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Another Super Finish: Joey Saldana Wins Thriller over Donny
Schatz at Deer Creek Speedway in the Sprint for a Cure Summer Clash
SPRING VALLEY, MN (September 19) - Joey Saldana came out on the short end of
a late race battle just a few days ago at Clay County Fair Speedway losing
the lead on the final lap to Jason Meyers and he made up for that on
Saturday night in the Sprint for a Cure Summer Clash at Deer Creek Speedway
in Minnesota, winning a late race duel with three-time and defending series
champion Donny Schaz to pick up his series leading 18th A-Feature win of the
season in the series inaugural visit to the immaculate 3/8-mile before a
standing room only crowd in an event which was postponed by rain last month.
Saldana used a slide job in turn four on the 33rd lap to take the lead,
though he drifted high exiting that turn with Schatz charging down the front
straightaway to officially keep the top spot at the line. On the next lap,
Saldana inched by Schatz again coming off turn four to take the point and
officially be scored the leader at the line, with Schatz battling back and
regaining the lead as the pair headed into turn one. Saldana ran the extreme
high side of the track in turn two on the last lap and was able to charge
around Schatz exiting that corner to take the lead and wound up winning by
just a mere 0.273 seconds aboard the Budweiser Maxim.
“It was a great run, what can I say,” said Saldana in Victory Lane. “That
was awesome. Hopefully my wife and son were listening to that one online,
because it was pretty spectacular.”
Saldana moved into the second spot on the ninth lap and quickly began to
close in on Schatz. On the 11th lap he was all over the leader and nearly
took the lead coming off turn four. Saldana again made a bid for the lead on
the 16th go-around with the caution coming out on the next lap. Following a
caution on the 17th lap, the remainder of the 35-lapper would go non-stop
putting the leader in traffic for a majority of the second half of the race.
“I was racing a really good driver and he was not going to make any
mistakes,” noted the winner. “I was just doing whatever I could, because I
knew I had to get in front of him. Jason (Meyers) got by me there and I got
him back. It's just really good hard racing. I wish some of the other guys
would watch guys like Donny Schatz race, because he is probably the best guy
you can race with. There are some guys that need to learn from him and I
know that I need to learn from him. It definitely makes me better racing a
guy like that.”
For Saldana it was his 18th A-Feature win and 19th overall triumph on the
World of Outlaws circuit this season as he continues to add what has been a
career year. It was his 57th career A-Feature win with the series as he
continues to close in on Stevie Smith who is eighth on the all-time list.
“They are all special,” noted Saldana of his wins this season. “To win a
World of Outlaws race these days is pretty tough. I don't think people
realize how tough the schedule is and then you have to race let alone the
schedule. You just have to stick to what you are doing. I'm lucky to have
Kasey Kahne Racing behind me. This is my fourth year with them and you
normally don't see that in sprint car racing. Owners want results and it's
tough to do. They've definitely been patient with me and we are doing well
now.”
Schatz ended up leading 25 laps on the night en route to the runner-up
finish in the Armor All J&J which was his series leading 36th Top-Five
finish of the season as he chases his fourth consecutive title. He took the
lead on the sixth lap in turn three when his teammate Kraig Kinser who was
leading got sideway and nearly spun.
“It's a decent finish,” Schatz stated. “We haven't had a Top-Five for a
little while. We definitely wanted to win, but he (Joey Saldana) is really
good when the track is like that right on the wall. I got a little too
comfortable there. It started to lay a little rubber off both corners and I
thought well if I just don't miss the rubber I'll be all right. I didn't
want to push the issue with lapped traffic. Sometimes you are in the
catbirds seat running second and he gave it what is was worth and got the
job done.”
While leading, Schatz faced two red flags and two yellows, and used strong
restarts each time to maintain his advantage. He led on the initial start of
the race only to have the first caution of the night fly. On the second
start, Kraig Kinser got the jump on his heading into turns one and two and
would lead the first five laps.
“It doesn't make it tough to get in a rhythm,” explained the North Dakota
native of the cautions. “These are sprint car races, not NASCAR races. The
tires change so much over the course of 40 laps that it would be fun to see
if you run 40 laps (non-stop). It is what it is. My guys did a great job
tonight and hopefully we can go on and carry a little momentum and get back
in the winner's circle.”
Jason Meyers ended up third in the GLR Investment KPC as he continues to
keep pace with Donny Schatz as he battles for his first series title. He was
right on Saldana and Schatz on the last lap looking to make it two wins in a
row. The California native was fifth fastest in time trials to earn a bonus
points and now is 18 markers behind Schatz.
Danny Lasoski was fourth in the Casey's General Store JEI. Steve Kinser
recovered from a flip in the dash that had his crew thrashing to have the
car ready for the feature to come home fifth in the Quaker State Maxim.
Chad Kemenah came home sixth in the Hampshire Racing Engines Maxim, with Jac
Haudenschild coming all the way from 19th to finish seventh in the
Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger
Award. Jason Sides was eighth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim,
with Craig Dollansky ninth in the DirecTV Maxim. Davey Heskin rounded out
the Top-10 in the Maxwell Racing Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday, September 25 at the famed
Eldora Speedway in Ohio followed by a stop at Lernerville Speedway in
Pennsylvania.
