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RACE REPORT: Saldana Awesome at Attica

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Attica, OH
— By Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director

Attica Raceway Park has always been known as a racy track, and on Friday night it certainly lived up to that moniker, with two and three-wide racing all night long on the high-banked 1/3-mile. When the dust settled, Joey Saldana found himself in victory lane for the fifth time this season in World of Outlaws competition.

(Click to hear Joey Saldana in Victory Lane at Attica Raceway Park.)

(Click for the MyLaps.com race-by-race breakdown of Friday night’s action at Attica Raceway Park.)

Saldana, the current World of Outlaws championship point leader, made a bold three-wide pass on the 27th lap to move around Steve Kinser for the runner-up spot and then he powered around Craig Dollansky, passing both cars in the span of a few feet. Earlier in the race, Saldana and Kinser waged a torrid battle for the second spot, as they ran side-by-side lap after lap.

 

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Craig Dollansky started on the pole and led from the outset. The native of Elk River, Minnesota built a sizeable early advantage aboard the Karavan Trailers Maxim. When the lead pack got into track that allowed Kinser and Saldana to close the gap, and slip around him.

 

“To get our fifth win of the year already is great,” said Saldana, driver of the Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI. “We have to keep going and building our team. We have to keep getting better and better, and continue to keep on what we are doing.”

 

A red flag on the 39th lap, gave Kinser and Donny Schatz one more chance at Saldana. By way of World of Outlaws rules, two consecutive green flag laps have to be run to finish a race, and with the three nose-to-tail that set up a final dash to the checkers. Saldana used a strong restart to pull away and win by 0.6 second.

 

“You definitely don’t want to have a green, white, checker finish with Steve Kinser behind you,” said Saldana. “The way the track was, you didn’t know where you wanted to go. You didn’t really want to go to the bottom in (turns) three and four. I didn’t want to get a bad restart and let them get a run on me. I chose the top and it paid off. My car was working well up there. “

 

Kinser battled all night coming home in the runner-up spot to earn his eighth Top-10 finish of the season. Early on he and Saldana fought for the third spot. After the 20-time champion gained that position, he set his sights on Paul McMahan and staged an entertaining battle with him for a number of laps, before taking the second spot. In the middle stages of the race, the native of Bloomington, Indiana reeled in Dollansky in lapped traffic, and inched ahead a few times in turn three, only to have Dollansky use the momentum from the high side of the track to retain the lead at the line each lap.

 

“We weren’t bad,” said Kinser, driver of the Q Oil Maxim. “It’s the best we have done on a slick race track in quite some time. I was pretty quick through one and two. If I would have gotten by Craig (Dollansky) a little bit quicker, maybe before Joey (Saldana) got by him, I may have had a shot. Once he got back by us, we couldn’t get off the bottom of (turn) four very good. We weren’t quite as good as he was on the top.”

 

Donny Schatz, the reigning World of Outlaws champion started in the eight spot and worked his way into contention for the win in the late going. With his third-place finish, he earned a series best 11th Top-Five finish of the season. A strong start vaulted him into the fifth-spot on the second lap of the event. He then went wheel-to-wheel with Saldana for the third spot, followed by a duel with Kinser for the final podium position. In the late going, he battled with Dollansky before taking the third spot.

 

“It’s not where we wanted to be, but we gave it our best,” said Schatz, driver of the ParkerStore J&J. “It may have been different if we had continued to race in lapped traffic We were pretty good at one point, but when we got the yellow’s that didn’t help us, but that’s part of it. I knew Steve (Kinser) was going to be on the bottom, because he was on the bottom all night. We tried the top, but you have to be smart. You don’t want to drive it in there and drive it off the race track and finish 20th. A guy has to have some common sense, and I probably used too much.”

 

With the number of battles going on, Saldana quietly worked his way into contention in the first half of the race. With his car getting better as the race went on, he was able to use both the high and low side of the track to gain ground on the leaders.

 

“I was patient with my car,” said the 1996 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year. “Steve (Kinser) and Craig (Dollansky) were really racing hard, and forgot I was there and I snuck in there. Donny (Schatz) was really coming again at the end.”

