NEW EGYPT, N.J. (May 19, 2015) – The fifth night of racing in seven days for the World of Outlaws sprint cars culminated tonight at the 7/16-mile New Egypt Speedway.
The evening was off to a great start for the Motter Equipment HE&M Saw Beltline Body Shop team in time trials. Joey Saldana whipped the 71M around the track in 13.317 seconds, setting a new track record and solidifying the No. 1 qualifying spot, his third quick time this season.
The Brownsburg Bullet rolled off fourth in the first heat. When the green flew, front row starter Shane Stewart assumed the lead followed by Saldana. The first two positions did not change from flag to flag. Saldana’s second place finish earned him a starting berth in the dash along with a position in the feature.
“It was a great team effort tonight,” said Saldana. “We haven’t been qualifying very well so it’s definitely nice to start the night off with a good qualifying run which puts you in good position for the feature. Hopefully we can have some success in the dash and have something for the feature.”
On a straight-up dash start, Saldana would have started on the pole. But after the ‘four’ ping pong ball was drawn, he pushed off fourth. At the green, Daryn Pittman led the pack with Logan Schuchart second and Saldana third. In six laps the running order for the top three did not change. Saldana secured the No. 3 position on the starting grid for the feature.
In the 30-lap A Main, Daryn Pittman was the wire to wire winner. Donny Schatz moved from ninth to finish second and Shane Stewart was third. Saldana came home eighth.
“We had a mechanical problem from the first lap,” said team owner Dan Motter, “and we were lucky to finish. The track was nice. It was real fast with good grip and no dust.
“We started out so great in qualifying and we were good in the dash and the heat. It was so disappointing to have a mechanical gremlin.”
The Outlaws will race at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Friday, May 22 and Saldana and the Motter team hope to defend last year’s victory there.
# # #
