Paducah, KY—April 5, 2007--By: Tony Veneziano, WoO Sprint Series PR Director
Jason Solwold is confident that his first World of Outlaws win of the season is right around the corner. He has been in contention for a victory a couple of times this season, only to have bad luck fall his way. The always optimistic driver has four Top-10 finishes through the first 11 events, with a season best result of seventh on two occasions.
On Friday, April 6 he will take to the high-banks of Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky for the first time. Though he has never seen the 3/8-mile track that is partly owned by racing stars: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ken Schrader, and Tony Stewart, he is not very worried about that. After all, for the past number of seasons, he has been racing from coast-to-coast and visiting countless tracks that he had only heard and read about. The last two World of Outlaws events this season have also been at tracks that Solwold was visiting for the first time, and they too were high-banked high-speed facilities, similar to Paducah .
“For us it’s usually not too bad going to new tracks,” said Solwold, driver of the City Wide Insulation Maxim. “I usually do pretty well at places that I have never been to. We’re just happy to be out here racing, regardless of whether we have been there or not it’s good for us.”
Six different drivers have won A-Feature events so far this season with the World of Outlaws, along with 12 drivers leading laps. Solwold looks to add his name to this list this weekend. The native of Mt. Vernon , Washington began the season winning with the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions as part of the Florida DIRTcar Nationals. Prior to that, he kicked off the 2007 campaign in Australia racing against a number of fellow World of Outlaws competitors.
“I hope the first win of the season is right around the corner,” he said. “A couple weeks ago (at Volunteer Speedway) we had a top-three or top-four car. There was a restart where I was going to try to make a move on Joey (Saldana) and we had a tire go down. That’s just the way it goes. That’s why we are all out here, we never know what will happen. We glad to be racing week to week.”
After winning two preliminary features with the World of Outlaws in 2006, Solwold knows he can contend for wins night in and night out. Last season, he won on the second night of the prestigious Gold Cup Race of Champions in California in September, with 62 of the 105 cars present in action. He followed that up at the end of September with a win on the opening night of the National Open at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania .
“Having confidence and knowing you can win definitely helps,” explained Solwold, who is a three-time track champion at Skagit Speedway in his home state, where the World of Outlaws will compete later this season, as well a titlist with the former Northern Sprint Tour. “There are two cars right now that are pretty much cleaning everyone’s clock. I think we caught up to them two weeks ago (at Volunteer Speedway). I don’t know if it was one of those race tracks that not a lot of people had been to or what, but we seem pretty good at that. We are definitely trying.”
One of the most impressive statistics in the first couple months of the season, is that Solwold is one of only three drivers to have made every single A-Feature this season by transferring from a heat race. With the B-Mains having former race winners in them on most nights, it shows the level of competition this season, making Solwold’s feat that much more remarkable. Thus, he is one of only a handful of drivers that has not had to rely on a provisional to start an A-Feature, though he has two at his disposal if he were to need them.
“It definitely helps the confidence making the features through the heats,” Solwold said. “We fire our way through there every night, and hopefully we can keep doing that the rest of the year. It’s definitely big to run in the Top-two in the heats so you make the dash. You have to get in the dash to be a contender, and that is what everyone is trying to do.”
With 70-plus races still on the schedule, Solwold knows the importance of starting each night off on a high note, by turning two solid laps in qualifying which in turn will help put him in a good position in the heat race. Entering the event at Paducah , he is only 42 points out of the Top-10 in the championship standings.
“The heats have been pretty tough,” he commented, when assessing the level of competition to start the season. “It’s a pretty big deal making the feature through them. We’ve have found ourselves in the front row or the second row quite a bit, and sometimes in the third row. It is very important starting at the front. There are so many good cars out here, and that definitely makes it tough.”
On Friday April 6 at Paducah International Raceway, adult reserved tickets will be $30, with children 12-under, just $5. For ticket information call (270)898-7469, or the track ticket hotline at (270)448-4747 or visit: http://www.paducahinternationalraceway.com.
