Halfway to the Top Prize: Meyers Wins Opener of the 56th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions
Half of the battle at the Gold Cup Race of Champions is to have a strong qualifying night and be in a good position for the finale to be in contention for the $50,000 top prize. For the second consecutive year, Jason Meyers put himself in a great position, winning on a preliminary night of the famed event at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California.Meyers lined up third and took the lead from Sammy Swindell on the ninth lap in heavy lapped traffic and would pace the field for the remaining 22 circuits en route to his second win of the season at the ¼-mile bullring.
“This feels great,” said Meyers. “Out of any track in the country, we have probably won more races here than any other track. This place has been good to me. It’s neat for me to win here in front of so many sponsors and family and friends. I’ve been racing here for so many years and there are such great fans here that have cheered us on over the years. To come home and win in front of them is awesome.”
The race began with Swindell leading the field into turns one and two. Meyers took the second spot from Peter Murphy on the low side of turn one on the opening lap. Swindell began to pull away on the third lap as the leaders closed in on lapped traffic. Meyers closed in on Swindell on the fifth lap as the latter was having trouble getting off turn four. On the sixth lap, Meyers was right on Swindell and stayed right with him for the next two laps and went low in turns one and two on the ninth lap as Swindell was caught up behind a couple of lapped cars.
Meyers began to pull away near the halfway point of the race as he worked through traffic. The red flag flew on the 17th circuit for a Steve Kinser flip. On the restart, Danny Lasoski took the second spot from Swindell and began to track down Meyers.
Lasoski continued to keep pace with Meyers as the pair closed in on lapped traffic, though the caution flew on the 21st lap. With six laps to go, Lasoski closed right back in on Meyers as they again approached traffic. Lasoski went low in turns one and two and shot to the lead on the 26th lap, only to have a red flag fly, negating the pass since the lap was not completed.
“We got a gift tonight,” noted the winner. “It looked like Danny (Lasoski) was really good around the bottom. I was kind of waiting on the top and waiting for someone to come around me on the top. I saw that some guys had made some moves up through the field and I thought that was where they were doing it. We set our car up loose to be good in traffic and we were good in traffic, but we only had traffic for the first half of the race. We had a good race car and hopefully that pays off on Saturday night.”
On the final restart with four laps to go, Lasoski looked high in turns one and two, nearly getting even with Meyers. He tried the same move the next lap to no avail and wound up having Swindell battle him for second over the last few laps. Meyers ended up pulling away and wound up taking the checked flag by nearly two seconds in the GLR Investments KPC.
Meyers began the night by turning in the ninth-fastest lap in time trials and followed that up with a win in the first heat. Couple with his win, he was one of the high point earners as total points earned in each of the two qualifying nights will determine the starting field for the 40-lap main event on Saturday night.
”We’ll just watch and see what the track does,” explained Meyers when asked what it will take to win the finale. “We’ll wait and see what they for us on Saturday and make our decisions as the night goes on.”
Swindell led the first eight laps on Thursday night and put himself in a good position to win his second career Gold Cup as he ran second in the Tom Rolfe Trucking Maxim. The three-time World of Outlaws champion fell back to third down the stretch, but was able to charge back around Danny Lasoski with four laps to go for the runner-up spot.
“It’s bad when you start on the pole and don’t win,” said Swindell. “We just struggled a little bit with the lapped cars. Our car was as good in the open I think. Once I got to the traffic, I ran the track wrong. We had the restart after the red (flag) and I was able to run behind those guys and see what I was doing wrong and was able to make a couple of little adjustments with the car and my line. We’ll look and see where we are at and make some adjustments and hopefully come out on Saturday and have the best car.”
Tim Kaeding started seventh and steadily worked his way to the front and wound up third in the DTR Transport KPC to earn his second consecutive podium finish with the World of Outlaws. He battled Chico native Jonathan Allard for a number of laps for third.
