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RACE REPORT: Saldana Wins Second Night of Gold Cup Night

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By Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director 

 

Joey Saldana surprised himself on Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway in the second qualifying night of the Gold Cup Race of Champions. Lining up 12th for the preliminary feature on the high-banked ¼-mile, he would have been happy to have earned a Top-Five finish to put himself in a good position for the finale on Saturday night. He took that one step further, winning a thrilling dual with Steve Kinser in the closing laps of the 30-lap contest.

 

 Saldana and Kinser officially traded the lead three times over the last five laps. Saldana closed in on Kinser on the 25th lap and looked high exiting the second turn and again coming off the fourth corner. The next lap, he again looked high in the second turn and exiting the fourth turn, and he inched ahead of Kinser at the line.

 

As the pair raced into second turn on the following lap, Kinser retook the lead, as he looked to add to his remarkable at record at Silver Dollar Speedway, which includes 11 Gold Cup wins.

 

On the 28th lap, Saldana charged back around Kinser on the high side of the fourth turn to make the pass for the lead and ultimately the win. Kinser valiantly fought back prior to the yellow flag flying later that lap, setting up a two-lap green-white-checker shootout. On the restart, Saldana shot down the front straightaway riding the high line, with Kinser looking low in both turns one and two as well as turns three and four. Saldana held on to earn his first preliminary feature victory of the season.

 

“This track is very demanding and to come from 12th to win in a World of Outlaws event, I am tickled to death,” said Saldana, driver of the Open Joist JEI. “The team is working great right now and I am glad to get to drive for such a great team with Kasey Kahne Racing. I’m very fortunate.”

 

Saldana got around Tim Shaffer on the opening lap and gained two more positions on the next lap, using the high side of the track. After getting past Terry McCarl and Sam Hafertepe Jr., the native of Brownsburg, Indiana found himself in the Top-Five on the 14th lap. Continuing to use the high side of the track, he charged by Brooke Tatnell. He then took the third spot from Tim Kaeding. After passing Daryn Pittman, Saldana turned his focus toward the lead. He used a number of caution periods to his advantage as it closed the field up and gave the leaders clean race track to operate on.

 

“That was a good race,” he said. “I think everyone was a little scared of the top after last night. We just kept working with it and stuck with it. Even when I had to go to the bottom, I felt pretty good. I definitely felt better on the top.”

 

Kinser claimed the Crane Cams Dash to earn his seventh pole position of the season. He jumped to a sizeable advantage in the early laps, with Tatnell and Pittman in toe. The 20-time World of Outlaws champion encountered traffic on the seventh lap, with one car nearly turning down into him as he continued to run the bottom of the track. The caution flag flew on the same lap, giving him a clean race track to work with.

 

He again pulled away on the restart, while Kaeding battled Pittman for the second spot. Lap after lap, Kaeding would go to the high side of the track, just inches from going over the bank, as he looked for a way around the runner-up.

 

Kinser encountered heavy traffic on the 12th lap, as he again had opened up a very comfortable advantage. He continued to look for a way around the slower machines, of which a number held him up. As the 19th lap rolled around, he again found himself in traffic, but also had one of his largest leads of the race.

 

A restart with two laps to go put Kinser right on Saldana’s bumper. The native of Bloomington, Indiana looked low entering the first and second turns and again in the third and fourth corners. He led 26 laps on the night and finished second in the Q Oil Maxim, which earned him the fifth most event points heading into the finale on Saturday night, where he will start on the inside of the third row.

 

Tatnell finished third aboard the Volcano Joe’s Coffee Schnee to put himself sixth in event points heading into the finale.

 

Daryn Pittman was fourth in the Titan Garages Maxim, after running second in the early stages of the event. The reigning Gold Cup winner was just inches behind Tatnell at the line.

 

Tim Shaffer was fifth in the Casey’s General Stores Maxim, with rookie Sam Hafertepe Jr. in sixth in the G.H. Plumbing J&J. Terry McCarl was seventh in the Big Game Treestands Eagle. Brent Kaeding was eighth in the Al’s Roofing Supply Maxim. Evan Suggs, who began the night by setting fastest time of the 56 cars that took to the track in time trials, was ninth in the Crestwood/Riley-Collins Body Shop Maxim. Jeremy Campbell rounded out the Top-10 in the RLM Financial Maxim.

 

Tatnell had a simple plan entering action on Friday night, and he was quick to point out that Saturday night is the night with the big money on the line. He tried a couple of different grooves in an attempt to see where his car will work best for the finale, which will be 40 laps.

 

“We had a pretty good race car,” said the native of San Souci, NSW, Australia. “We had a little bit of luck there. Before we went out, we talked about being consistent and get some points to put us in a better position for Saturday night.”

