Tag: Tim Kaeding

  • Kaeding Beats Schatz with a last lap Slide Job!

    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 17th 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

  • 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

  • Dollansky Gets #50 at Lebanon Valley

    Dollansky Gets #50 at Lebanon Valley

    [media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Racing is all about numbers. The cars have numbers. The drivers are known by their numbers. Laps are timed and posted for positioning in numbers. It’s always better to draw a low number than a high number in racing. Careers are judged by the number of wins and championships. Racing is a game of math the simplest being adding to the win column to improve one’s overall position in the points so as to add another or a first championship to your resume. Tonight Craig Dollansky achieved a milestone when he won his 50th A Main event with the World of Outlaws.

    The evening at Lebanon Valley, NY, saw an unusually low car count for the Outlaws, with only 23 cars signing in for tonight’s racing. With all the cars in attendance transferring to the A Main qualifying became even more important than normal. A driver’s qualifying time would determine where he would start the A Main if he didn’t transfer to the dash. Craig Dollansky set the pace early turning a lap of 16.582 or 130.262 mph around the semi banked 1/2 mile track. Dollansky’s lap was just .229 seconds off the track record of 16.353 set by Danny Lasoski on 5/27/03. The top 10 would be separated by only .658 seconds.

    The first heat race brought trouble for last nights winner Cody Darrah as he had an engine let go early on, relegating him to last place in the heat. The race would be won by Jessica Zemken who held off a charging Craig Dollansky and Kraig Kinser. The heat would also find the seeming slump continuing for 4 time world of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz who finished a distant 5th.

    The second heat held perhaps one of the truest illustrations of the level of skill that is possessed in the Outlaws series when Sammy Swindell dropped a cylinder on the pace laps and still held off the field to finish second. Logan Schuchart would win the race but the skills it took to run just hard enough to make it to the end and not so hard as to blow the engine up required not only the technical expertise with the engine but also the driving skills to make up for the horsepower that he didn’t have but that the other competitors did. Lucas Wolfe would push Swindell hard but he couldn’t find a way around the wily master and had to settle for 3rd.

    The third heat would be won by Tim Kaeding with Joey Saldana in pursuit all the way to the checkers. The pair set sail and left 3rd place Chad Kemenah in their wake.

    The Dash was a different situation tonight with so few cars. The top 2 from each heat still transferred to the Dash. But the other 4 cars had to have finished in the top 6 of their heat in order to be eligible for the Dash. But there would be another bump in the road for 2 of the Dash competitors. Jessica Zemken and Bill Rose both had right rear tire damage. According to Outlaws rules you can not change the Right rear tire before the dash. Neither competitor had a choice in changing the tire and so they were not allowed to run the dash but instead relegated to 9th and 10th starting positions in the A Main. The Dash inversion was a 4 putting Lucas Wolfe on the pole with Joey Saldana on the outside front row. Saldana would take the lead in turn 1 and never look back. Craig Dollansky would get by Wolfe for 2nd to set up the front row that would start the A Main.

    With only 23 cars in attendance there was no need for a B Main. So the action went right to the A Main. Joey Saldana would lead all the way until lap 20. After trying nearly every lap on the low side to get around Saldana, Craig Dollansky would make the pass on the high side in traffic and drive by Saldana, bringing Daryn Pittman with him. Pittman would challenge Dollansky briefly before the checkered flag waved giving Dollansky his 50th win. Saldana would come home 3rd.

    The final 6 laps of the race showed a resurgence for Donny Schatz who restarted in 12th and in 5 laps climbed up to 6th and finished in 6th as the races KSE Hard charger having started in the 13th spot. It would see another night of strange and difficult situations for Sammy Swindell who had to change an engine before the dash and then had a left rear tire go down to bring out the only caution in the A Main. Swindell would finish 13th. The King of the Outlaws would run in the top 10 all evening until the final lap of the feature when he slowed dramatically as the checkers flew and finished an uncharacteristic 15th.

    Every racing series has a measuring stick. That one driver that everyone struggles and works to measure up to. In NASCAR it’s Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt. In Indy Car Racing it’s Mario Andretti or Rick Mears. In the World of Outlaws it’s Steve Kinser. His 20 national championships and 573 wins sets him apart from competitors not only in his own genre of racing but every genre of racing. Tonight at Lebanon Valley, NY, Craig Dollansky inched a half step forward towards that yard stick when he won his 50th A Main Feature. Yes it’s a long way from 573, but it’s a great deal further than many in other forms of racing have to call their own.