 

Jason Meyers, who picked up his first win of the season last week at Eldora Speedway, charged from the 11th starting spot to finish fourth in the Primerica Financial Maxim.

 

Dollansky won his first dash of the season to earn the pole position for the A-Feature. He led the most laps in the night, and recorded his ninth Top-10 finish of the season, as he came home in fifth. The native of Elk River, Minnesota turned the fastest lap of the race on the second lap.

 

The rest of the Top-10 was Paul McMahan in sixth in the Bass Pro Shops Eagle, Greg Wilson in seventh in the All-Star Plumbing J&J, Tim Shaffer was eighth in the Casey’s General Stores Maxim, Daryn Pittman raced his way from the 22ndstarting spot to finish ninth in the Titan Garages Maxim, with Jason Solwold in the City Wide Insulation Maxim in 10th.

 

The World of Outlaws wrap up the weekend on the high banks of Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana on Saturday night.

 

ATTICA RACEWAY PARK NOTEBOOK

• FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Solwold paced the 54 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval in 11.922 seconds at 100.554 mph. For his qualifying effort, Solwold eared five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Greg Wilson (4), Craig Dollansky (3), Donny Schatz (2), and Joey Saldana (1). The track record of 11.306 seconds was set by Butch Schroeder in 1998.

 

 

• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Steve Kinser, Greg Wilson, Butch Schroeder and Paul McMahan won heat races… Dion Hindi won the B-Main… Brooke Tatnell won the C-Main… Craig Dollansky won the dash. 
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• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 14 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, March 24 at Volunteer Speedway, March 31 at Dixie Speedway, and April 20 at Attica Raceway Park), 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), Danny Lasoski (April 6 at Paducah International Raceway), Kerry Madsen (February 10 at Volusia Speedway Park), Jason Meyers (April 13 at Eldora Speedway), and Daryn Pittman (February 11 at Volusia Speedway Park).

 

• 1/3-MILE WINNERS: Attica Raceway Park is a high-banked 1/3-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced three times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway and Attica Raceway Park) and Tim Kaeding (Thunderbowl Raceway).

 

ON TELEVISION
• The World of Outlaws return to television on May 13 at 2 p.m. Eastern. The Sprint Car stars from the World of Outlaws return to SPEED at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 13, with the warriors from the 360 OTC World of Outlaws Late Model Series making their 2007 SPEED debut on Sunday, May 20.

 

The World of Outlaws will be televised 20 times this season on ESPN2 and SPEED while the 360 OTC World of Outlaws Late Model Series is set for six appearances on SPEED. The one-hour broadcasts will air on Sundays from May 13 to Nov. 4, when the series champions will be crowned during the World Finals from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

 

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: The month of April wraps up at the storied Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Saturday, April 28. A return to the recently reconfigured Tri-City Speedway in Illinois dots the schedule on Friday, April 6, followed by a trip to Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas, for the first time in over 25 years.

World of Outlaws Sprint Series Statistical Report; Attica Raceway Park; April 20, 2007

