By Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
Craig Dollansky had just two month to prepare for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series 2008 season. After joining Larry Woodward Racing to pilot the No. 2 car in early December, he and his new team worked countless hours in the shop, meticulously getting ready for their first season together.
All of the hard work paid off on Friday night, as he led wire-to-wire to claim the first of three nights of action for the series as part of the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.
“It’s great to get the first win of the year at Volusia,” said Dollansky, driver of the Auto Value Maxim “It’s a great way to kick off the season. I am very happy for the race team. I had a great race car. We set fast time and had a good starting position and capitalized on that.”
Dollansky started second in the 30-lap contest and took the lead at the drop of the green flag, while battling Daryn Pittman. Also on the opening circuit, two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz charged around Pittman and Joey Saldana to move into second.
Dollansky maintained his lead in the early going and was setting a blistering pace, entering lapped traffic on just the fourth lap on the spacious half-mile. This allowed Schatz to close back in, as he looked low exiting the third and fourth turns a couple of times.
A red flag period on the seventh lap bunched the field up, but a strong restart by Dollansky gave him a comfortable advantage. The leaders were just about to enter lapped traffic again on the 11 go-around when the caution flew. Another strong restart for Dollansky was negated when the caution flew two laps later. After an open red flag period on the 16th lap, Dollansky used an open to track to pull away as the laps wound down.
Schatz caught him with less than 10 laps to go and looked high off the fourth turn on the 23rd lap for the lead. For the next couple of laps he shadowed Dollansky, before the latter pulled away to win by nearly two seconds in the 30-lap event.
“I am very excited for this new race team and the people that are involved with it,” Dollansky noted. “We learned some thing the first three nights and I am very encouraged by some of the changes that we have made and some of the improvements that we have made.
For Dollansky it was his 22nd career A-Feature win with the series and helped his car owner Larry Woodward kick of his 50th year in the sport. His team provided him with a fast car all night, starting with turning the fastest lap of the 46 cars that took to the track in time trials, and he backed that up with a second-place run in the first heat to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash where he finished second.
“We have a good race team here,” said the native of Elk River, Minnesota from Alltel Victory Lane. “Mike Woodring my crew chief did a great job. This is our second full year together and you have to build on that. It takes chemistry and it takes time. We are getting to the point where we are clicking and working real well together. I am proud of Rob (Beattie) and Lester (Groves) and the entire Woodward Racing team.”
Donny Schatz finished in the Top-Five for the fourth consecutive night this week at Volusia. He came home second, after a strong run from the eighth starting spot to finish second in the fourth heat race earned him a spot in the Crane Cams Dash, where he finished fourth to line up on the second row for the 30-lap A-Feature.
“I’m glad to get started halfway decent,” said Schatz, driver of the Armor All J&J. “Anything can happen and we know that. We have two more nights and we’ll come back tomorrow with our game face on.”
Terry McCarl lined up 15th on Friday night and charged to a third-place finish. He used a strong restart on the 16th lap to power around Saldana and Chad Layton to move into third. He methodically passed cars early in the race as he worked his way into the Top-Five at the halfway point of the race. He earned the Penske Power Position Award for his podium finish.
“We have been testing some things the last few days and it worked out,” said McCarl, driver of the Big Game Treestands Eagle. “When you test things and it doesn’t work out, you are disappointed. The guys had the car great tonight. We had a yellow there and I thought we may have had a shot at those guys. We came from 15th and I am proud of a Top-Three.”
Lance Dewease raced his way into the A-Feature by way of the B-Main and passed the most cars on the night. After starting 23rd, he wound up fourth as he continues his strong start to the 2008 season. For his efforts on Friday night, he earned the first KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award of the year.
“We made a lot of changes to the car tonight and really made some gains after the heat race,” said Dewease, who piloted the Advanced Development Services J&J. “I think we are really headed in the right direction. The motors are running outstanding and we just have to get it to the ground.”
Jason Meyers aboard the GLR Investments KPC snared the fifth spot on the final lap, as he got around Joey Saldana and Layton. It was his third Top-Five finish of the week in the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals.
Layton, who won with the World of Outlaws at Williams Grove Speedway last season, wound up sixth in the YTI Career Institute Maxim after thrilling battles with Meyers, Steve Kinser and Pittman.
Joey Saldana finished seventh on Friday night aboard the Budweiser Mopar-powered JEI, with Chad Kemenah in the Kantor Oil Company machine in eighth, Daryn Pittman in the Titan Garages Maxim in ninth and Tim Kaeding in the Tom Rolfe Trucking Maxim in 10th.
In both of his wins this week with the All Star Circuit of Champions, Schatz used long green flag runs to his advantage, slicing his way through traffic. He was hoping on Friday night to have a similar situation, but with a number of cautions and red flags, the field had open track ahead of them for most of the event.