“We just wanted to come out and get as many points as we could tonight,” said Kaeding. “We’re trying to get ready for Saturday and hopefully we can make the car a little bit better for Saturday. Jason (Meyers) and Sammy (Swindell) ran a hell of a race and Danny (Lasoski) was up there running good. It was just one of those things that we just needed to be a little bit better to catch those guys.”
Lasoski ended up fourth in the Casey’s General Store JEI, with Craig Dollansky fifth in the DirecTV Maxim. Jonathan Allard began the night by setting fast time and came home sixth in the Village Gray Resort J&J. Peter Murphy was seventh in the Kiwi Transport Maxim. Bobby McMahan was eighth aboard the Racing for the Troops Maxim, with Kyle Hirst ninth in the GP Development Maxim. Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-10 in the Starr Property Management Eagle.
The second qualifying night of the 56th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California is up next on Friday, September 11.
GOLD CUP RACE OF CHAMPIONS NIGHT #1 NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Jonathan Allard paced the 35 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/4-mile oval at 11.681 seconds at 77.048 mph. Due to the Gold Cup Race of Champions being a multi-day event with the field split no qualifying bonus points were earned.
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jason Meyers, Craig Dollansky, Peter Murphy and Danny Lasoski won heat races. Sammy Swindell won the Crane Cams Dash. Jayme Barnes won the B-Main.
There has been 55 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Lone Star Speedway, Houston Raceway Park, The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park-twice, U.S. 36 Raceway, 34 Raceway, I-55 Raceway, Castrol Raceway-twice and Skagit Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Canandaigua Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Eldora Speedway, K-C Raceway and Dacotah Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway, Red River Valley Speedway, Ohsweken Speedway, Skagit Speedway and Cottage Grove Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway, Nodak Speedway, Eagle Raceway, Charter Raceway Park and Lernerville Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lebanon Valley Speedway, I-55 Raceway and River Cities Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-twice), Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway and Limaland Motorsports Park), Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway),Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway), Jason Sides (Ohsweken Speedway) and Stevie Smith (Lernerville Speedway).
• PRELIMINARY FEATURE WINNERS: There has been one World of Outlaws preliminary feature this season. The winner was Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway).
• 1/4-MILE WINNERS: Silver Dollar Speedway is a high-banked ¼-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced eight times this season on tracks that size. The winners include: Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway and Limaland Motorsports Park), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway-twice and Cottage Grove Speedway), Joey Saldana (Silver Dollar Speedway and Houston Raceway Park) and Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway Night #1; Chico, CA; September 10, 2009 Qualifying
1) O-Jonathan Allard 11.681
2) 20-Kraig Kinser 11.734
3) 83-Tim Kaeding 11.805
4) 10-Sammy Swindell 11.850
5) 51-Sean Becker 11.864
6) 33B-Jayme Barnes 11.906
7) 83V-Kyle Larson 11.924
8) OO-Jason Statler 11.952
9) 14-Jason Meyers 11.953
10) 26B-Bobby McMahan 12.022
11) 13-Peter Murphy 12.023
12) 92-Andy Forsburg 12.033
13) 6X-Kyle Hirst 12.036
14) 19-Craig Dollansky 12.045
15) 54-Mark Hall 12.072
16) 6-Danny Lasoski 12.078
17) 55-Brandon Carey 12.119
18) 121-Shane Golobic 12.121
19) 33E-Evan Suggs 12.122
20) 11-Steve Kinser 12.133
21) 75-Dan Menne 12.147
22) 25-Jason York 12.148
23) 21-Colby Wiesz 12.160
24) 33T-Jimmy Trulli 12.164
25) 19K-Bud Kaeding 12.185
26) 39-Greg Decaires 12.209
27) 11VS-John-Michael Bunch 12.210
28) 5X-Colton Heath 12.244
29) 7B-Brent Bjork 12.349
30) 27-Brett Rollag 12.460
31) 11MD-Mathew Davis 13.132
32) 15X-Pat Harvey 13.609
33) 28-Jim Marsh 13.728
34) X28-Tony Taylor 15.212
35) 44-Rusty Baglin 15.638
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers
2) 6X-Kyle Hirst
3) O-Jonathan Allard
4) 51-Sean Becker
5) 55-Brandon Carey
6) 75-Dan Menne
7) 7B-Brent Bjork
8) 19K-Bud Kaeding
9) 28-Jim Marsh
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 19-Craig Dollansky
2) 26B-Bobby McMahan
3) 20-Kraig Kinser
4) 121-Shane Golobic
5) 39-Greg Decaires
6) 27-Brett Rollag
7) 25-Jason York
8) 33B-Jayme Barnes
9) X28-Tony Taylor
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 13-Peter Murphy
2) 83-Tim Kaeding
3) 33E-Evan Suggs
4) 83V-Kyle Larson
5) 54-Mark Hall
6) 21-Colby Wiesz
7) 11VS-John-Michael Bunch
8) 11MD-Mathew Davis
9) 44-Rusty Baglin
Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Danny Lasoski
2) 10-Sammy Swindell
3) 92-Andy Forsburg
4) OO-Jason Statler
5) 11-Steve Kinser
6) 33T-Jimmy Trulli
7) 15X-Pat Harvey
8) 5X-Colton Heath
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 10-Sammy Swindell
2) 13-Peter Murphy
3) 14-Jason Meyers
4) O-Jonathan Allard
5) 6-Danny Lasoski
6) 6X-Kyle Hirst
7) 83-Tim Kaeding
8) 20-Kraig Kinser
9) 26B-Bobby McMahan
10) 19-Craig Dollansky
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 33B-Jayme Barnes [$20]
2) 75-Dan Menne [$20]
3) 25-Jason York [$20]
4) 19K-Bud Kaeding [$20]
5) 33T-Jimmy Trulli [$150]
6) 7B-Brent Bjork [$125]
7) 11MD-Mathew Davis [$100]
8) 15X-Pat Harvey [$75]
9) 11VS-John-Michael Bunch [$60]
10) 28-Jim Marsh [$50]
11) 21-Colby Wiesz [$40]
12) 27-Brett Rollag [$40]
13) 5X-Colton Heath [$40]
14) 44-Rusty Baglin [$40]
15) X28-Tony Taylor [$40]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 14-Jason Meyers[3] [$5,000]
2) 10-Sammy Swindell[1] [$3,000]
3) 83-Tim Kaeding[7] [$2,500]
4) 6-Danny Lasoski[5] [$2,200]
5) 19-Craig Dollansky[10] [$2,100]
6) O-Jonathan Allard[4] [$2,000]
7) 13-Peter Murphy[2] [$1,800]
8) 26B-Bobby McMahan[9] [$1,600]
9) 6X-Kyle Hirst[6] [$1,500]
10) 83V-Kyle Larson[13] [$1,300]
11) 51-Sean Becker[11] [$1,200]
12) 92-Andy Forsburg[15] [$1,100]
13) 54-Mark Hall[16] [$1,000]
14) 55-Brandon Carey[17] [$700]
15) 33B-Jayme Barnes[12] [$600]
16) 33E-Evan Suggs[19] [$600]
17) 39-Greg Decaires[24] [$600]
18) 25-Jason York[22] [$600]
19) 75-Dan Menne[21] [$600]
20) 121-Shane Golobic[18] [$600]
21) OO-Jason Statler[14] [$500]
22) 20-Kraig Kinser[8] [$500]
23) 11-Steve Kinser[20] [$500]
24) 19K-Bud Kaeding[23] [$500]
Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-8, Jason Meyers 9-30
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Bud Kaeding
Penske Power Position Award: Tim Kaeding
KSE Hard Charger Award: Greg DeCaires
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), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), Quaker State (Official Motor Oil), 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.