Jason Solwold is confident that his first World of Outlaws win of the season is right around the corner. He has been in contention for a victory a couple of times this season, only to have bad luck fall his way. The always optimistic driver has four Top-10 finishes through the first 11 events, with a season best result of seventh on two occasions.
On Friday, April 6 he will take to the high-banks of Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky for the first time. Though he has never seen the 3/8-mile track that is partly owned by racing stars: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ken Schrader, and Tony Stewart, he is not very worried about that. After all, for the past number of seasons, he has been racing from coast-to-coast and visiting countless tracks that he had only heard and read about. The last two World of Outlaws events this season have also been at tracks that Solwold was visiting for the first time, and they too were high-banked high-speed facilities, similar to Paducah .
“For us it’s usually not too bad going to new tracks,” said Solwold, driver of the City Wide Insulation Maxim. “I usually do pretty well at places that I have never been to. We’re just happy to be out here racing, regardless of whether we have been there or not it’s good for us.”
Six different drivers have won A-Feature events so far this season with the World of Outlaws, along with 12 drivers leading laps. Solwold looks to add his name to this list this weekend. The native of Mt. Vernon , Washington began the season winning with the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions as part of the Florida DIRTcar Nationals. Prior to that, he kicked off the 2007 campaign in Australia racing against a number of fellow World of Outlaws competitors.
“I hope the first win of the season is right around the corner,” he said. “A couple weeks ago (at Volunteer Speedway) we had a top-three or top-four car. There was a restart where I was going to try to make a move on Joey (Saldana) and we had a tire go down. That’s just the way it goes. That’s why we are all out here, we never know what will happen. We glad to be racing week to week.”
After winning two preliminary features with the World of Outlaws in 2006, Solwold knows he can contend for wins night in and night out. Last season, he won on the second night of the prestigious Gold Cup Race of Champions in California in September, with 62 of the 105 cars present in action. He followed that up at the end of September with a win on the opening night of the National Open at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania .
“Having confidence and knowing you can win definitely helps,” explained Solwold, who is a three-time track champion at Skagit Speedway in his home state, where the World of Outlaws will compete later this season, as well a titlist with the former Northern Sprint Tour. “There are two cars right now that are pretty much cleaning everyone’s clock. I think we caught up to them two weeks ago (at Volunteer Speedway). I don’t know if it was one of those race tracks that not a lot of people had been to or what, but we seem pretty good at that. We are definitely trying.”
One of the most impressive statistics in the first couple months of the season, is that Solwold is one of only three drivers to have made every single A-Feature this season by transferring from a heat race. With the B-Mains having former race winners in them on most nights, it shows the level of competition this season, making Solwold’s feat that much more remarkable. Thus, he is one of only a handful of drivers that has not had to rely on a provisional to start an A-Feature, though he has two at his disposal if he were to need them.
“It definitely helps the confidence making the features through the heats,” Solwold said. “We fire our way through there every night, and hopefully we can keep doing that the rest of the year. It’s definitely big to run in the Top-two in the heats so you make the dash. You have to get in the dash to be a contender, and that is what everyone is trying to do.”
With 70-plus races still on the schedule, Solwold knows the importance of starting each night off on a high note, by turning two solid laps in qualifying which in turn will help put him in a good position in the heat race. Entering the event at Paducah , he is only 42 points out of the Top-10 in the championship standings.
“The heats have been pretty tough,” he commented, when assessing the level of competition to start the season. “It’s a pretty big deal making the feature through them. We’ve have found ourselves in the front row or the second row quite a bit, and sometimes in the third row. It is very important starting at the front. There are so many good cars out here, and that definitely makes it tough.”
On Friday April 6 at Paducah International Raceway, adult reserved tickets will be $30, with children 12-under, just $5. For ticket information call (270)898-7469, or the track ticket hotline at (270)448-4747 or visit: http://www.paducahinternationalraceway.com.
