seal the pole for the 40 lap A Main by holding off team mate Craig Dollansky. World of Outlaws points leader would come home 6th to start in the 3rd row of the A Main.

With only 21 cars signed in there would be no Last Chance Showdown. Every driver would transfer to the A. It made for a heavily stacked field.

The A Main was a very quick race. Jason Johnson was unable to make the call after the Dash when the car would not re-fire. Joey Saldana also had an issue with the car suddenly cutting off at lap 12. Saldana would go to the work area and return to competition at the rear of the field. He would rally back to finish 14th a lap down. Swindell lead all 40 laps despite several challenges from former Rookie of the Year Cody Darrah but Darrah was not able to make the pass on the wily veteran who at one point had a 3 second lead. Darrah would finish second and Donny Schatz would come in 3rd for his 9th podium finish in as many races.

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The points lead tightened up yet again with Dollansky closing to within 94 points of Donny Schatz. Schatz remains the hottest driver on the circuit and with only 8 races left in the season he will be hard to catch. But he is not out of Dollansky’s reach just yet. A win by Dollansky or a slip by Schatz makes this a neck in neck race going into Charlotte for the National title. Both drivers are showing their metal. They are putting it out there. They are taking chances and they are racing hard. No points racing. No stroking to the finish. They are wheel to wheel and coming into 4, wide open with their foot to the floor. What else can you ask for? They are racers. And they are racing. They are racing as hard as they and their teams can race. Which ever one wins will have earned not only the championship but the respect that goes with it.

In 8 races we will have our champion. It seems like just yesterday we were running the first race in Volusia. It’s been a long season but it’s flown by. Maybe not for the crews some of which haven’t been home since June. Maybe not for the drivers some of which have been upside down and beat and banged and out there in motor coaches since June. But for the fans it has been all too short. But it has been filled with memories. Memories that will help to ease the sting of withdraw until February when once again the Mighty Wings of the Outlaws will take to the track in Volusia. But until then we have 8 races. And it’s a sure bet that every single driver in the field will be racing to very limits of his equipment and his skills. Take it to the bank, it will be one helluva a ride.

Qualifying –
1. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.337; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky, 11.371; 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 11.398; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell, 11.406; 5. 4-Cody Darrah, 11.471; 6. 91-Dusty Zomer, 11.493; 7. 29-Kerry Madsen, 11.607; 8. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.632; 9. 33-Danny Lasoski, 11.636; 10. 6-Bill Rose, 11.642; 11. 7K-Ian Madsen, 11.655; 12. 11-Steve Kinser, 11.675; 13. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 11.709; 14. 14-Tony Stewart, 11.722; 15. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 11.736; 16. 24-Terry McCarl, 11.746; 17. 82-Justin Henderson, 11.752; 18. 9-Joey Saldana, 11.766; 19. 21-Brian Brown, 11.768; 20. 63-Chad Kemenah, 11.878; 21. 53-Jack Dover, 12.095

Heat 1 – (10 Laps )
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[3] ; 2. 6-Bill Rose[1] ; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier[5] ; 6. 24-Terry McCarl[6] ; 7. 21-Brian Brown[7]

Heat 2 – (10 Laps )
1. 7K-Ian Madsen[1] ; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[2] ; 3. 4-Cody Darrah[3] ; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky[4] ; 5. 82-Justin Henderson[6] ; 6. 14-Tony Stewart[5] ; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah[7]

Heat 3 – (10 Laps )
1. 33-Danny Lasoski[2] ; 2. 41-Jason Johnson[4] ; 3. 91-Dusty Zomer[3] ; 4. 11-Steve Kinser[1] ; 5. 9-Joey Saldana[6] ; 6. 53-Jack Dover[7] ; 7. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5]

Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[1] ; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky[3] ; 3. 41-Jason Johnson[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 5. 4-Cody Darrah[5] ; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[7] ; 7. 91-Dusty Zomer[6] ; 8. 33-Danny Lasoski[8] ; 9. 7K-Ian Madsen[10] ; 10. 6-Bill Rose[9]

A-Main – (40 Laps)
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[1][$10,000]; 2. 4-Cody Darrah[5][$5,500]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[6][$3,200]; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky[2][$2,800]; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen[11][$2,500]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4][$2,300]; 7. 33-Danny Lasoski[8][$2,200]; 8. 13-Mark Dobmeier[13][$2,100]; 9. 7K-Ian Madsen[9][$2,050]; 10. 11-Steve Kinser[12][$2,000]; 11. 14-Tony Stewart[14][$1,500]; 12. 82-Justin Henderson[17][$1,200]; 13. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[15][$1,100]; 14. 9-Joey Saldana[18][$1,050]; 15. 91-Dusty Zomer[7][$1,000]; 16. 6-Bill Rose[10][$900]; 17. 53-Jack Dover[21][$800]; 18. 63-Chad Kemenah[20][$800]; 19. 24-Terry McCarl[16][$800]; 20. 21-Brian Brown[19][$800]; 21. 41-Jason Johnson[3][$800]

Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-40
KSE Hard Charger AWARD: 29-Kerry Madsen[+6]

World of Outlaws Points

Pos.	Driver	Total	Diff	Wins	Top 5’s	Top 10’s	QT
1	Donny Schatz	8796	0	10	34	54	3
2	Craig Dollansky	8702	-94	8	33	48	9
3	Sammy Swindell	8679	-117	12	29	44	14
4	Joey Saldana	8644	-152	5	23	49	9
5	Steve Kinser	8577	-219	3	25	45	0
6	Kraig Kinser	8370	-426	4	18	40	6
7	Cody Darrah	8165	-631	1	21	34	2
8	Kerry Madsen	8117	-679	5	14	35	2
9	Chad Kemenah	7941	-855	2	10	30	2
10	Lucas Wolfe	7748	-1048	1	9	24	1
11	Bill Rose	6961	-1835	0	0	10	0
12	Jason Sides	5491	-3305	0	16	27	1
13	Jac Haudenschild	3747	-5049	0	3	10	0
14	Tim Kaeding	3524	-5272	4	10	17	0
15	Danny Lasoski	2567	-6229	1	5	9	0
16	Daryn Pittman	2537	-6259	0	6	13	1
17	Sam Hafertepe Jr.	2454	-6342	0	3	7	0
18	David Gravel	2385	-6411	0	7	9	4
19	Paul McMahan	2296	-6500	1	2	3	0
20	Stevie Smith	2276	-6520	0	3	11	1

September 20, 2012

Dollansky Wins Barn Burner At Deer Creek

[media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”261″][/media-credit]When the World of Outlaws pulled into the Deer Creek Speedway for the FVP Clash, no one had any idea how eventful the night would be. Not the fans. Not the drivers. Not the sanctioning body. Not even the track owners. Everyone knew it would be an exciting show because it was the World of Outlaws, but no one knew just how exciting it would be.

