Following a top-five finish on Friday, Autodrome Drummond was the sight of action next for Craig Dollansky and the Big Game Treestands #7 team on Saturday as the World of Outlaws visited the high-banked 4/10-mile track for the third straight year.
With 23 drivers signed into the facility located in Drummondville, Quebec, ‘The Crowd Pleaser’ topped the chart in qualifying at 13.128 seconds for a series-leading 8th time in 2012. Heat race competition saw the Aggressive Hydraulics Maxim start fourth and finish 3rd to earn a spot in the dash. An inversion of four for the dash once again put Dollansky outside row two on the grid where he bettered his starting spot for the main event by one taking the checkers in 3rd.
When the green flag dropped on the 35-lap A-Main Dollansky held third before a caution on lap 9. After an accident on the restart brought out the red flag, a long stretch of racing saw the MobileStar #7 battle for the runner-up spot but still hold third before the final caution with 4 circuits to go. Lining up behind leader Joey Saldana on the outside for the double-file restart, Dollansky again battled James McFadden in the remaining laps but crossed the finish line in 3rd.
“You could pass a little bit more early on and lapped traffic was really playing a big role in it,” explained Dollansky. “James had a good car and was running a good race and so was Joey. We were all right there especially through lapped traffic. As the laps wore on it was tight a few times. At the end we had a shot to get around James on the outside but at that point it became one lane around the bottom.”
The solid night all the way through from qualifying to the 15th podium finish of the season for the Elk River, Minnesota native also vaulted the Big Game Treestands #7 into the World of Outlaws championship points lead.
“We were close and would have loved to get a win. It was my crew chief DJ’s birthday and would have been great to get a win for him. In the grand scheme of things it was a great night to get quick-time and come out with a top three for Big Game Treestands, Aggressive Hydraulics, MobileStar, Aeroquip, and everyone else on this team.”
Racing continues tonight in Ontario for the first time ever at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