 

Saldana used the five cautions to his advantage. After turning the fourth quickest lap in time trials of the 56 cars that took laps, he earned a third-place finish in his heat. With his win, Saldana is tied with Jonathan Allard for total events points, with the tie breaker going back to qualifying results. Allard was seventh in time trials on Thursday night. Thus, Saldana will start on the pole for the 40-lap, $50,000 to-win Gold Cup Race of Champions on Saturday night.

 

“You never know on these tracks, you just work hard at it,” said the winner. “The yellows definitely helped me. You just deal with it. When Steve (Kinser) and I got close and I got off the track on the backshoot, I thought it was over. I just kept digging and got him.”

 

While he has finished second in the past at the Gold Cup, the number one position has eluded him and Saldana would like nothing more than to win the West Coast’s biggest and most historical sprint car race.

 

“You have to stay out of trouble tomorrow and keep your nose clean,” explained Saldana. “There were a few spots tonight where I put my nose and probably should not have, but it paid off for me. On these little tracks you can get yourself in trouble real fast. You have to race hard every single lap.”

 

Tatnell slipped back to third on the opening lap and lost another position on the second, but that did not deter him. He had a very entertaining battle with Pittman over the last five laps of the event. At the line, Tatnell edged out Pittman by 0.006 seconds to finish in the third position.

 

“We tried the outside on the start and lost a couple of spots and stayed in line,” said Tatnell. “We were in fourth and just kept plugging away at it. The motor loaded up a little bit in the corners which would get the car loose and then we couldn’t drive off. As the track freed up that helped that problem out.”

 

Tatnell was an interested observer on Thursday night in the opener of the Gold Cup, studying track conditions, as well as his fellow competitors. He was ready when he strapped into the cockpit on Friday night, knowing it would be a very demanding 30 laps in the high-banked ¼-mile. While he ran the high side of the track a couple of times, Tatnell predominately kept his car glued to the bottom of the track.

 

“We learned a few things watching last night,” he noted. “We saw the guys run the bottom and back it down so far through the corners just to keep on the bottom. Tonight was a better track than last night. We’ll come back tomorrow with what we learned last night watching and what we learned last year racing here. I think we have a good package together for Saturday night.”

 

The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday night with the finale of the 54th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions, which will pay $50,000 to the winner.

 

GOLD CUP RACE OF CHAMPIONS NIGHT #2 NOTEBOOK

 

• FAST QUALIFIER: Evan Suggs paced the 55 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/4-mile oval in 11.738 seconds at 76.674 mph. Because the Gold Cup is a multi-day show with varying championship point totals on each night, no qualifying bonus points are awarded.

 

• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Terry McCarl, Jeremy Campbell, Daryn Pittman and Tim Kaeding won heat races… Andy Forsberg won the C-Main… Ronnie Day won the B-Main… Steve Kinser won the Crane Cams dash.
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There have been 62 World of Outlaws A-Feature events held in 2007. The win list includes: Donny Schatz (February 9 at Volusia Speedway Park, March 3 at Manzanita Speedway, March 16 at Houston Raceway Park, April 28 at Knoxville Raceway, May 17 at Williams Grove Speedway, May 18 at Williams Grove Speedway, May 25 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, June 25 at Black Hills Speedway, July 3 at Huset’s Speedway, July 14 at Eldora Speedway, July 18 at Lernerville Speedway, July 19 at Williams Grove Speedway, July 21 at Williams Grove Speedway and August 19 at Castrol Raceway), Joey Saldana (February 23 at Thunderbowl Raceway, March 17 at Pike County Speedway, March 24 at Volunteer Speedway, March 31 at Dixie Speedway, April 20 at Attica Raceway Park, June 5 at Kokomo Speedway, June 9 at Eagle Raceway, June 29 at River Cities Speedway, July 7 at I-55 Raceway and August 29 at Cottage Grove Speedway), Steve Kinser (March 2 at USA Race Park, April 21 at Tri-State Speedway, May 15 at Lernerville Speedway, May 20 at New Egypt Speedway, May 28 at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, June 1 at Sharon Speedway, June 20 at Missouri State Fair Speedway, July 13 at Eldora Speedway and August 17 at Castrol Raceway), Danny Lasoski (April 6 at Paducah International Raceway, May 23 at Grandview Speedway, June 14 at Tri-City Speedway, September 1 at Calistoga Speedway and September 2 at Calistoga Speedway), Jason Meyers (April 13 at Eldora Speedway, May 11 at U.S. 36 Raceway, June 22 at Dodge City Raceway Park and July 22 at Lebanon Valley Speedway), Daryn Pittman (February 11 at Volusia Speedway Park, May 5 at Riverside International Speedway, June 23 at Dodge City Raceway Park and August 14 at Nodak Speedway), Craig Dollansky (May 12 at Lake Ozark Speedway, July 27 at I-96 Speedway and August 25 at Skagit Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (June 30 at Red River Valley Speedway and July 11 at Limaland Motorsports Park), Terry McCarl (June 16 at Knoxville Raceway and July 28 at K-C Raceway), Paul McMahan (June 2 at Eldora Speedway and July 1 at Cedar Lake Speedway), Tim Kaeding (February 24 at Thunderbowl Raceway), Brian Leppo (July 20 at Williams Grove Speedway), Kerry Madsen (February 10 at Volusia Speedway Park), Jason Sides (July 25 at Ohsweken Speedway), Jason Solwold (August 3 at Charter Raceway Park), Shane Stewart (August 27 at Grays Harbor Raceway) and Brooke Tatnell (August 24 at Skagit Speedway).

