Brownsburg Bullet Shoots Through Field in O’Reilly All Star Opener

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BARBERVILLE, FL (2-6-07) The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions kicked off the 2007 racing season in grand fashion at Volusia Speedway Park with 58 cars signing in to the pits on a chilly February night in central Florida. A record number of cars were on hand to compete for the All Star prize money and the first sanctioned victory of the season. Jason Solwold paced the evening in qualifying with a new track record of 12.948 – the first time in history that a 12 second lap has been turned at Volusia. The record was broken 4 times before Solwold took the green flag. Joey Saldana recorded a lap of 12.999 after Craig Dollansky ran a 13.023. Mark Smith stopped the clocks at 13.055 prior to that and Terry McCarl was the first to break the old record set by Chad Kemenah in 2006 with a 13.150.

Lucas Wolfe started on the pole of the MSD Ignitions A-main event and led the first 3 laps, but it was the “Brownsburg Bullet” Joey Saldana who would school the young driver by taking the lead on lap 4 and
eventually lapping Wolfe who finished 9th. Saldana would also lap
Danny Lasoski who finished 8th.

Saldana shot into the lead and never looked back as he dominated the field in the season opener by finishing more than 10 seconds ahead of second place Craig Dollansky. Only one caution slowed the event when Josh Wells came to a stop on lap 2. From there it was clear sailing for Saldana whose last All Star victory came in February of 2003 at the same track. Dollansky would cross the finish line second as he held of Tim Schaffer and Terry McCarl.

“I have so many people to thank,” said an elated Saldana from victory lane. “Mopar has really helped us out and Speedway Engines has done a great job with these motors. This is Kevin Swindell’s USAC motor we ran tonight.” Saldana thanked his car owner Kasey Kahne and the Kahne family for their help and his new crew chief Ricky Warner who left Donny Schatz’s team over the winter to turn wrenches on the #9 in 2007. “I have a lot to learn with Ricky and the way he does things,” said Saldana. “It was a good run tonight and I hope to continue that all week.”

“I was struggling with the car in the feature tonight,” said Dollansky.
“Joey did a great job. We’ll be back tomorrow night and see what we can do.”

Tim Schaffer had a great night in his return to racing after sitting out most of the 2006 season with a neck injury. “Its great to be back,”
said Schaffer. “All the hard work and rehab has paid off. My left rear shock fell off the car. Maybe that helped us tonight.”

Terry McCarl finished in 4th place from his 10th starting position followed by Daryn Pittman and Jason Solwold. Jason Meyers had a big run starting in the 22nd spot and finishing 7th followed by Lasoski in 8th and Wolfe in 9th. Greg Hodnett rounded out the Top 10.

Defending All Star champion Greg Wilson crossed the line in 11th place followed by PA Posse drivers Lance Dewease and Fred Rahmer. Brian Paulus, who is competing with the All Stars in 2007, finished 14th followed by All Star member Brandon Martin to round out the Top 15.

The large car count forced the All Stars to run a “Last Chance” event after qualifying ended – something normally only seen during Ohio Sprint Speedweek. The bottom qualifiers of the evening would compete for the final spot in each heat race. Lee Stark won the event followed by Steve Clabaugh, John Smith, and All Star rookie contender Tiffany Wyzard.
Craig Mintz, another All Star rookie candidate, had motor trouble in qualifying had to scratch for the evening.

Heat race wins went to Chad Hillier, Fred Rahmer, Brian Paulus, and Dion Hindi. Paul McMahan’s motor woes continued in his heat race as he dropped out early and was done for the night.

The Outerwears Pre-filters C-main came down to a battle in the final laps with Lance Dewease running down Zack Chappell, but Chappell held him off in lapped traffic to take the checkers by a fraction of a second. Jason Martin, Brian Ellenberger, and Ben Gregg rounded out the Top 5 who would transfer to the B-main.

The 12 lap University of Northwest Ohio B-main got off to a wild start as Chad Kemenah dove to the bottom and into the lead passing 3 cars on the first turn, but a caution for Justin Barger on lap 2 slowed the action. On the restart the red flag flew for Ron Blair for an easy tip over. After the restart Randy Hannagan was struggling to hold off Dusty Zomer for the transfer spot as the caution flew for Brad Sweet on lap 4.

