Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Other Series Racing

Other series racing

  • Race No. 10: Wahta Springs 300 at Barrie Speedway

    Race No. 10: Wahta Springs 300 at Barrie Speedway

    The 10th race of the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule (NCATS) takes the stars of the NCATS to the 0.333 mile paved oval known as Barrie Speedway. The tight quarters of the short track that many of these drivers grew up racing at have always provoked close and exciting racing.

    Last year’s race featured an incident on the last lap between Kerry Micks and J.R. Fitzpatrick, allowing Mark Dilley to get past them both to take the victory.

    Two of the three drivers – Fitzpatrick and Dilley – return to Barrie Speedway this season to look for victory once again. Micks will not be running the race as he is only running the road course events this season.

    Fitzpatrick finished ninth last year at Barrie and has a career best finish of fifth. The Cambridge, Ontario native has been consistent when it comes to Barrie, scoring four top 10s in six starts and leading a total of 98 laps. He currently sits third in points, 35 points behind points leader D.J. Kennington.

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]Meanwhile, Dilley has a pair of second place finishes to go with last year’s victory. The 1992 track champion has finished in the top five in four of his seven Canadian Tire Series starts on the .333-mile oval. Dilley competed in the Gary Reynolds Memorial 100-lap Late Model Invitational at Barrie near the end of August and was running in the top five before an engine failure took him out of the event.

    Though well Dilley and Fitzpatrick come in Barrie on happy terms due to past success, it’s this season’s success that has Kennington excited. The NCATS has ran four oval events this year – Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Saskatoon, Delaware and Vernon – and Kennington has been victorious in each of them. He comes into Barrie leading the points standings, 33 points ahead of Andrew Ranger.

    “We’ve fared pretty well on the ovals this year and have been able to build a points lead,” Kennington said in the NASCAR Home Tracks preview. “I don’t take anything for granted, though.”

    The St. Thomas, Ontario native has good reason to not take anything for granted considering anything and everything is possible with how tight Barrie is and how physical the racing can get.

    “Just like a lot of short tracks it’s all about track position and survival,” Kennington added. “You have to keep your emotions in check because[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”150″][/media-credit] people are hitting you from every angle. There’s lots of stuff going on and you have to keep your mind on the job.”

    Kennington has been successful at Barrie Speedway in the past, scoring three victories over the year. He is expected to be in contention by many as his worst finish at Barrie in seven starts is a 10th that came in 2009. Though, right now, it’s all about keeping the points lead and continuing the consistency that has carried to him to 11 straight top five finishes.

    Besides Kennington and Dilley, Scott Steckly and Don Thomson Jr. have also scored victories at Barrie Speedway. Thomson Jr. will be on the pit box for Fitzpatrick, while Steckly will behind the wheel of his familiar No. 22 Canadian Tire Dodge. The defending series champion didn’t score a good finish last year as he finished 14th, though won both 2008 visits to Barrie. Steckly has had success at his home track before, scoring five top five finishes in seven starts.

    The driver that currently sits second in points – Andrew Ranger – has no wins at Barrie Speedway and will be making his first start on the oval since 2009. In that race back in 2009, he finished ninth. He has done consistently well on the .333-mile oval, scoring four top 10 finishes in five Barrie starts with a best finish of fifth in 2007.

    The race is set to take place on Saturday night, however with rain expected to fall all day, Barrie Speedway has already announced that if need be, they will run the race on Sunday.

  • Schatz takes Night 1 of the Gold Cup Race of Champions

    Schatz takes Night 1 of the Gold Cup Race of Champions

    [media-credit name=”Tony Stewart Racing” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]CHICO, Calif. – Sept. 6, 2012 – Well, that just shook up the points.

    A pair of drivers in contention for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship took a major hit on Thursday while a four-time champion survived a treacherous track on the opening night of the 59th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway.

    Donny Schatz slid by polesitter Kyle Larson exiting turn two on lap 20 en route to his eighth World of Outlaws victory of the season. The win, combined with some misfortune to a couple of fellow championship contenders, moved Schatz into the points lead for the first time in the last 21 races.

    “It was fun,” he said. “(Larson) was really good on the top and we had a decent car on the bottom. It just was really tricky to run. It took me five or six laps to figure out how to drive it. It was a fun race and I’m glad to come out on the good side of it.”

    Two drivers in search of that same title found bitter results.

    Craig Dollansky, who entered the event with the points lead after 16 consecutive top-10 finishes, spun out after contact during a restart on lap 17. Dollansky, who had restarted eighth, headed to the work area to have everything checked out only to be left there. Since the race was past the halfway point, he didn’t get the guaranteed two minutes.

    Dollansky later returned after a caution, but raced two laps down and finished 20th. He is 12 points behind Schatz in the championship chase.

    Sammy Swindell, who entered the event third in points, was set to capitalize on Dollansky’s bad luck. Swindell ran in the top three for most of the feature until a last-lap miscue stopped him on the frontstretch – only a handful of feet from crossing the finish line.

    While Swindell was chasing down Larson in traffic for the runner-up position, Swindell dove to the bottom in the final turn. It appeared that he clipped the infield tire, which knocked his car up the track and into the frontstretch wall. He could only watch as all of the remaining cars on the lead lap drove by. Swindell was credited with an 18th-place finish, which dropped him to 74 points behind Schatz in the championship battle.

    In front of the tough luck was a great clash between Schatz and Larson, who traded slide jobs at least a half dozen times.

    Larson led the first 10 laps before Schatz took the lead exiting turn four on lap 11. The duo slid each other in nearly every end of the track for two laps with Schatz having the advantage at the finish line before Larson held onto the lead on lap 13.

    After the sixth – and final – caution of the race came on lap 20 when Kerry Madsen stopped on the frontstretch, Schatz got the opportunity he needed. On the lap after the restart, Larson got into the demanding cushion and Schatz slid off the bottom in turn two just in front of Larson.

    Larson nearly jumped the cushion the ensuing two laps, which let Swindell close to within a couple of car lengths. Schatz entered traffic on lap 29, allowing Larson and Swindell to rapidly gain ground.

    “I had to take about five laps just to settle down,” Larson said. “He got about a straightaway out there and then I just started trying to run the heck out of it. I caught him there coming to the white (flag) and got close coming to the line.”

    As Schatz was dramatically slowed on the bottom, Larson powered to the cushion and Swindell to the very bottom of the inside groove. Schatz held off the late charges with Larson bouncing off the cushion and Swindell facing his own disaster.

    “We just cruised around and watched and watched Sammy hit the tractor tire there at the end and stick it in the fence,” said Tim Kaeding, who finished third after avoiding Swindell’s damaged car. “He was about eight feet short. I’ve been there several times.”

    Jason Sides placed fourth and Sean Becker was fifth. Bill Rose ended sixth and Steve Kinser earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after maneuvering from 22 nd to seventh. Shane Golobic finished eighth, 21st starter Joey Saldana ninth and Lucas Wolfe rounded out the top 10.

