Sweet Thrills in Opener

Sweet Thrills in World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Opener

Kasey Kahne Racing driver edges McMahan to win at Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Feb. 14, 2014 — In a race where three drivers exchanged the lead five times, it was Brad Sweet who led the final two laps to win the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series season opener during the DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park.

Paul McMahan was in contention for the victory much of the night, but Sweet was able to drive to the front late, relegating McMahan to a runner-up finish. Kerry Madsen pushed to a late-race third-place finish while Tim Shaffer, who led 26 of the 30 laps before fading late, and Dale Blaney rounded out the top five.

Dash winner Shaffer jumped out to the early lead after starting on the pole. Behind Shaffer the battle was for second between McMahan and Sweet. McMahan held the position for two laps when Sweet took the spot. Sweet held the position for six more laps before McMahan took it back.

McMahan pushed forward and caught Shaffer on lap 15. Two laps later McMahan made the pass for the lead. Seconds later the lone caution of the feature flew for a spin in turn three. McMahan chose to restart on the bottom with Shaffer on top.

On the restart Shaffer used the momentum on the top side of the racetrack to take the lead back in turn one. Shaffer gained a small lead while Sweet got around McMahan with Sweet powering around the top and McMahan patiently working the bottom of the track.

Shaffer’s lead began fading on lap 22 with Sweet, McMahan and Madsen slowly reeling him in. Shaffer’s lead continued to dwindle and on lap 26 as McMahan slid past Sweet for second, then made his move to lead lap 28. The lead did not last long as the top four were separated by less than a straightaway. Going into turn one Sweet and SureTestSupplies.com Kasey Kahne Racing #49 made the move and took the lead for the fifth and final lead change.

Sweet held the lead and took the checkered flag for night one of the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series season, replicating his teammate Daryn Pittman’s effort in 2013 after rejoining the tour full time.

“We made a lot of improvements from last night and it showed,” said the Grass Valley, Calif., native Sweet. “The bottom was a little better, but if you got too close behind a car you got bad air and it would take away the nose. That’s what happened getting into one with Tim and I about hit the wall. I knew I had one more chance and Paul [McMahan] snuck up on me, but I never gave up on the top. We got lucky the bottom gave up a little and we were able to bring it home.”

McMahan ran second much of the race and after a late race battle with Shaffer and Sweet, that’s where the CJB Motorsports car finished for the second night in a row at Volusia Speedway Park.

“It was a solid run for us and it was a hell of a race,” said the Nashville, Tenn., resident. “The laps wound down too fast for us. We ran him back down, but Sweet got under the checkered flag first. I got on the bottom, and that’s where I made up all my ground when I started running him back down.

McMahan knows it wasn’t a perfect race, “It was my own mistake on the restart trying to run the bottom. I should have got up on the top to get the car to turn left. Driver error cost us the race tonight.”

Heat race winner, Madsen, moved past Shaffer for the third position on lap 28 to earn the final podium position for the American Racing Custom Wheels /Keneric Racing #29.

“I had a ball,” admitted the St. Mary’s, N.S.W., native. “Tyler Swank gave me an unbelievable race car. It was so much fun to drive. I just thought at some point I was going to sneak past them, but it just never happened. Honestly we’re excited and we hope we can keep this momentum swinging.”

Shaffer held on for a fourth place finish after fading late in the race while Blaney ultimately finished the event in his starting position of fifth place.

Sweet leaves the event with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship lead with Madsen in second after earning four qualifying bonus points. Paul McMahan holds third place after opening night in the championship standings.

2013 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Champion Daryn Pittman finished the event seventh while five-time champ Donny Schatz finished 12^th after transferring through the Last Chance Showdown.

Steve Kinser kicked off his “Salute to the King” Tour with an 11^th place finish.

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series returns to the Volusia Speedway Park tomorrow for the second night of the DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment alongside the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds. Grandstands open at 5 p.m. with racing at 7:30. For more information on the DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment click www.DIRTcarNationals.com.

THE DIRTcar NATIONALS PRESENTED BY SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT

NOTES – Daryn Pittman was the fastest qualifier around the semi-banked, half-mile of Volusia Speedway Park with a time of 13.068 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Kerry Madsen (4 points), Dale Blaney (3), Rico Abreu (2) and Tim Kaeding(1). Dave Blaney, Kerry Madsen, Brad Sweet and Steve kinser won heat races. … The dash draw was a 8 for the 1st time this year… Tim Shaffer won the dash for the first time this year…  

World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series night one at the DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment; Barberville, Fla.; Feb. 14, 2014

