By Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
BARBERVILLE, FL — Kerry Madsen had been waiting a long time to win a World of Outlaws A-Feature event. That wait came to an end on Saturday night in the 36th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Mopar Speedshop at Volusia Speedway Park, as he claimed the checkered flag in the 25-lap A-Feature.
(Click to hear Kerry Madsen after his first World of Outlaws victory.)
Madsen, who hails from St. Mary’s, NSW, Australia, won two World of Outlaws preliminary features at Parramatta City Raceway in Australia in 2004. He earned $8,000 on Saturday for his triumph in the second of three consecutive races at Volusia to open the 2007 season. He started on the outside of the front row, after finishing second in the dash, by way of winning the fourth heat.
With the win, Madsen became the second Australian to win a World of Outlaws A-Feature joining Brooke Tatnell, who was one of the first to congratulate his countryman on Saturday night in Victory Lane.
“I’ve been trying to win one of these for a while,” said Madsen, driver of the Selma Shell Maxim. “I’ve won races in Australia and some in New Zealand and it’s great to finally get one in America. My hat is off to the team. Sonny Kratzer put me in a great car.”
Madsen, who has been driving for the team since the mid-point of last season, dedicated the win to his car owner Dave Helm, a native of California, who has been battling health issues recently.
“To be driving for a team that has been around for so long and has such a great history is an honor,” he said. “To get the job done and get a win for Dave will hopefully get his spirits up. This is just a great feeling. I think that is the most gratifying thing right now.”
Madsen led at the drop of the initial green, but before a single lap was complete, the yellow flag flew for Jason Solwold jumping the start. With a complete restart in order, Madsen again powered his way to the high side of turn one and led the opening circuit.
“I got a good jump and I didn’t go before the line, so I was confident they couldn’t penalize me, but you never know,” he commented. “The green never came on, so I thought ‘Uh-oh’ this start is coming back. I thought there was no way that I would get the jump the second time. I must have had a good groove. Danny got around me and I started trying even harder and the groove started coming in on the bottom. We got back by him and that was pretty much it.”
Danny Lasoski, found the high side of the track to his liking on the second lap, as he powered his way around Madsen. He led four laps before Madsen retook the point. Lasoski battled back for a number of laps and made a late charge, turning the fastest lap of the race on the 24th circuit.
“We’re happy,” said Lasoski, driver of the Roth Motorsports Eagle. “Dennis Roth gave us a great race car. The bottom line is that I gave it away. I got the lead on the top and what I should have done was go back to the bottom. I kept looking down there to see if had darkened up to lay rubber and I am a smarter racer than that.”
Donny Schatz the reigning World of Outlaws Champion who won on Friday night, started sixth and was up to third on the second lap. He charged around Lasoski to take the second spot on lap six and quickly closed on Madsen. The trio got into heavy traffic and Lasoski was able to get back around Schatz, who wound up third.
“We didn’t have the greatest run in the dash and that put us behind a little bit,” said Schatz, driver of the Parker Store J&J. “Maybe if we would have started in the second row we would have been better off, but we got as many cars as we could. We were racing two and three wide when the rubber laid down. I tried everything I could. I kept trying and trying and probably tried more than I should.”
Craig Dollansky picked up his second Top-Five of the season as he powered his way to a fourth-place finish on Saturday night. He had one of the fastest cars at the end of the race as he closed in on Lasoski and Schatz.
“We had a pretty good race car,” said Dollansky, driver of the Karavan Trailers Maxim. “I’m sure they will work on the track tonight and it will be better tomorrow. It was a good run for the Karavan team.”
Sam Hafertepe Jr. earned his best career World of Outlaws finish with a fifth on Saturday night. He started from the pole position after he won his first World of Outlaws dash. He also won his first World of Outlaws heat race earlier in the night. For the native of Sunnyvale, Texas, it was only his 16th start in a 410-sprint car.
“We are pretty pleased with the night,” said Hafertepe. “We set the car up a little looser for the beginning, because I thought we would have a lot tighter race track than we had at the beginning. It hurt us a little at the beginning, but a fifth-place finish tonight, I am not ashamed of that at all. It really pumps me up to know that we can run up front with these guys.”
The rest of the Top-10 was: Dusty Zomer in the Bargain Barn Tire Schnee in sixth, Paul McMahan in the Bass Pro Shops Eagle in seventh, Brooke Tatnell was eighth in the Volcano Joe’s Coffee Schnee, Terry McCarl was ninth in the Big Game Treestands Eagle, and Joey Saldana was 10th in the Open Joist JEI.
VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK NOTEBOOK
• FAST QUALIFIER: Joey Saldana paced the 54-cars that took time with an AMB i.t.-timed lap around the 1/2-mile oval in 14.658 at 122.574 mph. For his qualifying effort, Saldana earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Brad Sweet (4), Bronson Maeschen (3), Danny Lasoski (2), and Jason Sides (1). Volusia Speedway Park is a semi-banked 1/2- mile oval. The track record of 12.948 seconds was set by Jason Solwold on February 6, 2007.
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Donny Schatz, Craig Dollansky, Sam Hafertepe Jr., and Kerry Madsen won heat races…. Jac Haudenschild won the C-Main… Joey Saldana won the B-Main… Sam Haftertepe Jr. won the dash.
• ON THE WEB: The Official World of Outlaws Web site is at http://www.worldofoutlaws.com. Among the features are updated driver biographies with individual statistics and pictures, race-by-race statistics, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases. Also, links to the Media Guide and 2007 Official Rulebook can be found at the bottom of the home page.
• LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws live on DIRTVision.com through the DIRT Radio Network. To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.DIRTVision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo. Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail [email protected].
• UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws wrap up their portion of the 36th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Mopar Speedshop continue on Sunday February 11, with a 30-lap A-Feature that will pay $12,000 to the winner.
• UPCOMING EVENTS: On February 23-24 the World of Outlaws will be in action at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California. On March 2 the series returns to USA Race Park in Tucson, Arizona, followed by an event at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix on March 3.
World of Outlaws Sprint Series Statistical Report; Volusia Speedway Park; Feb. 10, 2007
Qualifying
1) 9-Joey Saldana 14.685
2) 6S-Brad Sweet 14.732
3) 96-Bronson Maeschen 14.735
4) 83-Danny Lasoski 14.744
5) 7S-Jason Sides 14.764
6) 20-Paul McMahan 14.809
7) 24-Terry McCarl 14.813
8) 1Z-Dusty Zomer 14.824
9) 2-Brooke Tatnell 14.841
10) 32-Justin Barger 14.881
11) W20-Greg Wilson 14.969
12) 11H-Kerry Madsen 14.981
13) 15-Donny Schatz 15.013
14) 7-Craig Dollansky 15.056
15) 15H-Sam Hafertepe 15.080
16) 11-Steve Kinser 15.114
17) 51-Fred Rahmer 15.158
18) 4-Danny Smith 15.236
19) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr 15.241
20) 14-Jason Meyers 15.242
21) 8K-Zach Chappell 15.263
22) 70-Chad Kemenah 15.274
23) 5-Dustin Lindquist 15.329
24) 25-Lance Dewease 15.338
25) 55-Mark Smith 15.383
26) 1x-Randy Hannagan 15.418
27) 22-Greg Hodnett 15.430
28) 11K-Tim Kaeding 15.449
29) 3*-Kaley Gharst 15.458
30) 19-Becca Anderson 15.470
31) 10C-Jeremy Campbell 15.488
32) 21-Daryn Pittman 15.505
33) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 15.516
34) 6-Bill Rose 15.522
35) R19-Jason Solwold 15.541
36) 35-Jac Haudenschild 15.546
37) 36-Jason Martin 15.583
38) 6w-Josh Wells 15.589
39) 4R-Robbie Vaughn 15.601
40) D1-Justin Henderson 15.673
41) 22B-Ben Gregg 15.716
42) 89-Cody Darrah 15.726
43) 28-Brian Paulus 15.777
44) 11D-Dion Hindi 15.840
45) 6T-Tim Shaffer 15.851
46) 5C-Chad Hillier 15.856
47) 18-Brian Carlson 15.859
48) 93-Jonathan Eriksen 15.882
49) 94s-Natalie Sather 15.982
50) 16-Lee Stark 16.161
51) 6X-Mark Cole 16.365
52) 4G-Spud Gustin 17.244
53) 69-Justin Collett 17.563
54) OO-Danny Martin Jr 19.919
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 2-Brooke Tatnell
3) 8K-Zach Chappell
4) 7S-Jason Sides
5) 6T-Tim Shaffer
6) 51-Fred Rahmer
7) 36-Jason Martin
8) 69-Justin Collett
9) 55-Mark Smith
10) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
11) 22B-Ben Gregg
12) 94s-Natalie Sather
13) 9-Joey Saldana
14) 3*-Kaley Gharst
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7-Craig Dollansky
2) 20-Paul McMahan
3) 70-Chad Kemenah
4) 5C-Chad Hillier
5) 6S-Brad Sweet
6) 32-Justin Barger
7) 4-Danny Smith
8) 1x-Randy Hannagan
9) 6-Bill Rose
10) 6w-Josh Wells
11) 89-Cody Darrah
12) 16-Lee Stark
13) 19-Becca Anderson
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe
2) W20-Greg Wilson
3) 24-Terry McCarl
4) R19-Jason Solwold
5) 22-Greg Hodnett
6) 28-Brian Paulus
7) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.
8) 5-Dustin Lindquist
9) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
10) 18-Brian Carlson
11) 96-Bronson Maeschen
12) 6X-Mark Cole
13) 4R-Robbie Vaughn
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11H-Kerry Madsen
2) 1Z-Dusty Zomer
3) 11-Steve Kinser
4) 83-Danny Lasoski
5) 14-Jason Meyers
6) 25-Lance Dewease
7) 35-Jac Haudenschild
8) 21-Daryn Pittman
9) D1-Justin Henderson
10) 11D-Dion Hindi
11) 11K-Tim Kaeding
12) 4G-Spud Gustin
13) 93-Jonathan Eriksen
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe
2) 11H-Kerry Madsen
3) 2-Brooke Tatnell
4) 1Z-Dusty Zomer
5) 15-Donny Schatz
6) 83-Danny Lasoski
7) 7-Craig Dollansky
8) W20-Greg Wilson
9) 6S-Brad Sweet
10) 20-Paul Mcmahan
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 35-Jac Haudenschild
2) 6-Bill Rose
3) 28-Brian Paulus
4) 36-Jason Martin
5) 11D-Dion Hindi
6) 18-Brian Carlson
7) 69-Justin Collett
8) 16-Lee Stark
9) 22B-Ben Gregg
10) 6X-Mark Cole
11) 94s-Natalie Sather
12) 4G-Spud Gustin
13) 6w-Josh Wells
14) 89-Cody Darrah
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 51-Fred Rahmer
3) 4-Danny Smith
4) 25-Lance Dewease
5) 21-Daryn Pittman
6) 11K-Tim Kaeding
7) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.
8) 96-Bronson Maeschen
9) 19-Becca Anderson
10) 55-Mark Smith
11) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
12) 6-Bill Rose
13) 1x-Randy Hannagan
14) 32-Justin Barger
15) 5-Dustin Lindquist
16) 35-Jac Haudenschild
A-main (25 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 11H-Kerry Madsen[2] [$8000]
2) 83-Danny Lasoski[6] [$4000]
3) 15-Donny Schatz[5] [$2500]
4) 7-Craig Dollansky[7] [$2200]
5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe[1] [$2100]
6) 1Z-Dusty Zomer[4] [$2000]
7) 20-Paul McMahan[10] [$1800]
8) 2-Brooke Tatnell[3] [$1600]
9) 24-Terry McCarl[13] [$1500]
10) 9-Joey Saldana[11] [$1300]
11) W20-Greg Wilson[8] [$1200]
12) 6S-Brad Sweet[9] [$1100]
13) 11-Steve Kinser[14] [$1000]
14) 21-Daryn Pittman[25] [$700]
15) 35-Jac Haudenschild[26] [$600]
16) 51-Fred Rahmer[15] [$600]
17) 8K-Zach Chappell[18] [$600]
18) 70-Chad Kemenah[19] [$600]
19) 5C-Chad Hillier[24] [$600]
20) 4-Danny Smith[16] [$600]
21) 22-Greg Hodnett[21] [$500]
22) 6T-Tim Shaffer[23] [$500]
23) 14-Jason Meyers[17] [$500]
24) 7S-Jason Sides[12] [$500]
25) R19-Jason Solwold[22] [$500] 26)
25-Lance Dewease[20] [$500]
Lap leaders: Kerry Madsen 1, 6-25; Danny Lasoski 2-5