    Qualifying – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell, 12.321; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.604; 3. 57-Kyle Larson, 12.618; 4. 27-Sean Becker, 12.623; 5. 88X-Brad Bumgarner, 12.702; 6. 83-Tim Kaeding, 12.729; 7. 3C-Cody Lamar, 12.842; 8. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.856; 9. 121-Shane Golobic, 12.913; 10. OO-Jason Statler, 12.925; 11. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 12.933; 12. 77-Shane Stewart, 12.938; 13. 19-Tyler Wolf, 12.941; 14. 4-Cody Darrah, 12.972; 15. 7-Craig Dollansky, 13.018; 16. 6-Bill Rose, 13.052; 17. 18H-Jac Haudenschild, 13.083; 18. 83JR-Kyle Hirst, 13.091; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.111; 20. 22-Mason Moore, 13.122; 21. O-Jonathan Allard, 13.130; 22. O4-Kevin Sharrah, 13.144; 23. 9-Joey Saldana, 13.152; 24. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.182; 25. 25M-Bobby McMahan, 13.252; 26. 29-Kerry Madsen, 13.255; 27. 2-B.J. Martin, 13.255; 28. 11M-Peter Murphy, 13.263; 29. 92-Andy Forsburg, 13.300; 30. 36-Steve Tatterson, 13.377; 31. 53-Andy Gregg, 13.444; 32. 89-Rico Abreu, 13.505; 33. 7K-Kenny Allen, 13.513; 34. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.536; 35. 25-Jason York, 13.543; 36. 21J-Richard Brace, 13.546; 37. 15H-Pat Harvey Jr., 13.596; 38. 26M-Sean McMahan, 13.753; 39. 18-Travis Jacobson, 13.754; 40. 33E-Evan Suggs, 13.786; 41. 88-Koen Shaw, 13.967; 42. 6UP-Danielle Simpson, 14.260; 43. 7Y-Clayton Snow, 14.346; 44. 28B-Adam Brenton, 14.597.

    Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 19-Tyler Wolf [1]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 3. 88X-Brad Bumgarner [3]; 4. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 5. 121-Shane Golobic [2]; 6. O-Jonathan Allard [6]; 7. 25M-Bobby McMahan [7]; 8. 92-Andy Forsburg [8]; 9. 7K-Kenny Allen [9]; 10. 88-Koen Shaw [11]; 11. 15H-Pat Harvey Jr. [10].

    Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 83-Tim Kaeding [3]; 2. 4-Cody Darrah [1]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 29-Kerry Madsen [7]; 5. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [5]; 6. O4-Kevin Sharrah [6]; 7. 6UP-Danielle Simpson [11]; 8. OO-Jason Statler [2]; 9. 26M-Sean McMahan [10]; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah [9]; 11. 36-Steve Tatterson [8].

    Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 7-Craig Dollansky [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [2]; 4. 9-Joey Saldana [6]; 5. 3C-Cody Lamar [3]; 6. 53-Andy Gregg [8]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 8. 2-B.J. Martin [7]; 9. 18-Travis Jacobson [10]; 10. 25-Jason York [9]; 11. 7Y-Clayton Snow [11].

    Heat 4 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 6-Bill Rose [1]; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [3]; 3. 27-Sean Becker [4]; 4. 11-Steve Kinser [6]; 5. 77-Shane Stewart [2]; 6. 11M-Peter Murphy [7]; 7. 89-Rico Abreu [8]; 8. 33E-Evan Suggs [10]; 9. 21J-Richard Brace [9]; 10. 28B-Adam Brenton [11]; 11. 22-Mason Moore [5].

    Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 27-Sean Becker [1]; 3. 83-Tim Kaeding [5]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 6. 19-Tyler Wolf [7]; 7. 7-Craig Dollansky [9]; 8. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 9. 4-Cody Darrah [8]; 10. 6-Bill Rose [10].

    C-Main – (10 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the B-feature) – 1. 33E-Evan Suggs [6] [-]; 2. 18-Travis Jacobson [5] [-]; 3. 25-Jason York [1] [$150]; 4. 88-Koen Shaw [7] [$125]; 5. 7Y-Clayton Snow [9] [$125]; 6. 28B-Adam Brenton [10] [$100]; 7. 15H-Pat Harvey Jr. [3] [$100]; 8. 6UP-Danielle Simpson [8] [$100]; 9. 21J-Richard Brace [2] [$100]; 10. 26M-Sean McMahan [4] [$100].

    B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2] [-]; 2. 22-Mason Moore [3] [-]; 3. O-Jonathan Allard [4] [-]; 4. 25M-Bobby McMahan [6] [-]; 5. OO-Jason Statler [1] [$200]; 6. 53-Andy Gregg [11] [$180]; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah [14] [$175]; 8. 89-Rico Abreu [12] [$160]; 9. 11M-Peter Murphy [8] [$150]; 10. 18-Travis Jacobson [16] [$150]; 11. 92-Andy Forsburg [9] [$150]; 12. 7K-Kenny Allen [13] [$150]; 13. 2-B.J. Martin [7] [$150]; 14. 33E-Evan Suggs [15] [$150]; 15. O4-Kevin Sharrah [5] [$150]; 16. 36-Steve Tatterson [10] [$150].

    A-Main – (30 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [5] [$8,000]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [1] [$4,000]; 3. 83-Tim Kaeding [3] [$2,500]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [8] [$2,200]; 5. 27-Sean Becker [2] [$2,100]; 6. 6-Bill Rose [10] [$2,000]; 7. 11-Steve Kinser [22] [$1,800]; 8. 121-Shane Golobic [13] [$1,600]; 9. 9-Joey Saldana [21] [$1,500]; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [14] [$1,300]; 11. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [17] [$1,200]; 12. 11K-Kraig Kinser [18] [$1,100]; 13. 63-Chad Kemenah [25] [$400]; 14. 4-Cody Darrah [9] [$700]; 15. 25M-Bobby McMahan [23] [$600]; 16. 77-Shane Stewart [15] [$600]; 17. 3C-Cody Lamar [12] [$600]; 18. 1-Sammy Swindell [4] [$600]; 19. 19-Tyler Wolf [6] [$600]; 20. 7-Craig Dollansky [7] [$600]; 21. 29-Kerry Madsen [24] [$600]; 22. 22-Mason Moore [19] [$600]; 23. O-Jonathan Allard [20] [$600]; 24. 88X-Brad Bumgarner [11] [$600]; 25. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [16] [$600]. Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson 1-10, 13-19; Donny Schatz 11-12, 20-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 11-Steve Kinser [+15].