Qualifying

1) R19-Jason Solwold 11.922

2) W20-Greg Wilson 11.966

3) 7-Craig Dollansky 12.035

4) 15-Donny Schatz 12.043

5) 9-Joey Saldana 12.094

6) 14-Jason Meyers 12.112

7) 5C-Chad Hillier 12.116

8) 11D-Dion Hindi 12.151

9) 11-Steve Kinser 12.156

10) 2B-Dale Blaney 12.177

11) 7K-Butch Schroeder 12.180

12) 83-Danny Lasoski 12.199

13) 10C-Jeremy Campbell 12.231

14) 11H-Kerry Madsen 12.232

15) X-Mark Keegan 12.269

16) 20-Paul McMahan 12.289

17) 7S-Jason Sides 12.293

18) 5R-Byron Reed 12.347

19) 11N-Ed Neumeister 12.354

20) 36-Jason Martin 12.369

21) 35-Jac Haudenschild 12.383

22) 6-Tim Shaffer 12.415

23) D1-Justin Henderson 12.428

24) 4-Danny Smith 12.460

25) 11M-Brandon Martin 12.466

26) 21-Daryn Pittman 12.488

27) 3X-Chad Kemenah 12.502

28) 16L-Lee Jacobs 12.521

29) 8K-Zach Chappell 12.531

30) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr. 12.541

31) 2M-Dustin Daggett 12.570

32) 24H-Rob Chaney 12.582

33) 2-Brooke Tatnell 12.597

34) 92-Dean Jacobs 12.610

35) 11B-Brock Mayes 12.610

36) 12-Caleb Griffith 12.624

37) 11K-Tim Kaeding 12.658

38) O9-Craig Mintz 12.691

39) O-Gus Wasson 12.709

40) 24-Terry McCarl 12.722

41) 53-John Ivy 12.823

42) 28-Brian Paulus 12.919

43) 8H-Shane Stewart 13.036

44) 9X-Kevin Huntley 13.046

45) 1W-Paul Weaver 13.161

46) 18-Brian Carlson 13.182

47) 15C-Chris Andrews 13.225

48) 1x-Randy Hannagan 13.244

49) 16-Lee Stark 13.546

50) 91-Aaron Middaugh 13.651

51) 98-Bruce Robenalt 13.717

52) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.786

53) OO-Ryan Grubaugh 14.090

54) 48-Mike Burkin 14.574

55) 3-Mike Linder -.—

 

Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)

1) 11-Steve Kinser

2) 10C-Jeremy Campbell

3) R19-Jason Solwold

4) 9-Joey Saldana

5) 7S-Jason Sides

6) 11K-Tim Kaeding

7) 35-Jac Haudenschild

8) 8K-Zach Chappell

9) 2-Brooke Tatnell

10) 53-John Ivy

11) 11M-Brandon Martin

Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)

1) W20-Greg Wilson

2) 11H-Kerry Madsen

3) 14-Jason Meyers

4) 6-Tim Shaffer

5) 5R-Byron Reed

6) 21-Daryn Pittman

7) 2B-Dale Blaney

8) O9-Craig Mintz

9) 28-Brian Paulus

10) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.

11) 92-Dean Jacobs

 

Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)

1) 7K-Butch Schroeder

2) 7-Craig Dollansky

3) D1-Justin Henderson

4) 5C-Chad Hillier

5) 8H-Shane Stewart

6) 3X-Chad Kemenah

7) 2M-Dustin Daggett

8) 11N-Ed Neumeister

9) O-Gus Wasson

10) X-Mark Keegan

11) 11B-Brock Mayes

Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)

1) 20-Paul McMahan

2) 15-Donny Schatz

3) 83-Danny Lasoski

4) 4-Danny Smith

5) 24-Terry McCarl

6) 9X-Kevin Huntley

7) 11D-Dion Hindi

8) 12-Caleb Griffith

9) 16L-Lee Jacobs

10) 36-Jason Martin

11) 24H-Rob Chaney

 

Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)

1) 7-Craig Dollansky

2) 11-Steve Kinser

3) 20-Paul McMahan

4) W20-Greg Wilson

5) 9-Joey Saldana

6) 7K-Butch Schroeder

7) 10C-Jeremy Campbell

8) 15-Donny Schatz

9) R19-Jason Solwold

10) 11H-Kerry Madsen

 

D-main (8 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to C-main)

1) 1X-Randy Hannagan

2) 15C-Chris Andrews

3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [$100]

4) 91-Aaron Middaugh [$100]

5) 98-Bruce Robenalt [$100]

6) 16-Lee Stark [$100]

7) OO-Ryan Grubaugh [$100]

8) 48-Mike Burkin [$100]

9) 3-Mike Linder [$100]

10) 1W-Paul Weaver [$100]

11) 18-Brian Carlson [$100]

 

C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)

1) 2-Brooke Tatnell

2) 11K-Tim Kaeding

3) 12-Caleb Griffith [$125]

4) 92-Dean Jacobs [$125]

5) 28-Brian Paulus [$125]

6) O9-Craig Mintz [$100]

7) 53-John Ivy [$100]

8) 1X-Randy Hannagan [$100]

9) 9X-Kevin Huntley [$100]

10) 11B-Brock Mayes [$100]

11) 15C-Chris Andrews [$100]

12) O-Gus Wasson [$100]

 

B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)

1) 11D-Dion Hindi

2) 35-Jac Haudenschild

3) 36-Jason Martin

4) 21-Daryn Pittman

5) 2B-Dale Blaney [$200]

