By Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
Sometimes getting the first win of a racing season can be the toughest one for a driver and team. Often, once they have the first win under their belt, several more follow. Craig Dollansky hopes this is the case, for him and his team.
On Saturday night in the series return to Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Missouri, he left no doubt about who had the strongest car, leading all 35 laps, to pick up his first A-Feature win of the season and 19th of his career.
The native of Elk River, Minnesota shot out to an early lead and was in lapped track just eight laps into the event. He battled heavy traffic all night, which allowed Tim Shaffer to close in over the last few laps. At the line, Dollansky won by 0.2 second.
“It’s definitely nice to get our first win of the year, and get that monkey off of our back,” said Dollansky, driver of the Karavan Trailers Maxim. “My crew guys have been working hard. We knew that first win would come, and it’s nice to get it for the whole team.”
After winning his second Crane Cams Dash of the season, Dollansky lined up on the pole for the 35-lap contest on the 1/3-mile. A couple of mid-race cautions bunched the field, but each time on the restart, Dollansky charged down the front straightaway and opened a commanding lead by the time he reached the back straightaway.
“We had a good race car and I felt comfortable with the track the way it was,” he said. “Toward the middle of the race I got down on the bottom and stayed down there. That was the place to be.”
While Shaffer tried his best to track down Dollansky, the latter knew that as long as kept his car glued to the bottom he would be in good shape. For Dollansky, the win was his seventh Top-Five finish of the season as he sits solidly in the fourth position in the championship standings.
“I knew at the end that it would be pretty tough for someone to go around us on the outside, and I was just going to run conservative on the bottom,” explained the winner. “Getting to that point and being in that position was the tough thing. We were fortunate to be in that position and it was a total team effort. Hopefully we can get some momentum out of this and keep working on this race car and get some more wins.”
Shaffer who started in the third spot fell back to fourth on the opening lap of the event, and charged right back on the next lap. He powered around Steve Kinser and Joey Saldana on the 12th lap to take the second spot. The native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania made up some ground at the end, as evidenced by turning the fastest lap of the race on the 27th circuit, as he earned the runner-up finish.
“It was a good night all together,” said Shaffer, driver of the Casey’s General Stores Maxim. “We qualified decent and ran good in the heat race. We fell back a little in the dash, but we recovered pretty well in the feature.”
With heavy lapped traffic plaguing the leaders with under five laps to go, Shaffer was able to significantly cut into Dollansky’s advantage and made a couple of late runs at him, reminiscent of late charges he had earlier in the season at Volunteer Speedway in Tennessee and Dixie Speedway in Georgia.
“I definitely thought I had a chance at the end,” said Shaffer. “One little slip up and I could have lost a spot, and if he would have slipped up he would have lost a spot. I was getting greedy there at the end and pushed the car pretty hard. My team did a great job. They had the car right all night.”
After earning his seventh Top-Five finish of the season, Shaffer is confident that his first win of the season is just around the corner. On Tuesday, he will return to his home track, Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania where he was the 1993 track champion. He won his first World of Outlaws event at the track in 2005.
“If you can keep banging on the door and running in the Top-Five and Top-Three, the wins will come,” he said. “Our goal is to be consistent and as long as we are, the wins will follow.”
After finishing ninth in the series inaugural visit to the 1/3-mile in 2005, the former World of Outlaws Gumout Series Champion was impressed with the hard work of track officials and their staff as they treated the fans to a great night of racing.
“It’s a beautiful facility and it’s great to come here and race,” said Dollansky. “Kevin Gundaker is doing a great job. Hopefully the fans enjoyed the show.”
With the schedule picking up next week, Dollansky and his team are ready to take to the track five times in a six-day period as part of the first East Coast swing of the season. While the win on Saturday night was their first in World of Outlaws action this season, the team won in early February at East Bay Raceway in Florida as a tune-up for the World of Outlaws season.
“I think we are headed in the right direction,” he said. “We still have some work to do, but we’ll keep at it. We have a long way to go in the season. We didn’t have the start to the season that I wanted, but we’ll keep working and hard and see where it goes.”
Joey Saldana charged from the ninth starting spot to finish third, earning his 12thTop-Five finish of the season, as he continues to chase Donny Schatz in the point standings. The native of Brownsburg, Indiana gained a spot on the second lap of the race, and two more on the following circuit. He found himself in the Top-Five on the fifth lap, as he staged an entertaining battle with Steve Kinser and then Shaffer.