Qualifying offered a hint of what was to come when last nights 1st victim, Kerry Madsen set quick time. Madsen who had one of the scariest wrecks of the season last night at the Clay County Fairgrounds in Spencer Iowa, came out of the box like gang busters turning a lap of 11.884 seconds or 113.598 mph around the high banked 3/8ths mile dirt clay track. Joey Saldana who sat out last years race as a result of an injury suffered at Eldora timed in 2nd with Kraig Kinser and Sammy Swindell and Craig Dollansky rounding out the top 5. Once again missing from the top of the qualifying time list was points leader Donny Schatz who qualified 17th and seemed to struggle in hot laps and qualifying.

Heat races would be exciting in their own right as the well manicured track started to widen out and form it’s grooves. The first heat would see Dusty Zomer hold off a hard charging Jac Haudenschild. Also transferring to the A Main would be Kerry Madsen, Sammy Swindell, Davey Heskin and Lucas Wolfe.

The second heat race would be won by Chad Kemenah who held off a determined and fast Joey Saldana. Saldana who was undefeated on this track showed signs of being the dominate race car of the night but would come up a car length short after starting 4th. Also transferring to the Main were Cody Darrah, Donny Schatz Craig Dollansky, and Jody Rosenboom.

The third and final heat of the night would be a barn burner with Brian Brown setting the pace and Terry McCarl chasing him down from a 1.9 second lead at one point. Brown would hold off Knoxville’s 2012 champion by only .5 seconds. Also transferring to the feature were Jason Sides, Kraig Kinser, Mark Dobmeier and Steve Kinser who rallied back after an early race spin to take the final transfer position.

The dash had the top 10 fastest qualifiers of the night. Jac Haudenschild would charge from 10th to 3rd and finish 4th to put on an incredible display of driver skill and determination. The dash however would be won from the pole by Chad Kemenah with Dusty Zomer coming in 2nd and Craig Dollansky coming home 3rd.

The Last Chance Showdown was won by Justin Henderson who was followed by Brooke Tatnell Skylar Prochaska and Bill Rose. Ian Madsen and Matt Wasmund would also transfer to the Feature but would start at the rear of the field while the first 4 finishers would get their time back to start the A Main.

The A Main was a barn burner and arguably the best race of the 2012 season. But nothing comes without a cost. That cost was a wreck on the initial green flag that would see Bill Rose transported to the hospital for an apparent leg injury. At the time of this writing there was no further information available about Rose’s condition or the extent of the injury. After 3 attempts the A Main finally went green. But it went green without Cody Darrah who once again ended up on his lid and suffered too much damage to continue. The lead would be Chad Kemenah’s early on but he would lose it to Craig Dollansky on the 3rd circuit. Dollansky would dominate until late in the race when Donny Schatz cleared Joey Saldana in traffic and set his sites on Dollansky. Schatz would take the lead on the white flag lap and lose it again to Dollansky in traffic going into 3 on the final lap of the race. Schatz would be the KSE Hard charger of the race coming from 18th to 2nd in the 30 laps. Finishing 3rd was Joey Saldana and 4th was a badly smoking Jac Haudenschild. The race pole sitter Chad Kemenah would round out the top 5.

Craig Dollansky had perhaps the car to beat last night in Clay County when he tangled with a lap car and got into the wall. He returned to the track but could never climb out of the hole with the badly damaged machine. Tonight he left no doubt that he was the car to beat. At one point in the feature he lead by over 3 seconds. Dollansky was determined to climb back into the points chase and he put it all on the line. In the process he cut Schatz’s lead by 5 points going into Eagle Raceway in Nebraska. A track that has the reputation of being an anything can and will happen track.

Schatz’s points lead is a big one there is no doubt about that. But it’s not insurmountable. Things happen quickly with the World of Outlaws. Just like they can turn for the better they can turn for the worst. Dollansky is betting that he has the skills to match Schatz’s. He is betting that his Big Game Tree Stands team can prepare better and faster cars than the Tony Stewart Racing’s STP team can. He is gambling his shot at his first championship on it. Who will come out on top? We will know in 10 races. Right now the odds are in Donny Schatz’s favor. He has been down this road before. He has a big points lead. And he is on a roll. He has not finished outside the top 5 in 8 races. But can he ride the momentum? Can he hold on to the streak? Buckle in and hold on tight cause the next 10 races are going to be a wild ride.

Qualifying Results: 1) Kerry Madsen 11.884 2) Joey Saldana 3) Kraig Kinser 4) Sammy Swindell 5) Craig Dollansky 6) Terry McCarl 7) Dusty Zomer 8) Chad Kemenah 9) Brian Brown 10) Jac Haudenschild 11) Cody Darrah 12) Jason Sides 13) Lucas Wolfe 14) Brooke Tatnell 15) Steve Kinser 16) Davey Heskin 17) Donny Schatz 18) Mark Dobmeier 19) Justin Henderson 20) Bill Rose 21) Skylar Prochaska 22) Kaley Gharst 23) Jody Rosenboom 24) Ian Madsen 25) Matt Wasmund 26) Rob Kubli 27) Ryan Wilson 28) Robert Bell.