The caution would then fly on lap 6 for Zomer who slowed to a stop in turn 2. Fire erupted under the car bringing out the red flag. Zomer was not injured. The restart saw Kaley Gharst who started 12th move into the final transfer spot, but a collapsed wing on Mark Smith’s car brought out another caution. On the restart Kemenah went up in smoke and dropped out of the lead while Campbell also slowed bringing out another caution. This moved 18th starting Lance Dewease into a transfer spot. Jason Meyers passed Tony Bruce Jr. for the lead on the final lap from his 13th starting position to take the win as Hannagan’s right rear tire went down dropping him out of the race. Kaley Gharst finished third and Lance Dewease rounded out the Top 4.

Log on to www.dirtvision.com for your cyber pit pass and listen to live streaming audio of the 36th Annual DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Mopar Speedshop. For more information on the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions, visit www.allstarsprint.com

O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Statistical Report Volusia Speedway Park – 2/6/07

Qualifying - Huggins Cams
1. R19-Jason Solwold, 12.948 (NTR); 2. 9-Joey Saldana, 12.999; 3.
7-Craig Dollansky, 13.023; 4. 6-Tim Shaffer, 13.034; 5. 55-Mark Smith, 13.055; 6. 21-Daryn Pittman, 13.056; 7. 18-Tony Bruce, 13.057; 8.
5WX-Lucas Wolfe, 13.057; 9. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.090; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.108; 11. 89-Cory Darrah, 13.110; 12. 22-Greg Hodnett, 13.114; 13.
24-Terry McCarl, 13.150; 14. 20-Paul McMahan, 13.176; 15. 83-Danny Lasoski, 13.180; 16. 1X-Randy Hannagan, 13.194; 17. 5C-Chad Hillier, 13.206; 18. 11M-Brandon Martin, 13.212; 19. OO-Danny Martin Jr., 13.239; 20. 11D-Dion Hindi, 13.249; 21. 6W-Josh Wells, 13.279; 22. 51-Fred Rahmer, 13.283; 23. 28-Brian Paulus, 13.285; 24. 96-Bronson Maeschen, 13.294; 25. 70-Chad Kemenah, 13.295; 26. 1Z-Dusty Zomer, 13.310; 27.
6S-Brad Sweet, 13.313; 28. 35-Ron Blair, 13.314; 29. 47J-Jeff Busby, 13.338; 30. 15-Sam Hafertepe, 13.338; 31. 6F-Bob Felmlee, 13.341; 32.
10C-Jeremy Campbell, 13.349; 33. 14-Jason Myers, 13.366; 34. 3-Kaley Gharst, 13.405; 35. 4R-Robbie Vaughan, 13.412; 36. 32-Justin Barger, 13.420; 37. 8K-Zack Chappell, 13.431; 38. 36-Jason Martin, 13.463; 39.
20E-Brian Ellenberger, 13.489; 40. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 13.505; 41.
69-Justin Collett, 13.520; 42. 25-Lance Dewease, 13.523; 43. 94S-Natalie Sather, 13.548; 44. 71M-Paul May, 13.603; 45. 4-Danny Smith, 13.629; 46.
4G-Spud Gustin, 13.639; 47. 22B-Ben Gregg, 13.677; 48. 12M-James Mosher, 13.729; 49. 30C-Steve Clabaugh, 13.747; 50. 16-Lee Stark, 13.990; 51.
5W-Tiffany Wyzard, 14.010; 52. 42-John Smith, 14.018; 53. 93-Johnathon Eriksen, 14.538; 54. 6X-Mark Cole, 14.723; 55. 8S-Craig Mintz, 14.787; 56. 72J-Johnny Johnson, 16.050; 57. 4B-Tom Busch 58. 11T-T.J. Winegardner

Heat 1 - Crown Battery (Top 5 Transfer to the "A" Main) 1. 5C-Chad Hillier; 2. 24-Terry McCarl; 3. 6W-Josh Wells; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5. R19-Jason Solwold; 6. 70-Chad Kemenah; 7. 14-Jason Myers; 8.
69-Justin Collett; 9. 8K-Zack Chappell; 10. 47J-Jeff Busby; 11. 16-Lee Stark; 12. 55-Mark Smith; 13. 4-Danny Smith