    Dollansky’s win was hard fought and won. On a track that saw few passes made until the late stages of the race, Dollansky had a tough road to drive getting by Joey Saldana to take the lead and win the 25 lap $10,000 purse tonight. Saldana was strong and he seemed to know exactly where Dollansky was going to try his pass and when. Saldana is a fierce competitor in his own right and owns 82 career wins of his own, and on this tight narrow short track he was tough to get around. But Dollansky used lapped traffic and made a daring pass to the outside and drove around Saldana. Once by him he didn’t look back, and it was probably a good thing because if he had he would have found a new foe chomping at his heels in Daryn Pittman. Pittman tried high. Pittman tried low. That is after all what racing is about, winning. Not playing the numbers and playing it safe but winning. In the end  win number 50 was Craig’s. “The Crowd Pleaser” as he is known lived up to his nick name.

    _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    ‎Qualifying Results:

    1) Craig Dollansky 16.582 130.262 mph. 2) Daryn Pittman 3) Joey Saldana 4) Cody Darrah 5) Lucas Wolfe 6) Bill Rose 7) Jessica Zemken 8) Sammy Swindell 9) Tim Kaeding 10) Kraig Kinser 11) Logan Schuchart 12) Chad Kemenah 13) Donny Schatz 14) Steve Kinser 15) Danny Smith 16) Kerry Madsen 17) Jason Sides 18) Paul Sides 19) Michael Parent 20) Jacob Allen 21) Russ Bennett 22) Dick Spadaro 23) Curtis Bradshaw

    Heat 1 Results:

    ‎1) Jessica Zemken 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Kraig Kinser 4) Kerry Madsen 5) Donny Schatz 6) Michael Parent 7) Dick Spadaro 8) Cody Darrah

    Heat 2 Results:

    ‎1) Logan Schuchart 2) Sammy Swindell 3) Lucas Wolfe 4) Daryn Pittman 5) Steve Kinser 6) Jason Sides 7) Jacob Allen 8) Curtis Bradshaw.

    ‎Heat 3 Results:

    1) Tim Kaeding 2) Joey Saldana 3) Chad Kemenah 4) Danny Smith 5) Bill Rose 6) Russ Bennett 7) Paul Sides (DNF)

    Dash Results:Inversion was 4

    ‎1) Joey Saldana 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Lucas Wolfe 4) Daryn Pittman 5) Tim Kaeding 6) Logan Schuchart 7) Sammy Swindell 8) Kraig Kinser 9) Bill Rose 10) Jessica Zemken

    A Main Results:

    ‎1) Craig Dollansky 2) Daryn Pittman 3) Joey Saldana 4) Logan Schuchart 5) Cody Darrah 6) Donny Schatz 7) Tim Kaeding 8) Lucas Wolfe 9) Kerry Madsen 10) Bill Rose 11) Jason Sides 12) Kraig Kinser 13) Sammy Swindell 14) Danny Smith 15) Steve Kinser 16) Jacob Allen 17) Michael Parent 18) Jessica Zemken 19) Chad Kemenah 20) Russ Bennett 21) Paul Sides 22) Curtis Bradshaw 23) Dick Spadaro.

    KSE Hard Charger of the Race: Donny Schatz

    World of Outlaw Points after Lebanon Valley:

    Pos. Driver Total Diff Wins Top 5’s Top 10’s QT
    1 Steve Kinser 5633 0 3 18 31 0
    2 Craig Dollansky 5622 -11 6 19 29 7
    3 Donny Schatz 5610 -23 3 15 33 0
    4 Sammy Swindell 5589 -44 7 17 27 8
    5 Joey Saldana 5584 -49 4 14 29 6
    6 Kraig Kinser 5503 -130 4 15 29 3
    7 Kerry Madsen 5218 -415 3 8 21 1
    8 Cody Darrah 5217 -416 1 11 18 2
    9 Chad Kemenah 5143 -490 2 8 18 2
    10 Lucas Wolfe 4862 -771 0 4 13 0
    11 Bill Rose 4430 -1203 0 0 7 0
    12 Jason Sides 4006 -1627 0 11 18 0
    13 Daryn Pittman 2462 -3171 0 6 13 1
    14 Danny Lasoski 2356 -3277 1 5 8 0
    15 David Gravel 2310 -3323 0 7 9 4
    16 Tim Kaeding 2301 -3332 3 5 10 0
    17 Paul McMahan 2221 -3412 1 2 3 0
    18 Jac Haudenschild 2054 -3579 0 1 2 0
    19 Austen Wheatley 1818 -3815 0 0 2 0
    20 Brad Sweet 1779 -3854 1 5 8 1
  • Sammy Swindell crowned Sammy the 29th at Kings Royal

