‘Crowd
Pleaser’ Completes
By Richard Day
PRINCETON, MN (May 22) – Craig
Dollansky passed Kraig Kinser following a 37th-lap restart and led the final 3
1/3 laps to complete his sweep of the Inaugural Polydome Princeton National Saturday
at Princeton Speedway.
“The Crowd Pleaser,” who also won
Friday’s Preliminary Feature, collided with the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the
Year points leader while executing the winning pass, drawing the ire of the
Kinser family.
“It’s been a great week,”
Dollansky yelled to the sellout crowd. “‘The King’ (Steve Kinser) is a little
upset, and so is his kid (Kraig). I’ve braked for him a lot of times in the
past and I had the run on Kraig, and that’s the way it goes. He’s got a brake
on that car; I guess he just needs to learn to use it. I know I got into
Kraig’s left front a little bit and Steve’s upset, but he’d better get used to
it because I’m getting ready to go dethrone him.
“I just want to thank all the fans
for coming out and braving the cold weather to make this happen. I have to
thank my guys D.J. Lindsey and Rod Fauver for doing a great job all year long.
There was a lot of stuff going on out there on the track. This is a tight
little place, and I hope the fans saw some good racing.”
The $12,000 victory completed the
first double-feature sweep of Dollansky’s career. “The Crowd Pleaser” also
drove Karavan Racing’s #7 VMAC Maxim to victory in the April 17th “A” Feature
at I-55 Raceway.
Dollansky earned the privilege of
starting the 40-lap main event on the pole by winning his third Dash Race of
the season. “The Crowd Pleaser” burst into the lead as the green flag fell in
the “A” Feature, and was 15 car-lengths ahead of Jason Meyers when he entered
lapped traffic four laps into the race.
Kraig Kinser drove father Steve’s
#11K Delco-Remy Maxim into the low groove between the first and second corners
to pass Meyers for second place early in lap five, and took the lead with an
identical move past Dollansky three laps later.
Fast qualifier Donny Schatz
steered his family’s #15 Parker Store J&J to the lowest point in the second
corner to pass Australian Brooke Tatnell for third place early in lap 11.
“The Crowd Pleaser” rode the rim
into the lead in turn two early in the 14th lap, but Kraig regained first place
deep in the third corner several seconds later. Kraig opened a 10-car-length
advantage during the next four laps.
Steve Kinser, the World of Outlaws
Sprint Series points leader, started inside the fifth row. “The King of the
Outlaws” drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim past Meyers deep in the first corner
to take over fifth place midway through the race.
Kraig Kinser held a straightaway
advantage with 10 laps remaining, but Dollansky narrowed the gap to four
car-lengths in dense lapped traffic within three laps. Kraig’s lead diminished
altogether early in the 36th lap when the only caution flag of the fast-paced
main event flew after Brian Carlson stopped in the second corner.
Dollansky chased Kraig around the
high-banked, ¼-mile oval for half a lap before catching him on the back
straightaway. The leaders raced through turn three wheel-to-wheel and collided
as “The Crowd Pleaser” regained first place.
Schatz, who passed Kraig for the
runner-up spot deep in the fourth corner late in the final lap, was 10
car-lengths behind when Dollansky took the checkered flag.
“I’m really happy for everybody on
this Parker Store team,” Schatz said. “To qualify first and come home second is
an all-around good night for us. We’re getting better and better. If we didn’t
have that late yellow, I might have been able to get both of those guys in
front of me. The crew has continued working to keep us up front. We’re still
chasing that first victory, but we’ve been more consistent this year and that
was our first goal. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll be fine.”
Kraig Kinser finished in third
place, ahead of Tatnell, Steve Kinser, Meyers, Daryn Pittman, 13th-starting
Paul McMahan, Second Heat Race winner Tyler Walker and Tim Shaffer.