“I guarantee it would have helped me,” said the North Dakota native of a longer green flag run. “That’s the way we race. We need them to go green. When you have all of those yellows, it bunches everyone up. Without them you get in lapped traffic and can race. We barely hit it and that is where races are won and lost on the big tracks.”
McCarl also was hoping for a longer green flag run, for which his car was set up. An open red flag on the 16th lap allowed the teams to make adjustments on their cars for the final half of the race.
“I didn’t want to see it,” said McCarl of the red flag. “My car was coming on pretty strong and I didn’t want to give those a chance to make their cars better. It was a great way to start off the season with the Outlaws.”
The second of three nights of racing at Volusia Speedway Park as part of the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals awaits the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Saturday night.
ALLTEL DIRTCAR NATIONALS NIGHT #1 NOTEBOOK
• FAST QUALIFIER: Craig Dollansky paced the 46 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked half-mile oval at 13.450 seconds at 132.939 mph. For his qualifying effort, Dollansky earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jason Meyers (4), Jeff Shepard (3), Randy Hannagan (2), and Steve Kinser (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Daryn Pittman, Joey Saldana, Greg Hodnett and Chad Layton won heat races… Sam Hafertepe Jr. won the C-Main… Jac Haudenschild won the B-Main… Daryn Pittman won the Crane Cams Dash.
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• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been one Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2007. The winner was Craig Dollansky (Volusia Speedway Park).
• 1/2-MILE WINNERS: Volusia Speedway Park is a 1/2-mile semi-banked oval. The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series has raced once this season on a track that size and the winner was Craig Dollansky (Volusia Speedway Park).
The Official Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Web site is at http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint. 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 2008 Official Rulebook can be found at the bottom of the home page.
• UPCOMING EVENTS: The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series heads to Pike County Speedway on Saturday, February 16, followed by a trip to the West Coast for a pair of events at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California on February 22 and 23.
Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park Night # 1; February 8, 2008
Qualifying
1) 2-Craig Dollansky 13.540
2) 14-Jason Meyers 13.624
3) 1-Jeff Shepard 13.737
4) 1X-Randy Hannagan 13.785
5) 11-Steve Kinser 13.797
6) 9-Joey Saldana 13.808
7) 28-Brian Paulus 13.846
8) 8K-Chad Kemenah 13.870
9) 21-Daryn Pittman 13.889
10) 6-Tim Shaffer 13.930
11) 5-Danny Lasoski 13.934
12) 24-Terry McCarl 13.944
13) 20-Kraig Kinser 13.951
14) 51-Fred Rahmer 13.952
15) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 13.961
16) 25-Chad Layton 13.986
17) 10-Tim Kaeding 13.993
18) R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.001
19) 20E-Brian Ellenberger 14.007
20) 5C-Chad Hillier 14.008
21) 4-Danny Smith 14.027
22) 7MX-Mark Smith 14.027
23) 22-Greg Hodnett 14.035
24) 94-Wayne Johnson 14.053
25) 6F-Bob Felmlee 14.056
26) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.062
27) 22B-Ben Gregg 14.067
28) 83-Shane Stewart 14.068
29) 30C-Lance Dewease 14.076
30) 39-T J Stutts 14.080
31) 7S-Jason Sides 14.094
32) 15-Donny Schatz 14.116
33) 55-Kerry Madsen 14.134
34) D1-Justin Henderson 14.146
35) 80-Spud Gustin 14.168
36) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.186
37) W20-Greg Wilson 14.192
38) 29A-Jason Botsford 14.224
39) 19-Stevie Smith 14.257
40) 89-Cody Darrah 14.286
41) 9P-Rager Phillips 14.296
42) 8H-Dustin Morgan 14.328
43) B4-Eric Baldaccini 14.339
44) 94S-Natalie Sather 14.844
45) 71J-Bob Schaeffer 15.168
46) 16-Lee Stark 15.265
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 21-Daryn Pittman
2) 2-Craig Dollansky
3) 4-Danny Smith
4) 11-Steve Kinser
5) 10-Tim Kaeding
6) 30C-Lance Dewease
7) 20-Kraig Kinser
8) 6F-Bob Felmlee
9) 55-Kerry Madsen
10) W20-Greg Wilson
11) 9P-Rager Phillips
12) 71J-Bob Schaeffer
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 14-Jason Meyers
3) 51-Fred Rahmer
4) 6-Tim Shaffer
5) 7MX-Mark Smith
6) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
7) 39-T J Stutts
8) R19-Jac Haudenschild
9) D1-Justin Henderson
