By Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
The fans at Volunteer Speedway had been waiting a long time for a World of Outlaws event. They received one on Saturday night, and it was one of the best races in the history of the track, as Joey Saldana picked up his second straight win and third of the season, in a thrilling battle with Tim Shaffer and Donny Schatz.
(Click to hear Joey Saldana in Victory Lane on March 24 after his victory at Volunteer Speedway.)
Saldana, inched out Tim Shaffer at the finish line, as the pair exchanged slide jobs over the last several circuits of the 35-lap A-Feature. With the pair battling back and forth, the capacity crowd was on their feet as the veteran drivers each sought the top spot, with Schatz just inches behind.
Saldana took the white flag in the lead with Shaffer closely shadowing him. Saldana was committed to the top side of the track, while Shaffer made up plenty of ground on the bottom. Coming off the third and fourth turns, Shaffer inched ahead of Saldana, but with the momentum he had coming off the 32 degree banking in turn four, Saldana was able to win by 0.199 seconds and take home the $10,000 payday.
“That was a great race,” said Saldana, driver of the Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI. “I started running the top and stayed with it and it paid off. I may not have been the fastest car at the end, but I think I was the fastest car throughout the race. It was a good run for the team.”
The race began with Jason Meyers starting from the pole, leading the first 20 laps. On the 21st circuit, contact between Meyers and Schatz, as the latter went for the lead under, forced Meyers to the work area, thus relinquishing the lead to Saldana. Schatz did a 360 and was able to keep going, and retained his spot in the running order, after an inadvertent yellow flag was waved.
Saldana held the point for the next five laps, before Schatz charged around him at the start/finish line on the 26th lap. By the time the pair entered the second turn, Saldana had again surged back around the reigning series champion.
While they battled at the front, Shaffer, in the Casey’s General Stores Maxim powered his way from the ninth starting spot into the Top-Three. He patiently closed in on the duo in traffic.
“That was a blast,” said Shaffer, a native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. “We had a great race car and everything worked great. Everything seemed to go right tonight and it was a lot of fun.”
Schatz came home in the third spot, to earn his ninth Top-Five finish in the first 10 races of the season. He continues to lead the series championship standings, as he chases his second World of Outlaws crown.
“We had all of our chances, we just didn’t get long enough runs,” said Schatz, driver of the Parker Store J&J. “We needed to hit lapped traffic. For whatever reason this new format doesn’t let us get to lapped traffic without having yellows. It’s just the time of the year when we are not getting long enough runs and not really hitting lapped traffic so we can race guys. It’s been kind of wide open race tracks. We just keep plugging away at it.”
Saldana tried some different lines early in the race, as he ran in the second spot. He found as very strong line toward the middle of the race that helped propel him to his second win at Volunteer Speedway. He won an event with the All Star Circuit of Champions at the high-banked oval in 1993.
“I think the traffic was good,” said Saldana. “The other guys were rolling the middle well, and they were not running the top as well as me. It helped me get around the top and the lapped cars slowed those guys down some.”
On a night when his car owner, NASCAR star Kasey Kahne was the Grand Marshall of the event, Saldana made sure to send his owner home with a smile on his face, along with every fan that was in the crowd and witnessed the thrilling race.
“If they didn’t enjoy that one, they will never enjoy a sprint car race,” he commented. “Everyone was trying hard, and you did not know what would happen. That was definitely a “full-on” sprint car race. Hopefully they all enjoyed it.”
For Shaffer, his runner-up finish was his fourth Top-Five finish of the season. He got around Sammy Swindell on the 17th lap to break into the Top-Five. From there, he gained another spot, when Jason Solwold suffered a flat tire, and he then battled with Schatz for the second spot
“There was some great racing tonight and I am proud to be part of it,” said the 1999 series Rookie of the Year. “The car was great and that is what we need to keep going.”
While he wanted to be in the winner’s circle, Schatz was able to take solace in the fact, that he was part of a historic night at Volunteer Speedway, as the World of Outlaws made their debut at the ultra-fast 4/10-mile oval, before the largest crowd in the 30-plus year history of the facility.
“It was a pretty nice little place,” said the native of Fargo, North Dakota. “It was fun to be here and fun to race here. I just wish we would have finished a little better.”
Saldana began the night by setting a new track record in time trials, as he circled the high banks in 11.696 at a speed of just over 123 miles per hour. For that, he earned five bonus points, and with his win, he was able to cut the margin to only nine points between himself and Schatz.
Three-time World of Outlaws Champion Sammy Swindell finished a very solid fourth, in a home state race for the native of Germantown, Tennessee. He began the night by turning in the seventh quickest lap in time trials, in only his second start of the season. He followed that up with a heat race win to earn a spot in the dash where he finished fifth.
