Locked
and Loaded: Saldana Wins Preliminary Feature at
Joey
Saldana nearly won a preliminary feature last week at Red River Valley
Speedway, and that race was still fresh in his mind on Friday night. The
Brownsburg,
Saldana
powered around early race leader
Saldana in
the Mopar powered Dodge/Curb Records JEI started in the second spot and stalked
Alley for the first half of the race. After looking high, Saldana dove to the
low side in turn three and made the pass for the win. Alley in the Minute Man
Copy J & J came home in fourth, to lock himself into the dash as well on
Saturday night.
“It was a
good run and hopefully we can get a good finish tomorrow,” said Saldana who
team is owned by NASCAR superstar Kasey Kahne.
Saldana’s
crew has been busy building new cars and working on different combinations as
they prepare for some of the biggest events of the year in the next couple
weeks. They are using this weekend as a tune-up for when they return in August
for the Knoxville Nationals.
“We tried a
different motor tonight and that was good,” said Saldana. “We are trying some
different motors before the Nationals, and this one tonight ran pretty good.
We’ll probably leave it in for tomorrow and just go through everything. We were
a little off on the car. We’ll work on it and look to put in a good race
tomorrow.”
Saldana was
pleased to come out on top of a preliminary feature this week, after feeling
like he let one slip away last weekend at
“At
Saldana
used a couple of cautions to his advantage, as it bunched the field up. He was
pleased with how the car ran and where he will start the dash tomorrow. Saldana
also learned a few items that will help him Saturday night as well as some of
the other half-mile tracks the
“It was a
good run and hopefully we can get a good finish tomorrow,” said Saldana. “It
seemed like I was a little tight early. I wanted to be on top and he (Alley)
was taking that line. Once my car started freeing up, I ran the bottom. He
never really the tried the bottom and that is where I passed him. At this
place, you have to watch it. When your car frees up, the bottom is usually faster
and helps you keep up. You can get a run on a guy. I’ve that because I’ve been
beat here many times. “
Schatz in
the Parker Stores J & J worked his way up to second after starting in the
eighth spot. Schatz worked high and low and passed cars at will as he put
himself into the second starting spot in the dash for the finale on Saturday.
The current
series point leader had one goal in mind for the night, and that was to get
locked into the dash for Saturday evening. He did that easily and also showed
that he will be one of the contenders come Saturday night’s finale.
“I’m happy
with everything,” said Schatz. “We need just need to come back tomorrow and get
it done.”
Schatz will
start on the outside of the front row in Saturday night’s dash, and used the
high side a good deal on Friday night as he sliced his way through the front of
the field. Look for Schatz and Saldana to stage another epic battle on Saturday
night in the dash as they line up side by side.
“I think we
may have been a bit faster, but we were playing it a little cautious to not get
too tight,” said Schatz. “We’re locked in and at the front of the dash and that
is really all we wanted to do. It was a big test session tonight. We started
the night second quick and ended right where we wanted to be for tomorrow.”
Schatz had
one close call on the night as he was attempting to pass Alley for the second
spot, when the two cars got together. Schatz a veteran of 10 seasons with the
“We had a
little episode with another car trying to get through there and got together,”
said Schatz. “I don’t know what that was all about. It caught us back a bit and
we had to catch back up.”
Schatz did
everything he could to track down Saldana, once he got into the second spot.
Fresh off a sweep last weekend at the Duel in the Dakotas, he put himself in
prime position for Saturday night as he searches for his seventh A-feature win
of the season.
“I would
not look at it as laps, but rather we needed lapped traffic,” said Schatz. “You
catch a car length a lap, but if he is 30 car lengths ahead, it is pretty tough
to catch him. Lapped traffic is where the races are won and lost. They have
good race cars and things going in the right direction. Our race cars are just
so good, and we just need to be able to race with them. “
Brooke
Tatnell in the Race Outfitters/Castrol Eagle secured a guaranteed starting spot
in Saturday’s dash by coming home third in the preliminary feature, after
lining up eighth. The native of San Souci NSW Australia, passed three cars in
the first two laps of the race, before picking off a couple more with just a
few laps to go.
“It is good
to be starting up front,” said Tatnell. “You still have to be on your ‘A-game’
tomorrow, because you won’t be on the track as much. We’ll definitely take it.
We’ve been fast.”