6) X-Mark Keegan [$180]

7) 24H-Rob Chaney [$175]

8) 2M-Dustin Daggett [$160]

9) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr. [$150]

10) 2-Brooke Tatnell [$150]

11) 16L-Lee Jacobs [$150]

12) 11K-Tim Kaeding [$150]

13) 3X-Chad Kemenah [$150]

14) 11N-Ed Neumeister [$150]

15) 11M-Brandon Martin [$150]

16) 8K-Zach Chappell [$150]

 

A-main (40 laps) – Starting Position [#]

1) 9-Joey Saldana[5] [$10,000]

2) 11-Steve Kinser[2] [$5,500]

3) 15-Donny Schatz[8] [$3,200]

4) 14-Jason Meyers[11] [$2,800]

5) 7-Craig Dollansky[1] [$2,500]

6) 20-Paul McMahan[3] [$2,300]

7) W20-Greg Wilson[4] [$2,200]

8) 6-Tim Shaffer[19] [$2,100]

9) 21-Daryn Pittman[22] [$2,050]

10) R19-Jason Solwold[9] [$2,000]

11) 5R-Byron Reed[16] [$1,500]

12) 83-Danny Lasoski[14] [$1,200]

13) 35-Jac Haudenschild[18] [$1,100]

14) 8H-Shane Stewart[24] [$1,050]

15) 1X-Randy Hannagan[25] [$200]

16) 24-Terry McCarl[23] [$900]

17) 7S-Jason Sides[15] [$800]

18) 10C-Jeremy Campbell[7] [$800]

19) 4-Danny Smith[21] [$800]

20) 11D-Dion Hindi[13] [$800]

21) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.[26] [$0]

22) 36-Jason Martin[17] [$800]

23) D1-Justin Henderson[20] [$800]

24) 5C-Chad Hillier[12] [$800]

25) 11H-Kerry Madsen[10] [$800]

26) 7K-Butch Schroeder[6] [$800]

 

Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky, 1-26; Joey Saldana, 27-41

 

Note: A red flag came out on lap 39 and by way of World of Outlaws rules, the race must end under two consecutive green flag laps, thus adding the extra lap for a total of 41 laps.

 

Note: Randy Hannagan and Tony Bruce. Jr. used provisionals to start the A-Feature.

 

2007 STAT ATTACK

There have been 14 World of Outlaws A-Feature events this season.

 

A-Feature winners (7 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Wins

1- #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 5

2- #15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 3

3- #11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA – 1

#11 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN – 1

#83 Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO – 1

#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s NSW – 1

#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 1

#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 1

 

Lap leaders, including A-features and preliminary features Car, driver, hometown – Total laps led (12 different drivers have led a lap)

#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN. – 147 laps

#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, N.D. – 68 laps

#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 46 laps

#11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA – 40 laps

#7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 39 laps

#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 34 laps

#11 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN – 24 laps

#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 23 laps

#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW – 21 laps

#D1 Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD – 14 laps

#83 Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO – 7 laps

#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 6 laps

 

Time trial leaders (11 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

#5C Chad Hillier, Burlington, WA – 1

#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW – 1

#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1

#14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 1

#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 1

#6T Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1

#R19 Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon, WA – 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 (11 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Dash Wins

1 – #14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 2

#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 2

#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 2

4 – #7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 1

#15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX – 1

#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 1

#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1

#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1

#6 Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1

#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1

#4 Danny Smith, Danville, IN – 1

 

Pole Positions (11 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Poles

1 – #14 Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA – 2

#21 Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK – 2

#15 Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND – 2

4 – #7 Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN – 1

#15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX – 1

#35 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH – 1

#20 Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN – 1

#9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN – 1

#6 Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA – 1

#7S Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN – 1

#4 Danny Smith, Danville, IN – 1

B-main Winners (13 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – “B” Wins

1 –#11D Dion Hindi, Albuquerque, NM – 2

2 -#18T Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS – 1

#24H- Rob Chaney, Wooster, OH – 1

#15H Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX -1

#1X Randy Hannagan, San Jose – 1

#11K Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 1

#11H Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s NSW – 1

#24 Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA – 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

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