Heat 2 - B & B Oval Track Products (Top 5 Transfer to the "A" Main) 1. 51-Fred Rahmer; 2. 7S-Jason Sides; 3. 9-Joey Saldana; 4. 21-Daryn Pittman; 5. 11M-Brandon Martin; 6. 1Z-Dusty Zomer; 7. 15-Sam Hafertepe; 8. 25-Lance Dewease; 9. 36-Jason Martin; 10. 30C-Steve Clabaugh; 11.
4G-Spud Gustin; 12. 3-Kaley Gharst; 13. 20-Paul McMahan

Heat 3 - Engler Machine & Tool (Top 5 Transfer to the "A" Main) 1. 28-Brian Paulus; 2. OO-Danny Martin Jr.; 3. 83-Danny Lasoski; 4.
7-Craig Dollansky; 5. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 6. 89-Cory Darrah; 7. 18-Tony Bruce; 8. 6S-Brad Sweet; 9. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 10. 94S-Natalie Sather; 11. 4R-Robbie Vaughan; 12. 42-John Smith; 13. 22B-Ben Gregg

Heat 4 - Taylor Wings (Top 5 Transfer to the "A" Main) 1. 11D-Dion Hindi; 2. 22-Greg Hodnett; 3. 6-Tim Shaffer; 4. 96-Bronson Maeschen; 5. 5WX-Lucas Wolfe; 6. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 7. 10C-Jeremy Campbell; 8. 35-Ron Blair; 9. 32-Justin Barger; 10. 71M-Paul May; 11.
12M-James Mosher; 12. 5W-Tiffany Wyzard; 13. 11N-Ed Neumeister

Last Chance Race (Top 4 to the Heats)
1. 16-Lee Stark; 2. 30C-Steve Clabaugh; 3. 42-John Smith; 4. 5W-Tiffany Wyzard; 5. 6X-Mark Cole; 6. 93-Johnathon Eriksen; 7. 72J-Johnny Johnson

C-main - Outerwears Pre-Filters (Top 5 Transfer to the "B" Main) 1. 8K-Zack Chappell; 2. 25-Lance Dewease; 3. 36-Jason Martin; 4.
20E-Brian Ellenberger; 5. 22B-Ben Gregg; 6. 5W-Tiffany Wyzard; 7.
69-Justin Collett; 8. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 9. 94S-Natalie Sather; 10.
42-John Smith; 11. 4G-Spud Gustin; 12. 30C-Steve Clabaugh; 13. 16-Lee Stark; 14. 71M-Paul May; 15. 72J-Johnny Johnson; 16. 4-Danny Smith

B-main - University of Northwest Ohio (Top 4 Transfer to the "A" Main) 1. 14-Jason Myers; 2. 18-Tony Bruce; 3. 3-Kaley Gharst; 4. 25-Lance Dewease; 5. 8K-Zack Chappell; 6. 36-Jason Martin; 7. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 8. 15-Sam Hafertepe; 9. 22B-Ben Gregg; 10. 4R-Robbie Vaughan; 11.
47J-Jeff Busby; 12. 10C-Jeremy Campbell; 13. 70-Chad Kemenah; 14.
55-Mark Smith; 15. 1Z-Dusty Zomer; 16. 89-Cory Darrah; 17. 6S-Brad Sweet; 18. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 19. 35-Ron Blair; 20. 32-Justin Barger

A-main - MSD Ignition - Starting Position [x] 1. 9-Joey Saldana[5]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky[4]; 3. 6-Tim Shaffer[3]; 4.
24-Terry McCarl[10]; 5. 21-Daryn Pittman[2]; 6. R19-Jason Solwold[6]; 7.
14-Jason Myers[22]; 8. 83-Danny Lasoski[12]; 9. 5WX-Lucas Wolfe[1]; 10.
22-Greg Hodnett[9]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson[7]; 12. 25-Lance Dewease[24]; 13. 51-Fred Rahmer[18]; 14. 28-Brian Paulus[19]; 15. 11M-Brandon Martin[14]; 16. OO-Danny Martin Jr.[15]; 17. 3-Kaley Gharst[23]; 18.
7S-Jason Sides[8]; 19. 18-Tony Bruce[11]; 20. 11D-Dion Hindi[16]; 21.
5C-Chad Hillier[13]; 22. 6F-Bob Felmlee[21]; 23. 96-Bronson Maeschen[20]; 24. 6W-Josh Wells[17]
 




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