Meyers masters traffic: Wins thriller over Dollansky at Red River Valley Speedway
West Fargo, ND— June 20, 2009—Jason Meyers mentioned prior to the main event on Saturday just how much he enjoys racing on high speed half-mile tracks like Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, North Dakota and how many different facets of a driver’s abilities are tested on those types of tracks. He especially enjoyed his visit to Red River Valley on Saturday night, after winning a thrilling battle with Craig Dollansky in the 30-lap contest that pit the leaders in heavy lapped traffic for most of the race at breathtaking speeds to score his fourth win of the season.Meyers took the lead for the first time on the 10th lap and held the point until the 23rd circuit when Dollansky got around him in traffic. Meyers retook the lead on the 25th lap and would pace the field the rest of the way to earn the $10,000 win, which was the 30th of his World of Outlaws career, tying him with Andy Hillenburg for 13th on the all-time list.
“I’ll tell you what, that was a race,” said Meyers. “I don’t know what everyone up (in the crowd) there thought, but, this was incredible. These guys did a heck of a job tonight working on this car. That was an awesome race car. We had a great race with Craig (Dollansky) in traffic. It seemed like we passed some of those car five or six times.”
The 30-lap event went non-stop in just under eight and a half minutes. Meyers started fourth and moved up to third on the opening lap. He then worked on Jac Haudenschild for the runner-up spot before setting his sights on Dollansky who paced the first nine laps.
“We’ve done that here a few times before,” noted the native of Clovis, California of the caution free race. “This place is big and wide and you kind of stay out of trouble. That just makes for great racing. I’ll tell you what, you start looking at the lap board about half-way through and you figure you’re at lap 25 and still have 16 or 17 to go. We had a great race car and that made it easy to drive.”
Craig Dollansky jumped out to a quick lead over Haudenschild on the opening lap using the high side in turns one and two. Meyers moved into second on the third lap and began to track down Dollansky as the pair hit lapped traffic. Meyers closed in on the fifth lap in traffic, with Dollansky pulling away again in light traffic. In open track, Meyers gained ground and by the time the pair was in heavy traffic on the ninth lap, Meyers was right there battling for the lead. He took the top spot in turn three on the 10th lap aboard the GLR Investments KPC and quickly began to open a lead on Dollansky.
Meyers and Dollansky pulled away from the rest of the field as they continued to work traffic. Meyers was held up on the 23rd lap, giving Dollansky the opening he needed on the high side of turn four to retake the lead. The pair battled for the next couple of laps weaving in and out of traffic on the high-banked half-mile and when Dollansky was held up on the back straightaway on the 25th go-around, Meyers went under him to make the pass for the lead and ultimately the win.
“The car would pretty much go anywhere, though the top was the preferred line,” shared Meyers. “Some of the guys you weren’t quite sure where they were going and you were gaining on them so fast you really had to take a guess at it. I made a couple of mistakes and Craig got back by me. What a race. He raced me clean and we raced back and forth and that’s how it’s supposed to be done.”
Dollansky wound up leading 11 laps on the night en route to scoring a season-best second-place finish of second in the DirecTV Maxim. He began the night by turning the second fastest lap in time trials and backed that up with a third-place run in the second heat race and a second-place finish in the Crane Cams Dash.
“That goes back to when they get this track prepared like this,” said Dollansky of the racing at the front of the field. “That was some great racing. I’d sure have loved to have gotten this Kasey Kahne Racing car to Victory Lane tonight. Jason drove a great race and there was a lot of stuff going on in lapped traffic. Some of those cars we passed three and four times. My hat is off to Jason, he did a great job.”
Dollansky had to negotiate traffic for most of the 30-lap contest and had a very close call with five laps to go on the back straightaway as he was trying to get around a slower car while leading, giving Meyers the opening he needed.
“You had to be so cautious and that is why the lead went back and forth between me and Jason,” stated the native of Elk River, Minnesota. “I was trying to be cautious yet aggressive. I was trying to look after this left rear tire. I would have liked to have gone with a little harder compound than that. That race went non-stop and there was a lot going on.”
Haudenschild started on the pole for the third time this season and led the field into turn on before Dollansky charged around him. He ran in the Top-Three for the remainder of the event to pick up his fifth Top-Five finish of the season aboard the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim as he finished in third.
“The car felt really good tonight,” said Haudenschild. “That’s the best I have felt in the car all year. We had a good set-up and Leonard Lee has the car running good. We’ll take it and I think we’ll start running up front now.”
Haudenschild, who is searching for his first win of the 2009 campaign, kept pace with Dollansky for the first couple of laps and then had his hands full with Meyers. After settling in to the third spot, he battled heavy lapped traffic for most of the remainder of the race.
“There were a couple of close calls, but we were able to get through traffic pretty good tonight,” noted the recent inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. “The car felt good all night.”
Donny Schatz finished fourth in the Armor All J&J after beginning the night by setting fast time for the second consecutive race. He also was victorious in the first heat race.
Joey Saldana was fifth in the Budweiser Maxim, with Danny Lasoski sixth aboard the Casey’s General Store JEI. Kraig Kinser was seventh in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim, with Jason Sides eighth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Steve Kinser was ninth in the Quaker State Maxim, with Sam Hafertepe Jr. 10th in the Fusion Energy Boost machine.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Sunday, June 21 at Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota.
