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Dollansky Wins Opener of Ironman 55 in a Thriller over Sides
& Schatz
PEVELY, MO (August 7) — I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri certainly lived up
to its name on Friday night as being one of the raciest tracks on the World
of Outlaws circuit. Craig Dollansky, Jason Sides and Donny Schatz battled
for the win on the high-banked 1/3-mile bullring down the stretch with
Dollansky prevailing in a thrilling 30-lap contest to open to the Ironman 55
weekend at the track located just outside of St. Louis, Missouri.
Dollansky led the race early before Donny Schatz got around him on the 16th
lap to take the point in lapped traffic. On the 25th lap, Dollansky went
high off of turn four and nearly took the lead as the front pair charged
down the front straightaway. He then took the top spot in turns one and two
on the very next lap, with Sides closing in as well and the trio running
side-by-side.
Dollansky would hold on for the final five laps to score his second career
win at I-55 Raceway and his second win of 2009, which was the 30th win of
his World of Outlaws career.
“It’s a great total team effort,” said Dollansky. “We had a good starting
spot, but when you have a good starting spot you have to capitalize on it.
We were running a good pace early and Donny (Schatz) got by us in the middle
of (turns) three and four. Once he got by us, I tried to be patient on the
restart and work ourselves back up in there. Fortunately for our entire race
team we were able to get the win.”
Dollansky started on the pole for the 30-lap after winning the Crane Cams
Dash in the DirecTV Maxim, and jumped to a quick lead in turns one and two,
with Jason Meyers and Schatz right on him. The leader found himself in
lapped traffic by just the ninth lap and ran high when he approached the
slower machines.
At this same point, Schatz and Meyers began a spirited battle for the second
position. Schatz took the spot in turn one on the 12th lap and quickly
closed in on Dollansky. On the 15th lap Schatz went under Dollansky coming
off turn four to take lead, only to have Dollansky power back by him at the
line. On the 16th lap Schatz got back around Dollansky as the pair split a
lapped car and he quickly opened up a lead.
The only caution of the night flew on the 19th lap with Schatz using a
strong restart to maintain his lead, while Dollansky and Meyers battled for
second. After charging into the Top-Five after lining up 12th, Jason Sides
got around Meyers to move into the third spot with 10 laps to go and began
to set his sights on the lead pair.
With six laps to go, Schatz found himself in heavy lapped traffic, allowed
Dollansky and Sides to close right in on him. Dollansky went high off turn
four on the 25th go-around, nearly taking the top spot. On the next lap he
took the lead in turns one and two from Schatz as the pair along with Sides
all ran side-by-side.
“We all had good race cars and everybody was fighting for the lead,” noted
the winner of the three-wide battle in lapped traffic. “I was just trying to
go where my car felt best. I started working the middle in (turns) three and
four somewhat and then went back to the top. We could hammer the top pretty
good and felt good up top.”
Dollansky will look to put his name in the record books on Saturday night in
the finale of the inaugural Ironman 55 as the A-Feature event will be 55
laps of green flag racing with $20,000 awaiting the winner. He applauded the
track crew at I-55 for their tireless work on Friday night to provide a racy
surface for the drivers.
“It’s going to be a long race and I kind of had that in the back of my mind
here tonight when we were running to see what the track was going to do,”
explained the native of Elk River, Minnesota. “It was a good thing that they
went back out and worked the track like they did, or the fans wouldn’t have
seen a show like they did. It was a good show for them. You have to patient
with these tracks sometimes and give them the time to go back out and work
them.”
Jason Sides came all the way from the 12th starting spot to snag second on
the last lap in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. He tried everything
he could over the last three laps of the race as he tracked down Schatz and
got around him and then closed in on Dollansky. He was able to get by Schatz
coming off the fourth turn for the checkered flag by less than a tenth of a
second.
“We had a great car tonight,” said Sides. “I am so proud of my guys. They
have been working hard all season and to run strong is great for this whole
team. We were able to really get on up through there and the track was very
racy for the feature.”
Schatz started fourth in the Armor All J&J as he seeks his 100th career
World of Outlaws A-Feature win, and quickly moved into second on the opening
laps before Jason Meyers got back around him at the start/finish line on the
opening stanza. The three-time and defending series champion led 10 laps on
the night and wound up third to earn his series leading 29th Top-Five finish
of the season.
“That was an exciting race for the fans,” noted Schatz. “It would have
really been fun if that had been 40 laps. We just got a little caught up
there in traffic and those guys were right there. We’ll come back tomorrow
and see if we can’t get a couple more spots with the big money on the line.”