10) 8H-Dustin Morgan
11) 29A-Jason Botsford
12) 16-Lee Stark
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 22-Greg Hodnett
2) 1-Jeff Shepard
3) 7S-Jason Sides
4) 28-Brian Paulus
5) 20E-Brian Ellenberger
6) 19-Stevie Smith
7) B4-Eric Baldaccini
8) 22B-Ben Gregg
9) 80-Spud Gustin
10) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
11) 5-Danny Lasoski
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 25-Chad Layton
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 24-Terry McCarl
4) 1X-Randy Hannagan
5) 8K-Chad Kemenah
6) 94-Wayne Johnson
7) 83-Shane Stewart
8) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
9) 89-Cody Darrah
10) 5C-Chad Hillier
11) 94S-Natalie Sather
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 21-Daryn Pittman
2) 2-Craig Dollansky
3) 9-Joey Saldana
4) 15-Donny Schatz
5) 14-Jason Meyers
6) 11-Steve Kinser
7) 1-Jeff Shepard
8) 25-Chad Layton
9) 22-Greg Hodnett
10) 1X-Randy Hannagan
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
2) 19-Stevie Smith
3) W20-Greg Wilson [$125]
4) 89-Cody Darrah [$125]
5) 8H-Dustin Morgan [$125]
6) 29A-Jason Botsford [$100]
7) 94S-Natalie Sather [$100]
8) B4-Eric Baldaccini [$100]
9) 80-Spud Gustin [$100]
10) 71J-Bob Schaeffer [$100]
11) 16-Lee Stark [$100]
12) 9P-Rager Phillips [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild
2) 5-Danny Lasoski
3) 20-Kraig Kinser
4) 30C-Lance Dewease
5) 83-Shane Stewart [$200]
6) 55-Kerry Madsen [$180]
7) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. [$175]
8) 5C-Chad Hillier [$160]
9) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [$150]
10) 5W-Lucas Wolfe [$150]
11) 19-Stevie Smith [$150]
12) 39-T J Stutts [$150]
13) D1-Justin Henderson [$150]
14) 6F-Bob Felmlee [$150]
15) 22B-Ben Gregg [$150]
16) 94-Wayne Johnson [$150]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 2-Craig Dollansky[2] [$10,000]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[4] [$5,000]
3) 24-Terry McCarl[15] [$3,000]
4) 30C-Lance Dewease[23] [$2,700]
5) 14-Jason Meyers[5] [$2,500]
6) 25-Chad Layton[8] [$2,200]
7) 9-Joey Saldana[3] [$2,000]
8) 8K-Chad Kemenah[12] [$1,800]
9) 21-Daryn Pittman[1] [$1,600]
10) 10-Tim Kaeding[18] [$1,450]
11) 51-Fred Rahmer[17] [$1,300]
12) 6-Tim Shaffer[13] [$1,200]
13) 1-Jeff Shepard[7] [$1,100]
14) 22-Greg Hodnett[9] [$1,000]
15) R19-Jac Haudenschild[19] [$950]
16) 7S-Jason Sides[24] [$900]
17) 4-Danny Smith[21] [$850]
18) 7MX-Mark Smith[22] [$750]
19) 11-Steve Kinser[6] [$725]
20) 20-Kraig Kinser[16] [$700]
21) 83-Shane Stewart[25] [$0]
22) 55-Kerry Madsen[26] [$0]
23) 1X-Randy Hannagan[10] [$700]
24) 28-Brian Paulus[11] [$700]
25) 5-Danny Lasoski[14] [$700]
26) 20E-Brian Ellenberger[20] [$700]
Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-30
Note: Kerry Madsen and Shane Stewart used Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series provisionals to start the A-Feature.
Chicken Hawk Hot Lap Award:Craig Dollansky
Penske Power Position Award: Terry McCarl
KSE Hard Charger Award: Lance Dewease
2008 STAT ATTACK
There has been one Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event this season.
A-Feature winners (1 Driver) Driver, Hometown – Wins
Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 1
Lap leaders, including A-features and preliminary features Car, driver, hometown – Total laps led (1 driver have led a lap)
Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 30 laps
Time trial leaders (1 driver) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Quick times
Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 1
Dash Winners (1winner) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Dash Wins
Daryn Pittman, Owasso, Oklahoma- 1
Pole Positions (1 driver) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Poles
Daryn Pittman, Owasso, Oklahoma- 1
B-main Winners (1 winner) Rank – Driver, Hometown – B-Main Wins
Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio- 1
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award
Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, PA- 1
Top-10 in Points
1. Craig Dollansky- 155
2. Donny Schatz– 146
3. Jason Meyers- 144
4. Terry McCarl- 144
5. Lance Dewease- 142
6. Chad Layton- 138
7. Joey Saldana- 136
8. Chad Kemenah- 134
9. Daryn Pittman- 132
10. Tim Kaeding-130
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts is the second-largest retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, based on store count and sales. As of October 6, 2007, the company operated 3,228 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The company serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets.