    59th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions Points (After Night 1)

    1. Donny Schatz, 542; 2. Kyle Larson, 539; 3. Tim Kaeding, 532; 4. Sean Becker, 522; 5. Jason Sides, 521; 6. Bill Rose, 500; 7. Shane Golobic, 494; 8. Lucas Wolfe, 488; 9. Sammy Swindell, 479; 10. Cody Darrah, 473; 11. Steve Kinser, 471; 12. Cody Lamar, 466; 13. Joey Saldana, 465; 14. Kyle Hirst, 464; 15. Tyler Wolf, 462; 16. Shane Stewart, 460; 17. Kraig Kinser, 452; 18. Craig Dollansky, 450; 19. Brad Bumgarner, 448; 20. Bobby McMahan, 432; 21. Jac Haudenschild, 417; 22. Kerry Madsen, 415; 23. Jonathan Allard, 411; 24. Jason Statler, 411; 25. Mason Moore, 402; 26. Andy Gregg, 371; 27. Peter Murphy, 365; 28. Rico Abreu, 358; 29. Kevin Sharrah, 353; 30. Chad Kemenah, 349; 31. Andy Forsburg, 349; 32. B.J. Martin, 345; 33. Kenny Allen, 334; 34. Travis Jacobson, 330; 35. Steve Tatterson, 318; 36. Evan Suggs, 315; 37. Jason York, 285; 38. Koen Shaw, 269; 39. Pat Harvey Jr., 262; 40. Richard Brace, 262; 41. Danielle Simpson, 260; 42. Clayton Snow, 258; 43. Adam Brenton, 255; 44. Sean McMahan, 254.

    World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings

    Pos. Driver

    Total

    Diff

    Wins

    T5

    T10

    QT
    1 Donny Schatz

    7835

    0

    8

    27

    47

    2
    2 Craig Dollansky

    7823

    -12

    7

    31

    44

    8
    3 Sammy Swindell

    7761

    -74

    11

    25

    38

    12
    4 Joey Saldana

    7739

    -96

    5

    20

    43

    9
    5 Steve Kinser

    7716

    -119

    3

    24

    41

    0
    6 Kraig Kinser

    7497

    -338

    4

    18

    35

    5
    7 Cody Darrah

    7317

    -518

    1

    18

    30

    2
    8 Kerry Madsen

    7269

    -566

    5

    12

    31

    1
    9 Chad Kemenah

    7177

    -658

    2

    9

    28

    2
    10 Lucas Wolfe

    6877

    -958

    1

    7

    19

    1
    11 Bill Rose

    6292

    -1543

    0

    0

    10

    0
    12 Jason Sides

    4889

    -2946

    0

    14

    23

    1
    13 Jac Haudenschild

    3024

    -4811

    0

    2

    7

    0
    14 Tim Kaeding

    3007

    -4828

    3

    7

    14

    0
    15 Daryn Pittman

    2537

    -5298

    0

    6

    13

    1
    16 Sam Hafertepe Jr.

    2454

    -5381

    0

    3

    7

    0
    17 Danny Lasoski

    2431

    -5404

    1

    5

    8

    0
    18 David Gravel

    2385

    -5450

    0

    7

    9

    4
    19 Paul McMahan

    2296

    -5539

    1

    2

    3

    0
    20 Stevie Smith

    2276

    -5559

    0

    3

    11

    1
  • World of Outlaws – Upset At Skagit!

    World of Outlaws – Upset At Skagit!

    [media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Well Skagit is in the books. It was exciting. It was thrilling. In the end for one  young man it was magical down right fairy tale if you want to be real honest about it. It is a rare thing that a local driver can come to the greatest show on dirt and beat the greatest drivers in the world. Very Very rare. But that is what happened in Skagit on Saturday Night. Travis Jacobson, a local sprint car driver, took on the best in the world and he beat them in their own show. He didn’t beat them by a hair. He didn’t beat them by fluke circumstances. He flat out ran them.

    Travis Jacobson has established a successful career at Skagit Speedway. He’s won the last three 360 Nationals titles and earned the 360 track championship last season. Jacobson also captured the 410 track title in 2006. But the dream of beating the best had burned in him for a lifetime. “I’m just in awe,” he said wearing an ear-to-ear smile. “I grew up watching guys like Sammy Swindell and Steve Kinser. To be able to compete with those guys is more than a dream come true. Racing has been my passion since I could turn a car, so it’s very, very special to me.”

    Passions run deep but until last night he had never won or even made it into the top 5 in World of Outlaws competition. All that changed in front of a sold out facility, his facility, his fans, his family. For Travis Jacobson taking the cross checkered flags of the Outlaws was a dream come true. He caught a big break on the initial green flag when pole sitter Kerry Madsen jumped the start and was penalized a row, putting Jacobson on the pole for the green flag. When the green flag fell, he never looked back. “That was definitely a big break,” he said. “I hadn’t had a chance to run behind anybody yet, so I don’t know how the dirty air would have affected us. It’s always better to be out front. I want to say I would have been able to do just as good, but you never know.”

    4 time World of Outlaws Champion, Donny Schatz would come home second. Oddly enough, Schatz helped Jacobson to get started in sprint car competition with a first car. Fittingly enough he would challenge his young protege several times but couldn’t quite make the pass for the lead. “He made 35 great laps and I’m happy for him,” Schatz said after finishing second. “I threw everything I had at it and I had a great car, it was just a second-place car tonight.”

    Coming home in third place was track record holder, and the fastest man in Skagit history and Quick Time setter for the night, Jason Sides. “I don’t think there was anybody that was going to catch him,” Sides said of Jacobson. “He was running his own race and out front. We’re racing kind of each other. Donny’s trying to catch him. I’m trying to catch Donny. It’s just one of those things where he’s got the open track and can kinda go where he needs to go.”

    Kerry Madsen would come home 4th after winning the dash for the pole of the main, but jumping the start on the initial green flag. Madsen would take 2nd on the start but lose it when Donny Schatz drove around the outside off turn 4 midway through the race. Points leader Craig Dollansky would come home 5th and maintain the points lead over Schatz by 44 points. That is the largest points lead anyone has had all year. Schatz holds a very slight 1 point advantage over Sammy Swindell.

    For the second night in a row, Jac Haudenschild gave his fans something to cheer for by coming home in the top 10. Haudenschild who is one of the old school guard of the World of Outlaws, demonstrated how he got there by starting 13th and finishing 7th. Haudenschild who spreads his season across various sprint car series will be with the tour through the West Coast Swing. His schedule after that has not been published.

    The KSE Hard Charger of the race was California’s Tim Kaeding who started the race in the 17th spot and finished in the 10th spot.

    Other notables in the race were Sammy Swindell who was running in the 3rd spot when he had a tire go down and restarted at the back of the field. Swindell would rally to finish 12th. Steve Kinser who was in a brand new car after a wild tumble on Friday night, struggled with the new piece all evening. But struggling for the King of the Outlaws means he finished 11th instead of the top 5 or 10. Kraig Kinser was fast and determined after being involved in the crash that took out he and his father the night before, but the night seemed destined from the beginning to be a struggle. Kraig who changed an engine after blowing a motor in the heat race, but holding on to win, would have that new motor let go in a big way early in the Feature.

