|
An Even Dozen: Saldana Wins at 34 Raceway to Earn 12th
Victory of 2009
WEST BURLINGTON (July 8) - Joey Saldana set a career high in 2007 with the
World of Outlaws winning 12 A-Feature events over the course of that nearly
80-race season. The second generation driver matched that mark on Wednesday
night at 34 Raceway in Iowa, winning for the 12th time in 2009 in just the
34th race of the season as he looks to eclipse his career high for victories
with the series this season.
Saldana started on the pole and led the first 11 laps before Donny Schatz
got around him on the 12th lap and would pace the next 20 circuits. After a
thrilling battle in traffic that saw Saldana continually use the high side
of the track before ducking under Schatz to take the lead on the 32nd lap. A
late caution set up a green-white-checker finish that saw the race extended
an extra go-around to 36 laps.
The win for Saldana aboard the Budweiser Maxim was the 51st of his World of
Outlaws career, which moved him into a tie for ninth on the All-time list
with recent Hall of Fame inductee Jac Haudenschild.
“That was an awesome race,” said Saldana in Victory Lane. “To be able to
race Donny Schatz like that was great. I don't know what to say. I think he
had a better car than me, but I just didn't want to give up.”
The race began with Saldana leading from the pole with Terry McCarl in
second. Saldana began to pull away early in the race as McCarl has his hands
full with Schatz.
The first caution of the night flew on the eighth lap, by which time Schatz
was up to second and put him right on Saldana for the restart. He looked low
in turns one and two and again in three and four in a bid for the top spot.
On the 11th lap, Schatz looked under Saldana in turns three and four and the
pair ran side-by-side with Saldana retaining the top spot.
On the very next lap Schatz went low again in turns one and two and took the
lead from Saldana. As the pair worked their way through heavy lapped
traffic, Saldana moved to the extreme high side of the track as he kept pace
with Schatz. On the 14th lap nearly took the lead in turns one and two when
Schatz was held up by a lapped car.
This battle continued for a number of laps in heavy traffic, with Schatz
continuing to hold on to the lead. A caution would fly on the 24th lap
giving the leaders clean track to work with. Schatz led on the restart with
Saldana again going way up the track in turns one and two and getting a
strong run down the back straightway. With seven laps to go, the lead pair
was in heavy traffic and Saldana had closed right back up on Schatz again.
Saldana used the low side of the track in turns three and on the 32nd lap to
take the lead back from Schatz, with the latter pulling back even in turns
one and two. Saldana would lead down the backstretch and took the white flag
as the leader with Schatz right on him when the final caution of the night
flew, setting up a two-lap shootout by way of World of Outlaws rules that a
race must end under two consecutive green flag laps. A strong restart helped
propel Saldana, who led 15 laps on the night to the victory.
“I was just hanging with him and as soon as we got to lapped traffic he
started moving and that helped me out,” noted the native of Brownsburg,
Indiana. “I ran the top in (turns) one and two the whole race and it kind of
cleaned off and started taking a little rubber off of two. He passed me
early on the bottom and he never knew that was there. Luckily we got him
back.”
Saldana won the Crane Cams Dash to earn the pole position for the 35-lap
A-Feature, though he had some smoke coming from his car during the dash and
immediately took it back to the pit area to have his crew tend to it. After
making some repairs, they had the machine ready to go well in advance of the
main event.
“We had an oil leak and they had to work on the valve cover and some stuff,”
shared the winner. “There is nothing wrong with our Mopar. The engine ran
great, it was just something that came loose. That's the way it goes.”
Saldana is in the midst of his fourth season driving for Kasey Kahne Racing
and has won 36 World of Outlaws A-Feature events since joining the team
owned by the NASCAR star, who was in attendance for the win on Wednesday
night.
“It's exciting for this whole team,” said Kahne. “They have done a great job
all season. To see a race like that with Joey and Donny like that was
unreal. That was awesome to be here and be a fan and get to watch it. I am
glad all you fans were able to see an awesome sprint car race tonight.”