Tatnell
used a couple of cautions to his advantage as got great restarts all night
long. On Saturday night, he will look for his third A-Feature win of the season
to back up his victories at Huset’s Speedway and Orange County Fair Speedway.
“They help
and they hurt you,” Tatnell said. “We gained a spot on a restart. We had a very
good car tonight.”
Tatnell who
always has one of the best looking cars in the pit area, is use to sporting a
black car, but his team broke out a white car on Friday night, with red stripes
across the middle of the top wing and front wing.
“The car
owner wanted a retro look, so we gave him a retro finish,” said a smiling
Tatnell.
Alley had a
bitter sweet night after leading the first half of the preliminary feature. He
was excited to be locked in for the dash on Saturday night, but also pondered,
what could have been.
“It’s a
heartbreaker,” Alley said. “I have been running 410 sprint cars for a few years
now. The last three years off and on. To lead a race like that, makes you want
to take it all the way. That’s a race I wish would have gone green to checker
in clean air. That’s part of the game and hopefully we can build on this, and
continue getting more confident.”
Alley may
still be young and learning the intricacies of racing 410-sprint cars, but he
showed he can compete with the best of the best, as he held off all challengers
in the dash to pick up the win and earn the top starting spot in the
preliminary feature.
“This is a
new team for me,” said Alley. “We haven’t even raced 20 times together yet. We
will build in this, that’s for sure.”
Despite
wanting to be in victory lane at the end of the night, Alley knew that the main
goal was to get locked into the dash for Saturday night, and learn about the
car and what adjustments the team would need to make so that he could be even
faster in the finale of The Mediacom World of Outlaws Shoot-Out Presented by
Sonic, America’s Drive-In.
“I made a
couple mistakes during the late cautions, and if you make a mistake they drive
by you,” said Alley. “We can definitely build on it and make a couple of
changes. Hopefully tomorrow we can be sitting up there.”
Jason
Solwold, who set fast time, in the City Wide Insulation Maxim rounded out the
top-five. Randy Hannagan in the Penthouse Magazine Maxim was sixth.
The rest of the top-10 was Danny
Lasoski charging to 7th in the Roth Motorsports Eagle, after transferring to
the preliminary feature by finishing second in the B-Main. He lined up for the
20 lapper in the 23rd spot, after two engine changes on the night.
Jac Haudenschild was 8th in the
Wright One Construction Maxim, after starting 17th. Kerry Madsen started 21st
and finished 9th in the Tulip City Agency Cool, with Justin Henderson rounding
out the Top-10 in the Jolt Energy Gum Schnee.
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY NOTEBOOK
• FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Solwold
paced the 46 cars in time trials with a lap around the half-mile high-banked
oval at 14.973 seconds. Because The Mediacom World of Outlaws Shoot-Out
Presented By Sonic, America’s Drive-In, is a multi-day show with varying
championship point totals on each night, no qualifying bonus points are
awarded. Brooke Tatnell holds the track record of 14.407 seconds
established on May 6, 2006.
• QUALIFYING-EVENT WINNERS: Heat race winners included Tyler Walker, as well as
Kevin Swindell, Calvin Landis, and Tim St. Arnold. … Billy Alley picked up the
win in the dash. …Dusty Zomer won the C-Main. … Brian Brown won the B-Main.
• MAIN EVENT WINNERS: There have been 13 different winners in 24 A-feature
events to visit the RacinSoles Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws this
season. The win list includes: Donny Schatz (March 9 at The Dirt Track @ Las
Vegas Motor Speedway, March 31 at Batesville Speedway, April 1 at I-55 Raceway,
May 16 at Grandview Speedway, May 30 at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, and June
18 at Red River Valley Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (May 6 at U.S. 36 Raceway,
May 20 at Sharon Speedway and June 14 at The Raceway @ Powercom Park), Joey
Saldana (Feb. 10 at Volusia and June 4 at Terre Haute), Sammy Swindell (April 8
at Eldora Speedway and March 10 at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway),
Brooke Tatnell (May 7 at Huset’s Speedway and May 29 at Orange County Fair
Speedway), Fred Rahmer (May 27 at Williams Grove), Craig Dollansky (April 15 at
Tri-State Speedway), Paul McMahan (March 4 at USA Race Park), Danny Lasoski
(March 3 at Manzanita), Chad Kemenah (Feb. 9 at Volusia), Kevin Swindell (May
24 at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway) and Dean Jacobs (May 31 at
Lernerville Speedway) and Daryn Pittman (June 10 at Eagle Raceway).