    Dreams and passion are powerful things when they burn inside a determined individual. They can lift you up out of the darkness and they can move the mountains out of the road. For Travis Jacobson, the mountains were huge they were standards of the sport that he loves. They were legends and icons who set the bar high for all those that will follow them. The odds were not in his favor. He knew that. But the thrill of competing against and with his heroes drove him to persevere. And as the saying goes the rest is history. Because in racing, regardless of genre or surface, one constant is always there, on any given day, on given track, anyone can win. Last night was Travis Jacobson’s night. Today is a new day, but the fire of speed burn brighter and hotter with him and where they will lead him only time will tell.

    _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Qualifying – 1. 7S-Jason Sides, 11.170; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.193; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell, 11.233; 4. 9-Joey Saldana, 11.295; 5. 18-Travis Jacobson, 11.340; 6. 63-Chad Kemenah, 11.399; 7. 4-Cody Darrah, 11.419; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.422; 9. 29-Kerry Madsen, 11.437; 10. 7-Craig Dollansky, 11.453; 11. 6-Bill Rose, 11.481; 12. 18H-Jac Haudenschild, 11.492; 13. 57-Shane Stewart, 11.524; 14. 26-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 11.544; 15. 4X-Toni Lutar, 11.554; 16. O-Jonathan Allard, 11.557; 17. 11-Steve Kinser, 11.564; 18. 83-Tim Kaeding, 11.661; 19. 88-Jesse Whitney, 11.705; 20. 39C-Travis Rilat, 11.730; 21. 7X-Kevin Smith, 11.757; 22. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 11.762; 23. 17J-Jayme Barnes, 11.763; 24. 44-Daniel Anderson, 11.783; 25. 55-Trey Starks, 11.858; 26. 33-Colton Heath, 11.915; 27. 8X-Jonathan Jorgenson, 12.206; 28. 2W-Wheeler Boys, 12.345.

    Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 7-Craig Dollansky [1]; 2. 9-Joey Saldana [3]; 3. 57-Shane Stewart [5]; 4. 4-Cody Darrah [2]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [4]; 6. O-Jonathan Allard [6]; 7. 88-Jesse Whitney [7]; 8. 55-Trey Starks [9]; 9. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [8]; 10. 2W-Wheeler Boys [10].

    Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 3. 18-Travis Jacobson [3]; 4. 11-Steve Kinser [6]; 5. 39C-Travis Rilat [7]; 6. 26-Sam Hafertepe Jr [5]; 7. 33-Colton Heath [9]; 8. 6-Bill Rose [1]; 9. 17J-Jayme Barnes [8].

    Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [2]; 2. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [1]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah [3]; 5. 83-Tim Kaeding [6]; 6. 4X-Toni Lutar [5]; 7. 8X-Jonathan Jorgenson [9]; 8. 7X-Kevin Smith [7]; 9. 44-Daniel Anderson [8].

    Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 3. 18-Travis Jacobson [4]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah [3]; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell [6]; 6. 9-Joey Saldana [5]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides [8]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [7]; 9. 7-Craig Dollansky [9]; 10. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [10].

    B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 55-Trey Starks [7] [-]; 2. 7X-Kevin Smith [3] [-]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [4] [-]; 4. 88-Jesse Whitney [2] [-]; 5. 8X-Jonathan Jorgenson [9] [-]; 6. 33-Colton Heath [8] [-]; 7. 6-Bill Rose [1] [$200]; 8. 44-Daniel Anderson [6] [$180]; 9. 2W-Wheeler Boys [10] [$175]; 10. 17J-Jayme Barnes [5] [$160].

    A-Main – (35 Laps) – 1. 18-Travis Jacobson [3] [$12,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [8] [$5,700]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [7] [$3,500]; 4. 29-Kerry Madsen [1] [$3,000]; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky [9] [$2,600]; 6. 4-Cody Darrah [11] [$2,400]; 7. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [10] [$2,300]; 8. 63-Chad Kemenah [4] [$2,200]; 9. 9-Joey Saldana [6] [$2,150]; 10. 83-Tim Kaeding [17] [$2,100]; 11. 11-Steve Kinser [16] [$1,600]; 12. 1-Sammy Swindell [5] [$1,350]; 13. 88-Jesse Whitney [18] [$1,300]; 14. 26-Sam Hafertepe Jr [13] [$1,200]; 15. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [21] [$1,100]; 16. 55-Trey Starks [22] [$1,000]; 17. 39C-Travis Rilat [19] [$900]; 18. 33-Colton Heath [24] [$850]; 19. 8X-Jonathan Jorgenson [23] [$800]; 20. 57-Shane Stewart [12] [$800]; 21. 7X-Kevin Smith [20] [$800]; 22. 4X-Toni Lutar [14] [$800]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2] [$800]; 24. O-Jonathan Allard [15] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Travis Jacobson 1-35. KSE Hard Charger Award: 83-Tim Kaeding [+7].

    World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings

    Pos. Driver

    Total

    Diff

    Wins

    T5

    T10

    QT
    1 Craig Dollansky

    7577

    0

    7

    31

    43

    8
    2 Donny Schatz

    7533

    -44

    7

    25

    45

    2
    3 Sammy Swindell

    7532

    -45

    11

    25

    38

    11
    4 Joey Saldana

    7462

    -115

    5

    19

    41

    8
    5 Steve Kinser

    7450

    -127

    3

    24

    39

    0
    6 Kraig Kinser

    7248

    -329

    4

    18

    35

    5
    7 Cody Darrah

    7061

    -516

    1

    18

    29

    2
    8 Kerry Madsen

    7011

    -566

    4

    11

    30

    1
    9 Chad Kemenah

    6915

    -662

    2

    9

    27

    2
    10 Lucas Wolfe

    6619

    -958

    1

    7

    18

    1
    11 Bill Rose

    6036

    -1541

    0

    0

    9

    0
    12 Jason Sides

    4747

    -2830

    0

    13

    22

    1
    13 Jac Haudenschild

    2790

    -4787

    0

    2

    6

    0
    14 Tim Kaeding

    2721

    -4856

    3

    5

    12

    0
    15 Daryn Pittman

    2537

    -5040

    0

    6

    13

    1
    16 Sam Hafertepe Jr.

    2454

    -5123

    0

    3

    7

    0
    17 Danny Lasoski

    2431

    -5146

    1

    5

    8

    0
    18 David Gravel

    2385

    -5192

    0

    7

    9

    4
    19 Paul McMahan

    2296

    -5281

    1

    2

    3

    0
    20 Stevie Smith

    2276

    -5301

    0

    3

    11

    1
  • Swindell streak ends at two in Skagit

    Swindell streak ends at two in Skagit

    [media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]Once Kerry Madsen crossed the finish line with the checkered flag waving behind him, it was safe to breathe. Up to that point, not so much.

