Concord, NC — Joey Saldana is more prepared for the 2010 World of Outlaws season than any other one in his career. Rather than competing in Australia for an extended period of time like he normally does in the winter, he raced just once in New Zealand, where claimed a $20,000 triumph to score his 23^rd and final win of 2009. He spent the rest of the off-season gearing up for the 2010 campaign, both physically and mentally.

“I’m definitely ready,” said Saldana. “This is the first season in eight years that I have not raced through Christmas. Usually I’ll race there and then have a couple of weeks off before the season. My last race this year was around Thanksgiving. I’ve had a lot of time off and am ready now to get back racing.”

Saldana will open the year in the 39^th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by the University of Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway Park, February 5-7. He has won during the season opening event twice in his career with the World of Outlaws including last year with a last lap pass of Jason Sides coming off the fourth turn. It was the second time in his career he used a last lap pass to win at the half-mile in a World of Outlaws event, as he also turned the trick in 2006 to inch out Jac Haudenschild.

“You definitely have to go in there and be on your game and it sets a tone for the whole season,” noted the second generation driver of the DIRTcar Nationals. “When you go down there and run well you kind of roll into the next race and the race after that. It just makes the season seem like it goes a lot smoother. It’s kind of like going to the (Knoxville) Nationals or the Kings Royal or Chico (Gold Cup Race of Champions). There are a lot of good cars and you have to qualify well and you have to race extremely well. It makes it tough. There are a lot of people there watching.”

Saldana competed in the DIRTcar Nationals for the first time in 1994, finishing third in an event with the All Star Circuit of Champions. He won for the first time at the half-mile in 2001 and has since won in six different seasons during the event. He was victorious for the first time with the World of Outlaws at Volusia in 2006 in a last lap thriller over Jac Haudenschild, winning a drag race down the front straightaway. Saldana has eight career wins in the DIRTcar Nationals which is the second most of any driver competing full-time with the World of Outlaws in 2010.

“We struggled qualifying-wise down there (last year) and were able to sneak out with a win, by getting in the Top-Two of our heat race,” he shared of his win at Volusia in 2009. “I think the biggest thing is that you can’t give up, you have to keep digging. We could have been in the B-Main and walked into that race, but we worked hard to get in the top two spots of the heat race and that was our whole night there.”

Saldana will begin his fifth consecutive year driving for Kasey Kahne Racing in 2010, and looks to build on the ultra successful season the team had in 2009, which saw them win 20 A-Feature events and 21 times overall. After finishing third in points in the closest three-way point race in series history, Saldana looks to contend again for a title in 2010. He has won 45 races since joining Kasey Kahne Racing in 2006.

“I know we can win races and I know we can win big races,” said Saldana. “The only thing that keeps us from winning a championship or a Knoxville Nationals is DNF’s (Did not finish) or parts failure. A lot of the time it’s out of our control. Being the age that I am, I understand that now and there’s nothing I can do. As long as I am giving 100 percent, my guys see that and I’ll have a ride. I do the best I can and try the best I can and as a driver’s that all I can do and hopefully things falls into place and we can win a championship and a Knoxville Nationals. I know that’s everyone’s goal. We don’t have either one of them and those are two things I am looking forward to getting. It will take a lot of hard work and dedication and we definitely put that in. We’ll try hard to achieve that goal this year.”

Saldana will have Willie Kahne as his crew chief again this coming season. The pair first worked together in 2006, which was Saldana’s first year driving for Kasey Kahne Racing, owned by the NASCAR star. Saldana and Willie Kahne have combined to win 27 races together and have finished third in points each of the two seasons they have been paired up. Kale Kahne and Kolton Gouse will also be back again in 2010 turning the wrenches, which gives Saldana the exact same crew as he had last year.

“Willie, Kale, Kolton and myself work very well together,” shared Saldana. “For myself this is my first year that I am coming into a season having the same crew two years in a row. I’m looking forward to having guys that have worked with me for a year and know me as a driver. Hopefully we can duplicate what we did last year and win races and that’s our goal.”

After racking up a career high number of wins with the World of Outlaws in 2009 on a variety of tracks, Saldana feels that his team is a contender every time they roll through the pit gate. One of his main focuses is making sure they finish races and are consistent night in and night out to be in contention for a title.

“I always wanted to win 15 races with the Outlaws and I went in ’08 wanting to win 15,” he stated “I didn’t achieve that goal in ’08 so I went into ’09 wanting to win 15 races. We definitely achieved it in ’09. I know how tough it is to win 20 races and only four guys prior to me had done it, so it doesn’t happen very often. That’s definitely a goal. I want to go in there and win 25 races. I want to do better than I did last year. I realize it doesn’t happen very often, but my team is capable of doing it and we have the equipment to do it and have done it. We just need to go out and duplicate what we did.”

Saldana points out a couple of key components that he believes are essential to contending for a title in 2010. While he led more laps and won more races than any other driver in the series last year, he was fourth in Top-10 finishes, with each of the drivers that finished ahead of him in points earning more Top-10’s as well as gaining more bonus points in time trials. He looks to gain consistency as he chases his first World of Outlaws title, having finished second in points in 2007, as well as third both last season and in 2006.

“We just have to work hard and try to put our car in position to win every night and eliminate the DNF’s,” said the native of Brownsburg, Indiana. “I don’t know how you do that, but we’ll have to try and figure it out and just continue what we’re doing. We have a team that wants to win and has shown they can do it night in and night out. We just have to do it again this year and when we have a bad night, we have to still be out on the race track making laps and get the best finish that we can.”

The 2010 World of Outlaws season kicks off with the 39^th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park February 5-7.To purchase tickets online visit: http://www.DIRTcarNationals.com or call 386-985-4402. Each ticket purchased is also a free fan pit pass.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo; Engine Builder's Challenge participants Don Ott Racing Engines, Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines; and Chassis Builder’s Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.