A-Main (30 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [3] [$10,000]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [2] [$5,500]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [7] [$3,200]; 4. 45-Tim Shaffer [1] [$2,800]; 5. 14K-Dale Blaney [5] [$2,500]; 6. 83-Tim Kaeding [11] [$2,300]; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman [6] [$2,200]; 8. 24-Terry McCarl [8] [$2,100]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [15] [$2,050]; 10. 4-Cody Darrah [14] [$2,000]; 11. 11-Steve Kinser [4] [$1,500]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz [20] [$1,200]; 13. 71M-Joey Saldana [18] [$1,100]; 14. 33-Danny Lasoski [24] [$1,050]; 15. 10H-Danny Holtgraver [12] [$1,000]; 16. 63-Chad Kemenah [17] [$900]; 17. 11K-Kraig Kinser [23] [$800]; 18. 98H-Dave Blaney [10] [$800]; 19. HO7-Justin Henderson [19] [$800]; 20. 1S-Logan Schuchart [22] [$800]; 21. 1-Sammy Swindell [21] [$800]; 22. 24A-Rico Abreu [9] [$800]; 23. 96-Bronson Maeschen [16] [$800]; 24. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe [13] [$800]; 25. 6-Bill Rose [25] [$] Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer 1-16, 18-27; Paul McMahan 17, 28; Brad Sweet 29-30 KSE Hard Charger Award: 33-Danny Lasoski [+10].

Qualifying – 1. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.068; 2. 29-Kerry Madsen, 13.133; 3. 14K-Dale Blaney, 13.144; 4. 24A-Rico Abreu, 13.171; 5. 83-Tim Kaeding, 13.174; 6. 10H-Danny Holtgraver, 13.179; 7. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.185; 8. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.214; 9. 45-Tim Shaffer, 13.223; 10. 51-Paul McMahan, 13.244; 11. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe, 13.255; 12. 24-Terry McCarl, 13.260; 13. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.263; 14. 4-Cody Darrah, 13.272; 15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 13.275; 16. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.298; 17. 96-Bronson Maeschen, 13.298; 18. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.318; 19. 71M-Joey Saldana, 13.356; 20. HO7-Justin Henderson, 13.362; 21. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.364; 22. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.369; 23. 9W-Jac Haudenschild, 13.370; 24. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.380; 25. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.408; 26. 59-David Gravel, 13.437; 27. 33-Danny Lasoski, 13.481; 28. 77X-Wayne Johnson, 13.514; 29. 6-Bill Rose, 13.524; 30. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.547; 31. 83X-Christopher Bell, 13.579; 32. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 13.591; 33. 19M-Brent Marks, 13.600; 34. 80-Trey Gustin, 13.759; 35. 27-Greg Hodnett, 13.779; 36. 1A-Rodney Westhafer, 14.004; 37. 94-Brandon Thone, 14.250; 38. 19-Klint Angelette, nt; 39. 48-Danny Dietrich, nt

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 98H-Dave Blaney [1]; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [4]; 4. 83-Tim Kaeding [3]; 5. 96-Bronson Maeschen [5]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [6]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]; 8. 19M-Brent Marks [9]; 9. 6-Bill Rose [8]; 10. 94-Brandon Thone [10]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [4]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 4-Cody Darrah [1]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah [5]; 5. 10H-Danny Holtgraver [3]; 6. 1-Sammy Swindell [6]; 7. 59-David Gravel [7]; 8. 80-Trey Gustin [9]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [8]; 10. 19-Klint Angelette [10]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 2. 14K-Dale Blaney [4]; 3. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe [2]; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana [5]; 5. 33-Danny Lasoski [7]; 6. 9W-Jac Haudenschild [6]; 7. 27-Greg Hodnett [9]; 8. 83X-Christopher Bell [8]; 9. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [1]

Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 11-Steve Kinser [3]; 2. 24-Terry McCarl [2]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [1]; 4. HO7-Justin Henderson [5]; 5. 24A-Rico Abreu [4]; 6. 77X-Wayne Johnson [7]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 8. 1A-Rodney Westhafer [9]; 9. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [8]

Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature 1. 45-Tim Shaffer [2]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 4. 11-Steve Kinser [3]; 5. 14K-Dale Blaney [6]; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman [8]; 7. 29-Kerry Madsen [7]; 8. 24-Terry McCarl [9]; 9. 24A-Rico Abreu [5]; 10. 98H-Dave Blaney [10]

B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [2] [-]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4] [-]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [1] [-]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5] [-]; 5. 83X-Christopher Bell [10] [$200]; 6. 59-David Gravel [6] [$180]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [9] [$175]; 8. 27-Greg Hodnett [14] [$160]; 9. 1A-Rodney Westhafer [15] [$150]; 10. 80-Trey Gustin [13] [$150]; 11. 6-Bill Rose [8] [$150]; 12. 19-Klint Angelette [17] [$150]; 13. 9W-Jac Haudenschild [3] [$150]; 14. 94-Brandon Thone [16] [$150]; 15. 77X-Wayne Johnson [7] [$150]; 16. 19M-Brent Marks [12] [$150]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [18] [$150]; 18. 48-Danny Dietrich [19] [$150]; 19. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [11] [$150].

World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Championship Standings

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: American Racing Custom Wheels (Official Custom Wheel), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Lincoln Welders (Official Welder), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Bruce High Performance Transporters, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Sweet Manufacturing, and Superflow Dynos; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: ButlerBuilt, Intercomp, J&J Auto Racing, Jake’s Carts, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo and TNT Rescue.