Colorado Springs, CO — March 15, 2005 — By Chris Dolack, World of
Outlaws Senior Writer
WHAT
The World of Outlaws Sprint Series returns March 18 to Pike County
Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., for a $10,000-to-win race and March 19 to
Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, for the Texas Shootout, a
$10,000-to-win event promoted by SLS Promotions.
WHERE
• For Pike County Speedway, take I-55 to exit 8, then 0.2 miles east on
Gillsburg Rd. (SR 568).
• For Houston Raceway Park, take I-10 east of Houston to exit 798, go 3
miles south on SR 146, 0.8 miles southeast on FM 1405, then 1 1/2 miles
northeast on FM 565.
WHEN
• At Pike County Speedway, general admission begins at noon, with pit
gates opening at 2 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.
• At Houston Raceway Park, pit gates open at 2 p.m., grandstands at 4
p.m. and hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m.
TICKETS
• At Pike County, tickets are available ranging from $35 to $40. Call
(601) 684-9230 for more information.
• At Houston Raceway Park, advance tickets are available by calling HRP
at (281) 383-RACE, or event promoter SLS Promotions at (815) 344-2023.
General Admission tickets and pit passes will be available at the gate
on race day.
WEB SITES
• The World of Outlaws Sprint Series is at
http://www.theworldofoutlaws.com.
• Houston Raceway Park is at http://www.houstonraceway.com.
• SLS Promotions is at http://www.slspromotions.com.
ABOUT THE TRACKS
• Pike County Speedway is a high-banked, 3/8-mile clay oval. Jason
Johnson established the track record in an Outlaws event when he
circled the track in 13.391 seconds on March 21, 2003. Mark Kinser has
won four times at Pike County, more than any other driver in an Outlaws
event.
• Houston Raceway Park is a semi-banked, 4/10-mile oval. Mark Kinser’s
13.083-second lap on April 8, 2000, is still the track record in an
Outlaws event.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
• At Pike County, feature winners include Jeff Shepard on March 21,
2003; Mark Kinser on March 25, 2002; Mark Kinser on April 9, 2001;
Stevie Smith on April 5, 2000; Mark Kinser on March 19, 1999; Mark
Kinser on Feb. 13, 1998; Steve Kinser on March 14, 1997; Jac
Haudenschild on March 15, 1996; Danny Lasoski on April 2, 1995; and
Dave Blaney on March 23, 1994.
• At Houston Raceway Park, feature winners include Steve Kinser on
March 27, 2004; Steve Kinser on March 22, 2003; Mark Kinser on March
24, 2002; Mark Kinser on April 7, 2001; Steve Kinser on Oct. 14, 2001;
Steve Kinser on April 8, 2000; and Steve Kinser on Oct. 21, 2000.
TELEVISION THIS WEEK: At 8 p.m. Eastern Wednesday (March 16), The
Outdoor Channel will broadcast coverage of the
World of Outlaws Sprint Series event from Feb. 26 in Bakersfield
Speedway. The action from the J.D. Byrider World of Outlaws Nationals
at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will air March 23 and March 30, with racing
from Houston Raceway Park being
broadcast on April 6.