Pittman, whose crew replaced the
engine in his #21 Hop & Sack CMC following the Third Heat Race, moved past
Shaffer into eighth place in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series point
standings. Joey Saldana’s 14th-place finish, coupled with mechanical problems
keeping Jason Sides from starting the “A” Feature, pushed the 1996 Rookie of
the Year into 10th place in the standings.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Series
will sanction the Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway Tuesday, race at
Williams Grove Speedway Thursday and Friday and run single-program events at
Hagerstown Speedway, Grandview Speedway and Lebanon Valley Speedway Saturday,
Sunday and Monday. WoO
2004 World of Outlaws Sprint
Series
Inaugural Polydome Princeton
National
Saturday, May 22, Feature Program
#16
Qualifying: 1. Donny Schatz,
Schatz 15, 10.419; 2. Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 10.480; 3. Daryn Pittman,
Woodburn 21, 10.511; 4. Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 10.528; 5. Travis
Whitney, Whitney 9, 10.544; 6. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 10.618; 7. Erin
Crocker, Woodring 16, 10.618; 8. Tyler Walker, Forbrook 5, 10.628; 9. Tim
Shaffer, Roth 83, 10.685; 10. Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 10.695; 11. Jonathan
Allard, Wright 35, 10.727; 12. Brian Paulus, Pender 28, 10.732; 13. Brandon
Wimmer, Two Winners 7TW, 10.758; 14. Bob Bennett, Acme 3, 10.780; 15. Joey
Saldana, Woodward 2, 10.844; 16. Dave Enders, Enders 51E, 10.862; 17. Brian
Brown, Parsons 6, 10.872; 18. Roger Rager, Donahue 6R, 10.933; 19. Mike Stefka,
Dworek 83D, 11.115; 20. Brian Carlson, SC Motorsports 18, 11.162; 21. Scott
Neitzel, Neitzel 2W, 11.192; 22. Brett Geldner, Geldner 1B, 11.193; 23. Wayne
Modjeski, MMZ Motorsports 77, 11.304; 24. Matt Wasmund, Wasmund 4W, 11.338; 25.
Leigh Thomas, Thomas 29, 11.623; 26. Joe Kouba, Kouba 55, 11.852; 27. Andy
Hunt, Hunt 9A, 11,959; 28. Tony Kaus, Kaus 3K, 12.264; 29. Jerry Richert, Jr.,
Sibs Racing 45, no time.
Finishing 1-4 in Friday’s
Preliminary Feature qualified Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7; Jason Meyers, Elite
Racing 14; Brooke Tatnell, Grandstaff 66; and Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, for the
first four starting positions in the Dash Race.
First Heat Race (10 laps): 1.
Steve Kinser, 2. Brandon Wimmer, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Erin Crocker, 5. Brian
Brown, 6. Bob Bennett, 7. Brian Carlson, 8. Wayne Modjeski, 9. Joe Kouba.
(first five qualified for the “A” Feature)
Second Heat Race (10 laps): 1.
Tyler Walker, 2. Brian Paulus, 3. Danny Lasoski, 4. Joey Saldana, 5. Scott
Neitzel, 6. Travis Whitney, 7. Matt Wasmund, 8. Andy Hunt, 9. Roger Rager.
(first five qualified for the “A” Feature)
Third Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Paul
McMahan, 2. Tim Shaffer, 3. Jason Sides ($200); 4. Jonathan Allard, 5. Daryn
Pittman, 6. Dave Enders, 7. Brett Geldner, 8. Leigh Thomas, 9. Mike Stefka, 10.
Tony Kaus. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)
Dash Race (seven laps): 1. Craig
Dollansky, 2. Jason Meyers, 3. Kraig Kinser, 4. Brooke Tatnell, 5. Donny
Schatz, 6. Jason Sides, 7. Danny Lasoski, 8. Daryn Pittman. (finish determined
the first eight starting positions in the “A” Feature)
B Feature (12 laps): 1. Bob
Bennett, 2. Travis Whitney, 3. Roger Rager, 4. Dave Enders, 5. Brian Carlson,
6. Wayne Modjeski, 7. Brett Geldner ($175); 8. Matt Wasmund ($150): 9. Mike
Stefka ($100); 10. Leigh Thomas ($90); 11. Joe Kouba ($80); 12. Andy Hunt
($60); 13. Tony Kaus ($50). (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)
A Feature (40 laps): 1. Craig
Dollansky [1] ($12,000); 2. Donny Schatz [5] ($6,000); 3. Kraig Kinser [3]
($4,000); 4. Brooke Tatnell [4] ($3,500); 5. Steve Kinser [9] ($3,300); 6.
Jason Meyers [2] ($3,100); 7. Daryn Pittman [7] ($3,000); 8. Paul McMahan [13]
($2,500); 9. Tyler Walker [11] ($2,100); 10. Tim Shaffer [12] ($2,050); 11.
Danny Lasoski [6] ($2,000); 12. Erin Crocker [10] ($1,600); 13. Jonathan Allard
[23] ($1,500); 14. Joey Saldana [17] ($1,200); 15. Brandon Wimmer [15]
($1,100); 16. Travis Whitney [8] ($1,020); 17. Brian Brown [19] ($900); 18. Bob
Bennett [16] ($820); 19. Wayne Modjeski [24] ($820); 20. Scott Neitzel [22]
($800); 21. Brian Carlson [21] ($820); 22. Roger Rager [20] ($820); 23. Brian
Paulus [14] ($800); 24. Dave Enders [18] ($820). DNS: Jason Sides; replaced by
Wayne Modjeski
Lap leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-7,
37-40; Kraig Kinser 8-36