 

PRELIMINARY FEATURE WINNERS: There have been two World of Outlaws Preliminary Feature event held in 2007. The winners include: Jonathan Allard (September 6 at Silver Dollar Speedway) and Joey Saldana (September 7 at Silver Dollar Speedway).

 

1/4-MILE WINNERS: Silver Dollar Speedway is a high-banked ¼-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced eight times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Kokomo Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway.), Jonathan Allard (Silver Dollar Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Limaland Motorsports Park), Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway), Daryn Pittman (Riverside International Speedway), and Donny Schatz (Houston Raceway Park).

 

 

: The World of Outlaws will be televised 20 times this season on ESPN2 and SPEED while the 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 next scheduled broadcast for the World of Outlaws on SPEED will be Sunday, September 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Central, with the second of two events from Skagit Speedway that were taped last weekend.

 

 

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 series inaugural visit to Clay County Speedway in Spencer, Iowa on Wednesday, August 12. The World of Outlaws return to Heartland Park Topeka on Friday, August 14, followed by a return to Charter Raceway Park in Wisconsin on Sunday, September, 16 for an event that was postponed by rain last month.

 

World of Outlaws Statistical Report; Gold Cup Race of Champions Night #2; Chico, CA; Sept. 7, 2007

 

Qualifying

1) 33E-Evan Suggs 11.738

2) 5H-Barry Martinez 11.805

3) 6-Tim Shaffer 11.833

4) 9-Joey Saldana 11.834

5) 11-Steve Kinser 11.860

6) 20-Paul McMahan 11.876

7) 2-Brooke Tatnell 11.889

8) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.915

9) 24-Terry McCarl 11.932

10) 49-Mike Monahan 11.978

11) 57-Shane Golobic 11.990

12) 6M-Jon Maiwald 12.010

13) 29-Willie Croft 12.011

14) 10C-Jeremy Campbell 12.019

15) 21-Daryn Pittman 12.025

16) 10-Tim Kaeding 12.028

17) 31-Danny Bullock 12.034

18) KR14-Tyler Spath 12.062

19) 1-Ronnie Day 12.111

20) 69-Brent Kaeding 12.129

21) 35M-Sean Becker 12.153

22) D1-Justin Henderson 12.173

23) 26-Tayler Malsam 12.190

24) 44-Matt Shelton 12.220

25) 27L-Korey Lovell 12.241

26) 1HD-Shane Stewart 12.249

27) OO-Jason Statler 12.250

28) 6H-Kyle Hirst 12.273

29) 6W-Mark Workentine 12.281

30) 11H-Kerry Madsen 12.304

31) 73-Kevin Pylant 12.311

32) 67-Shain Matthews 12.323

33) 71-Johnny Gray 12.384

34) 92-Andy Forsberg 12.401

35) 83B-Robert Ballou 12.403

36) 7X-Eddy Lewis 12.609

37) 24M-Matt Petty 12.616

38) 10X-Peter Breshears 12.638

39) 20J-James Sweeney 12.641

40) 2B-Jeremy Burt 12.649

41) 84-Brad Bumgarner 12.717

42) 56-Shawn Arriaga 12.721

43) 18B-Kevin Sharrah 12.734

44) 3-Adrien Betournay 12.746

45) 36N-Mark Tabor Sr. 12.757

46) 9M-Cody Myers 12.865

47) 29K-Josh Keheley 12.896

48) 55-Brandon Carey 12.905

49) 80X-Mark Haynes 13.045

50) 35JR-Ricky Wright Jr. 13.080

51) 3C-Bill Cornwell 13.156

52) 7B-Brent Bjork 13.272

53) 87S-Tony Silveria 13.334

54) 50S-David Silveria 13.445

55) 87-Mike Mossi 13.647

56) 25-Brian Boswell -.—

 

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

1) 24-Terry McCarl

2) 11-Steve Kinser

3) 33E-Evan Suggs

4) 29-Willie Croft

5) 35M-Sean Becker

6) 31-Danny Bullock

7) 27L-Korey Lovell

8) 71-Johnny Gray

9) 24M-Matt Petty

10) 6W-Mark Workentine

 