STANDINGS, through Las Vegas (March 11, 2005)
Rk Driver Pts Diff Pole Wins Top 5 Top 10 Prelim
1 Craig Dollansky 943 0 1 0 4 5 1
2 Steve Kinser 929 -14 1 1 4 6 0
3 Kraig Kinser 902 -41 0 0 3 4 1
4 Jason Meyers 896 -47 0 0 2 6 0
5 Danny Lasoski 892 -51 0 0 3 4 1
6 Donny Schatz 881 -62 2 1 3 4 0
7 Mark Kinser 877 -66 0 0 1 4 0
8 Daryn Pittman 855 -88 0 0 1 3 0
9 Shane Stewart 833 -110 0 1 0 4 0
10 Joey Saldana 816 -127 0 1 1 1 0
11 Sammy Swindell 790 -153 0 0 1 1 0
12 Paul McMahan 789 -154 0 0 0 1 0
13 Tim Shaffer 767 -176 1 0 1 2 0
14 Jason Sides 752 -191 0 0 0 1 0
15 Randy Hannagan 747 -196 0 0 0 0 0
16 Tim Kaeding 728 -215 0 0 0 0 0
17 Terry McCarl 714 -229 0 0 0 2 0
18 Brian Paulus 703 -240 0 0 0 1 0
19 Kevin Swindell 699 -244 0 0 0 0 0
20 Jason Solwold 678 -265 0 0 1 2 0
21 Brandon Wimmer 615 -328 0 0 0 1 0
22 Peter Murphy 388 -555 0 0 0 0 0
23 Natalie Sather 385 -558 0 0 0 0 0
24 Jac Haudenschild 384 -559 0 0 0 0 0
25 Dennis Moore, Jr 369 -574 0 0 1 1 0
NEWS & NOTES
• New point man: Craig Dollansky took over the points lead with his
third-place finish in the feature at Las Vegas. It marked his fourth
top-five finish in a main event this season and moved him 14 points
ahead of 19-time series champion Steve Kinser. “It’s just good to have
a strong start to the year,” Dollansky said. “If you can get started
off strong it definitely helps you down the stretch. We just need to
keep working hard.”
• What happens in Vegas … Well, if you’re Donny Schatz, you hope what
happens in Vegas also happens in Magnolia, Miss., and Baytown, Texas.
After qualifying for the dash in the preliminary feature of the J.D.
Byrider World of Outlaws Nationals last Thursday, Schatz took the
checkered flag in the main event Friday night to regain some of the
momentum he had after winning the 2004 season finale in Las Vegas and
the 2005 season opener in Australia.
• A Texas welcome: The event Saturday at Houston Raceway Park is being
promoted by SLS Promotions. This marks the second of 12 events the
group is putting together this season, although the first one at
Manzanita Speedway was postponed by rain until Oct.11. One of the
group’s owners, Scott Boyd, also is involved in the ownership of Craig
Dollansky’s car, but that doesn’t mean Dollansky is putting any more
emphasis on winning at Texas than any other event. “For me, SLS
promotes several races throughout the year, but it doesn’t matter if
I’m going to a SLS event or I’m going to a Fred Brownfield event, I’m
going there to win.”
• Remembering a milestone: When the series rolls into Houston Saturday,
it will mark Steve Kinser’s first trip back to site of his 500th career
feature victory last March. For Kinser, who won his 514th career
feature in February at Volusia, moving past the milestone and all the
attention it garnered was more of a relief than anything. “It was a big
win,” he said. “We just wanted to get it off our shoulders and get it
out beneath us. We got it pretty quick early in the season. We always
enjoy running at Baytown because it’s a nice racetrack, a nice
facility. It’s always a lot of fun to race there. I can just remember
it being the 500th win more than anything else. We were glad to win it.
It was built up a little bit bigger than what it was to me, but it was
a nice win.”
• Making music: Chris Luck, co-owner of the No. 7tw GLR/Premier
Transportation machine, brought a little music to the pits Friday night
at Las Vegas when he had Noah Bernardo, the founder of Rescue Records,
at the event. Bernardo launched the San Diego-based band P.O.D. and the
group saw its first World of Outlaws race in 2004. “They had never been
to a sprint car race and came last year and just loved it,” Luck said.
“We’re looking at some co-branding ideas with them of record launches
and some distribution across the country. They’re very interested. They
loved what they saw. They loved the extreme nature of the sport and
really enjoyed themselves. We’ve got a lot of things we’re working on
for Brandon and our race team and we’re really excited about the 2005
season.”
