Fast Talkers: World of Outlaws Drivers Chat About Facing the Posse
The series heads to Pennsylvania for The Gettysburg Clash and Morgan Cup
ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. — May 8, 2012 — A lot of pride is at stake this week as the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series ventures to Pennsylvania in a matchup against one of its toughest region foes – the PA Posse.
The first event is The Gettysburg Clash on Wednesday at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, where the World of Outlaws last raced in 1998.
The series then heads to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg for shows on Friday and Saturday, concluding with the Morgan Cup – opposing five World of Outlaws against five Posse in a 12-lap dash for a year of bragging rights.
The drivers sound off on everything from the facilities to the competition to the events:
Lincoln Speedway:
Cody Darrah (Red Lion, Pa.) – “That’s the track I got my first 410 win. It’s a track my family has a lot of history at. My uncle won track championships there. When I go to my grandmother’s house, there’s pictures from my mom to my aunts and uncles. They all have checkered flags from Lincoln Speedway. It’s a track that means a lot to me and I’m excited to go there with the Outlaws.”
Craig Dollansky (Elk River, Minn.) – “It’s been a long time. It’s a nice little race track. They do a good job with that track itself.”
Chad Kemenah (Findlay, Ohio) – “I’ve only raced there a few times. We haven’t done so well over there. Qualifying is so big, so if we can go over there and maybe get qualified (we can) stay up front.”
Kraig Kinser (Bloomington, Ind.) – “I’ve been fortunate to watch some great racing there. It’s a great track and I’m looking forward to being able to run there.”
Steve Kinser (Bloomington, Ind.) – “We always ran really good there. It’s a track that we got around well. It’s a track that I enjoy racing and looking forward to going back.”
Kerry Madsen (St. Marys, New South Wales, Australia) – “Actually it reminded me of some of the Australian stuff we’re used to. The competition is going to be extremely tough, but that’s why we do this.”
Bill Rose (Plainfield, Ind.) – “It’s definitely a real racy place. The locals are real tough there. It’s a fast, little place. They’ve got great crowds … the racing will definitely be good over there.”
Joey Saldana (Brownsburg, Ind.) – “It’s neat that we finally get to race there because obviously the fans deserve it. Hopefully we can go in there and put a good show on for them, and they will want us to come back.”
Sammy Swindell (Germantown, Tenn.) – “I remember we raced there quite a few times back in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. It was always an exciting track. It’s different; it seems like (turns) three and four is a lot lower than one and two, so it’s like you’re going uphill going into one and down going into three. It’s always been a fun place. From what I remember in the past it’s unique to any other place we went to.”
Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) – “I haven’t been there very much in the last few years, but it’s always good to go home. It’s obviously a pretty racy track and I think one of the most popular tracks we have back home, so I’m definitely excited to get to go back there.”
Cody Darrah (Red Lion, Pa.) – “Williams Grove is probably one of the hardest tracks in the country when it comes to being a mechanic and a driver. It changes so much. It definitely presents a challenge.”
Craig Dollansky (Elk River, Minn.) – “You’ve just really got to watch the race track. It seems like it’s a little bit different every time we go there. We’ve been going there quite a bit over the last few years and getting quite a bit of racing in, so we know the track a little bit.”
Chad Kemenah (Findlay, Ohio) – “Any time you go to the Grove that’s important. That’s one of my favorite race tracks. In the past we haven’t done so well over there. It seems like if I’m doing well we break. Maybe we can get this monkey off our back and we can get out of there with a good finish.”
Kraig Kinser (Bloomington, Ind.) – “Every time you go to Williams Grove you know it’s going to be a fight from the moment you get in to the moment you get out. You’ve just got to hope everything’s rolling right for you when you get there.”
Steve Kinser (Bloomington, Ind.) – “It’s a track all of its own. It’s got great, big, long straightaways and tight corners. And those guys get around it awful well. They run it as well there – their local guys – as anywhere there is, so it’s always tough when you’re going there.”
Kerry Madsen (St. Marys, New South Wales, Australia) – “Any time you go to the Grove you go there with pretty much your best package. It’s extremely, extremely tough competition-wise and the track’s so weird that it’s got its own sort of skillset, idiosyncrasies. And it’s almost for us the closest we’ll get to a road course with the different techniques.”
Bill Rose (Plainfield, Ind.) – “Any time we go to PA it’s definitely big between the Posse. Their guys are so good over there cause they run every week and they build motors just for the track. If you draw a bad number then that pretty much determines your night because it’s just so hard to come from the back and go to the front, especially with the quality of cars that are there.”
Joey Saldana (Brownsburg, Ind.) – “Definitely when you go into Williams Grove and they have a weekly Friday night 410 race, their participants are very prepared for the World of Outlaws and they do everything they need to do to beat the Outlaws. So we definitely have to be on our game to race with them guys.”
Donny Schatz (Minot, N.D.) – “It’s definitely a challenge going there, but it’s a lot of fun, too. It’s real unique and tricky to get going around there good. We’ve got a lot of ‘W’s there, so I like going there.”
Sammy Swindell (Germantown, Tenn.) – “They’ve got a good weekly show there with a lot of good cars. They’ve always had a big field of good cars, so it’s one of the tougher places. That track is unique from what we’re used to running during the year. It’s just a really tough track because of the caliber of cars and the layout.”
Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) – “Williams Grove is always pretty competitive. It’s pretty difficult for any team to go in there and run well when we’re not running there weekly, but we’re looking forward to some good results there this trip.”
Tickets for The Gettysburg Clash at Lincoln Speedway can be ordered online by clicking WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets or by calling 877-395-8606.
Tickets for Williams Grove Speedway can be ordered by calling 717-697-5000.
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), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), Gravely Tractors (Official Lawn Equipment), University of Northwestern Ohio, VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel), Vicci (Official Apparel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, JE Pistons, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, KSE Racing Products, MSD Ignitions, Penske Shocks, Superflow Dynos and Wix Filters; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Astro Titanium, ButlerBuilt, Fuel Safe, Intercomp, J&J Auto Racing, Jake’s Carts, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo and TNT Rescue.