Daryn Pittman passed more cars than anyone on the night, as he charged from 21st to fifth in the Titan Garages & Carports Maxim. In the early going he charged around Steve Kinser and Danny Lasoski, before breaking into the Top-10 and then the Top-Five. For the native of Owasso, Oklahoma, it was his third Top-Five finish of the year, as he is currently third in points.
The rest of the Top-10 was Tim Kaeding in sixth in the Steve Kinser Racing Maxim. Brooke Tatnell was seventh in the Volcano Joe’s Coffee Schnee. Danny Lasoski was eighth in the Roth Motorsports Eagle. Paul McMahan was ninth in the Bass Pro Shops Eagle, and Craig Dollansky was 10th in the Karavan Trailers Maxim.
The World of Outlaws wrap up their swing through the South on Saturday March 31 with their first visit to Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Georgia, since 1999.
VOLUNTEER SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
Roger Slack, the Director of Racing Events at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motors Speedway made the trip east to be the flagman for the event on Saturday night at Volunteer Speedway. Slack, was again the flagman this year at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in
• FAST QUALIFIER: Joey Saldana paced the 35 cars that took time with a record setting AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 4/10-mile oval at 11.696 seconds at 123.119 mph. For his qualifying effort, Saldana earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jac Haudenschild (4), Tim Kaeding (3), Tim Shaffer (2), and Brooke Tatnell (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Donny Schatz, Kerry Madsen, Sammy Swindell, and Tim Shaffer won heat races… Danny Smith won the B-Main… Jason Meyers won the dash.
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undefined• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 10 World of Outlaws A-Feature events held in 2007. The win list includes: Joey Saldana (February 23 at Thunderbowl Raceway, March 17 at Pike County Speedway, and March 24 at Volunteer Speedway), Donny Schatz (February 9 at Volusia Speedway Park, March 3 at Manzanita Speedway, and March 16 at Houston Raceway Park), Tim Kaeding (February 24 at Thunderbowl Raceway), Steve Kinser (March 2 at USA Race Park), Kerry Madsen (February 10 at Volusia Speedway Park), and Daryn Pittman (February 11 at Volusia Speedway Park).
• 4/10-MILE WINNERS: Volunteer Speedway is a 4/10-mile high-banked oval. The World of Outlaws have raced once this year on a track size. The winner was: Joey Saldana.
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.
• UPCOMING EVENTS: On April 5, the World of Outlaws return to Paducah International Speedway inKentucky, followed by a stop at I-55 Raceway in Missouri the next night. A pair of events is then in store at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio on April 13-14. The following weekend, the best sprint car drivers in the world take to the track at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio on April 20, and then head to the high-banked ¼-mile at Tri-State Speedway in Indiana. The month wraps up at the storied Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on April 28.
World of Outlaws Sprint Series Statistical Report; Volunteer Speedway; March 24, 2007
Qualifying
1) 9-Joey Saldana 11.696
2) 35-Jac Haudenschild 11.731
3) 11K-Tim Kaeding 11.738
4) 6-Tim Shaffer 11.847
5) 2-Brooke Tatnell 11.849
6) 14-Jason Meyers 11.898
7) 1-Sammy Swindell 11.899
8) 7-Craig Dollansky 11.920
9) 15-Donny Schatz 11.956
10) 4-Danny Smith 11.959
11) R19-Jason Solwold 11.969
12) 5C-Chad Hillier 11.971
13) 83-Danny Lasoski 11.980
14) 11H-Kerry Madsen 12.014
15) 11D-Dion Hindi 12.069
16) D1-Justin Henderson 12.133
17) 24-Terry McCarl 12.134
18) 11-Steve Kinser 12.147
19) 10C-Jeremy Campbell 12.160
20) 20-Paul McMahan 12.165
21) 36-Jason Martin 12.237
22) 21-Daryn Pittman 12.247
23) 55-Billy Alley 12.280
24) 8K-Zach Chappell 12.337
25) 18-Brian Carlson 12.365
26) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr. 12.410
27) W20-Greg Wilson 12.431
28) 1x-Randy Hannagan 12.469
29) 3X-Chad Kemenah 12.553
30) 12-Kevin Nouse 12.578
31) 12M-James Mosher 12.582
32) 28-Brian Paulus 12.683
33) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 12.694
34) 7S-Jason Sides 12.903
35) 16-Lee Stark 14.052
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 83-Danny Lasoski
4) 2-Brooke Tatnell
5) 24-Terry McCarl
6) 3X-Chad Kemenah
7) 36-Jason Martin
8) 18-Brian Carlson
9) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11H-Kerry Madsen
2) 14-Jason Meyers
3) 35-Jac Haudenschild
4) 21-Daryn Pittman
5) 11-Steve Kinser
6) 7S-Jason Sides
7) 4-Danny Smith
8) 12-Kevin Nouse
9) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 1-Sammy Swindell
2) R19-Jason Solwold
3) 55-Billy Alley
4) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
5) 11D-Dion Hindi
6) 12M-James Mosher
7) 16-Lee Stark
8) 11K-Tim Kaeding
9) W20-Greg Wilson
Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Tim Shaffer
2) 5C-Chad Hillier
3) 7-Craig Dollansky
4) D1-Justin Henderson
5) 20-Paul McMahan
6) 8K-Zach Chappell
7) 1x-Randy Hannagan
8) 28-Brian Paulus
Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 15-Donny Schatz
4) R19-Jason Solwold
5) 1-Sammy Swindell