• The Mean 15: The impressive 2005 edition of the World of Outlaws
Sprint Series’ Mean 15 racers includes Craig Dollansky (No. 7 owned by
Karavan Motorsports), Tim Kaeding (No. 83 owned by Dennis Roth), Kraig
Kinser (No. 11k owned by Steve Kinser Racing), Mark Kinser (No. 35
owned by Rick Wright), Steve Kinser (No. 11 owned by Steve Kinser
Racing), Danny Lasoski (No. 20 owned by Tony Stewart Motorsports), Paul
McMahan (No. 11h owned by David Helm), Jason Meyers (No. 14 owned by
the Elite Racing Team), Brian Paulus (No. 28 owned by Pender
Motorsports), Daryn Pittman (No. 21 owned by Titan Racing), Joey
Saldana (No. 2 owned by Woodward Racing), Donny Schatz (No. 15 owned by
Schatz Motorsports), Tim Shaffer (No. 6 owned by Parsons Motorsports),
Jason Sides (No. 7s owned by Sides Motorsports), and Brandon Wimmer
(No. 7tw owned by Wimmer-Luck Racing).
• On tour, too: Several other drivers have committed to running the
bulk of the schedule with the World of Outlaws Sprint Series in 2005
with hopes of earning a spot in a future Mean 15. Australian Brooke
Tatnell is back in the series with the newly formed Rush Racing team;
Terry McCarl, who has won the past six 410 sprint championships at
Knoxville Raceway; Shane Stewart, the current leader in the battle for
the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year title; Randy Hannagan, a
long-time Outlaws competitor is running with the series again; Sammy
Swindell, a sprint car legend and three-time Outlaws champion; and
Kevin Swindell, a recently turned 16-year-old who became the youngest
driver to finish in the top 10 with the Outlaws when finished sixth in
the feature at Parramatta City Raceway in January.
• Early season winners: Donny Schatz became the first repeat feature
winner this season when he took the checked flag in the J.D. Byrider
World of Outlaws Nationals at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway. He also captured the season opening Outlaws Down Under II
event in Australia. Other winners this season include Jeff Shepard and
Steve Kinser at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.; Tim Shaffer
at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.; and Craig Dollansky at
Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale, Calif. Dollansky also won the Cactus
Classic preliminary A-main at Manzanita Speedway before the feature was
postponed by rain to Oct. 11, 2005.
• Race review I: The Outlaws return to Pike County for the first time
since 2003, when Jeff Shepard took the checkered flag. It was Shepard’s
first victory with the Outlaws since 2001, when he won the Kevin
Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award. He led the first five laps from the
pole and regained first place when Joey Saldana’s engine lost power
with 11 laps remaining.
• Race review II: Steve Kinser captured the 500th feature victory in
his career when the Outlaws raced at Houston Raceway Park in 2004.
Kinser slipped past pole-sitter Brooke Tatnell late in the 10th lap and
held off a furious last-lap charge by Donny Schatz to claim the
milestone victory by half a car-length.
• Tune into the Web: If fans can’t get to Pike County Speedway or
Houston Raceway Park to see the racing Friday and Saturday, they can
experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Sprint Series live on
Dirtvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network, where announcer John
Gibson keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the event. 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. Companies who
are interested in advertising on the new DIRT Radio Network should
contact Mark Noble, DIRT MotorSports VP Sales and Marketing, at
719-884-2141. For technical support or questions, e-mail
webmaster@dirtvision.com.
• Hear it firsthand: RACEceiver is the Official Driver Communicator of
DIRT MotorSports. A compact radio receiver that conveniently fits into
a driver’s pocket, a RACEceiver allows each driver to hear directions
from series officials, which greatly enhances the safety and timeliness
of events. A similar version available to fans will allow RACEceiver
users to hear what information series officials are relaying to the
drivers. For more information about RACEceiver, visit
www.raceceiver.com, call 866-301-7223, or look for their sales trailers
at various events.
QUOTABLE
Donny Schatz, driver of the No. 15 Parker Stores car and winner of last
week’s J.D. Byrider World of Outlaws Nationals at The Dirt Track at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway
• On building from the momentum gained at Las Vegas: “We need to just
keep winning races. We’re not focusing on seconds and thirds. We need
to win races, it’s the plain flat bottom line. You win a lot of races,
things are going to go your way and the points will take care of
themselves. We don’t need to be falling out. We were really good the
first night down in Florida, had a good start but just didn’t finish
that way. Hopefully we’ve got all the bad stuff behind us. I think
we’ll be all right. These guys work awfully hard and I’ve been a tough
guy to deal with lately with the way we’ve been running so maybe this
will ease my blood pressure a little bit. … It’s a chemistry. It’s not
just one person, it’s a lot of people. These guys work awful hard, but
the only thing I can do is get in the car and go so I got to just keep
fighting that way.”