• PRELIMINARY FEATURE WINNERS: Joey Saldana’s victory on Friday night at
Knoxville Raceway was his first preliminary feature win of the season. He
joined Donny Schatz who won the prelim night June 17 at Red River Valley, Fred
Rahmer, who won the prelim night on May 26 at Williams Grove Speedway and Sammy
Swindell, who won the prelim feature on April 7 at Eldora Speedway, and Daryn
Pittman who won the prelim night at Eagle Raceway on June 9.
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked,
half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws Sprint Series has now raced 12 times this
season on half-mile ovals, including preliminary features. Winners include:
Joey Saldana (Volusia, Terre Haute, and Knoxville), Donny Schatz (Las Vegas and
twice at Red River Valley), Chad Kemenah (Volusia), Danny Lasoski (Manzanita),
Craig Dollansky (Eldora), and Sammy Swindell (Las Vegas and twice at Eldora
Speedway twice).
• ON TELEVISION: The Outdoor Channel will air at 8 p.m. (ET) on June 28 the
finale from the Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway that ran on June 17. The Outdoor
Channel is available nationwide through the DISH Network (Channel 153) and
DIRECTV (Channel 606).
• ON THE WEB: The Official World of Outlaws Sprint Series Web site is at
http://www.dirtmotorsports.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 Media Guide and 2006 Official Rulebook can be
found at the bottom of the home page.
• LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can
experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Sprint Series live on
Dirtvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network. To listen to the audio
broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network
logo. Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the
DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail
webmaster@dirtvision.com.
• UP NEXT: The finale of The Mediacom World of Outlaws Shoot-Out Presented by
Sonic, America’s Drive-In, on Saturday. The month closes out June 30 with the
Wichita Twister Showdown at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan. The series will then
mosey July 1 into the Old West for the Boot Hill Showdown at Dodge City Raceway
Park in Dodge City, Kan. Over the Independence Day Holiday, the Mean will head
up to Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota for their second appearance.
World of Outlaws Statistical Report
Knoxville Raceway
June 23, 2006
Qualifying
1) Jason Solwold, Carnahan R19,
14.973
2) Donny Schatz, Schatz 15,
15.074
3) Jac Haudenschild, Wright 35,
15.081
4) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7,
15.124
5) Joey Saldana, Kahne-Curb 9,
15.135
6) Daryn Pittman, Titan Racing USA
21, 15.149
7) Skip Jackson, J&S Autosports
2, 15.211
8) Brian Brown, WiseGuy
Motorsports 21X, 15.215
9) Clint Garner, Garner 40,
15.232
10) Billy Alley, Gifford 17G,
15.240
11) Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X,
15.253
12) Brooke Tatnell, Rush Racing 8,
15.253
13) Bronson Maeschen, Maeschen 96,
15.285
14) Jeremy Campbell, Campbell 10C,
15.290
15) Justin Henderson, Oswalt D1,
15.306
16) Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D,
15.307
17) Calvin Landis, Landis 70,
15.317
18) Kevin Swindell, Swindell 1,
15.333
19) Lynton Jeffrey, Jeffrey 12,
15.334
20) Ryan Anderson, Anderson 71R,
15.337
21) Tyler Walker, Forbrook 5,
15.341
22) Tim St. Arnold, Williams 7W,
15.358
23) Kaley Gharst, Gharst 44G,
15.360
24) Chris Walraven, Muddy Lush
Racing 56, 15.372
25) Kerry Madsen, VerMeer 55,
15.390
26) Jason Martin, Martin 36,
15.403
27) Tim Shaffer, Parsons 6S,