    Five drivers had a bid for the victory end in contact or mechanical failure during World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series action on Friday evening at Skagit Speedway, which wraps up the Outlaws schedule in Washington on Saturday. Opening Ceremonies are slated for 7 p.m.

    Madsen overcame a near mess of his own after colliding with Donny Schatz for the lead on a restart en route to his fourth World of Outlaws feature win of the season.

    “Any of these races is tough to win,” Madsen said. “When you get around the front five, there’s not a lot of give and take. Luckily we had track position.”

    The front row starters battled side by side for the opening lap before Schatz edged Madsen at the line to lead the first lap. He maintained the advantage as the drivers entered traffic on lap six. However, Cody Darrah spun in turn two on lap 11 to cause the first caution of the race.

    Attrition to cars in the top five began to take its toll on the restart as fourth-running Tim Kaeding pulled to the infield following an engine issue around the same time there was contact for the lead.

    As Schatz and Madsen took the green flag and raced toward turn one, a slight collision occurred near the flag stand. The contact was enough to flatten the left rear tire for Schatz, who dropped several positions before stopping on the frontstretch on lap 13 for a caution.

    “It was very close,” Madsen said. “Unfortunately we banged wheels. Donny’s a great racer and he’s renowned for being clean, so really unfortunate for him. I hate that happened for him.”

    Schatz’s crew changed the tire and he restarted 19th, but the attrition continued. Shane Stewart, who advanced to second for the restart, began to challenge Madsen for the lead when a broken rear end sent him to the infield on lap 16.

    The drivers entered traffic on lap 22 before trouble struck for a pair of top-five drivers. With three laps remaining, Trey Starks spun on the frontstretch in front of the leaders. Kraig Kinser and his father, Steve Kinser, were nearly side by side in a battle for third place when both collided with Starks.

    Kraig Kinser smashed into Starks’ car, which had spun around backwards, head on and Steve Kinser caught the left rear tire of Kraig Kinser’s car. The contact forced Steve Kinser’s car to tip over, which ended his night with an 18th-place result. Kraig Kinser was also done and credited with 17 th.

    That gave Sammy Swindell a final chance at recording his third consecutive win and he nearly pulled it off. Swindell, who started on the outside of Madsen on the double-file restart, dove to the bottom in turns one and two. However, Madsen’s momentum on the high groove exiting turn two proved just enough to give him the edge going into turn three.

    “We got close, but I wasn’t expecting him to go to the bottom in (turn) three,” Swindell said after finishing second. “He changed directions and kinda went down there and shut down. I got in a little too low and gave him a little chance. But you gotta do whatever you can. He was in the right place.”

    The runner-up performance was Swindell’s fifth top-two finish in the seven races since the Goodyear Knoxville Nationals.

    The attrition also helped Craig Dollansky secure his 10th podium finish in the last 14 points events.

    “There was a lot of banging wheels and cars were a little bit everywhere, but sometimes some of these races you just have to try to survive them,” said Dollansky, who maintained his championship points lead. “We didn’t have a real good car. We were kinda hanging in there at best, but we’ll go to work on that tomorrow.”

    Jac Haudenschild charged from 13th to fourth and Chad Kemenah placed fifth. Travis Jacobson ended sixth and Travis Rilat earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after piloting from 22nd to seventh. Joey Saldana was eighth, Jason Sides ninth and Bill Rose rounded out the top 10 after starting 19th.

    Schatz rallied to finish 11th, while Stewart and Kaeding were scored 20th and 24th, respectively, after their early challenges for the win ended with mechanical failures.

    Skagit Speedway Night 1 Statistical Report

    A-Main – (25 Laps) – 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [1] [$8,000]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [4] [$4,000]; 3. 7-Craig Dollansky [5] [$2,500]; 4. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [13] [$2,200]; 5. 63-Chad Kemenah [10] [$2,100]; 6. 18-Travis Jacobson [8] [$2,000]; 7. 39C-Travis Rilat [22] [$1,800]; 8. 9-Joey Saldana [11] [$1,600]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [9] [$1,500]; 10. 6-Bill Rose [19] [$1,300]; 11. 15-Donny Schatz [2] [$1,200]; 12. 26-Sam Hafertepe Jr [24] [$1,100]; 13. 4-Cody Darrah [17] [$1,000]; 14. 59-Eric Fisher Jr [16] [$700]; 15. 4X-Toni Lutar [20] [$600]; 16. 17J-Jayme Barnes [21] [$600]; 17. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7] [$600]; 18. 11-Steve Kinser [12] [$600]; 19. 55-Trey Starks [23] [$600]; 20. 57-Shane Stewart [3] [$600]; 21. O-Jonathan Allard [15] [$600]; 22. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [14] [$600]; 23. 98M-Mitch Olson [18] [$600]; 24. 83-Tim Kaeding [6] [$600]. Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-10, Kerry Madsen 11-25. KSE Hard Charger Award: 39C-Travis Rilat [+15].

    Qualifying – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell, 11.329; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.356; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.370; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky, 11.389; 5. 9-Joey Saldana, 11.409; 6. 11-Steve Kinser, 11.421; 7. 57-Shane Stewart, 11.468; 8. 29-Kerry Madsen, 11.474; 9. 63-Chad Kemenah, 11.495; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 11.522; 11. 18-Travis Jacobson, 11.532; 12. 83-Tim Kaeding, 11.545; 13. 18H-Jac Haudenschild, 11.597; 14. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 11.635; 15. O-Jonathan Allard, 11.645; 16. 59-Eric Fisher Jr, 11.648; 17. 4-Cody Darrah, 11.650; 18. 55-Trey Starks, 11.677; 19. 98M-Mitch Olson, 11.696; 20. 6-Bill Rose, 11.696; 21. 4X-Toni Lutar, 11.727; 22. 17J-Jayme Barnes, 11.790; 23. 88-Jesse Whitney, 11.792; 24. 39C-Travis Rilat, 11.813; 25. 33-Colton Heath, 11.871; 26. 7X-Kevin Smith, 11.883; 27. 8X-Jonathan Jorgenson, 11.986; 28. 87-Liam Ryan, 12.159; 29. 44-Daniel Anderson, 12.328; 30. 2W-Wheeler Boys, 12.767; 31. 26-Sam Hafertepe Jr, No Time.

    Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 7S-Jason Sides [1]; 2. 57-Shane Stewart [2]; 3. 7-Craig Dollansky [3]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 5. 18H-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 6. 98M-Mitch Olson [7]; 7. 17J-Jayme Barnes [8]; 8. 59-Eric Fisher Jr [6]; 9. 33-Colton Heath [9]; 10. 26-Sam Hafertepe Jr [11].

    Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 18-Travis Jacobson [1]; 2. 29-Kerry Madsen [2]; 3. 9-Joey Saldana [3]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [5]; 6. 6-Bill Rose [7]; 7. 7X-Kevin Smith [9]; 8. 4-Cody Darrah [6]; 9. 88-Jesse Whitney [8]; 10. 44-Daniel Anderson [10].

    Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 83-Tim Kaeding [1]; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah [2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 11-Steve Kinser [3]; 5. O-Jonathan Allard [5]; 6. 4X-Toni Lutar [7]; 7. 55-Trey Starks [6]; 8. 39C-Travis Rilat [8]; 9. 8X-Jonathan Jorgenson [9]; 10. 2W-Wheeler Boys [10].

    Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 3. 57-Shane Stewart [2]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell [6]; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky [3]; 6. 83-Tim Kaeding [10]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 8. 18-Travis Jacobson [9]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [8]; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah [7].

    B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 59-Eric Fisher Jr [1] [-]; 2. 17J-Jayme Barnes [4] [-]; 3. 4-Cody Darrah [2] [-]; 4. 39C-Travis Rilat [6] [-]; 5. 55-Trey Starks [3] [-]; 6. 26-Sam Hafertepe Jr [12] [-]; 7. 88-Jesse Whitney [5] [$200]; 8. 33-Colton Heath [7] [$180]; 9. 7X-Kevin Smith [8] [$175]; 10. 8X-Jonathan Jorgenson [9] [$160]; 11. 2W-Wheeler Boys [11] [$150]; 12. 44-Daniel Anderson [10] [$150]; 13. 87-Liam Ryan [13] [$150].

    World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings

    Pos. Driver

    Total

    Diff

    Wins

    T5

    T10

    QT
    1 Craig Dollansky

    7437

    0

    7

    30

    42

    8
    2 Sammy Swindell

    7403

    -34

    11

    25

    38

    11
    3 Donny Schatz

    7383

    -54

    7

    24

    44

    2
    4 Joey Saldana

    7328

    -109

    5

    19

    40

    8
    5 Steve Kinser

    7322

    -115

    3

    24

    39

    0
    6 Kraig Kinser

    7144

    -293

    4

    18

    35

    5
    7 Cody Darrah

    6923

    -514

    1

    18

    28

    2
    8 Kerry Madsen

    6869

    -568

    4

    10

    29

    1
    9 Chad Kemenah

    6781

    -656

    2

    9

    26

    2
    10 Lucas Wolfe

    6499

    -938

    1

    7

    18

    1
    11 Bill Rose

    5961

    -1476

    0

    0

    9

    0
    12 Jason Sides

    4598

    -2839

    0

    12

    21

    0
    13 Jac Haudenschild

    2654

    -4783

    0

    2

    5

    0
    14 Tim Kaeding

    2591

    -4846

    3

    5

    11

    0
    15 Daryn Pittman

    2537

    -4900

    0

    6

    13

    1
    16 Danny Lasoski

    2431

    -5006

    1

    5

    8

    0
    17 David Gravel

    2385

    -5052

    0

    7

    9

    4
    18 Sam Hafertepe Jr.

    2332

    -5105

    0

    3

    7

    0
    19 Paul McMahan

    2296

    -5141

    1

    2

    3

    0
    20 Stevie Smith

    2276

    -5161

    0

    3

    11

    1
  • BRANDON JONES TO MAKE NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES DEBUT DRIVING FOR ESR AT GREENVILLE PICKENS SPEEDWAY

    BRANDON JONES TO MAKE NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES DEBUT DRIVING FOR ESR AT GREENVILLE PICKENS SPEEDWAY

    ESR Development Driver to Make K&N Pro Series East Debut on Labor Day

    DENVER, N.C. (August 29, 2012) – Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) development driver Brandon Jones will make his first appearance in a NASCAR-sanctioned event when he makes his debut in the K&N Pro Series East on September 3 at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway. Weeks after winning his first United Auto Racing Association (UARA) STARS Series race at Concord (N.C.) Speedway, 15-year-old Jones will take the next step up the racing ladder as he competes in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 at the historic half-mile speedway on Labor Day evening.

    “I can’t wait to race at Greenville Pickens Speedway this weekend,” commented Jones. “From getting my first UARA win to making my K&N Pro Series debut, this year has been awesome. All the guys at Eddie Sharp Racing have done a great job all season giving me the equipment that I need to run competitively week after week at all the levels in which we’ve competed. The K&N Series is super competitive and will be challenging, but I’m excited and ready to take another step in my racing career. There are a lot of talented drivers on the entry list and it’s sure to be tough race, but I have confidence that me and my No. 33 ESR team are ready to take on this challenge.”

    Jones joined ESR in January 2012 after securing track championships in the pro truck division at Lanier (Ga.) Speedway and Gresham (Ga.) Motorsports Park in 2011. In addition to running select super late model and pro late model events across the Southeast, Jones has been competing for the Rookie of the Year title in the UARA-STARS Series.

    “We’ve had a really great season so far with Brandon,” commented Eddie Sharp. “As an owner, it’s been very exciting and rewarding for me to watch Brandon grow as a driver and find success as he moves up the ranks. We know Brandon is a talented racecar driver, and we’re really looking forward to seeing what he can do this weekend at Greenville Pickens Speedway.”

    Race day for the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 will kick off with two 45-minute practice sessions (11 a.m. ET and 12:15 p.m. ET), followed by qualifying at 4 p.m. and a driver autograph session at 4:45 p.m. ET on Labor Day. The day will culminate with the running of the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140; the field will take the green flag at 6 p.m. ET on Monday, September 3rd. Tickets are still available to see the action live at Greenville Pickens Speedway, or fans can watch a tape-delayed broadcast of the race on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 13.

    About Eddie Sharp Racing

    Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) (TeamESR.com) is a championship winning racing team housed in a 45,000 square-foot facility in Denver, N.C. After getting its start in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Racing Series, ESR has accumulated upwards of 20 race wins, the 2009 ARCA Racing Series Championship, and countless top-five and top-10 finishes in just five years of competition. By 2010, ESR began to make the transition into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) with a partial schedule before racing in the series full-time in 2011. By 2012, the team expanded to be a multi-truck team and secured its first victory in just the team’s 35th NCWTS race. Additionally, ESR continues to build its driver development program fielding various drivers in the ARCA Racing Series, the United Auto Racing Association (UARA) STARS Series and other late model events across the southeast.

    at Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina on April 13, 2012.

     

  • Top Female Drivers in ARCA CRA Super Series at Flat Rock September 8

    Top Female Drivers in ARCA CRA Super Series at Flat Rock September 8

    [media-credit name=”arcaracing.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit](FLAT ROCK, Mich.) – Two of the top female stock car drivers in America are slated to compete at Flat Rock Speedway Saturday night, September 8, when the ARCA CRA Super Series late models make their first appearance at the quarter-mile paved oval in the 7-Up 125.