DEER CREEK SPEEDWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Sam Hafertepe Jr. paced the 28 cars that took time with a
record setting AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 3/8-mile oval at
11.583 seconds at 116.550 mph. For his qualifying effort, Hafertepe earned
five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus
points, including: Jason Sides (4), Terry McCarl (3), Joey Saldana (2), and
Jason Meyers (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Steve Kinser, Kraig Kinser and Mark Dobmeier won heat
races. Donny Schatz won the Crane Cams Dash. Kaley Gharst won the B-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 58 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia
Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway-twice, 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, Skagit Speedway and Deer Creek 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, Cottage Grove Speedway and Clay County Fair
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 two World of Outlaws
preliminary features this season. The winners include: Jason Meyers (Silver
Dollar Speedway) and Joey Saldana (Silver Dollar Speedway).
• 3/8-MILE WINNERS: Deer Creek Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile oval. The
World of Outlaws have raced 17 times on a track that size this season. The
winners include: Joey Saldana (Lawrenceburg Speedway, Dodge City Raceway
Park-twice, U.S. 36 Raceway, 34 Raceway, Castrol Raceway-twice and Deer
Creek Speedway), Donny Schatz (Lawrenceburg Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway,
K-C Raceway and Dacotah Speedway), Jason Meyers (Paducah International
Raceway, Ohsweken Speedway and Clay County Fair Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Nodak
Speedway) and Jason Sides (Ohsweken Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Deer Creek Speedway;
Spring Valley, MN; September 19, 2009
Qualifying
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.583
2) 7S-Jason Sides 11.590
3) 24-Terry McCarl 11.617
4) 9-Joey Saldana 11.618
5) 14-Jason Meyers 11.647
6) 63-Chad Kemenah 11.660
7) 11-Steve Kinser 11.689
8) 20-Kraig Kinser 11.689
9) 13-Mark Dobmeier 11.691
10) 6-Danny Lasoski 11.716
11) 15-Donny Schatz 11.736
12) 56-Davey Heskin 11.748
13) 19-Craig Dollansky 11.813
14) 7K-Kaley Gharst 11.814
15) 22-Brian Ellenberger 11.830
16) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 11.864
17) 2W-Johnny Herrera 11.898
18) 23W-Scott Winters 11.905
19) R19-Jac Haudenschild 11.926
20) 83-Tim Kaeding 11.932
21) 21-Brian Brown 11.955
22) 2-Skip Jackson 12.035
23) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 12.056
24) 4W-Matt Wasmund 12.078
25) K9-John Vandenberg 12.190
26) 12-Lynton Jeffrey 12.369
27) 7KX-Rob Kubli 12.500
28) 3TK-Tony Kaus 13.214
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) 6-Danny Lasoski
3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
4) 9-Joey Saldana
5) 19-Craig Dollansky
6) R19-Jac Haudenschild
7) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
8) 2-Skip Jackson
9) K9-John Vandenberg
10) 3TK-Tony Kaus
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 20-Kraig Kinser
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 14-Jason Meyers
4) 7S-Jason Sides
5) 2W-Johnny Herrera
6) 83-Tim Kaeding
7) 7K-Kaley Gharst
8) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
9) 12-Lynton Jeffrey
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 13-Mark Dobmeier
2) 24-Terry McCarl
3) 56-Davey Heskin
4) 22-Brian Ellenberger
5) 23W-Scott Winters
6) 21-Brian Brown
7) 4W-Matt Wasmund
8) 7KX-Rob Kubli
9) 63-Chad Kemenah
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting
positions of A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 20-Kraig Kinser
3) 9-Joey Saldana
4) 7S-Jason Sides
5) 14-Jason Meyers
6) 13-Mark Dobmeier
7) 6-Danny Lasoski
8) 24-Terry McCarl
9) 11-Steve Kinser
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
B-main (10 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7K-Kaley Gharst
2) 63-Chad Kemenah
3) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
4) 2-Skip Jackson
5) 4W-Matt Wasmund
6) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
7) 12-Lynton Jeffrey [$200]
8) 7KX-Rob Kubli [$180]
9) K9-John Vandenberg [$175]
10) 3TK-Tony Kaus [$160]
A-main (35 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[3] [$10,000]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[1] [$5,500]
3) 14-Jason Meyers[5] [$3,200]
4) 6-Danny Lasoski[7] [$2,800]
5) 11-Steve Kinser[9] [$2,500]
6) 63-Chad Kemenah[11] [$2,300]
7) R19-Jac Haudenschild[19] [$2,200]
8) 7S-Jason Sides[4] [$3,100]
9) 19-Craig Dollansky[13] [$2,050]
10) 56-Davey Heskin[12] [$3,000]
11) 83-Tim Kaeding[20] [$1,500]
12) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[24] [$1,200]
13) 22-Brian Ellenberger[15] [$1,100]
14) 20-Kraig Kinser[2] [$1,050]
15) 2W-Johnny Herrera[17] [$1,500]
16) 2-Skip Jackson[22] [$900]
17) 21-Brian Brown[21] [$800]
18) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[16] [$800]
19) 4W-Matt Wasmund[23] [$800]
20) 7K-Kaley Gharst[14] [$800]
21) 13-Mark Dobmeier[6] [$800]
22) 24-Terry McCarl[8] [$800]
23) 23W-Scott Winters[18] [$800]
24) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[10] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Kraig Kinser 1-5, Donny Schatz 6-33, Joey Saldana 34-35
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Joey Saldana
Penske Power Position Award: Jason Meyers
KSE Hard Charger Award: Jac Haudenschild
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