15.409
28) Larry Ball, Jr., VanGorp 5J,
15.432
29) Larry Pinegar, Williams 7N,
15.434
30) Danny Lasoski, Roth 83,
15.467
31) Matt Moro, Sonner 47,
15.469
32) Chad Kemenah, Kemenah 15K,
15.480
33) Jesse Giannetto, Bulldog
Motorsports D1X, 15.490
34) Wayne Johnson, VanderEcken 10,
15.522
35) Bill Rose, Rose 6, 15.531
36) Rager Phillips, Phillips 9P,
15.536
37) Dusty Zomer, Zomer 1Z,
15.554
38) Becca Anderson, Woodring 19,
15.572
39) Jerrel Slinkard, Slinkard 15S,
15.580
40) Terry McCarl, McCarl 24,
15.660
41) Mike Moore, Moore 69,
15.667
42) Randy Anderson, Johnson 81,
15.711
43) Brian Carlson, SC Motorsports
18, 15.789
44) Greg Jones, Jones 3J, 16.050
45) Tyler Houseman, Houseman 50,
16.227
46) Tony Shilling, Schilling 47T,
16.427
First Heat Race (8 laps, top 5
finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Calvin Landis
2) Chris Walraven
3) Jason Solwold
4) Clint Garner
5) Kerry Madsen
6) Dion Hindi
7) Brian Brown
8) Dusty Zomer
9) Larry Pinegar
10) Mike Moore
11) Jesse Giannetto
12) Tyler Houseman (DNS)
Second Heat Race (8 laps, top 5
finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Kevin Swindell
2) Kaley Gharst
3) Justin Henderson
4) Billy Alley
5) Donny Schatz
6) Skip Jackson
7) Danny Lasoski
8) Wayne Johnson
9) Jason Martin
10) Becca Anderson
11) Tony Shilling
12) Randy Anderson (DNS)
Third Heat Race (8 laps, top 5
finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Tim St. Arnold
2) Randy Hannagan
3) Jac Haudenschild
4) Daryn Pittman
5) Tim Shaffer
6) Jeremy Campbell
7) Brian Carlson
8) Lynton Jeffrey
9) Bill Rose
10) Jerrel Slinkard
11) Matt Moro
Fourth Heat Race (8 laps, top 5
finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Tyler Walker
2) Craig Dollansky
3) Brooke Tatnell
4) Joey Saldana
5) Chad Kemenah
6) Ryan Anderson
7) Terry McCarl
8) Bronson Maeschen
9) Rager Phillips
10) Greg Jones
11) Larry Ball, Jr.
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers
transferred to B-main)
1) Dusty Zomer
2) Becca Anderson
3) Mike Moore [$100]
4) Tony Shilling [$100]
5) Greg Jones [$100]
6) Tyler Houseman [$100]
7) Brian Carlson [$100]
8) Jerrel Slinkard (DNS)
[$100]
9)Terry McCarl (DNS)
[$100]
10) Randy Anderson (DNS)
[$100]
Dash (6 laps, finishing order
determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) Billy Alley
2) Joey Saldana
3) Jac Haudenschild
4) Clint Garner
5) Daryn Pittman
6) Jason Solwold
7) Donny Schatz
8) Brooke Tatnell
9) Randy Hannagan
10) Craig Dollansky
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers
transferred to A-feature
1) Brian Brown
2) Danny Lasoski
3) Skip Jackson
4) Jeremy Campbell
5) Dion Hindi [$150]
6) Lynton Jeffrey [$125]
7) Bronson Maeschen
[$100]
8) Jason Martin [$100]
9) Jesse Giannetto
[$100]
10) Larry Pinegar [$100]
11) Becca Anderson
[$100]
12) Dusty Zomer [$100]
13) Ryan Anderson [$100]
14) Rager Phillips
[$100]
15) Wayne Johnson [$100]
16) Bill Rose
[$100]
17) Larry Ball, Jr.
[$100]
18) Matt Moro (DNS)
[$100]
A-main (20 laps)
1) Joey Saldana [$5,000]
2) Donny Schatz [$3,000]
3) Brooke Tatnell
[$2,500]
4) Billy Alley [$2,200]
5) Jason Solwold
[$2,100]
6) Randy Hannagan
[$2,000]
7) Danny Lasoski
[$1,800]
8) Jac Haudenschild
[$1,600]
9) Kerry Madsen [$1,500]
10) Justin Henderson
[$1,300]
11) Clint Garner
[$1,200]
12) Brian Brown [$1,100]
13) Jeremy Campbell
[$1,000]
14) Chad Kemenah [$700]
15) Kevin Swindell
[$600]
16) Kaley Gharst [$600]
17) Calvin Landis [$600]
18) Daryn Pittman [$600]
19) Skip Jackson [$600]
20) Tim St. Arnold
[$600]
21) Tyler Walker [$500]
22) Chris Walraven
[$500]
23) Craig Dollansky
[$500]
24) Tim Shaffer [$500]
Lap
leaders: