Jac Haudenschild
Hometown: Wooster, Ohio
Resides: Wooster, Ohio
Birthday: April 7, 1958
Car: No. R19
Chassis: Maxim
Car Owner: Carnahan Motorsports
Web site: www.carnahanmotorsports.com
www.haudenschildracing.com



2008 Season Review: Finished fifth in points

Jac Haudenschild has been winning sprint car races and thrilling fans for the last 30 years and he continued that trend this season during the 30th Anniversary World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series campaign.

The native of Wooster, Ohio teamed up with the Carnahan Motorsports team this year based out of Minnesota to drive the No. R19. Consistency throughout the season led the veteran driver to a very solid fifth-place finish in the World of Outlaws championship standings, on the strength of five A-Feature wins, including his third career Gold Cup Race of Champions triumph, which was worth $50,000.

“It was a pretty good year,” said Haudenschild. “We’re glad we won some races. We got Chico (the Gold Cup) and that is a good one to get. The R19 was good all year and I am looking forward to running it again next year.”

Haudenschild was paired with veteran crew chief Leonard Lee this season and the two quickly got up to speed, picking up a sixth-place finish on the second night during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida. He left the Sunshine state ninth in the series championship standings and continued to move closer to the Top-Five all season long, with a very consistent campaign that saw him rack up 48 Top-10 finishes, with 22 of those being in the Top-Five.

“Leonard and I got together pretty quick,” noted the veteran driver. “He has been working on cars for a long time, so it didn’t take us long to get hooked up together.”

Haudenschild was close to winning a number of times in the first half of the season and picked up his first win as the beginning of the second half of the 2008 campaign at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton to earn his first career win north of the border. He followed that up with his third win in the famed Gold Cup Race of Champions which earned him $50,000. His strong second half of the season continued with a victory in the World of Outlaws inaugural visit to Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri, trading the lead with Craig Dollansky five times before picking up the win in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim.

A week later, Haudenschild picked up his fourth win of the season in thrilling fashion, inching out Jason Meyers in a photo finish at Lebanon Valley Speedway in New York. He restarted second after a caution with two laps remaining. After getting right up behind Meyers as the pair took the while flag on the blazing fast high-banked half-mile, he drew event with him in turns one and two and used a strong run off the high side of turn four, just inches off the wall to edge Meyers in what was the closes finish all season, a mere 14-thousandsths of a second. Making the even more special was the fact that it was his 50th career A-Feature win with the World of Outlaws, a feat that has only been accomplished by nine drivers in the 30-year history of the series.

“After you get the first one, it gets a little easier,” he shared when asked about his first win in August. “We’re just glad that the car was good all year. We were fast every night and we are looking good for next year.”

Haudenschild along with the rest of the World of Outlaws visited a number of tracks for the first time this season. He finished ninth or better in all of the inaugural events for the World of Outlaws in 2008. Along with his win at Lucas Oil Speedway, he was fourth at Virginia Motor Speedway, fifth at Dacotah Speedway in North Dakota and eighth at 34 Raceway in Iowa.

“It’s exciting going to tracks that you have never been to before,” said the native of Wooster, Ohio. “We go to a lot of new tracks throughout the year. You never know what they will be like until you get on them, but we always look forward to them.”

Haudenschild finished the season in impressive fashion, finishing ninth or better in 14 of the last 16 races of the season, to earn a fifth-place finish in points. It was the 14th time in his career that he has finished among the Top-10 in the championship standings. With 17 drivers competing full-time with the series at the end of the year, it was one of the most competitive seasons in series history. Haudenschild was among the Top-10 in laps led, was fastest in time trials three times and won the Crane Cams Dash five times to earn pole positions in A-Feature events.

“There are always a lot of fast guys out here and it always gets tougher,” he said. “The Outlaws guys are definitely tough.”

Haudenschild was part of two of the best races all season, as he and Steve Kinser battled for wins at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, California and Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California on consecutive nights in October. The first night saw Haudenschild catch Kinser in traffic and run his trademark high line, nearly taking the lead from the 20-time series champion on several occasions, before finishing second at the ¼-mile. The following night it was déjà vu again, as Haudenschild caught Kinser in heavy traffic and was able to use the high side of the track in traffic to take the lead and ultimately the win on the high-banked 1/3-mile.

“It’s always fun racing against Steve and you know what to expect,” Haudenschild said with a smile. “He runs hard and we have had some good races over the years.”

2008 Season Stats:
Driver                                 Pts.             $Earned         Wins         Top 5         Top 10
Jac Haudenschild         8385             $215,215         5                 22                 48

World of Outlaws history: 1982: 16th in points…1983: 11th in points… 1984-20th in points… 1985-16th in points- 2 wins…1986- 5th in points… 1987- 4th in points- 1 win… 1988-8th in points… 1989-6th in points-6 wins… 1990-14th in points…. 1991-17th in points… 1992-8th in points- 3 wins… 1993-6th in points… 1994-6th in points- 1 win… 1995-2nd in points- 4 wins… 1996-10th in points- 1 win… 1997-4th in points- 2 wins… 1998-7th in points- 11 wins… 1999-16th in points- 3 wins… 2000-10th in points- 2 wins… 2001-20th in points… 2002-13th in points- 2 wins… 2003-16th in points… 2006- 5th in points… 2007-11th in points…2008- 5th in points- 5 wins

Previous Racing History: 1974: Began racing sprint cars at Lakeville Speedway and Wayne County Speedway1976- First Sprint Car win at Lakeville, Ohio, just 16 years old… 1977- 8 wins driving the Ferguson No. 34… 1978: Drove the Yernian No. 75 to 10 wins… 1980-All Star Circuit of Champions- 10 in points… 1981-All Star Circuit of Champions- 10th in points, Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway- Won non-wing sprint car race… 1982:All Star Circuit of Champions- 10th in points, driving the C.K. Spurlock Gambler House car sponsored by singer Kenny Rogers…1984- All Star Circuit of Champions- 5th in points. 1985- All Star Circuit of Champions- 10th in points. Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway first World of Outlaws win...1987- Won First Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway...1989: 15 overall wins, including five with the World of Outlaws… 1991: Knoxville Raceway Champion- 20 wins…1994- Eldora Speedway- Won Historical Big One worth $100,000 driving for Jack Elden, Won 2nd Kings Royal…1998- Eldora Speedway- Won 3rd Kings Royal, Won Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar (Calif.) Speedway. …1999- Won 2nd straight Gold Cup, also won the Front Row Challenge… 2003: Eldora Speedway- Won Mopar Million non-wing sprint car race… 19 career All Star Circuit of Champions wins.

Interesting Facts: 2008 will mark his 35th year racing sprint cars…Nickname is the “Wild Child” for his aggressive and entertaining driving style on the track… Races motorcycles in the winter with his son… Participated in Indy Racing League Rookie Test at Texas Motor Speedway in 1998.