“We needed a solid run tonight,” said Saldana, driver of the Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI. “We’ve struggled a bit on the little sticky tracks, and this one tonight got a little slick and that helped us out. It seems like what we are doing to our cars works better when the track gets slick.”
Saldana, the 1996 World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year believes his team is ready as the schedule picks up next week on the East Coast. The more he races, the better rhythm he believes he gets into.
“I enjoy it when the schedule picks up,” said Saldana. “I have a really good team behind me, and they work very hard. They do a great job preparing the car. For me it would be great to run seven days a week, but for the sake of the crews, you could not do that. It’s always tough to race on the East Coast, where they definitely support 410-sprint car racing.”
Steve Kinser has a very solid night in the Q Oil Maxim, finishing in the fourth position. He inherited the second spot on the 11th lap as Terry McCarl who was in the runner-up position spun. He battled Saldana for a number of laps, taking the third spot on the 16th lap, before the former got back around him. For Kinser, it was his eighth Top-Five finish of the season.
Daryn Pittman ran steady all night long, as he wound up in the fifth spot aboard the Titan Garages Maxim. He lined up 15th for the A-Feature and patiently worked his way up in the field as well as through traffic.
Donny Schatz raced his way into the A-Feature by virtue of winning the B-Main. He picked up his 17th Top-10 finish of the season on Saturday, with a sixth-place effort, as he continues to lead the World of Outlaws standings in the ParkerStore J&J. Danny Lasoski finished seventh in the Roth Motorsports Eagle, to wrap up the doubleheader weekend in his home state. Jason Meyers, who won on Friday night at U.S. 36 Raceway, finished in the eight spot in the Primerica Financial Maxim, with Jason Solwold in ninth in the City Wide Insulation Maxim, and Chad Kemenah was 10th in the Arizonatools.com Maxim.
The World of Outlaws will return to action on Tuesday, May 15 in the First Commonwealth Bank Clash at Lernerville Speedway.
LAKE OZARK SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
• HONORING A LEGEND: Prior to racing action on Saturday night, there was a moment of silence observed to honor George Tatnell, the father of World of Outlaws driver Brooke Tatnell who passed away on Saturday in Australia. Brooke who returned to Australia last week to be with his father, attributed everything he learned about racing to his father, who was an Australian racing legend.
“The whole Larry Woodward Racing team supports Brooke and his family,” said Crew Chief Troy Renfro. “Brooke is like a brother to me and this is a very hard time for him. Not too many people realize how close Brooke was to his father. His father was his hero.”
• INJURY UPDATE: Brian Carlson sustained an injury to his left leg after hard contact with the wall in time trials on Saturday night. The native of Linden, Indiana was transported to a local hospital for observation, where he was kept overnight for precautionary measures.
• FAST QUALIFIER: Zach Chappell paced the 30 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 1/3-mile oval in 11.705 seconds at 102.418 mph. For his qualifying effort, Chappell eared five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jason Sides (4), Jason Meyers (3), Danny Lasoski (2) and Steve Kinser (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Craig Dollansky, Tim Shaffer and Jeremy Campbell won heat races… Donny Schatz won the B-Main… Craig Dollansky won the Crane Cams dash.
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• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 19 World of Outlaws A-Feature events held in 2007. The win list includes: Joey Saldana (February 23 at Thunderbowl Raceway, March 17 at Pike County Speedway, March 24 at Volunteer Speedway, March 31 at Dixie Speedway, and April 20 at Attica Raceway Park), Donny Schatz (February 9 at Volusia Speedway Park, March 3 at Manzanita Speedway, March 16 at Houston Raceway Park, and April 28 at Knoxville Raceway), Steve Kinser (March 2 at USA Race Park and April 21 at Tri-State Speedway), Jason Meyers (April 13 at Eldora Speedway and May 11 at U.S. 36 Raceway), Daryn Pittman (February 11 at Volusia Speedway Park and May 5 at Riverside International Speedway), Craig Dollansky (May 12 at Lake Ozark Speedway), Tim Kaeding (February 24 at Thunderbowl Raceway), Danny Lasoski (April 6 at Paducah International Raceway), and Kerry Madsen (February 10 at Volusia Speedway Park).