Schatz lined up seventh and gained two spots on the opening lap and another
two on the second go-around and was all the way up to third. He then worked
on Terry McCarl for a couple of laps before taking the second spot from him
and setting his sights on Saldana. After trading the lead a couple of times,
the three-time and defending series champion, wound up second in the Armor
All J&J.
“That's an important part, putting on a good show,” said Schatz after the
race. “Joey (Saldana) did a great job. I hated to see that yellow with two
to go. My guys did an awesome job. We had a great car. We have been fighting
some things the last month and we put a new race car together and feel like
we are actually going somewhere. We're pretty happy. You're not going to win
them all and Joey is pretty good when you have to pinball around the
cushion. We'll keep plugging away.”
Terry McCarl, who helped promote the event at 34 Raceway on Wednesday night,
wound up third in his home state aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim. He
ran second for a couple of laps early in the race and fell back to fourth as
well a couple of times, but was able to take the third spot back from Jac
Haudenschild with seven laps to go. He began the night by setting fast time
in qualifying of the 33 cars that took to the track.
“What a great race track it was,” said McCarl. “You have the two best in the
business ahead of us and we were knocking on the door and just missed it a
little bit. It was a great race to watch. They were going at and it looked
Donny had us handled and Joey got going up there on top. The bottom went
away there in (turns) one and two where Donny and I were running and it went
away like right now. I about spun it out a couple of times and had to move
around to see where we were good.”
Danny Lasoski ended up fourth in the Casey's General Store JEI, with Jason
Sides in fifth piloting the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Tim Kaeding
was sixth in the DTR Transport KPC, with Jac Haudenschild seventh aboard the
Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. Sammy Swindell was eighth in the Tom Rolfe
Trucking Maxim, with Jason Meyers ninth in the GLR Investments KPC. Johnny
Herrera rounded out the Top-10 in the Perfect Circle Bending Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, July 11 at Charter
Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
34 RACEWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Terry McCarl paced the 33 cars that took time with an AMB
i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 3/8-mile oval at 12.360 seconds at
109.223 mph. For his qualifying effort, McCarl earned five bonus points. The
next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jason
Meyers (4), Lucas Wolfe (3), Johnny Herrera (2), and Sammy Swindell (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Tim Kaeding, Tony Bruce Jr., Donny Schatz and Danny
Lasoski won heat races. Steve Kinser won the B-Main. Joey Saldana won the
Crane Cams Dash.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 34 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 and 34 Raceway), 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), Danny
Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway, Nodak Speedway and Eagle Raceway),
Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway),
Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International
Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway), Steve Kinser (Tri-State
Speedway) and Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway).
• 3/8-MILE WINNERS: The World of Outlaws have raced seven times on a track
that size this season. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Lawrenceburg
Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park-twice, U.S. 36 Raceway and 34 Raceway),
Danny Lasoski (Nodak Speedway), Jason Meyers (Paducah International
Raceway), and Donny Schatz (Lawrenceburg Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; 34 Raceway; West
Burlington, IA; July, 8, 2009
Qualifying
1) 24-Terry McCarl 12.360
2) 14-Jason Meyers 12.361
3) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 12.450
4) 2W-Johnny Herrera 12.469
5) 10-Sammy Swindell 12.482
6) 7S-Jason Sides 12.509
7) 9-Joey Saldana 12.519
8) 96-Bronson Maeschen 12.528
9) 83-Tim Kaeding 12.550
10) 1X-Randy Hannagan 12.561
11) 15-Donny Schatz 12.565
12) 6-Danny Lasoski 12.572
13) 55-Kerry Madsen 12.612
14) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 12.617
15) 53-Jack Dover 12.636
16) R19-Jac Haudenschild 12.685
17) 11-Steve Kinser 12.705
18) 14AJ-Wayne Johnson 12.722
19) 49-Josh Schneiderman 12.747
20) 19-Craig Dollansky 12.760
21) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 12.778
22) V92-Mathew Reed 12.779
23) 10X-Rager Phillips 12.791
24) 7K-Kaley Gharst 12.796
25) 20-Kraig Kinser 12.809
26) 22-Brian Ellenberger 12.849
27) 21AU-Brooke Tatnell 12.866
28) 55B-Joey Moughan 12.910
29) 17A-Austin McCarl 13.014
30) 69-Mike Moore 13.096
31) 65-Jordan Goldesberry 13.115
32) 51J-Ryan Jamison 13.477
33) 3-Matt Sutton 13.796
34) 4X-Toni Lutar -.---
35) 44W-Austen Wheatley -.---
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 83-Tim Kaeding
2) 55-Kerry Madsen
3) 10-Sammy Swindell
4) 24-Terry McCarl
5) 20-Kraig Kinser
6) 11-Steve Kinser
7) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
8) 3-Matt Sutton
9) 17A-Austin McCarl
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
2) 7S-Jason Sides
3) 1X-Randy Hannagan
4) 14-Jason Meyers
5) 14AJ-Wayne Johnson
6) 22-Brian Ellenberger
7) V92-Mathew Reed
8) 69-Mike Moore
9) 4X-Toni Lutar
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
4) 53-Jack Dover
5) 21AU-Brooke Tatnell
6) 10X-Rager Phillips
7) 49-Josh Schneiderman
8) 65-Jordan Goldesberry
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Danny Lasoski
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild
3) 19-Craig Dollansky
4) 96-Bronson Maeschen
5) 7K-Kaley Gharst
6) 2W-Johnny Herrera
7) 51J-Ryan Jamison
8) 55B-Joey Moughan
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting
positions of A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 24-Terry McCarl
3) 14-Jason Meyers
4) 55-Kerry Madsen
5) 6-Danny Lasoski
6) 83-Tim Kaeding
7) 15-Donny Schatz
8) R19-Jac Haudenschild
9) 7S-Jason Sides
10) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) 2W-Johnny Herrera
3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
4) 22-Brian Ellenberger
5) 10X-Rager Phillips [$200]
6) 49-Josh Schneiderman [$180]
7) 55B-Joey Moughan [$175]
8) 65-Jordan Goldesberry [$160]
9) 69-Mike Moore [$150]
10) 4X-Toni Lutar [$150]
11) 51J-Ryan Jamison [$150]
12) V92-Mathew Reed [$150]
13) 17A-Austin McCarl [$150]
14) 3-Matt Sutton [$150]
A-main (35 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[1] [$10,000]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[7] [$5,500]
3) 24-Terry McCarl[2] [$3,200]
4) 6-Danny Lasoski[5] [$2,800]
5) 7S-Jason Sides[9] [$2,500]
6) 83-Tim Kaeding[6] [$2,300]
7) R19-Jac Haudenschild[8] [$2,200]
8) 10-Sammy Swindell[13] [$2,100]
9) 14-Jason Meyers[3] [$2,050]
10) 2W-Johnny Herrera[12] [$2,000]
11) 55-Kerry Madsen[4] [$1,500]
12) 21AU-Brooke Tatnell[24] [$1,200]
13) 11-Steve Kinser[17] [$1,100]
14) 20-Kraig Kinser[22] [$1,050]
15) 53-Jack Dover[16] [$1,000]
16) 22-Brian Ellenberger[23] [$900]
17) 7K-Kaley Gharst[21] [$800]
18) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[20] [$800]
19) 96-Bronson Maeschen[14] [$800]
20) 1X-Randy Hannagan[15] [$800]
21) 14AJ-Wayne Johnson[18] [$800]
22) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[11] [$800]
23) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[10] [$800]
24) 19-Craig Dollansky[19] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Joey Saldana 1-11, 32-35; Donny Schatz 12-31
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Brooke Tatnell
Penske Power Position Award: Terry McCarl
KSE Hard Charger Award: Brooke Tatnell
World of Outlaws Championship Standings Through July 8
1. Donny Schatz 4727
2. Joey Saldana 4687 -40
3. Jason Meyers 4625 -102
4. Steve Kinser 4600 -127
5. Jason Sides 4519 -208
6. Danny Lasoski 4515 -212
7. Craig Dollansky 4457 -270
8. Jac Haudenschild 4361 -366
9. Kraig Kinser 4344 -383
10. Lucas Wolfe 3989 -738
11. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 3864 -863
12. Brian Ellenberger 3560 -1167
 |