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

1) 10C-Jeremy Campbell

2) 49-Mike Monahan

3) 20-Paul McMahan

4) 11H-Kerry Madsen

5) 5H-Barry Martinez

6) 1HD-Shane Stewart

7) 92-Andy Forsberg

8) D1-Justin Henderson

9) 10X-Peter Breshears

10) KR14-Tyler Spath

 

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

1) 21-Daryn Pittman

2) 2-Brooke Tatnell

3) 6-Tim Shaffer

4) OO-Jason Statler

5) 83B-Robert Ballou

6) 1-Ronnie Day

7) 57-Shane Golobic

8) 26-Tayler Malsam

9) 20J-James Sweeney

10) 73-Kevin Pylant

 

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

1) 10-Tim Kaeding

2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.

3) 9-Joey Saldana

4) 6M-Jon Maiwald

5) 69-Brent Kaeding

6) 6H-Kyle Hirst

7) 44-Matt Shelton

8) 67-Shain Matthews

9) 7X-Eddy Lewis

10) 2B-Jeremy Burt

 

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

1) 11-Steve Kinser

2) 2-Brooke Tatnell

3) 21-Daryn Pittman

4) 10-Tim Kaeding

5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.

6) 33E-Evan Suggs

7) 24-Terry McCarl

8) 10C-Jeremy Campbell

9) 5H-Barry Martinez

10) 49-Mike Monahan

 

D-main (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to C-main)

1) 18B-Kevin Sharrah

2) 84-Brad Bumgarner

3) 36N-Mark Tabor Sr.

4) 56-Shawn Arriaga

5) 55-Brandon Carey [$25]

6) 9M-Cody Myers [$25]

7) 87-Mike Mossi [$25]

8) 80X-Mark Haynes [$25]

9) 7B-Brent Bjork [$25]

10) 3-Adrien Betournay [$25]

11) 29K-Josh Keheley [$25]

12) 87S-Tony Silveria [$25]

13) 50S-David Silveria [$25]

14) 3C-Bill Cornwell [$25]

15) 35JR-Ricky Wright Jr. [$25]

16) 25-Brian Boswell [$25]

 

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

1) 92-Andy Forsberg

2) 20J-James Sweeney

3) 18B-Kevin Sharrah [$100]

4) 7X-Eddy Lewis [$80]

5) 84-Brad Bumgarner [$60]

6) 56-Shawn Arriaga [$50]

7) 10X-Peter Breshears [$40]

8) 36N-Mark Tabor Sr. [$30]

9) 2B-Jeremy Burt [$25]

10) 24M-Matt Petty [$25]

 

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

1) 1-Ronnie Day

2) 57-Shane Golobic

3) 44-Matt Shelton

4) D1-Justin Henderson

5) 6H-Kyle Hirst [$150]

6) 92-Andy Forsberg [$125]

7) 20J-James Sweeney [$100]

8) 26-Tayler Malsam [$75]

9) KR14-Tyler Spath [$60]

10) 67-Shain Matthews [$50]

11) 1HD-Shane Stewart [$40]

12) 71-Johnny Gray [$40]

13) 27L-Korey Lovell [$40]

14) 6W-Mark Workentine [$40]

15) 31-Danny Bullock [$40]

16) 73-Kevin Pylant [$40]

 

A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]

1) 9-Joey Saldana[12] [$5,000]

2) 11-Steve Kinser[1] [$3,000]

3) 2-Brooke Tatnell[2] [$2,500]

4) 21-Daryn Pittman[3] [$2,200]

5) 6-Tim Shaffer[11] [$2,100]

6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5] [$2,000]

7) 24-Terry McCarl[7] [$1,800]

8) 69-Brent Kaeding[18] [$1,600]

9) 33E-Evan Suggs[6] [$1,500]

10) 10C-Jeremy Campbell[8] [$1,300]

11) OO-Jason Statler[22] [$1,200]

12) 20-Paul McMahan[13] [$1,100]

13) 1-Ronnie Day[17] [$1,000]

14) 49-Mike Monahan[10] [$700]

15) 35M-Sean Becker[19] [$600]

16) 5H-Barry Martinez[9] [$600]

17) 11H-Kerry Madsen[23] [$600]

18) D1-Justin Henderson[20] [$600]

19) 57-Shane Golobic[14] [$600]

20) 44-Matt Shelton[21] [$600]

21) 10-Tim Kaeding[4] [$500]

22) 6M-Jon Maiwald[15] [$500]

23) 83B-Robert Ballou[24] [$500]

24) 29-Willie Croft[16] [$500]

 

Lap Leaders: Steve Kinser 1-25, 27; Joey Saldana 26, 28-30

KSE Hard Charger Award: Joey Saldana

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