• 1/3-MILE WINNERS: Lake Ozark Speedway is a semi-banked 1/3-mile oval. . The World of Outlaws have raced four times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway and Attica Raceway Park), Craig Dollansky (Lake Ozark Speedway) and Tim Kaeding (Thunderbowl Raceway).
ON TELEVISION
• The World of Outlaws return to television on May 13 at 2 p.m. Eastern. The Sprint Car stars from the World of Outlaws return to SPEED at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 13, with the warriors from the 360 OTC World of Outlaws Late Model Series making their 2007 SPEED debut on Sunday, May 20.
The World of Outlaws will be televised 20 times this season on ESPN2 and SPEED while the World of Outlaws Late Model Series is set for six appearances on SPEED. The one-hour broadcasts will air on Sundays from May 13 to Nov. 4, when the series champions will be crowned during the World Finals from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
The Official World of Outlaws Web site is at http://www.worldofoutlaws.com. Among the features are updated driver biographies with individual statistics and pictures, race-by-race statistics, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases. Also, links to the Media Guide and 2007 Official Rulebook can be found at the bottom of the home page.
• UPCOMING EVENTS: The first pair of events at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania are on tap for Thursday, May 17 and Friday, May 18. A trip the sprawling 5/8-mile Orange County Speedway in New York is set for Saturday, May 19. A return to New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey dots the schedule the following night, Sunday, May 20.
World of Outlaws Statistical Report; Lake Ozark Speedway; Eldon, MO.; May 12, 2007
Qualifying
1) 8K-Zach Chappell 11.705
2) 7S-Jason Sides 11.866
3) 14-Jason Meyers 11.886
4) 83-Danny Lasoski 11.889
5) 11-Steve Kinser 11.897
6) 9-Joey Saldana 11.932
7) R19-Jason Solwold 11.938
8) 6-Tim Shaffer 11.970
9) 24-Terry McCarl 12.040
10) 7-Craig Dollansky 12.052
11) 5C-Chad Hillier 12.056
12) 10C-Jeremy Campbell 12.061
13) 15-Donny Schatz 12.070
14) 3X-Chad Kemenah 12.107
15) 21-Daryn Pittman 12.109
16) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr. 12.126
17) 35-Jac Haudenschild 12.139
18) 2-Tim Kaeding 12.156
19) 1X-Randy Hannagan 12.158
20) 18-Brian Carlson 12.216
21) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 12.234
22) 20-Paul McMahan 12.265
23) 36-Jason Martin 12.267
24) 14M-Randy Martin 12.307
25) 11H-Kerry Madsen 12.386
26) D1-Justin Henderson 12.408
27) 11D-Dion Hindi 12.592
28) 1A-Adam Jones 12.641
29) 11T-Tyler Thompson 12.849
30) D12-Doc Sloan 13.135
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7-Craig Dollansky
2) R19-Jason Solwold
3) 83-Danny Lasoski
4) 20-Paul McMahan
5) 8K-Zach Chappell
6) 11H-Kerry Madsen
7) 15-Donny Schatz
8) 1X-Randy Hannagan
9) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.
10) 1A-Adam Jones
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Tim Shaffer
2) 11-Steve Kinser
3) 35-Jac Haudenschild
4) 7S-Jason Sides
5) 5C-Chad Hillier
6) 36-Jason Martin
7) 3X-Chad Kemenah
8) D1-Justin Henderson
9) 11T-Tyler Thompson
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
2) 24-Terry McCarl
3) 14-Jason Meyers
4) 9-Joey Saldana
5) 21-Daryn Pittman
6) 2-Tim Kaeding
7) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
8) D12-Doc Sloan
9) 14M-Randy Martin
10) 11D-Dion Hindi
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 7-Craig Dollansky
2) 24-Terry McCarl
3) 6-Tim Shaffer
4) R19-Jason Solwold
5) 11-Steve Kinser
6) 83-Danny Lasoski
7) 14-Jason Meyers
8) 7S-Jason Sides
9) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
10) 8K-Zach Chappell
B-main (12 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.