    Kenzie Ruston of El Reno, OK and Becca Kasten of Mequon, WI have some very impressive credentials. Ruston, at the age of 20, is currently 2nd in the ARCA/CRA point standings while Becca sits in the third spot as the season winds down for the short track Late Model tour.

    Kenzie began her racing career in the Bandolero cars at the age of 14. The Legends Cars Series was next for Kenzie, where again she was very competitive at the age of 16. In 2009, Ruston won 7 championships in the Legends Series and became the first female driver to win the Asphalt National Legends Series. With much of her racing taking place at Texas Motor Speedway, Kenzie was voted Driver of the Year and participated in the “Women of the Winner’s Circle”, which was created by nationally-recognized female driver Lyn St. James. The display promotes women in racing.

    In 2010, Ruston moved to the full-bodied stock cars, competing in the Pro All Star (PASS) Southern division, racking up multiple top ten finishes and gained respect of her fellow competitors. Despite missing 2 races, Kenzie finished 12th in the final point standings.

    The next season saw Ruston make the jump into the spotlight of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards stock cars. She competed in 4 ARCA events and became the first female to lead laps and finish in the top 10 in her debut race. Kenzie also became the fist female to ever qualify for an ARCA/CRA Super Series event. At the end of the 2011 season, Ruston became the first female to win a CRA contest, which took place at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, IN. And she started her day by setting fast time in qualifying for the event.

    Becca Kasten, also now 20 years old, entered the racing scene at the age of 16, starting in a full-bodied Late Model. She toured the short tracks of the Midwest for 3 seasons from 2007-2009. She became the first female to win a Late Model race at Madison, WI International Raceway and also at Wisconsin International Raceway. Wins at Rockford, IL, Dells, WI Raceway Park and Golden Sands, WI sent notice that Kasten had the credentials to become a successful racer.

    For the 2010 season, Becca was selected to compete in the Revolution Racing and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program, all while being enrolled at Marquette University as a sophomore. Becca put school on hold and moved to North Carolina to pursue the Revolution program, where she collected 6-top 3 finishes.

    There’s no place like Florida in February to win a race! Becca did just that in 2011, winning a Late Model feature at the World Series of Stock Car Racing at the New Smyrna Speedway, along with 3 consecutive second place finishes in the 9 nights of racing. For her exploits, Becca has landed the driver role on the Car # 51 BDI Racing Cars team fielded by SPEED broadcaster Bob Dillner and continues to compete across the Midwest, in addition to her commitment to the ARCA/CRA Super Series. Becca enjoys golf, fishing and hockey in her spare time.

    Flat Rock’s Saturday, September 8 schedule has practice from 3:30 to 4:30 for the ARCA/CRA machines, with time trials at 5:30. Big Wheel races for the kids will take place at 6, an on-track autograph session with Ruston, Kasten and all the ARCA/CRA drivers will take place at 6:30 and the green flag will drop just after 7 p.m.

    Tickets may be purchased online at www.flatrockspeedway.com. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/toledoflatrock or follow us on Twitter @flatrockspeed. The track is located on Telegraph Road, 5 miles from I-75 or I-275. The track phone number is 734-782-2480.

    Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.

  • Chase Elliott Finally on Familiar Territory in Return Trip to Salem Speedway for Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic September 15

    Chase Elliott Finally on Familiar Territory in Return Trip to Salem Speedway for Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic September 15

    (TOLEDO, Ohio) – For the most part, the tracks on the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards tour are all brand new to Chase Elliott.

    That said, his results so far have been impressive: a career-best second-place finish in his road course debut at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and a next-to-best fourth place finish on the very challenging Salem Speedway short track back in April. In fact, in five ARCA starts so far, he has not yet finished out of the top-10.

    And when the 16-year-old son of NASCAR champion Bill Elliott returns to Salem Speedway for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic presented by Federated Car Care Saturday night, September 15, he’ll finally be on familiar ground.

    “It’s going to help a lot,” Elliott said.

    “I’ve thought about this a lot. We had a good time last time we were at Salem, and we’ve made a lot of improvements for when we go back. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be fun.”

    Elliott admits the historic old short track in southern Indiana is like no other.

    “I had heard so much about it, but I had no idea of what to really expect. I thought that it can’t be that bad, but I found out it’s very challenging. It’s rough and you’re busy all the time whether you’re racing someone or not.

    “It reminds me of a smaller Darlington with some Winchester (Speedway) mixed in, but in reality, it just doesn’t compare to anywhere.”

    Elliott also said, when it comes to Salem, he’s all for listening to advice from veterans, specifically Frank Kimmel, who’s won at Salem a record nine times.

    “I’m all for listening to the guys who have a lot of experience there, guys like Frank Kimmel who have so many laps around that place. Anything Frank Kimmel says I’m going to listen to, no matter where we’re at.

    “But like everywhere else, it’ll come down to how the race plays out, when you get the cautions, and being able to make good calls on the spot.”

    Fortunately for Elliott, he’ll have the experience of veteran crew chief Lance McGrew calling the shots from pit road. McGrew brings to the table vast experience, having worked with some of the most recognizable drivers in stock car racing, including Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., to name a few.

    So, with one Salem race on his resume and McGrew helping steer the ship, Elliott has every reason to believe he can win.

    “Absolutely. I’d stay home if I didn’t think we can win. We’re going to be in a super car – the Aaron’s Dream Machine/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet with great support from a lot of very knowledgeable people. It’s going to be a good time. I’m really looking forward to this.”

    Practice for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic is scheduled from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m., with a final practice to follow from 1:45 to 2:30. Menards Pole Award Qualifying presented by Ansell is at 4. The Salem Street Stocks will get the racing action started with a 50-lap feature event at 5:30, followed by the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic at 7:15.

    ARCA Celebrating 60th Anniversary Season

    2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

    The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 26 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.375 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time.

    Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.

  • Briscoe claims Sonoma victory, Power surges towards championship

    Briscoe claims Sonoma victory, Power surges towards championship

    With another chapter in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship complete we are now beginning to see the final stages of the campaign draw even closer.

    Ryan Briscoe capitalized on a great opportunity Sunday afternoon at Infineon Raceway to earn his first win in over two years.  Will Power dominated the first half of the race, but on lap 64, things went amiss.  As Power was in the pits, a caution flew for a collision with Josef Newgarden and Sebastian Bourdais.  The pits remained open under caution and Briscoe was able to pit the next time by.  Due to an unknown mishap in Powers pit stop, Briscoe exited his stall and beat out his Penske Racing teammate to the blend line, inheriting the lead.

    [media-credit name=”indycar.com” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]From then on, Briscoe held off a charging Will Power for two more restarts, enabling himself to enter victory lane for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.

    “It feels so good to win here in Sonoma.  I got my first ever pole here back in ’05 and I’ve been so close the last sort of 4 years, 5 years and finally to get the win.  It was a good battle at the end there with Will and Dario.”  Briscoe stated after the race.

