HammerDownUSA.com
Saldana
Slides to Win at
Dodge
City, KS—
Just as
many of the
Saldana
lined up fourth in the 30-lap A-Feature and gained two spots quickly before
setting his sights on leader Brooke Tatnell. Saldana chose his line well and
patiently followed Tatnell measuring his every move. After encountering
lapped traffic just before the halfway point of the race, Saldana was able to
close the gap on the Aussie.
Saldana
driving the Dodge/Mopar-powered/Curb Records JEI owned by NASCAR superstar Kasey Kahne, made the pass for
the win on the high side of the track on the 12th lap. At the
beginning of the lap, Saldana was about eight car lengths behind Tatnell, but
once in traffic, he closed that gap in an instant and used a couple of lapped
cars to his full advantage.
The
Brownsburg, Ind. native now has racked up four wins on the year, and has 19 in
his
“We needed
it after last night,” Saldana said. “We had a very disappointing race at
Saldana
figured out early in the race that the top of the track is where he needed to
be, and he used the cushion to his advantage. While lapped traffic hurt some of
the lead lap cars, it was a benefit for Saldana as he sliced and diced his way
through the slower cars during his march to the front.
“I was just
looking around on the racetrack,” he said. “I found something in turns three
and four that no one else really seemed to find. When I got to the lapped cars,
it really didn’t affect me that much. These guys are good and obviously
my car was working to where I could do that. Sometimes you see a guy doing
something, and just because he is doing it doesn’t mean that you can do it. “
The 1996
“We’ve
really put a big emphasis this year on our engine program, said Saldana.
“Qualifying has been killing us and we’ve been racing well. We’re working real
hard on our engine program for the big races coming up and I think it shows.
We’re definitely in the ballpark.”
Saldana and
his Willie Kahne led crew are gaining more momentum
each day as they try different combinations and turn more laps. They have their
eyes firmly planted on the big money races coming up in the next couple weeks.
They were more than happy to leave
“The more
we race, the better for us,” said Saldana. “We’re just getting better as a
team. This is a new team this year. People probably don’t realize that this is
the first time this team has run with the
Saldana and
his crew like the rest of the Mean 15 have a long trip ahead of them as they
make the trek north to Huset’s Speedway in Brandon,
South Dakota for an event on Monday night, but with a day to travel they can
savor their trip to RacinSoles Victory Lane for a few
extra hours.
“We got the
win and that’s all that matters,” said a smiling Saldana, as he signed
autographs for an endless line of fans after the race.
Tatnell
came home second in the Race Outfitters/Castrol
Eagle, after staging a late battle with current point leader Donny Schatz.
Tatnell was credited with leading the first 11 laps of the event. He led from
the get-go, as he powered to the outside of Daryn Pittman. He built up a lead
the first few laps of the race, but encountered lapped traffic quickly as he was
setting a blistering pace on the always fast 3/8-mile high-banked oval.
“The car
felt very good on the starts,” said Tatnell. “The yellows definitely didn’t
help us. We had a good package tonight and had all the pieces of the puzzle.
The crew did a real good job.”
Tatnell
made a couple of attempts to charge back around Saldana, but each time was not
quite able to make the car stick on the low side of the track.
“We got
beat by being the leader,” said Tatnell, a native of San Souci,
NSW Australia. “We felt good on the bottom of the track,
obviously Joey went by me on the top. Sometimes it’s easier running second,
where you can try some things. We ran good on the bottom, and just needed to be
up high.”
Tatnell
who finished fourth on Friday night, looks to improve one more spot on Monday
at Huset’s
“We have to
keep giving 120 percent effort,” Tatnell said. “That’s what it takes every
night of the week. That’s what makes this series the toughest and top series.
You have over 80 races, and you have to be 120 percent on your game. We’re there, we just have to get that end result. We’re better
than what we are finishing right now.”
Schatz in
the Parker Stores J & J came home third after starting seventh. He
continued his remarkable streak of upfront finishes. Since May 20, he has
finished seventh of better in every single
“We did
everything we could, to get as far as we could,” Schatz said. “We may have been
able to catch Brooke, but I got into lapped traffic wrong, and made a mistake.
That allowed him to get away from us. A good top-three finish and we’ll move on
to Monday.”
Schatz
heads into Monday’s race with seven wins on the year after picking up the
victory on Friday night in the Wichita Twister Showdown at 81 Speedway. He
knows that Huset’s Speedway has not always produced
the best results for the team, but he is up for the challenge and knows the
team will give it everything that they have.
“That place
has been tough on us the last couple times there,” said Schatz, or Fargo, North
Dakota. “We have not qualified well, and it’s hard to come from way in the
back. We have to qualify well and put ourselves in a position to be in the
dash. We just have to stay ahead of the program all night.”
Pittman was
fourth in the Titan Garages/Hop-n-Sack Convenience Stores Maxim, with Justin
Henderson picking up his best career finish in 5th.
Pittman has
some early trouble and Friday night and was looking for redemption at the Boot
Hill Showdown, as he won the dash leading it wire-to-wire, to earn the pole
position in the A-Feature. Though he had the top starting spot, he did not lead
a lap, as Tatnell jumped to the initial lead. All in all, the native is Owasso,
Okla., knew it was a night his team could build on, and it showed they are able
to overcome adversity.
“The good
thing is that it’s another Top-Five for us,” said Pittman. “We’re never happy
to back up and give away a win. We knew starting on the pole we would not win
the start, but I thought we could hang with Brooke, and then have something for
him at the end. The nine car was just too good. It’s a
fourth place finish, and we’ll take it and move on to Monday.”
Pittman
who swept the Eagle Nationals a few weeks back, looks to continue to build momentum
for his team as they begin some of the most prestigious and richest races on
the schedule.