    [media-credit name=”Eldora Speedway” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The overcast skies over Rossberg Ohio had a foreboding quality to them. The humidity was high and you could almost smell the rain. Track workers would stop for a moment and look up at the skies and then hurry on their way. Tonight was no ordinary night at the grand lady of dirt, Eldora Speedway, tonight was something special and rain simply wasn’t in the plans. Tonight the grand lady would pay homage to dirt racing’s 29th king, and who it would be only she knew.

    As the time approached the car count rose to an impressive 50 winged sprint cars. Names that struck awe into even casual fans were in attendance. Names from the past, the present and the future were all there. Legends and Kings and princes that would be Kings if only Eldora would smile on them just once. Names from the past like Wolfgang, Doty, and Baltes. Names from today like Kinser, Swindell, Haudenschild and Lasoski. Names that would be the future like Darrah, Wolfe, Kaeding and Henderson. All were gathered at the court of the grandest lady of dirt to greet her loyals and share a moment with her fans. As the time approached even the most seasoned of the drivers began to feel the anticipation. The night had arrived the new King would be crowned. Would it be a seasoned and wily veteran or would it be an new young and daring prince? Who would win Eldora’s King’s Royal?

    The qualifying for the event went just like any other World of Outlaws show. Each car taking 2 laps and the fastest time would determine where they would line up for the heat races. Quick time on the night was set by the track record holder Craig Dollansky. Dollansky turned a lap of 13.338 seconds around the half mile track. Not quite his record time which was 12.707 seconds but still the quickest of the 50 cars in the field for the night. The second fastest qualifier was a returning King who had been absent from the circuit for last couple of months in Jac Haudenschild. Haudenschild who went in the middle of the order turned a lap of 13.414 and served notice he was there to win.

    Qualifying was the end of the familiar format for the evening. There would be 6 heat races and only the top 3 would transfer to the A Main. 4 thru 6 would be relegated to the B Main and 7 thru 9 would go to the C Main. The line up would be an interesting arrangement with the all the winners lining up 1 – 6 and all the second place finishers 7 – 12 and the third place finishers 13 – 18 and then the 2 fastest qualifiers that didn’t transfer would make up 19 and 20. The final 4 spots would transfer from the B Main. The C Main would transfer 6 to the B to complete that 24 car field. There are no provisionals in the Kings Royal. You either race your way in or you go home. This race is all about the best of the best, and that was exactly what the sell out crowd saw, the best of the best.

    The first heat race would be a hotly contested 8 laps that would see the Eldora’s spring time winner take the checkers. Chad Kemenah won over Craig Dollansky and Tim Shaffer to claim his spot in the top 6 for the A. Finishing 4th was the series hottest young driver Kraig Kinser who along with last nights fast qualifier David Gravel and Paul May would be starting in the B Main. The first of the C Main starters were Ryan Myers, Chuck Waddell and Randy Hannagan who again had engine troubles and would scratch for the night.

    The second heat was taken by Justin Henderson who held off a hard charging Jac Haudenschild and Dale Blaney for one of the 6 top spots. The B Main contenders would be 4 time champion Donny Schatz, Jason Sides, and Brian Paulus. The C Main claimed Dallas Hewitt, Adam Wilt and Rick Fraley.

    The third heat would be a hard fought battle that would be won by Daryn Pittman who held off Danny Lasoski and Brad Sweet. Going to the B Main was 20 time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser who had qualified for all 28 previous King’s Royals. Joining him would be Stevie Smith and Bill Rose. Going to the C Dean Jacobs and Kory Krabtree.

    The fourth heat would be an action packed hotly contested joust between two rivals. The experience of Sammy Swindell would win the battle over Kerry Madsen and Brian Brown. Going to the B would last years World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year Cody Darrah, Greg Wilson and Brian Sebbetto. The C would take Craig Mintz and Joey McGaruh.

    Heat 5 would test the metal of last nights winner Joey Saldana. A single slip of the tire handed the race to Paul McMahan and brought Saldana home in second. Third would go to last years king Tyler Walker. The B Main would get Logan Schuchart, Chad Blonde, and Wes McGlumphy. While the C Main would get Sheldon Haudenschild who took a wild ride flipping several times and landing on his wheels during the heat and Todd Kane. Sheldon would scratch for the evening with too much damage to repair at the track.

    The final heat would determine the pole sitter for the King’s Royal. Tim Kaeding would win with a commanding 5.4 second lead over Ed Lynch Jr and Lucas Wolfe. The B Main contestants would be Trey Starks and Shane Stewart and Dustin Daggett. Stewart would experience engine trouble and scratch for the evening. The C Main claimed Danny Smith and Scott Hull.

    The C Main was scheduled to start 12 cars but with the cars of Randy Hannagan and Sheldon Haudenschild scratching the race would go off with just 10. Dallas Hewitt would lead every lap to claim the C with Danny Smith, Adam Wilt, Ryan Meyers, and Chuck Waddell also transfering to the B Main.

    The B Main was packed from front to back and on any ordinary night would have been considered a strong A Main. But this was not an ordinary night and these drivers would be fighting for their chance to challenge for the crown. The race was a fast pace slide filled exciting chess match that showed every single driver in the field to be a brillantly talented and promising driver. But only 4 could move on. Only the 4 best of these 23 elite drivers would earn the chance to challenge for the title. Two past kings and 2 crown princes would make the move. With Donny Schatz leading the way Greg Wilson, Kraig Kinser and Steve Kinser would tighten their belts and prepare to do battle in the A Main. The Royal had never been won by a driver coming out of the B Main but all 4 of these men were confident that they could be the first. After all two of them, Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz were past Kings already. Greg Wilson was a documented hard charger with a great deal of surgical finesse in a race car and Kraig Kinser not only had the advantage of being Steve’s son he was also the hottest driver on the circuit. With their confidence in place the four advanced to do battle in the A Main. And what a battle it was.

    The A Main was the feature race of feature races. The 40 laps around Eldora’s storied high banks was a tough race with three and sometimes four abreast racing throughout the pack. But the steel horses proved not as reliable as their strong willed drivers and 6 of the 24 would retire with engine issues. By the half way point the wily veteran Sammy Swindell, had taken the lead. But his rival Kerry Madsen was hot on his tail followed very closely by Jac Haudenschild. At one point Sammy lead by a nose and Madsen went high and Haudenschild went low with Swindell in the middle. The cars were just inches a part as they headed into the first turn. All three would come out the other side with Swindell holding on to the lead by a nose. Through out the pack the rooster tails and slide jobs for position were fierce. It was about more than money. It was about pride and these were proud and brave men. When the dust finally cleared and the checkered flag flew it was Sammy Swindell that Doug Wolfgang would crown as King. King Sammy the XXIX as he will be known from this day forward. It was the third time in his long career that Sammy has been the King but it undoubtedly will not be the last. Coming home second would be Kerry Madsen and in third Jac Haudenschild. Our B Main Knights all finished in the top 10. But the legend of no winner ever coming from the B still stands. But there is always next year.

    Tonight was a test of stamina and wills. It was about finding the courage to look your short comings in the eyes and over coming them. It was about digging down to where you live to where your drive to race and win comes from and pushing on when your neck and your shoulders hurt and breathing was becoming hard from the dust. It was about being the best and believing you were the best without doubts. No one at Eldora tonight illustrated that attitude any better than Sammy Swindell. Swindell’s quiet demeanor is often misunderstood and taken for stand offish. His dry humor often taken as a sharp tongue that lacks compassion. His passion for winning and precision taken as conceit and arrogance. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. Sammy Swindell is an innovator and a consumate champion. He is a Master at his craft. He races in the purest of old school form, he offers no quarter and he takes none. If you have the skills and you have the will he will test your metal and if you can win he will shake your hand but never think that means you have beaten him because you have only won a single battle. That said….Long Live The King!!!!!!!!!!!

    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Qualifying Results:

    1) Craig Dollansky 2) Jac Haudenschild 3) Stevie Smith 4) Cody Darrah 5) Joey Saldana 6) Tim Kaeding 7) Tim Shaffer 8) Dale Blaney 9) Brad Sweet 10) Kerry Madsen 11) Tyler Walker 12) Trey Starks 13) Chad Kemenah 14) Justin Henderson 15) Da…nny Lasoski 16) Brian Brown 17) Paul McMahan 18) Lucas Wolfe 19) Kraig Kinser 20) Donny Schatz 21) Daryn Pittman 22) Sammy Swindell 23) Todd Kane 24) Ed Lynch Jr 25) David Gravel 26) Jason Sides 27) Steve Kinser 28) Greg Wilson 29) Sheldon Haudenschild 30) Dustin Daggett 31) Paul May 32) Adam Wilt 33) Bill Rose 34) Bryan Sebbetto 35) Logan Schuchart 36) Shane Stewart 37) Randy Hannagan 38) Dallas Hewitt 39) Dean Jacobs 40) Craig Mintz 41) Chad Blonde 42) Danny Smith 43) Ryan Myers 44) Brian Paulus 45) Kory Crabtree 46) Joey Magaruh 47) Wes McGlumphy 48) Scott Hull 49) Chuck Waddell 50) Rick Fraley

    Heat One Results: ‎1) Chad Kemenah 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Tim Shaffer 4) Kraig Kinser 5) David Gravel 6) Paul May 7) Ryan Myers 8) Chuck Waddell 9) Randy Hannagan.

    Heat 2 Results: ‎1) Justin Henderson 2) Jac Haudenschild 3) Dale Blaney 4) Donny Schatz 5) Jason Sides 6) Brian Paulus 7) Dallas Hewitt 8) Adam Wilt 9) Rick Fraley.

    Heat 3 Results: ‎1) Daryn Pittman 2) Danny Lasoski 3) Brad Sweet 4) Steve Kinser 5) Stevie Smith 6) Bill Rose 7) Dean Jacobs 8) Kory Crabtree.

    Heat 4 Results: ‎1) Sammy Swindell 2) Kerry Madsen 3) Brian Brown 4) Cody Darrah 5) Greg Wilson 6) Bryan Sebbetto 7) Craig Mintz 8) Joey McGaruh.

    Heat 5 Results: ‎1) Paul McMahan 2) Joey Saldana 3) Tyler Walker 4) Logan Schuchart 5) Chad Blonde 6) Wes McGlumphy 7) Sheldon Haudenschild 8) Todd Kane.

    Heat 6 Results: ‎1) Tim Kaeding 2) Ed Lynch Jr 3) Lucas Wolfe 4) Trey Starks 5) Shane Stewart 6) Dustin Daggett 7) Danny Smith 8) Scott Hull.

    C Main Results: ‎1) Dallas Hewitt 2) Danny Smith 3) Adam Wilt 4) Ryan Myers 5) Todd Kane 6) Chuck Waddell 7) Rick Fraley 8) JOey Magurah 9) Kory Crabtree 10) Scott Hull 11) Randy Hannagan (DNS) 12) Sheldon Haudenschild (DNS)

    B main Results: ‎1) Donny Schatz 2) Greg Wilson 3) Kraig Kinser 4) Steve Kinser 5) Logan Schuchart 6) David Gravel 7) Trey Starks 8) Bryan Sebbetto 9) Craig Mintz 10) Bill Rose 11) Jason Sides 12) Adam Wilt 13) Stevie Smith 14) Paul May 15) Chad Blonde 16) Wes McGlumphy 17) Dustin Daggett 18) Brian Paulus 19) Todd Kane 20) Ryan Myers 21) Chuck Waddell 22) Dallas Hewitt 23) Dean Jacobs 24) Shane Stewart (DNS)

    A Main Results: ‎1) Sammy Swindell 2) Kerry Madsen 3) Jac Haudenschild 4) Justin Henderson 5) Kraig Kinser 6) Daryn Pittman 7) Joey Saldana 8) Donny Schatz 9) Greg Wilson 10) Steve Kinser 11) Tim Shaffer 12) Cody Darrah 13) Dale Blaney 14) Paul McMahan 15) Brad Sweet 16) Ed Lynch Jr 17) Tyler Walker 18) Lucas Wolfe 19) Danny Lasoski 20) Brian Brown 21) Craig Dollansky 22) Chad Kemenah 23) Tim Kaeding 24) Stevie Smith.


    _

  • Kaeding Brings Thunder to Thunderbowl

    Kaeding Brings Thunder to Thunderbowl

    [media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The Outlaws knew the rain was coming to the Thunderbowl Raceway at Tulare, California and they were determined to beat the storm. Hot laps began about 45 minutes early in an attempt to get the whole show in before mother nature dropped added moisture onto an already soupy track. Hot laps went off without a hitch and qualifying saw lap times of 13 seconds around the 1/3 mile track. Quick time was set by Kasey Kahne Racing’s Joey Saldana with a lap of 13.151 seconds. He was followed closely by Sammy Swindell, who entered the event as the series points leader, with a time of 13.641. Craig Dollansky, Tim Kaeding and Kraig Kinser rounded out the fast five all with laps in the 13 second bracket.

    The heat races were for the most part hard charging but unremarkable with 20 time Outlaws Champion, Steve Kinser taking the first heat, 4 time series champion, Donny Shatz the second, and Jason Sides the third.

    The Dash inversion was an 8. Which meant that Joey Saldana would start outside the 4th row. By virtue of his heat race win Steve Kinser would start on the pole flanked by Jason Sides for the 8 lap dash to determine the first 5 rows of the A main. Jason Sides would get an early jump on Kinser and take over the point and would hold it until the checkers to claim the pole for the A Main. Transferring in from the B Main were Cody Darrah, Tyler Wolf, Trey Starks, Cory Eliason, Chad Kemenah and Bill Rose. The field was set for what would be a fierce pack battle for the Thunderbowl night 1 trophy.

    Steve Kinser would take the lead early in the Main but Tim Kaeding who started fourth would rocket by Kinser on the high side on lap 9. The pass would not be without it’s price as Kaeding while attempting to lap Bill Rose would have some contact and damage the nose wing of the car. The wing would collapse on the left side but Kaeding would continue to pull away from the 20 time champion. On lap 11 Kinser would got together with Rose and spun the car into the infield and continued on. The caution would fly and Kinser was placed by Outlaws rules where he would have blended into traffic leaving him to restart in the 12th position. This would bring Jason Sides to the second position. Sides would start side by side with Kaeding 6 times but was never able to capitalize on the restart.

    On lap 26 the A main short circuited. The short began when Jonathan Allard stopped on the front stretch because he was out of helmet tear offs and could not see. It was followed by Kerry Madsen’s roll over in turn 2 and Bud Kaeding coming to a stop in turn 2. It was then that mother nature made her presence known. Scattered heavy showers limited visibility for the drivers and they voted that it was too wet to continue. The race was red flagged and the cars were sent to the work area in the pits where they could make whatever changes they wanted to their cars including changing tires.

    Upon return to the track The final red flag would fly on the restart when Sammy Swindell and Lucas Wolfe would tangle and roll in turn 2. Both drivers would walk away uninjured but neither would return to the track. The final yellow would fly for Chad Kemenah’s spin in turn 2. Kaeding would jump out to a big lead once again when Jason Sides hesitated on the restart. The hesitation would cost Sides the second spot to Craig Dollansky. Kaeding would never look back and would win the Thunderbowl with ease. Kaeding who is the first 2nd time winner of the 2012 season stated, “My motto is live and die by the high side and I was livin’ it up tonight.” Finishing 2nd Craig Dollansky,3rd Jason Sides, 4th Terry McCarl, 5th Joey Saldana, 6th Donny Shatz,  7th Steve Kinser, 8th Austen Wheatly, 9th Bud Kaeding and rounding out the top ten was Kraig Kinser.

    This race was a smorgasboard of action. The fierce competiton between Sammy Swindell and Joey Saldana. The incredible skill and determination of Steve Kinser to come back from 12th spot to finish in the top 10. A hail mary move by Donny Shatz to propel him into fifth spot which he eventually lost to Joey Saldana but would pick up 1st in the points with Sammy Swindell’s misfortune late in the race. Kraig Kinser extended his streak to 5 races in the top 10. Honestly, there was no where to look and not see hard core racing. The Outlaws came to dominate the night and to race on the very edge of the envelope and they did exactly that.

    Kudos to Outlaw and track officials on waiting the shower out. With only 10 laps to go many series would have thrown the checkers and said lets go home boys. Instead they waited it out and kept trucks on the track to maintain the pack and went back to racing. Kudos to the drivers for braving a “snotty” (wet and slick) track to quote Johnny Gibson, the voice of the outlaws, to finish the show for the fans in the stands and for those who were listening and following at home.

    Note: In a morning press release from The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series the second night at Thunderbowl speedway has been rained out. But both the track and the series are working diligently to schedule a make up date. For updates on a rescheduled date, go to www.ThunderbowlRaceway.com or www.WorldofOutlaws.com.