    Power’s #12 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet might have come across the finish line second after spending most of the day in the lead, but the Australian racer still heads to Baltimore on a positive note.  Coming into the Sonoma round bearing only a 5 point lead over Ryan Hunter-Reay, Power exits wine country with a 36 point advantage over Hunter-Reay.

    “It was a good day for us, points wise.  I feel bad for Hunter-Reay, he obviously got taken out.  That definitely hurts considering he had such a good drive up to third place.”  Says Power.

    While Power leaves Sonoma with momentum, Hunter-Reay enters Baltimore in desperate search of it with only two rounds remaining in the championship.

    Since Hunter-Reay’s summer hot streak of three consecutive wins, the Andretti Autosport driver has posted a best finish of 7th in Edmonton.  Of the three races since his last win (Edmonton, Mid-Ohio, and Sonoma) two of them have been DNF’s.  Hunter-Reay has seen his 34 point lead in the championship completely reverse course, he now trails the lead of Will Power by 36 points.

    The frustration was very evident on Hunter-Reay’s face after the race.

    “I can’t tell you how frustrated I am after the engine problems last week.  I ran so hard all day, I pushed so hard to get from seventh to third.  We had a great car for the end and it’s just usual Tag, he’s thinking right in front of himself rather than 10 feet, 15 feet ahead. ”

    Alex Tagliani was not hesitant to stand up to the events that took place on track when questioned about it after the race.

    “I take full responsibility. You know, I’m out there racing and I had a good run on Dario…It’s not that I’m not thinking about it (the championship) but I’m not going to lift either just because I don’t want to pass anybody and I’m afraid, and then get passed!”  Tagliani said.

    The series now heads straight to the east coast for the Grand Prix of Baltimore around the streets of Camden Yards this weekend, September 2nd.  Two weeks after that will be the season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California with the MAVTV 500.

    Will Power will be the man everyone is watching this weekend as he looks to claim his first IndyCar Championship.  The main storyline to follow in the coming races will be if Power can shake the monkey off his back.  Recall, in 2010 and 2011 Power finished second in the points behind Dario Franchitti.  In 2011, the deficit was 18 points.  In 2010, a mere 5 points separated Power from his first title.  Both the previous two seasons Will earned two more victories than the eventual championship winner, Franchitti.

  • JARRAD WHISSELL TOUGHS IT OUT IN MONTREAL

    JARRAD WHISSELL TOUGHS IT OUT IN MONTREAL

    August 18, 2012. Montreal, Que. – Jarrad Whissell toughed out the NAPA Autopro 100 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday after minor contact set him back a few laps early on in the race.

     

    Whissell and his team had a few issues with the #44 SMS Equipment/Komatsu Chevrolet early in practice. They worked quickly to overcome problems with handling, back shock and an oil leak before the qualifying laps. Despite repairs hindering practice laps, Whissell was still the fastest in his qualifying group, earning him the 19th starting position.

     

    Once the race kicked off Whissell felt the car was strong and was settling in to working his way through the field.  He had a good battle with the 42, swapping positions a couple of times.  Then he made a move to pass the 21 into corner 7, the two cars bumped and Whissell ended up with a bent tierod that required a trip to pit lane to repair.  “We didn’t hit very hard, but ended up bending the tie rod and the car was tough to handle. I just couldn’t drive it like that,” Whissell explained. “It is too bad, I thought the car was handling well and if we picked our way through the field we had a top 10 car.”

     

    The pit stop cost #44 and his team three laps.

     

    After shaking off the trouble in lap 4, Whissell soldiered on and showed good pace. Towards the end of the race a couple of cautions were called, giving #44 a free pass which he hoped would get him back on track with the lead lap. Those efforts should garner Whissell the Vtech Free pass contingency award for the event.

     

    Despite showing good speed after recovering, Whissell fell short of regaining the lost ground and concluded the NAPA Autopro 100 in 27th place.

     

    “The car wasn’t great at the end but it was driveable,” Whissell said after the race. “I thought we’d be able to compete for a decent finish if we were able to get that lap back.”

     

    Whissell is hoping to compete again this year in final event at Kawartha Speedway in Fraserville, Ontario.

     

    Follow the progress of the team and help support the Children’s Miracle Network through the team website www.jarradwhissell.com  You can also support the Children’s Miracle Network by Following Whissell on Twitter or liking Whissell Motorsports on Facebook.  The team will donate $1 for each twitter follower and Facebook like they receive between now and December 2012.  The donation will max out at half of the price money Whissell receives this Season in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Follow Jarrad on twitter, @JarradWhissell and like them on Facebook, Whissell Motorsports. Fans can watch all of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races again this year on TSN.

  • FPR COTF JOINS ECOBOOST FAMILY

    FPR COTF JOINS ECOBOOST FAMILY

    22, August 2012

    Ford Performance Racing’s first Car of the Future (COTF) Falcon will run in Ford’s EcoBoost motorsport livery when it takes to the track joining other Ford squads around the world currently running the colour scheme including teams in NASCAR and the World Rally Championship.

    EcoBoost is Ford’s latest engine technology which is now available in Australia in the locally-built Falcon, Mondeo and the soon to be released Focus ST.

    EcoBoost engines combine direct injection, turbocharging and variable valve timing to maximise performance and torque while improving fuel economy and reducing CO2 emissions.

    Ford Australia motorsport boss Graham Barrie says having Ford’s factory team running the global EcoBoost livery highlights the importance of the company’s V8 Supercar program.

    “EcoBoost is the future of Ford’s engine technology globally so it makes sense that we use Car of the Future (COTF), the future of V8 Supercars, as our platform to promote it,” Barrie said.

    “Ford Performance Racing’s first Falcon COTF will carry the same EcoBoost livery that all of Ford Racing’s official teams around the globe have run throughout the month of August.

    “This further aligns our V8 Supercar program with Ford’s global motorsport plan and places it alongside the likes of NASCAR and the World Rally Championship.”

    The striking white, black and blue livery will adorn the factory team’s COTF chassis during its test phase before FPR unveils its 2013 racing colours early next year.

    FPR Team Principal Tim Edwards says the new look coincides with a new era for the team and V8 Supercars as a whole.

    “The impending debut of our first COTF Falcon coincides with an important time for Ford globally as the company rolls out more and more models featuring EcoBoost technology,” Edwards said.

    “By running our test program in Ford’s EcoBoost motorsport colours we are not only showcasing our team and category to the world, but also showing we are an important part of Ford’s racing program.

    “It is also appropriate that we are running it on our Falcon at the same time road-going Falcons with EcoBoost engines are being produced just across the road from our workshop.”

    FPR drivers Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison are second and third in the Driver points ahead of this weekend’s Sydney Motorsport Park 300 at Eastern Creek.

    Visit www.ford.com.au for more information on EcoBoost and www.v8supercars.com.au/COTF for more information on the Car of the Future program.