DUEL IN THE DAKOTAS AT RED RIVER VALLEY SPEEDWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 29 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 16.410 seconds at 109.689 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Craig Dollansky (4), Danny Lasoski (3), Jason Meyers (2), and Kraig Kinser (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Donny Schatz, Jason Sides, Danny Lasoski and Jason Meyers won heat races. Jac Haudenschild won the Crane Cams Dash. Bob Martin won the B-Main.
There has been 29 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 and Dodge City Raceway Park-twice), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Canandaigua Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway and River Cities Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway), (Tri-State Speedway) and Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Red River Valley Speedway; West Fargo, ND; June 20, 2009
Qualifying
1) 15-Donny Schatz 16.410
2) 19-Craig Dollansky 16.438
3) 6-Danny Lasoski 16.449
4) 14-Jason Meyers 16.452
5) 20-Kraig Kinser 16.544
6) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 16.550
7) 11-Steve Kinser 16.554
8) R19-Jac Haudenschild 16.601
9) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 16.602
10) 7S-Jason Sides 16.711
11) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 16.787
12) 29-Leigh Thomas 16.812
13) 22-Brian Ellenberger 16.885
14) 67X-Justin Berg 16.968
15) 6N-Greg Nikitenko 17.001
16) 1-Chris Shirek 17.006
17) 9-Joey Saldana 17.019
18) 21K-Lou Kennedy 17.065
19) 18W-Ryan Wilson 17.070
20) 8-Casey Mack 17.142
21) 9N-Wade Nygaard 17.281
22) 10TR-Bob Martin 17.391
23) 20K-Thomas Kennedy 17.550
24) 31-Shane Roemeling 17.714
25) 11K-Nick Shirek 17.767
26) K9-Dave Glennon 17.783
27) 30-Brant O”Banion 17.795
28) 99-Jordan Graham 17.904
29) 17M-Todd Mickelson 18.057
30) 20J-Kevin Lawson -.—
31) 4W-Matt Wasmund -.—
32) 20L-Dusty Lawson -.—
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
4) 20-Kraig Kinser
5) 9N-Wade Nygaard
6) 11K-Nick Shirek
7) 22-Brian Ellenberger
8) 17M-Todd Mickelson
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7S-Jason Sides
2) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
3) 19-Craig Dollansky
4) 67X-Justin Berg
5) 21K-Lou Kennedy
6) 10TR-Bob Martin
7) K9-Dave Glennon
8) 20J-Kevin Lawson
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Danny Lasoski
2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
3) 11-Steve Kinser
4) 6N-Greg Nikitenko
5) 20K-Thomas Kennedy
6) 4W-Matt Wasmund
7) 18W-Ryan Wilson
8) 30-Brant O’Banion
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild
3) 1-Chris Shirek
4) 29-Leigh Thomas
5) 8-Casey Mack
6) 31-Shane Roemeling
7) 99-Jordan Graham
8) 20L-Dusty Lawson
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild
2) 19-Craig Dollansky
3) 9-Joey Saldana
4) 14-Jason Meyers
5) 7S-Jason Sides
6) 20-Kraig Kinser
7) 15-Donny Schatz
8) 6-Danny Lasoski
9) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 10TR-Bob Martin
2) 22-Brian Ellenberger
3) 31-Shane Roemeling
4) 11K-Nick Shirek
5) 30-Brant O”Banion [$200]
6) 99-Jordan Graham [$180]
7) 20J-Kevin Lawson [$175]
8) 20L-Dusty Lawson [$160]
9) 18W-Ryan Wilson [$150]
10) K9-Dave Glennon [$150]
11) 4W-Matt Wasmund [$150]
12) 17M-Todd Mickelson [$150]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 14-Jason Meyers[4] [$10,000]
2) 19-Craig Dollansky[2] [$5,500]
3) R19-Jac Haudenschild[1] [$3,200]
4) 15-Donny Schatz[7] [$2,800]
5) 9-Joey Saldana[3] [$2,500]
6) 6-Danny Lasoski[8] [$2,300]
7) 20-Kraig Kinser[6] [$2,200]
8) 7S-Jason Sides[5] [$2,100]
9) 11-Steve Kinser[11] [$2,050]
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[10] [$2,000]
11) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[9] [$1,500]
12) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[12] [$1,200]
13) 1-Chris Shirek[17] [$1,100]
14) 22-Brian Ellenberger[14] [$1,050]
15) 21K-Lou Kennedy[18] [$1,000]
16) 6N-Greg Nikitenko[16] [$900]
17) 10TR-Bob Martin[21] [$800]
18) 8-Casey Mack[19] [$800]
19) 29-Leigh Thomas[13] [$800]
20) 11K-Nick Shirek[24] [$800]
21) 67X-Justin Berg[15] [$800]
22) 31-Shane Roemeling[23] [$800]
23) 20K-Thomas Kennedy[22] [$800]
24) 9N-Wade Nygaard[20] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-9, 23-24; Jason Meyers 10-22, 25-30
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Jason Meyers
Penske Power Position Award: Jac Haudenschild
KSE Hard Charger Award: Chris Shirek