• On Pike County Speedway: “It’s been a decent place to go. I missed
out on it the last time we went because I was doing some Silver Crown
racing in Phoenix. I haven’t been there in a while. When you get down
near New Orleans it’s kind of nice if you get a little time to go
there. I’m sure the boys will get a chance to go down there.”
• On Houston Raceway Park: “Houston’s a nice facility. It’s a nice
racing surface.”
Steve Kinser, a 19-time series champion and owner of Steve Kinser
Racing
• On son Kraig’s performance this season: “He’s been running good all
year. He’s only had one bad race and other than that he’s run good the
whole time. He’s into his second season and it looks like he’s come out
running good. I think he’s going to be OK.”
• On winning No. 500 last year at Houston Raceway Park: “It was a big
win. We just wanted to get it off our shoulders and get it out beneath
us. We got it pretty quick early in the season. We always enjoy running
at Baytown because it’s a nice racetrack, a nice facility. It’s always
a lot of fun to race there. … I can just remember it being the 500th
win more than anything else. We were glad to win it. It was built up a
little bit bigger than what it was to me, but it was a nice win.”
Danny Lasoski, driver of the Tony Stewart Motorsports No. 20 Bass Pro
Shops machine
• On recovering from early season qualifying struggles: “We’ll keep
plugging away and get closer and closer, we just need to get
consistent. When we get consistently in the top five we’re going to win
our share. The sign of a good team is that you don’t let one bad night
ruin your season. You just look ahead to the next night because we have
100 nights.”
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “It’s amazing. If you show up at
noon there’s people in line ready to go in the grandstand. They totally
support World of Outlaws racing. It’s exciting for us to come down
there. They cook crawfish and all that stuff we’re not used to having
so it’s a good time to go down there.”
• On Houston Raceway Park: “It’s probably one of the nicest facilities
we go to all year. It’s a great place to go racing and we hope the
grandstands are full.”
Mark Kinser, in his first season driving for car owner Rick Wright
• On his season so far: “Well, we’re shaking down a couple of new cars.
I’ve never worked with this team and they’ve never worked with me but I
think we’re pretty well on track. We’ve had a couple of top-fives and a
couple of top-10s so we’re not doing too bad.”
• On racing at Pike County Speedway, where he has won four times with
the Outlaws: “We’ve run very good at Pike County and had a couple of
good runs at Houston, so when you’re going to places where your batting
average is up, it always makes it go a little bit smoother.”
Brandon Wimmer, rookie driver of the No. 7tw Wimmer-Luck car
• On running for the rookie title: “It’s difficult. It’s not just
running against Tim [Kaeding] and Shane [Stewart], it’s running
everybody every night. We’ve struggled here at the beginning of the
year but we’ll get going pretty soon. It’s difficult every night. You
got to go out and do your best every night and hopefully we end up on
top at the end of the year.”
Terry McCarl, driver of the No. 24 Big Game Tree Stands car
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “I’ve always run real well there.
I like that place. It’s a real racy little track. Usually you can race
all over the place because it doesn’t lay rubber. The last time we were
there, they sold the grandstands out and I saw a man and a woman — the
guy had a sport coat on and the woman had a dress on — who bought pit
passes standing in the infield behind a little snow fence. I couldn’t
believe it. That’s what’s fun about traveling with the World of
Outlaws, when you go to tracks like that. Last year we went to a place
in Louisiana and I sat up in the stands and watched the first set of
hot laps, and these fans are used to seeing stock cars cruise around
their track, and first of all we scared the hell out of them and then
as soon as the checkered flag flew I turned around they were all smiles
from ear to ear, they freaked out, there were people high-fiving. If
you haven’t seen a sprint car on a short track, they’re crazy. A sprint
car on a little dirt track like that at 100 mph and these guys are used
to seeing street stocks, holy crap. It was the neatest thing. I turned
around and the whole crowd, honest to God, was high-fiving. That was
really awesome. That’s what’s fun about going to tracks like that which
don’t get to see us but maybe once a year.”
