Kenny "The Mouse" Jacobs picks up $5,000 at Osky
By Perry Bell

OSKALOOSA, IA. (Aug. 7, 2006) - Daryn Pittman was second in the King of the Hill Challenge and then accepted the Front Row Challenge offer to give up his front row starting position for a chance at a much heftier payday. Everyone in the Monday main event raced for $5,000 to win with the exception of Pittman, who raced for a chance to win $50,000 if he could race from the back of the back and beat the field.

In the history of the Front Row Challenge the $50,000 offer has been claimed just once, that was by Jac "The Wild Child" Haudenschild in 1999. The first offer to give up his pole position for the big payday was turned down by Kenny "The Mouse" Jacobs. Jacobs move to keep the pole paid off at the end of the night, shortly after 11 p.m. as he raced to the 25-lap victory, paying the Ohio pilot $5,000. Jacobs replied, "I had a heck of a nice race car." Running second in the main event was Danny "The Dude" Lasoski. Lasoski started inside of row four. Lasoski grabbed the runner-up spot on lap 18. Craig Dollansky, who earlier in the night set quick time ran third in the feature followed by Kasey Kahne in fourth and Haudenschild in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Skip Jackson in sixth, Daryn Pittman from the 24th starting spot up to seventh at the end of the evening. Eighth place was gained by Jonathon Allard, with Dusty Zomer ninth and Jessica Zemken 10th.

Quick time during the evening among the 33 competitors was turned in by Dollansky with a time of 15.914 seconds around the half-mile speedplant.

Heat races were won by Haudenschild, Jerrod Hull, Tony Lutar and Dusty Zomer.

The 2006 Front Row Challenge, promoted by McTwo Promotions, Terry McCarl and Bill McCroskey, drew a field with some heavy hitters. Among the list of stars were Danny Lasoski, Dollansky, Pittman, Haudenschild and Jacobs, to name a few.

The biggest of the racing stars was NASCAR star Kasey Kahne, who continues to draw a large crowd every time he appears at the event. Kahne was third in the 2000 Front Row Challenge and has been in the top 10 at the event three of the past six years. Make that four of seven with his fourth place finish Monday.

Billy Alley, Lincoln, Neb., overcame some misfortune earlier in the night when a push truck ran up over his tire prior to the start of his heat race. Alley qualified for the feature the hard way, by advancing with a victory in the 12-lap B-Feature.

The top four finishers in the B qualified for the feature. Running second was Shawn Sander, Tony Bruce Jr., was third with Rager Phillips grabbing the final transfer to the main event. Promoter Bill McCroskey stated, "Over $6,000 worth of prizes were handed out to the drivers during the night. Three Winters rear ends valued at $2,000 each were given to heat winners running with Winters equipment, that consisted of Lutar, Zomer and Haudenschild. McCroskey added, "We had a decent crowd and we hope to have this pleasant weather again for the 2007 Front Row Challenge."

Time Trials - 1. Craig Dollansky (7), Elk River, Minn., 15.914; 2. Skip Jackson (2), Sydney, Aust., 16.105; 3. Kasey Kahne (9), Brownsburg, Ind., 16.154; 4. Jonathon Allard (0), Chico, Calif., 16.168; 5. Daryn Pittman (21), Owasso, Okla., 16.183; 6. Kenny Jacobs (8j), Holmesville, Ohio, 16.209; 7. Danny Lasoski (83), Dover, Mo., 16.217; 8. Billy Alley (17g), Lincoln, Neb., 16.227; 9. Jason Johnson (41), Eunice, La., 16.230; 10. Ryan Anderson (71r), Charter Oak, 16.307; 11. Chad Hillier (5c), Burlington, Wash., 16.330; 12. Dusty Zomer (1z), Falls, S.D., 16.401; 13. Jac Haudenschild (35), Wooster, Ohio, 16.433; 14. Robert Ballou (12), Rocklin, Calif., 16.443; 15. Jeff Mitrisin (10j), Oskaloosa, 16.460; 16. Jessie Hockett (75), Warsaw, Mo., 16.526; 17. Rager Phillips (10), Pleasantville, 16.607; 18. Jessica Zemken (1jz), Sprackers, NY, 16.653; 19. Shawn Sander (48), El Paso, Texas, 16.654; 20. Dennis Moore, Jr. (35m), Grinnell, 16.659; 21. Larry Pinegar (7w), Indianola, 16.680; 22. Jerrod Hull (94), Sikeston, Mo., 16.751; 23. Tony Lutar (4x), White Rock, BC, Canada 16.794; 24. Natalie Sather (94s), Fargo, N.D., 16.907; 25. Tony Bruce Jr. (18), Liberal, Kan., 17.015; 26. Preston Peebles (11p), Lubbock, Texas, 17.031; 27. Kyle Hirst (99), Elk Grove, Calif., 17.035; 28. Jerry Brey (17j), Billings, Mont., 17.126; 29. Jamie McDonald (3nz), Auckland, NZ, 17.173; 30. Ray Allen Kulhanek (41k), Danbury, Texas, 17.582; 31. Dave Enders (51e), Kiel, Wis., 17.709; 32. Lee Stark (16), Sidney, Ohio, 17.928; 33. Luke Cranston (44x), Ness City, Kan., 21.144.

Heat 1 (8 laps) - 1. Haudenschild, 2. Pinegar, 3. J. Johnson, 4. Pittman, 5. Dollansky, 6. Bruce, Jr., 7. Phillips, 8. McDonald, 9. Cranston. (Top 5 transfer to A-Feature)

Heat 2 - 1. Hull, 2. Ballou, 3. Jacobs, 4. Zemken, 5. S. Jackson, 6. Kuhlanek, 7. Peebles, 8. R. Anderson.

Heat 3 - 1. Lutar, 2. Lasoski, 3. Mitrisin, 4. Kahne, 5. Hillier, 6. Hirst, 7. Sander, 8. Enders.

Heat 4 - 1. Zomer, 2. J. Allard, 3. Hockett, 4. D. Moore Jr., 5. Sather, 6. Alley, 7. Brey, 8. Stark.

King of the Hill - (2 lap challenges to determine first 8 starting spots) - 1. K. Jacobs, 2. Pittman, 3. Dollansky, 4. S. Jackson. (Daryn Pittman accepts the challenge to give up his front row starting spot for a chance to win $50,000.)

B-Feature (12 laps) - 1. Alley, 2. Sander, 3. Bruce Jr., 4. Phillips, 5. Hirst, 6. Kulhanek, 7. Peebles, 8. Brey, 9. McDonald, 10. Stark, 11. Enders.

A-Feature - 1. K. Jacobs, 2. Lasoski, 3. Dollansky, 4. Kahne, 5. Haudenschild, 6. S. Jackson, 7. Pittman, 8. J. Allard, 9. Zomer, 10. Zemken, 11. Hillier, 12. D. Moore Jr., 13. Mitrisin, 14. Pinegar, 15. Alley, 16. Bruce Jr., 17. Lutar, 18. Phillips, 19. Sather, 20. Sander, 21. Hockett, 22. Hull, 23. Ballou, 24. J. Johnson.