3) 3X-Chad Kemenah
4) 1X-Randy Hannagan
5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr
6) D1-Justin Henderson
7) 14M-Randy Martin [$200]
8) 11D-Dion Hindi [$180]
9) 1A-Adam Jones [$175]
10) D12-Doc Sloan [$160]
11) 11T-Tyler Thompson [$150]
12) 18-Brian Carlson [$150]
A-main (35 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 7-Craig Dollansky[1] [$10,000]
2) 6-Tim Shaffer[3] [$5,500]
3) 9-Joey Saldana[11] [$3,200]
4) 11-Steve Kinser[5] [$2,800]
5) 21-Daryn Pittman[15] [$2,500]
6) 15-Donny Schatz[13] [$2,300]
7) 83-Danny Lasoski[6] [$2,200]
8) 14-Jason Meyers[7] [$2,100]
9) R19-Jason Solwold[4] [$2,050]
10) 3X-Chad Kemenah[14] [$2,000]
11) 1X-Randy Hannagan[19] [$1,500]
12) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.[16] [$1,200]
13) 10C-Jeremy Campbell[9] [$1,100]
14) 8K-Zach Chappell[10] [$1,050]
15) 36-Jason Martin[21] [$1,000]
16) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[23] [$900]
17) 11H-Kerry Madsen[22] [$800]
18) 20-Paul McMahan[20] [$800]
19) 7S-Jason Sides[8] [$800]
20) 2-Tim Kaeding[18] [$800]
21) D1-Justin Henderson[24] [$800]
22) 35-Jac Haudenschild[17] [$800]
23) 24-Terry McCarl[2] [$800]
24) 5C-Chad Hillier[12] [$800]
Lap Leader: Craig Dollansky, 1-35
2007 STAT ATTACK
There have been 19 World of Outlaws A-Feature events this season.
A-Feature winners (9 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Wins
1- #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 5
2- #15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 4
3- #11 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN – 2
#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 2
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 2
6- #7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 1
#11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA – 1
#83 Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO – 1
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s NSW – 1
Lap leaders, including A-features and preliminary features Car, driver, hometown – Total laps led (13 different drivers have led a lap)
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN. – 153 laps
#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, N.D. – 87 laps
#7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 74 laps
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 65 laps
#11 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN – 64 laps
#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 63 laps
#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 46 laps
#11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA – 40 laps
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW – 22 laps
#D1 Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD – 14 laps
#R19 Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon, WA- 9 laps
#83 Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO – 7 laps
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 6 laps
Time trial leaders (12 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Quick times
1 – #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 4
2 – #14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 3
3- #15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 2
#R19 Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon, WA – 2
5- #18T Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS – 1
#8K Zach Chappell, Talala, OK – 1
#89 Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA – 1
#7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 1
#5C Chad Hillier, Burlington, WA – 1
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#6T Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1
Track records established during 2007 World of Outlaws events (5)
* Craig Dollansky, March 2, United Sports Arizona Race Park (3/8-mile), Tucson, AZ, 12.624 seconds at 106.939 mph.
* Kerry Madsen, March 3, Manzanita Speedway (1/2-mile), Phoenix, AZ, 15.255 seconds at 118.149 mph.
* Joey Saldana, March 16, Houston Raceway Park (1/4-mile) Baytown, TX, 11.996 seconds at 75.025 mph.
* Joey Saldana, March 24, Volunteer Speedway (4/10-mile) Bulls Gap, TN, 11.696 second at 123.119 mph.
* Jason Solwold, May 5, Riverside International Speedway (1/4-mile) West Memphis, AR, 11.060 seconds at 81.374 mph.
Crane Cams Dash Winners (13 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Dash Wins
1- #14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 3
#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 3
3- #7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 2
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 2
5 – #15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX – 1
#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 1
#83 Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1
#6 Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1
#4 Danny Smith, Danville, IN – 1
#R19 Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon, WA – 1
Pole Positions (13 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Poles
1- #14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 3
#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 3
3- #7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 2
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 2
#15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX – 1
#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 1
#83 Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1
#6 Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1
#4 Danny Smith, Danville, IN – 1
#R19 Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon, WA – 1
B-main Winners (16 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – “B” Wins
1 –#11D Dion Hindi, Albuquerque, NM – 2
#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 2
3 -#18T Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS – 1
#24H- Rob Chaney, Wooster, OH – 1
#15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX -1
#1X Randy Hannagan, San Jose – 1
#D1 Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD – 1
#11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 1
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s NSW – 1
#24 Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1
#6 Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1
#4 Danny Smith, Danville, IN – 1
#R19 Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon, WA – 1
#2 Brooke Tatnell, San Souci, NSW – 1