First Heat Results: 1) Dusty Zomer 2) Jac Haudenschild 3) Kerry Madsen 4) Sammy Swindell 5) Davey Heskin 6) Lucas Wolfe. 7) Justin Henderson 8) Matt Wasmund 9) Kaley Gharst (DNS) 10) Robert Bell (DNS)

Second Heat Results: 1)Chad Kemenah 2) Joey Saldana 3) Cody Darrah 4) Donny Schatz 5) Craig Dollansky 6) Jody Rosenboom 7) Brooke Tatnell 8) Bill Rose 9) Rob Kubli

Third Heat Results: 1) Brian Brown 2) Terry McCarl 3) Jason Sides 4) Kraig Kinser 5) Mark Dobmeier 6) Steve Kinser 7) Skylar Prochaska 8) Ian Madsen 9) Ryan Wilson

Dash Results: 1) Chad Kemenah 2) Dusty Zomer 3) Craig Dollansky 4) Jac Haudenschild 5) Kerry Madsen 6) Joey Saldana 7) Terry McCarl 8) Sammy Swindell 9) Kraig Kinser 10) Brian Brown.

Last Chance Showdown Results: 1) Justin Henderson 2) Brooke Tatnell 3) Skylar Prochaska 4) Bill Rose 5) Ian Madsen 6) Matt Wasmund 7) Rob Kubli 8) Ryan Wilson 9) Kayle Gharst (DNS) 10) Robert Bell (DNS)

A Main Results: 1) Craig Dollansky 2) Donny Schatz (KSE HARD CHARGER) 3) Joey Saldana 4) Jac Haudenschild 5) Chad Kemenah 6) Kraig Kinser 7) Kerry Madsen 8) Jason Sides 9) Sammy Swindell 10) Lucas Wolfe 11) Steve Kinser 12) Dusty Zomer 13) Brooke Tatnell 14) Mark Dobmeier 15) Davey Heskin 16) Justin Henderson 17) Ian Madsen 18) Terry McCarl 19) Jody Rosenboom 20) Skylar Prochaska 21) Matt Wasmund 22) Cody Darrah 23) Brian Brown 24) Bill Rose.

World of Outlaws Point Standings:

Pos.	Driver	Total	Diff	Wins	Top 5’s	Top 10’s	QT
1	Donny Schatz	8652	0	10	33	53	3
2	Craig Dollansky	8556	-96	8	32	47	9
3	Sammy Swindell	8527	-125	11	28	43	14
4	Joey Saldana	8522	-130	5	23	49	9
5	Steve Kinser	8447	-205	3	25	44	0
6	Kraig Kinser	8227	-425	4	18	39	5
7	Cody Darrah	8018	-634	1	20	33	2
8	Kerry Madsen	7977	-675	5	13	34	2
9	Chad Kemenah	7827	-825	2	10	30	2
10	Lucas Wolfe	7624	-1028	1	9	24	1
11	Bill Rose	6843	-1809	0	0	10	0
12	Jason Sides	5491	-3161	0	16	27	1
13	Jac Haudenschild	3747	-4905	0	3	10	0
14	Tim Kaeding	3524	-5128	4	10	17	0
15	Daryn Pittman	2537	-6115	0	6	13	1
16	Sam Hafertepe Jr.	2454	-6198	0	3	7	0
17	Danny Lasoski	2431	-6221	1	5	8	0
18	David Gravel	2385	-6267	0	7	9	4
19	Paul McMahan	2296	-6356	1	2	3	0
20	Stevie Smith	2276	-6376	0	3	11	1

September 16, 2012

Schatz Takes Clay County and Extends Points Lead

[media-credit name=”Tony Stewart Racing” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]Tonight the World of Outlaws rolled into Clay County Fairgrounds for the Arnold Motor Supply Shootout. Points leader Donny Schatz was riding the largest point lead of the season with a 72 point advantage over Craig Dollansky. Schatz recorded 4 top 5’s, 1 top 10 and 2 wins to take the points lead during the west coast swing and build tremendous momentum for the last 12 races of the season which includes the 4 crown nationals at Eldora. Schatz said of the momentum, “It’s important to be racing good at this time of the year. We’ve had the championship as a goal all season long, and there were times this season, when it didn’t look good, but the STP guys kept hanging in there. We found some things in our motor program right around the beginning of August and have been qualifying good ever since. When you qualify well, chances are you’re going to be starting closer to the front, but you have to take advantage of it. We’ve been a little lucky too, but winning right now is what we are all about. When we win, we try to enjoy it for a couple of hours, but know the next race we have to go back out there and do everything we can to put ourselves in a position to win again. Success one night doesn’t give you any advantage the next. Things can change quickly, so you have to stay on top of your game every night.”

The evening began rocky for the 4 time Outlaws champion as he qualified a disappointing 18th. Schatz said post race that they had chosen the wrong gear for the car and then he picked the wrong line in qualifying. Quick Time on the night would belong to Craig Dollansky who turned a blazing lap of 13.232 seconds or 102.025 mph around the 3/8ths mile track. Second would go to Sammy Swindell and third to Jason Sides. Former Rookie of the year Cody Darrah would nail down 4th and Brian Brown would complete the top 5.

The first heat would see a continuation of the resurgence of one of the biggest names in Outlaws racing when Jac Haudenschild took the checkers. He would be followed to the line by Skylar Prochaska and Craig Dollansky. Rounding out the top 5 in heat one and transferring to the A Main would be Davey Heskin and Kraig Kinser.

The 18th qualifying spot would take Schatz out of the heat race inversion and put him in the third row of the 2nd heat race. But when the green dropped Schatz was on the gas and quickly climbed into the 2nd spot behind team mate Steve Kinser to claim a spot in the dash. Sammy Swindell and the Knoxville Champion Terry McCarl along with Scott Winters would advance to the A main out of the 2nd heat.

The third heat race was a hard fought affair that would see an infrequent visitor to the World of Outlaws circuit take the checkers when Kayle Gharst held off a hard charging Jason Sides and Joey Saldana for the win. Also transferring were Dusty Zomer and Jody Rosenboom.

The final heat of the night would be won by Mark Dobmeier with Lucas Wolfe, Kerry Madsen, Cody Darrah and Chad Kemenah also transferring to the A.