6) 5C-Chad Hillier
7) 35-Jac Haudenschild
8) 2-Brooke Tatnell
9) 6-Tim Shaffer
10) 11H-Kerry Madsen
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 4-Danny Smith
2) 8K-Zach Chappell
3) 11K-Tim Kaeding
4) 1x-Randy Hannagan
5) 36-Jason Martin [$200]
6) 7S-Jason Sides [$180]
7) 28-Brian Paulus [$175]
8) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr. [$160]
9) 12-Kevin Nouse [$150]
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [$150]
11) W20-Greg Wilson [$150]
12) 18-Brian Carlson [$150]
13) 3X-Chad Kemenah [$150]
14) 12M-James Mosher [$150]
15) 16-Lee Stark [$150]
A-main (35 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[2] [$10,000]
2) 6-Tim Shaffer[9] [$5,500]
3) 15-Donny Schatz[3] [$3,200]
4) 1-Sammy Swindell[5] [$2,800]
5) 21-Daryn Pittman[21] [$2,500]
6) 11K-Tim Kaeding[11] [$2,300]
7) 2-Brooke Tatnell[8] [$2,200]
8) 83-Danny Lasoski[14] [$2,100]
9) 20-Paul McMahan[20] [$2,050]
10) 7-Craig Dollansky[12] [$2,000]
11) 4-Danny Smith[13] [$1,500]
12) 1x-Randy Hannagan[24] [$1,200]
13) 5C-Chad Hillier[6] [$1,100]
14) 11-Steve Kinser[18] [$1,050]
15) 14-Jason Meyers[1] [$1,000]
16) 11H-Kerry Madsen[10] [$900]
17) D1-Justin Henderson[16] [$800]
18) 36-Jason Martin[26] [$0]
19) 7S-Jason Sides[25] [$0]
20) 8K-Zach Chappell[23] [$800]
21) R19-Jason Solwold[4] [$800]
22) 10C-Jeremy Campbell[19] [$800]
23) 55-Billy Alley[22] [$800]
24) 11D-Dion Hindi[15] [$800]
25) 24-Terry McCarl[17] [$800]
26) 35-Jac Haudenschild[7] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Jason Meyers 1-20; Joey Saldana 21-25, 27-35; Donny Schatz, 26
Note: Jason Sides and Jason Martin took provisionals to start the A-Feature.
2007 STAT ATTACK
There have been 10 World of Outlaws A-Feature events this season.
A-Feature winners (6 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Wins
1- #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 3
#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 3
3- #11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA – 1
#11 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN – 1
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s NSW – 1
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 1
Lap leaders, including A-features and preliminary features Car, driver, hometown – Total laps led (11 different drivers have led a lap)
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN. – 73 laps
#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, N.D. – 68 laps
#11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA – 40 laps
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 30 laps
#11 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN – 24 laps
#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 23 laps
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW – 21 laps
#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 20 laps
#D1 Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD – 14 laps
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 6 laps
#83 Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO – 4 laps
Time trial leaders (7 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Quick times
1 – #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 4
2 – #18T Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS – 1
#89 Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA – 1
#7 Craig Dollansky- Elk River, MN – 1
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#6T Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1
Track records established during 2007 World of Outlaws events (4)
* Craig Dollansky, March 2, United Sports Arizona Race Park (3/8-mile), Tucson, AZ, 12.624 seconds at 106.939 mph.
* Kerry Madsen, March 3, Manzanita Speedway (1/2-mile), Phoenix, AZ, 15.255 seconds at 118.149 mph.
* Joey Saldana, March 16, Houston Raceway Park (1/4-mile) Baytown, TX, 11.996 seconds at 75.025 mph.
* Joey Saldana, March 24, Volunteer Speedway (4/10-mile) Bulls Gap, TN, 11.696 second at 123.119 mph.
Dash Winners (8 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Dash Wins
1- #15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, N.D. – 2
#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 2
2 -#15T Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX – 1
#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 1
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1
Pole Positions (8 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Poles
1 – #15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 2
#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 2
2 – #15T Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX – 1
#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 1
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1
B-main Winners (10 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – “B” Wins
1 –#15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX -1
#1X Randy Hannagan, San Jose – 1
#11D Dion Hindi, Albuquerque, NM – 1
#11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 1
#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s NSW – 1
#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1
#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1
#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1
#4 Danny Smith, Danville, IN – 1
#2 Brooke Tatnell, San Souci, NSW – 1