“We got
back to where we needed to be,” said Pittman. “We’re in the Top-Five and I feel
like that is where our team needs to be every night. It’s always good to finish
up front, sometimes it’s better not to know where you
started to finish up there.”
Justin
Henderson has been knocking on the door of the Top-Five all season and on
Saturday night he barged through it, as he picked up his best career
“My career
best finish with the
The native
of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, battled all night long and was running in the
fourth spot for a good portion of the first half of the race. He was another of
the drivers that searched the track high and low to find the perfect spot to
put his car.
“The first
caution helped me a lot because I started sixth and fell to about eighth,”
Henderson said. “On the second restart, when we got one full lap in, I moved
from sixth to fourth. I was sitting pretty good.
Schatz passed me, but what are you going to do, he is one of the best out
here.”
Henderson
returns home to Sioux Falls on Monday and makes the short trip to Huset’s Speedway, a track he has turned countless laps at
in the past. He is currently battling for the Kevin Gobrecht
Rookie of the Year Award Presented by Maxim Racing and ButlerBuilt.
“I think
Monday we have a real good shot of winning with this car,” said Henderson.
“Schnee just built us a brand new car and it’s working really well. We’re
getting the handle on this motor as well. Up until tonight it was not
qualifying very well, but we changed a mag and now
it’s running a lot better. I think we gaining some
momentum. We should be alright heading into Monday night.”
The rest of
the Top-10 was Terry McCarl in 6th in the Big Game
The Mean 15
wrap up the trio of races over the Independence Day
weekend by traveling north to the always challenging high-banked 3/8-mile oval
at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota.
DODGE CITY RACEWAY PARK NOTEBOOK
• FAST
QUALIFIER: Terry
McCarl paced the 22 cars in time trials with an AMB i.t.-timed
lapped around the 3/8-mile high-banked oval at 13.169 seconds at 102.521 mph. For his qualifying effort, McCarl earned five bonus points. The
next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including Donny Schatz
(4), Joey Saldana (3), Chad Kemenah (2), and Brooke Tatnell (1). Donny Schatz
holds the track record of 12.277 seconds established on Oct. 7, 2005.
• QUALIFYING EVENT WINNERS: Heat race winners included Mean 15 drivers
Randy Hannagan, and Dion Hindi, as well as Garry Lee
Maier. … Darryn Pittman picked up the win in the
dash.
• MAIN EVENT WINNERS: Joey Saldana’s win on Saturday night at
• PRELIMINARY FEATURE WINNERS: There have been four
preliminary features run this season by the
• 3/8-MILE WINNERS:
• ON TELEVISION: The Outdoor Channel will air at
• ON THE WEB: The Official
• LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they
can experience the excitement of the
• UP NEXT: The Mean 15 will head north to Huset’s
• SPONSOR SUPPORT: The
Qualifying
1) Terry
McCarl, McCarl 24, 13.268
2) Donny
Schatz, Schatz 15, 13.278
3) Joey
Saldana, Kahne-Curb 9, 13.280
4)
5) Brooke
Tatnell, Rush Racing 8, 13.387
6) Jeremy
Campbell, Campbell 10C, 13.388
7) Daryn
Pittman, Titan Racing
8) Becca Anderson, Woodring 19, 13.547
9) Tony
Bruce, Jr., Bruce 18T, 13.549
10) Justin
Henderson, Oswalt D1, 13.561
11) Craig
Dollansky, Karavan 7, 13.573
12)
13) Randy
Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 13.579
14) Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 13.606
15) Jason
Martin, Martin 36, 13.614
16) Garry
Lee Maier, Brown 11X, 13.711
17) Jac
Haudenschild, Wright 35, 13.729
18) Steve
King, King 88, 13.755
19) Bill
Rose, Rose 6, 14.001
20)
21) Jake
Martens, Park 1XX, 14.616
22)
First Heat
Race (8 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Randy
Hannagan
2) Daryn
Pittman
3) Jeremy
Campbell
4) Terry
McCarl
5)
6)
7) Steve
King
8) Bill
Rose
Second Heat
Race (8 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Dion Hindi
2) Jac
Haudenschild
3) Craig
Dollansky
4) Donny
Schatz
5) Becca Anderson
6) Brooke
Tatnell
7)
Third Heat
Race (8 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Garry
Lee Maier
2) Justin
Henderson
3) Jason
Martin
4) Joey
Saldana
5) Tony
Bruce, Jr.
6)
7) Jake
Martens
Dash (6
laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) Daryn
Pittman
2) Brooke
Tatnell
3) Becca Anderson
4) Joey
Saldana
5) Jeremy
Campbell
6) Justin
Henderson
7) Donny
Schatz
8) Terry
McCarl
9)
10) Tony
Bruce, Jr.
A-main (30
laps)
1) Joey
Saldana [$10,000]
2)
Brooke Tatnell [$5,500]
3) Donny
Schatz [$3,200]
4) Daryn
Pittman [$2,800]
5) Justin
Henderson [$2,500]
6) Terry
McCarl [$2,300]
7) Jeremy
Campbell [$2,200]
8) Jac
Haudenschild [$2,100]
9)
10) Becca Anderson [$2,000]
11) Craig
Dollansky [$1,500]
12) Randy
Hannagan [$1,200]
13) Jason
Martin [$1,100]
14) Dion Hindi [$1,050]
15) Garry
Lee Maier [$1,000]
16)
Bill Rose [$900]
17)
18) Jake
Martens [$800]
19)
20)
21) Steve
King [$800]
22) Tony
Bruce, Jr. [$800]
Lap
leaders: Brooke Tatnell 1-11, Joey Saldana 12-30