The dash was full of big names and tough competition. Jac Haudenschild, Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Craig Dollansky, Lucas Wolfe, Jason Sides, if Schatz was going to take this one he was going to work for it. His 2nd place finish in the heat guaranteed him a spot in the dash which assured him a top 10 starting position. But the further up he started in the A the better his chances would be. As it turned out he would only climb to the 7th spot when the checkers fell. But it was far enough up to make him a player in the 30 lap A Main.

The Last Chance Showdown was a time of redemption for Brian Brown and Justin Henderson. Both had problems that kept them from either starting or finishing in their heat race. This was their last chance to make the trip count. And make it count they did. Brown would dominate the event with a 3.3 second lead at one point to win over Henderson Tasker Phillips and Chuck McGillivray to advance to the A.

The A Main was a 30 lap race of hard driving, hard charging young names with something to prove. Lucas Wolfe would take the early lead only to lose it to veteran Craig Dollansky. Dollansky would spin and hit the wall trying to avoid a spinning lapped car and relinquish the lead back to Wolfe. Wolfe would hold the lead until the next to the last lap when he got bottled up in lapped traffic and Schatz would drive by on the top. Schatz would never look back, leading the final two circuits on the 3/8ths mile semi banked track to take the double checkered flag for his 10th win of the season, and series leading 32nd top-five and 52nd top-10 this season. Schatz will pull into Deer Creek tomorrow night with a 101 point lead over Craig Dollansky with 11 races left in the season. Second place would go to Lucas Wolfe and third to Schatz’s team mate Steve Kinser. Craig Dollansky would return to the track after time in the work area but would finish a disappointing 17th. Showing the strength of consistency in the Main as well was Jac Haudenschild who again finished in the top 10. Kerry Madsen who flipped end over end violently on lap 17 and nearly clearing the fence and wall on the back stretch climbed from his car and walked away uninjured. Sammy Swindell would have engine problems and draw a 2 position penalty for exceeding the 2 minute open red work period and end up going to the work area. Swindell would make it back to the track but would finish 16th.

Donny Schatz never gave up. His night started far from ideal. But he believed he could make up the distance on the track in race conditions. His team stood behind him and pushed on. In the end when the double checkers fell, Donny had again stretched his point lead over Craig Dollansky to 101 points. But more than the points, Schatz and the team extended their confidence by knowing they could drive their way out of bad start. Persistence equals success. No matter what it’s in. If you do not quit. You will eventually come out on top. It’s something that Donny Schatz and his Tony Stewart Racing STP team have known from the beginning and it’s not something they will start doubting now.

Qualifying Results: 1) Craig Dollansky 13.232/102.025mph 2) Sammy Swindell 3) Jason Sides 4) Cody Darrah 5) Brian Brown 6) Terry McCarl 7) Joey Saldana 8) Lucas Wolfe. 9) Skylar Prochaska 10) Steve Kinser 11) Justin Henderson 12) Kerry Madsen 13) Jac Haudenschild 14) Scott Winters 15) Kaley Gharst 16) Mark Dobmeier 17) Kraig Kinser 18) Donny Schatz 19) Jody Rosenbloom 20) Chad Kemenah 21) Davey Heskin 22) Robby Wolfgang 23) Dusty Zomer 24) Ian Madsen 25) Tasker Phillips 26) Matt Wasmund 27) Kevin Ingle 28) Ryan Wilson 29) Robert Bell. 30) Chuck McGillivray 21) Branden Stevenson 32) Bill Rose Did Not Arrive

Heat Race Number 1: 1) Jac Haudenschild 2) Skylar Prochaska 3) Craig Dollansky 4) Davey Heskin 5) Kraig Kinser 6) Tasker Phillips 7) Robert Bell 8) Brian Brown (DNS)

Heat Race Number 2: 1) Steve Kinser 2) Donny Schatz 3) Sammy Swindell 4) Terry McCarl 5) Scott Winters 6) Chuck McGillivray 7) Matt Wasmund 8) Robby Wolfgang

Heat Race Number 3: 1) Kaley Gharst 2) Jason Sides 3) Joey Saldana 4) Dusty Zomer 5) Jody Rosenboom 6) Kevin Ingle 7) Branden Stevenson 8) Justin Henderson.

Heat Race Number 4: 1) Mark Dobmeier 2) Lucas Wolfe 3) Kerry Madsen 4) Cody Darrah 5) Chad Kemenah 6) Ryan Wilson 7) Ian Madsen 8) Bill Rose (DNS)

Dash Results: 1) Lucas Wolfe 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Jason Sides 4) Sammy Swindell 5) Steve Kinser 6) Jac Haudenschild 7) Donny Schatz 8) Kaley Gharst 9) Mark Dobmeier 10) Skylar Prochaska

LCS Results: 1) Brian Brown 2) Justin Henderson 3) Tasker Phillips 4) Chuck McGilivray 5) Ryan Wilson 6) Robert Bell 7) Branden Stevenson 8) Kevin Ingle 9) Ian Madsen (DNS) 10) Bill Rose (DNS)

A Main Results: 1) Donny Schatz 2) Lucas Wolfe 3) Steve Kinser 4) Jason Sides 5) Cody Darrah 6) Joey Saldana 7) Jac Haudenschild 8) Chad Kemenah (KSE Hard Charger of the Race) 9) Justin Henderson 10) Kaley Gharst 11) Brian Brown 12) Terry McCarl 13) Scott Winters 14) Dusty Zomer 15) Kraig Kinser 16) Sammy Swindell 17) Craig Dollansky 18) Jody Rosenboom 19) Davey Heskin 20) Chuck McGilivray 21) Skylar Prochaska 22) Tasker Phillips 23) Kerry Madsen 24) Mark Dobmeier

World of Outlaws Point Standings

Pos.	Driver	Total	Diff	Wins	Top 5’s	Top 10’s	QT
1	Donny Schatz	8506	0	10	32	52	3
2	Craig Dollansky	8405	-101	7	31	46	9
3	Sammy Swindell	8393	-113	11	28	42	14
4	Joey Saldana	8374	-132	5	22	48	9
5	Steve Kinser	8319	-187	3	25	44	0
6	Kraig Kinser	8086	-420	4	18	38	5
7	Cody Darrah	7912	-594	1	20	33	2
8	Kerry Madsen	7836	-670	5	13	33	1
9	Chad Kemenah	7687	-819	2	9	29	2
10	Lucas Wolfe	7494	-1012	1	9	23	1
11	Bill Rose	6741	-1765	0	0	10	0
12	Jason Sides	5357	-3149	0	16	26	1
13	Jac Haudenschild	3605	-4901	0	2	9	0
14	Tim Kaeding	3524	-4982	4	10	17	0
15	Daryn Pittman	2537	-5969	0	6	13	1
16	Sam Hafertepe Jr.	2454	-6052	0	3	7	0
17	Danny Lasoski	2431	-6075	1	5	8	0
18	David Gravel	2385	-6121	0	7	9	4
19	Paul McMahan	2296	-6210	1	2	3	0
20	Stevie Smith	2276	-6230	0	3	11	1

September 15, 2012

Race No. 11: Wilson Equipment Limited 300 at Riverside International Speedway

With only this weekend’s Wilson Equipment Limited 300 at Riverside International Speedway and next weekend’s finale at Kawartha Speedway, everybody’s focus is on the championship and who will come out on top.

For the majority of the season, it looked as if D.J. Kennington would have the championship in the bag early after winning five consecutive races in the middle of the season. However, last weekend at Barrie Speedway, Kennington finished 21st following fuel pump issues. As a result, he sits only 14 points ahead of Andrew Ranger and 16 points ahead of J.R. Fitzpatrick. As a result, there is no way for Kennington to clinch early. He could gain a maximum of 28 points on Ranger with the 24-car field and put himself in a position to clinch early.

“I’ve been around this sport for a long time and things happen,” Kennington says. “Nothing is guaranteed. You just go out and do the best you can and control the things you can control. We’re not going to hang our heads. We go into every race with our sights set on winning and that’s how we’ll approach the next two races.”

Kennington has had success at Riverside International Speedway before, finishing fourth last year to go with his victory in 2010. The victory in 2010 was one that led him to the series championship that year. Steckly won the race in 2011 and Ranger won the race in 2009, both also going on to win the championship. The possibility of Kennington winning goes well with his three top five finishes in five trips to Nova Scotia, along with 255 laps led. It wouldn’t surprised anybody either as Kennington has won four of the five oval races this year to go with 11 top five finishes in his last 12 series starts.

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]When it comes to Ranger, the 2009 victory was his last race in Antoginish, Nova Soctia, before moving on to other racing divisions before making his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series return. Before the win in 2009, he had a sixth place finish in 2008. He will be looking for a second win on the 0.333 high-banked paved oval after leading a total of 115 laps in previous starts. Though the two-time champion is also known for his consistantcy, finishing inside the top 10 in 31 of his last 33 series starts dating back to the 2008 season.

While Steckly won the championship last year, he comes in as the man on the outside looking in, sitting 29 points behind Kennington, mathematically still able to win it. Though if the top three drivers have trouble, Steckly could capitalize after winning the 2011 running and finishing second in 2010. He has also led the most laps of any driver at Riverside with a total of 376 laps.

Fitzpatrick is the only driver of the top four that has yet to win in Antigonish, though has gun shot in his back pocket in the form of crew chief Don Thomson Jr., who won the race in 2008 as a driver. Though Fitzpatrick has come close, finishing second twice while leading 160 laps.

The other driver in the field that has won at Riverside International Speedway before is Mark Dilley, who won the inaugural race at the track in

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]2007. He is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in each of the series’ five visits to the track that built to model Bristol.

Local Donald Chisholm. is looking to make his second series start. Running at Riverside each weekend, Chisholm knows the track better than anyone and used that knowledge to finish third last year.

Coming off of a career best third place finish, Noel Dowler Jr. hopes to continue the momentum he has after scoring three straight top 10 finishes. Last year wasn’t the best finish for the Alberta native finished 11th.

Beyond those who are having momentum and the battle for the championship, there is also a battle thickening up for the fifth spot in the points. Currently, Ron Beauchamp Jr. sits fifth in points, 20 points ahead of both Jason Hathaway and L.P. Dumoulin.

Last year, Beauchamp Jr. finished in the eighth position for his fourth straight top 10 finish in Nova Scotia. Beauchamp Jr. is known for being consistant, having scored top 10 finishes in seven of his last nine overall series starts.

Hathaway, meanwhile, finished seventh last year and scored a fifth in 2010 for his best finish on the 0.333 mile oval. He is also another driver with four top 10 finishes in five starts at Riverside.

Dumoulin did not have much success last year at Riverside, finishing 17th, though it was only the second start on an oval for the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Seires Rookie of the Year. He is also known more of a road course racer, having earned his first pole on August 4th at Trois-Rivieres, while opening the season with back-to-back road top fives on road courses.

Whether we’ll see a shift in the championship picture or a new face in victory lane, Riverside is always an exciting race to watch and certainly a race not to miss as a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series fan.

September 15, 2012
Race To South Beach Sweepstakes

Common Ground Alliance has partnered with Shell to promote the Race to South Beach Sweepstakes to remind everyone to call 8-1-1 before they dig. Fans who promise to always make a free call to 8-1-1 before digging via the website will be entered to win a VIP trip to the Nov. 18 race in South Florida, as well as other prizes like $500 Shell gift cards (for three lucky winners) . To enter to win, visit www.racetosouthbeach.com. Entries will be accepted until October 26, 2012.

Grand Prize: VIP Race Experience for two:

–          Roundtrip airfare to Miami, FL

–          Hotel accommodations

–          Guided tour of pit road, garage area, and the No. 22 Penske team hauler

–          Photo opportunity with the driver of the No. 22 car

–          Access to the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Pit box (see attached images)

–          $500 spending money

Runner Up prizes: Three random people will be chosen to win a five hundred dollar ($500) Shell gas card.

Enter at www.racetosouthbeach.com

September 13, 2012
Canadian Tire Series Championship battle closes up as Kennington finds trouble at Barrie

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Coming into the Wahta Springs 300 at Barrie Speedway this past weekend, D.J. Kennington led the point standings by 33 points over Andrew Ranger. However, following a fuel pump problem on lap 153, Kennington would score a 21st first place finish and now only leads Ranger by 14 points.

“We knew even with a good lead that this sort of thing sometimes happens,” Kennington says in the team race report. “We’re not hanging out heads though; we’ll be back next week ready to go at Riverside. I feel bad we couldn’t have a better finish for SuperClean with them on the car this weekend.”

The day had started off well for Kennington as he qualified sixth and made his way into the top five with a pass on Ron Beauchamp Jr. on lap 71 of 300. He’d continue running in the top five all the way till he made a pit stop on lap 134 with the rest of the leaders. The restart after that caution would come would come at lap 149, with Kennington suffering his problems four laps later.

Kennington would spend numerous laps on pit road, changing the fuel pump, before returning to the track.

“From there we just soldiered on as best we could,” The St. Thomas, Native says. “The car was right back to running fast after we changed part change, unfortunately these things happen.”

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]While typically Kennington runs the gold and black Castrol Edge colors, he debuted a purple paint scheme for primary sponsor Super Clean.

“It was an idea that came up a few weeks ago,” Kennington says. “We’re happy to have SuperClean products as part of our program this year and for the Barrie race we had coupons and sample giveaways and then we had this idea to make an even bigger splash and we came up with this great look for the No. 17 SuperClean Dodge and it sure got a lot of attention from everyone.”

In the four previous ovals this season, Kennington had won them all. Following this past weekend’s finish, some have to question if its the curse of the purple. For this weekend’s race at Riverside International Speedway in Nova Scotia, Kennington will return to the gold and black colors.

Meanwhile, Ranger would come finish in the second spot after being involved in the late race scramble to the finish. He watched the battle for[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit] first three-wide ahead of him with two laps to go with Pete Shepherd III, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Steve Mathews. Then going into turn four on the last lap, he would make contact with Fitzpatrick’s back bumper, sending him around. Ranger would continue and finish the race in second.

Ranger had a solid day for the most part, running just outside the top five till the end, where he was able to make his way into the top five following Scott Steckly and Mark Dilley’s problems.

Fitzpatrick, who led a good size portion of the 300 laps, would finish the race in sixth following the spin and currently sits third in points, 18 points behind Kennington.

With the Canadian Tire Series using the same points system as NASCAR’s top three divisions, all it will take is one bad finish or two so-so finishes by Kennington and good solid runs by either Ranger or Fitzpatrick in the final two races to change the fate of who will be crowned the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Champion.

Ranger has two championships, Kennington has one and Fitzpatrick is hunting for his first. Who will be the champion at the end of the year?

September 11, 2012

Kaeding Beats Schatz with a last lap Slide Job!

[media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”220″][/media-credit]ANTIOCH, Calif. – Sept. 10, 2012 – Looking for some good entertainment? Just watch Tim Kaeding.
In perhaps the pass of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season, Kaeding slid championship points leader Donny Schatz in turn four on the final lap to earn his fourth Outlaws win of the season on Monday at Antioch Speedway. The packed grandstands erupted for the San Jose native, who reciprocated the affection.

He egged them on by popping a wheelie down the frontstretch after taking the checkered flag. And if his last-lap pass and wheelie weren’t enough, Kaeding was as entertaining in his postrace interview.

“Truthfully, it was a slide for life,” Kaeding said. “I was either going to wear me out, him out or both of us at the same time. It was no holds barred, short track racing. This is what I love about it. It’s always fun and exciting, especially for the fans.”

While Kaeding crossed the finish line first, fellow Californian Jonathan Allard had the car to beat. After a red flag on the opening lap for a four-car pileup in turn one, Allard powered to the lead on the start with Schatz, who started on the pole, a close second.

The duo entered traffic on lap five and while Allard never pulled away, he maintained a couple of car lengths on Schatz until a caution with 10 laps remaining for Kenny Allen stopping on the frontstretch. Things continued to heat up on the restart as Rico Abreu hit the wall in turn four, tipped on his side and somehow managed to keep going as the red flag waved.

Once the race resumed, Allard again entered traffic on lap 27 and held a sizeable advantage as he was coming to the white flag when Craig Dollansky spun out in turn two. That forced a green-white-checkered finish, which turned out to be wild.

Allard, who chose the outside on the double-file restart, spun his tires and Schatz rocketed to the lead. Kaeding was in tow and slid by Allard entering turn one.

“I thought we had it,” Allard said. “I knew the restart would be tough because the track was starting to go away. I tried to pick the right lane.

“I started to actually roll the throttle on and it got a bit tight. (I) tried to drive back around them and it spun the tire and (Schatz) took off.”

Kaeding dove to the inside in turn three, but was unable to make a move on Schatz as they took the white flag. Kaeding followed Schatz around the high side exiting turn two and as Schatz ran the cushion in turn three, Kaeding dove to the bottom and executed a perfect slide job as they raced through turn four.

Kaeding slammed against the cushion and he drove across the track to edge Schatz by a little more than two tenths of a second.

“We KOed the curb and I drove straight down the race track so nobody could get back by me,” Kaeding said.

Schatz, who recorded his seventh straight top-five finish, said he was surprised by the slide job.

“I just overdrove the car,” he said. “TK got a big run and slid me going into (turn) three and surprised me. I just made a couple of mistakes there at the end. Just me overdriving the car.”

Allard finished third and to make matters worse, he flipped in turn four on the cool-down lap.

“They said green-white-checkered on the thing, but I didn’t really know what the lap count was,” he said. “I saw Tim run it down the straightaway and I thought, ‘Well, maybe there’s something going on.’ I ran it down in there and just lost control. So just a bad move on my part.”

Cody Darrah placed fourth and Lucas Wolfe ended fifth. Sammy Swindell was sixth, Kerry Madsen seventh, Joey Saldana eighth and Steve Kinser earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 17^th to ninth. Kraig Kinser rounded out the top 10.

Qualifying – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell, 11.594; 2. 83-Tim Kaeding, 11.669; 3. 4-Cody Darrah, 11.683; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 11.689; 5. O-Jonathan Allard, 11.733; 6. 9-Joey Saldana, 11.770; 7. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.806; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.824; 9. 19-Tyler Wolf, 11.844; 10. 18H-Jac Haudenschild, 11.879; 11. OO-Jason Statler, 11.903; 12. 29-Kerry Madsen, 11.906; 13. 63-Chad Kemenah, 11.910; 14. 7-Craig Dollansky, 11.931; 15. 83JR-Kyle Hirst, 11.937; 16. 7K-Kenny Allen, 11.986; 17. 19B-Bud Kaeding, 11.987; 18. 11-Steve Kinser, 12.004; 19. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.120; 20. 89-Rico Abreu, 12.129; 21. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 12.142; 22. 18-Travis Jacobson, 12.346; 23. 6-Bill Rose, 12.383; 24. 6UP-Danielle Simpson, 12.492; 25. A19-Art McCarthy, 12.628; 26. 52-Dusty Green, 12.906; 27. 6C-Chase Wood, 13.261.

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [1]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 5. 63-Chad Kemenah [5]; 6. 18-Travis Jacobson [8]; 7. 7K-Kenny Allen [6]; 8. 7S-Jason Sides [7].

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 2. OO-Jason Statler [1]; 3. 83-Tim Kaeding [4]; 4. O-Jonathan Allard [3]; 5. 6-Bill Rose [8]; 6. 7-Craig Dollansky [5]; 7. 89-Rico Abreu [7]; 8. 19B-Bud Kaeding [6]; 9. 52-Dusty Green [9].

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 4-Cody Darrah [4]; 2. 19-Tyler Wolf [2]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [1]; 4. 9-Joey Saldana [3]; 5. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [5]; 6. 11-Steve Kinser [6]; 7. 6UP-Danielle Simpson [8]; 8. 21-Tommy Tarlton [7]; 9. 6C-Chase Wood [9].

Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. O-Jonathan Allard [2]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 4. 83-Tim Kaeding [5]; 5. 4-Cody Darrah [4]; 6. 1-Sammy Swindell [6]; 7. 19-Tyler Wolf [8]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]; 9. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [9]; 10. OO-Jason Statler [10].

B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 19B-Bud Kaeding [2] [-]; 2. 89-Rico Abreu [4] [-]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [3] [-]; 4. 21-Tommy Tarlton [5] [-]; 5. 7K-Kenny Allen [1] [-]; 6. A19-Art McCarthy [7] [-]; 7. 6C-Chase Wood [9] [$200]; 8. 52-Dusty Green [8] [$180]; 9. 6UP-Danielle Simpson [6] [$175].

A-Main – (30 Laps) – 1. 83-Tim Kaeding [4] [$10,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [1] [$5,500]; 3. O-Jonathan Allard [2] [$3,200]; 4. 4-Cody Darrah [5] [$2,800]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3] [$2,500]; 6. 1-Sammy Swindell [6] [$2,300]; 7. 29-Kerry Madsen [12] [$2,200]; 8. 9-Joey Saldana [11] [$2,100]; 9. 11-Steve Kinser [17] [$2,050]; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8] [$2,000]; 11. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [9] [$1,500]; 12. 89-Rico Abreu [19] [$1,200]; 13. 7-Craig Dollansky [14] [$1,100]; 14. 21-Tommy Tarlton [20] [$1,050]; 15. OO-Jason Statler [10] [$1,000]; 16. 19-Tyler Wolf [7] [$900]; 17. 7K-Kenny Allen [23] [$800]; 18. 18-Travis Jacobson [21] [$800]; 19. A19-Art McCarthy [24] [$800]; 20. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [15] [$800]; 21. 7S-Jason Sides [18] [$800]; 22. 6-Bill Rose [22] [$800]; 23. 63-Chad Kemenah [13] [$800]; 24. 19B-Bud Kaeding [16] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Jonathan Allard 1-28, Donny Schatz 29, Tim Kaeding 30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 11-Steve Kinser [+8].

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings

Pos.	Driver	Total	Diff	Wins	T5	T10	QT
1	Donny Schatz	8356	0	9	31	51	3
2	Craig Dollansky	8284	-72	7	31	46	8
3	Sammy Swindell	8271	-85	11	28	42	14
4	Joey Saldana	8236	-120	5	22	47	9
5	Steve Kinser	8175	-181	3	24	43	0
6	Kraig Kinser	7966	-390	4	18	38	5
7	Cody Darrah	7770	-586	1	19	32	2
8	Kerry Madsen	7732	-624	5	13	33	1
9	Chad Kemenah	7553	-803	2	9	28	2
10	Lucas Wolfe	7348	-1008	1	8	22	1
11	Bill Rose	6691	-1665	0	0	10	0
12	Jason Sides	5212	-3144	0	15	25	1
13	Tim Kaeding	3524	-4832	4	10	17	0
14	Jac Haudenschild	3469	-4887	0	2	8	0
15	Daryn Pittman	2537	-5819	0	6	13	1
16	Sam Hafertepe Jr.	2454	-5902	0	3	7	0
17	Danny Lasoski	2431	-5925	1	5	8	0
18	David Gravel	2385	-5971	0	7	9	4
19	Paul McMahan	2296	-6060	1	2	3	0
20	Stevie Smith	2276	-6080	0	3	11	1

September 11, 2012

Steve Mathews puts himself in position, comes up shy at Barrie

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Should have, could have, would have. It’s a saying that many have heard in racing and it’s one that NASCAR Canadian Tire Series competitor Steve Mathews is right now playing through his mind multiple times following this past weekend’s Wahta Springs 300 at Barrie Speedway.

“We had a great car and set it up to come off the bottom and conserve tires for the long run,” Mathews comments.

Mathews would start the day off strong, winning the pole for the 300 lapper on the .333 mile oval in Barrie, Ontario. After playing some strategy in the middle of racing by taking tires 100 laps later than most, Mathews found himself in contention with Mathews restarting second with seven laps to go.

Mathews would run side-by-side with Scott Steckly for an entire lap, however the next lap, contact between the two would send Steckly for a spin in turn four.

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]“Made a crossover move on Steckly where we got up to his door in turn three,” Mathews explains. “Unfortunately, he did not see me and made contact.”

The final restart would present a green-white-checkered with the race now running past its scheduled distance. Mathews would restart the leader, with J.R. Fitzpatrick to his inside. There’d be more contact as coming out of turn four, Fitzpatrick pushed Mathews up into the outside wall, allowing Pete Shepherd III to sneak by them both.

“I knew J.R. would lose his cool like usual to end the race,” Mathews comments. “He jumped the restart as the leader has to the first to the line. Then I had him clear out of turn two. Next thing you know he used me as brakes into turn three, I saved it, and then he drove me right into the turn four wall.”

There would then be contact between Fitzpatrick and Andrew Ranger in the final corner with Fitzpatrick going for the spin cycle. Mathews would slow up a bit, allowing Dowler to get underneath him. The result was a fourth place finish for Mathews. The fourth place finish marks the first top five and second top 10 finish for the New Liskeard, Ontario native in his fifth start on the season.

“I would like to thank Race Time Radio, Bill Mathews Motors, and Jack Mathews Body Shop,” he says. “Also the fans for sticking out the rain and my crew for their continued effort and support.”

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]While many question whether small teams can survive in the major series, the 22-year-old driving for the family backed team, proved on Saturday that short track action can showcase how well they can put their equipment together. As many drivers said before the race – it was all about survival. Mathews kept out of the trouble and found himself in contention through his own talent and driving skill.

From late models to the NCATS, Mathews has showed that he can drive, scoring six top 10s and two poles in 19 NCATS starts. With more experience, the talent pool can only grow more. The only question is whether sponsorship will come, which certainly good runs like this present that opportunity.

With their current situation, Mathews Motorsports will miss Nova Scotia this weekend, however Mathews is looking forward to Kawartha Speedway to finish off the season after winning the pole and leading over 80 laps before finishing seventh after being spun under caution.

September 11, 2012
Pete Shepherd III wins Wahta Springs 300 at Barrie Speedway in dramatic finish

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]Following a dramatic conclusion to the 300 lapper at Barrie Speedway, it’d be Pete Shepherd making his way to victory lane after slipping past both J.R. Fitzpatrick and Steve Mathews in the closing laps. It marks the third career NASCAR Canadian Tire Series victory for the Brampton, Ontario part-timer after winning at Kawartha Speedway in 2010 and Saskatoon last year.

“Having three years in a row where we’ve gotten wins, it’s really special to us,” Shepherd says. “The National Exhaust Dodge is always fast.”

It was a battle for Shepherd as he had fallen two laps down following problems on pit road when the jack broke.

“We always know that we’re able to win these races, and the car was strong,” Shepherd comments. “We always had good line-ups on restarts and made the most of every lap and ended up in victory lane today.”

When the jack broke, there was a moment that could’ve changed the outcome as NASCAR was ready to penalize Shepherd for too many people over the wall. However, they overturned the call when they noticed someone from another team jumped over to attempt to help without being asked or noticing the people count.

“We didn’t ask anybody for help – I saw the guy that actually came over to help,” Shepherd explains. “He put his hands inside the car and tried to lift it, nothing happened. They made a great call. It just shows the level of professionalism they have just by rethinking what happened and understanding what happened. They were very fair on that decision and I have to applaud them on that.”

As the race neared its conclusion, it looked as if Scott Steckly would pick up the victory as he had almost a straightaway lead on Mark Dilley while Shepherd ran just outside the top five. However, a caution with 22 laps to go for Ron Beauchamp Jr. having a flat tire would change everything.

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]The finish was setting up to feature defending series champion Steckly and last year’s race winner Dilley dueling for the win. However, Dilley would have a driveline failure under caution and would be out for the rest of the race. In turn, it’d be pole sitter Steve Mathews starting on the outside of Steckly for the restart.

After cleaning up the debris from Beauchamp Jr.’s flat tire and pushing Dilley off of the track, the restart would come at lap 293 with seven laps to go.

Steckly and Mathews would run side-by-side for a whole lap, before Mathews would send Steckly for a spin in turn four. Dave Connolly would make contact with Steckly after the fact, causing heavy front end damage to Steckly’s dodge. As a result, Mathews would take control of the lead while Steckly would restart at the back of the field for the green-white-checkered.

On the green-white-checkered restart, it’d be Mathews side-by-side with Fitzpatrick for the lead. Coming out of turn four, contact beween Fitzpatrick and Mathews would send Mathews up the track, causing contact with the outside wall. Meanwhile, Shepherd would make the move three-wide, slipping past both of them for the lead.

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]Shepherd would take control of the final lap and take the victory while Mathews spun Fitzpatrick in turn four. Andrew Ranger and Noel Dowler would both get by Mathews and Fitzpatrick to finish second and third. The second place finish for Ranger allowed him to gain points on points leader Kennington, who finished 21^st.

“Actually, it’s always interesting to come here to Barrie,” Ranger says. “Those races are really exciting. Probably not the fastest car on the track, but the 27 team proved they could be fast and finished second. I was trying to save my stuff to the end and when the caution came out, I was very excited, thinking I had a start there. I saw the 15 and 84 sideways on the back there so I put my nose on the inside. J.R. came close to me and I should’ve lifted, but Barrie is so close. It was such a close finish.”

The third place finish for Dowler marks his best career Canadian Tire Series finish.

“We started off with a very fast car at the start of the day,” Dowler says. “Got spun around, came back from that. Got a lap down, came back from that.”

Mathews would get credited with fourth while Dexter Stacey rounded out the top five.

Fitzpatrick would get sixth, followed by Beauchamp Jr., Jason Hathaway, Steckly and Larry Jackson.

Points leader D.J. Kennington would finish 21^st in the race after spending numerous laps on pit road after stalling on the track on lap 153. As a result, Kennington only leads by 14 points over Ranger and 18 over Fitzpatrick with two races remaining.

September 9, 2012