Sides made up a lot of ground on Dollansky and Schatz as the laps wound down
and the front pack negotiated lapped traffic. For Sides, the runner-up
performance was his 15th Top-Five of the season and moved him back into the
fifth position in the series championship standings.
“They got caught up in traffic and that allowed us to close back in,” stated
the native of Bartlett, Tennessee. “I saw them battling each other I just
took advantage of that and found an opening. We’re definitely happy to
finish second and we’ll take it.”
After finishing third on Friday night, Donny Schatz was already focusing on
the 55-lap finale as he looks to win another “Month of Money” event with the
World of Outlaws. The North Dakota native has one career win at I-55
Raceway.
“Tire conservations will come into play tomorrow and I am usually pretty
good at that,” shared Schatz. “We are really looking forward to coming back
tomorrow. We tried a few things tonight and kept tuning on the car and found
a few things.”
Jason Meyers came home fourth in the GLR Investments KPC on Friday night,
with Daryn Pittman fifth aboard the Hunter Truck Sales JEI. Kraig Kinser was
sixth piloting the Bass Pro Shops Maxim, with Danny Smith seventh in the
Kiger Signs Maxim. Joey Saldana was eighth piloting the Budweiser Maxim,
with Steve Kinser ninth in the Quaker State Maxim. Chad Kemenah rounded out
the Top-10 in the Hampshire Racing Engines Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action with the finale of the inaugural
Ironman 55 on Saturday, August 8 at I-55 Raceway with the winner of the
55-lap A-Feature event taking home $20,000.
IRONMAN 55 at I-55 RACEWAY NIGHT #1 NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Steve Kinser paced the 42 cars that took time with an AMB
i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval at 10.209 seconds at
117.426 mph. For his qualifying effort, Kinser earned five bonus points. The
next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jason
Meyers (4), Joey Saldana (3), Daryn Pittman (2), and Tim Kaeding (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Sammy Swindell, Danny Smith, Donny Schatz and Stevie
Smith won heat races. Craig Dollansky won the Crane Cams Dash. Greg Wilson
won the B-Main. Daron Clayton won the C-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 47 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, River Cities
Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Eldora Speedway and K-C Raceway), Danny
Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway, Nodak Speedway, Eagle Raceway,
Charter Raceway Park and Lernerville Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar
Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway, Red River Valley
Speedway and Ohsweken Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lebanon Valley Speedway
and I-55 Raceway), 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).
• 1/3-MILE WINNERS: I-55 Raceway is a high-banked 1/3-mile oval. The World
of Outlaws have raced six times this season on a track that size. The
winners include: Danny Lasoski (Eagle Raceway and Charter Raceway Park),
Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Craig Dollansky (I-55 Raceway), Randy
Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), and Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Ironman 55 at I-55
Raceway Night #1; Pevely, MO; August 7, 2009
Qualifying
1) 11-Steve Kinser 10.209
2) 14-Jason Meyers 10.222
3) 9-Joey Saldana 10.223
4) 17-Daryn Pittman 10.224
5) 83-Tim Kaeding 10.272
6) 7S-Jason Sides 10.306
7) 15-Donny Schatz 10.328
8) 30C-Lance Dewease 10.334
9) 10-Sammy Swindell 10.344
10) 19-Craig Dollansky 10.375
11) 71-Paul May 10.404
12) 1-Stevie Smith 10.411
13) 20-Kraig Kinser 10.419
14) 4-Danny Smith 10.434
15) 22-Brian Ellenberger 10.476
16) 51-Fred Rahmer 10.503
17) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 10.532
18) W20-Greg Wilson 10.535
19) 63-Chad Kemenah 10.536
20) 89G-David Gravel 10.547
21) 6-Danny Lasoski 10.562
22) R19-Jac Haudenschild 10.580
23) 4K-Kody Kinser 10.585
24) 57D-Tom Dickerman 10.688
25) 83X-Tim Shaffer 10.698
26) 44-A J Bruns 10.700
27) 6R-Ryan Bunton 10.719
28) 55B-Joey Moughan 10.725
29) 22T-Miranda Throckmorton 10.730
30) 56R-Ryan Myers 10.734
31) 1X-Randy Hannagan 10.742
32) 1M-Jim Moughan 10.761
33) 12-Jerrod Hull 10.794
34) 3-Mark Shirshekan 10.829
35) 97-Tommy Worley 10.882
36) 8-Steve Short 10.931
37) 92-Daron Clayton 10.945
38) 35-Jimmy Hurley 10.977
39) 2K-Ryan Kempin 11.057
40) O-Brandon Wimmer 11.067
41) 19X-Jason Hunt 11.112
42) 39W-Alex Shanks 11.208
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 10-Sammy Swindell
2) 20-Kraig Kinser
3) 11-Steve Kinser
4) 83-Tim Kaeding
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
6) 6-Danny Lasoski
7) 83X-Tim Shaffer
8) 92-Daron Clayton
9) 12-Jerrod Hull
10) 22T-Miranda Throckmorton
11) 19X-Jason Hunt
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 4-Danny Smith
2) 19-Craig Dollansky
3) 14-Jason Meyers
4) 7S-Jason Sides
5) R19-Jac Haudenschild
6) W20-Greg Wilson
7) 3-Mark Shirshekan
8) 56R-Ryan Myers
9) 39W-Alex Shanks
10) 44-A J Bruns
11) 35-Jimmy Hurley
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 63-Chad Kemenah
4) 22-Brian Ellenberger
5) 1X-Randy Hannagan
6) 97-Tommy Worley
7) 4K-Kody Kinser
8) 6R-Ryan Bunton
9) 2K-Ryan Kempin
10) 71-Paul May
Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 1-Stevie Smith
2) 17-Daryn Pittman
3) 51-Fred Rahmer
4) 55B-Joey Moughan
5) 30C-Lance Dewease
6) 89G-David Gravel
7) 57D-Tom Dickerman
8) 8-Steve Short
9) 1M-Jim Moughan
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting
positions of A-feature)
1) 19-Craig Dollansky
2) 14-Jason Meyers
3) 17-Daryn Pittman
4) 15-Donny Schatz
5) 9-Joey Saldana
6) 1-Stevie Smith
7) 4-Danny Smith
8) 11-Steve Kinser
9) 20-Kraig Kinser
10) 10-Sammy Swindell
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 92-Daron Clayton
2) 97-Tommy Worley
3) 3-Mark Shirshekan [$125]
4) 2K-Ryan Kempin [$125]
5) 39W-Alex Shanks [$125]
6) 8-Steve Short [$100]
7) 35-Jimmy Hurley [$100]
8) 71-Paul May [$100]
9) O-Brandon Wimmer [$100]
10) 19X-Jason Hunt [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) W20-Greg Wilson
2) 6-Danny Lasoski
3) 83X-Tim Shaffer
4) 4K-Kody Kinser
5) 89G-David Gravel [$200]
6) 44-A J Bruns [$180]
7) 57D-Tom Dickerman [$175]
8) 1M-Jim Moughan [$160]
9) 12-Jerrod Hull [$150]
10) 92-Daron Clayton [$150]
11) 56R-Ryan Myers [$150]
12) 6R-Ryan Bunton [$150]
13) 22T-Miranda Throckmorton [$150]
14) 97-Tommy Worley [$150]
A-main (30 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 19-Craig Dollansky[1] [$8,000]
2) 7S-Jason Sides[12] [$4,000]
3) 15-Donny Schatz[4] [$2,500]
4) 14-Jason Meyers[2] [$2,200]
5) 17-Daryn Pittman[3] [$2,100]
6) 20-Kraig Kinser[9] [$2,000]
7) 4-Danny Smith[7] [$1,800]
8) 9-Joey Saldana[5] [$1,600]
9) 11-Steve Kinser[8] [$1,500]
10) 63-Chad Kemenah[18] [$1,300]
11) 10-Sammy Swindell[10] [$1,200]
12) 1-Stevie Smith[6] [$1,100]
13) R19-Jac Haudenschild[20] [$1,000]
14) 6-Danny Lasoski[19] [$700]
15) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[16] [$600]
16) 22-Brian Ellenberger[14] [$600]
17) 83X-Tim Shaffer[22] [$600]
18) 51-Fred Rahmer[15] [$600]
19) 1X-Randy Hannagan[24] [$600]
20) 30C-Lance Dewease[13] [$600]
21) W20-Greg Wilson[17] [$600]
22) 4K-Kody Kinser[21] [$600]
23) 83-Tim Kaeding[11] [$600]
24) 55B-Joey Moughan[23] [$600]
Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-15, 26-30; Donny Schatz 16-25
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Daryn Pittman
Penske Power Position Award: Donny Schatz
KSE Hard Charger Award: Jason Sides
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.
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