Brian Paulus, driver of the No. 28 Arnold Transportation machine
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “The fans in Mississippi are very
fanatical. They’re very die-hard. When they show up to the race, they
show up 100 percent to support the guy that they’ve been cheering for
the past five to 30 years.”
Daryn Pittman, driver of the No. 21 Titan Racing car
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “The fans down there are
incredible. The racetrack is really good. I think I’ve run second there
twice and I think I’ve destroyed two cars there so I’ve either been one
side or the other. It’s definitely a fast three-eighths.”
• On competing at Houston Raceway Park: “Houston is one of the most
underrated racetracks we go to. It is the nicest facility, nicest
everything and the racetrack is excellent. Out of all the newer
racetracks we go to, I think everybody would agree that’s by far the
nicest one we go to. Hopefully we get some good weather.”
Joey Saldana, driver of the No. 2 Volcano Joe’s Coffee car
• On the Pike County Speedway fans: “They’re pretty intense. The
grandstands will be packed and we’re still in there working on our
racecars. It’s pretty intense. When you go to a place like that with
that many fans, that’s obviously where we got to be.”
• On Houston Raceway Park: Of all the newer tracks they’ve built like
Charlotte, Fort Worth and even Vegas, Houston’s probably one of the
best. Hopefully they get a good turnout and we get to go back because
that’s definitely one of the nicer we facilities we race at.”
• On his season to this point: “At Bakersfield we had a good shot at
winning and Craig [Dollansky] just beat me in lapped traffic. That’s
probably been the highlight of our year so far. We know we can race
with these guys, we just can’t seem to qualify. If you don’t qualify
with the Outlaws, you’re in deep trouble.”
Tim Kaeding, rookie driver of the Dennis Roth-owned No. 83 Beef Packers
car
• On racing at Pike County Speedway and Houston Raceway Park for the
first time: “You try to find five or six guys who qualify good on a
regular basis, like Steve [Kinser], Danny [Lasoski], Craig Dollansky.
You try to find five or six guys in hot laps that run a good line
around the racetrack who are fast and just try to mimic their lines for
qualifying to try to get as close as you can to running where they’re
running. It’s just a learning curve. This year Dennis knows it’s a
learning curve for us and we’re just coming out here to try to get more
seat time. Hopefully, if everything goes good through the season we can
come back next year and go for the points championship.”
Jason Meyers, driver of the No. 14 Elite Racing car
• On Houston Raceway Park: “Houston is honestly the best-designed
facility we go to and it’s a great-shaped racetrack. Last year was
probably the best I’ve ever seen that racetrack. With SLS taking over
the promotions they did a great job having it slick up to a cushion.
They always had a problem where the whole thing would slick off and
then it would take rubber and it was very boring race. Last year they
had it slick to a nice curb about two-thirds of the way up the track
and it was a great race. Hopefully they can do that again.”
Tim Shaffer, driver of the No. 6 Casey’s General Store car
• On the fans at Pike County Speedway and Houston Raceway Park: “We
don’t run down there very often and when we do we get a hell of a good
crowd there.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
After racing in Texas, the World of Outlaws Sprint Series takes a
weekend off before the series hits Batesville Speedway on April 1, I-55
Speedway on April 2, and Eldora Speedway for a two-night show April
8-9.
Outlaws Senior Writer
WHAT
The World of Outlaws Sprint Series returns March 18 to Pike County
Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., for a $10,000-to-win race and March 19 to
Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, for the Texas Shootout, a
$10,000-to-win event promoted by SLS Promotions.
WHERE
• For Pike County Speedway, take I-55 to exit 8, then 0.2 miles east on
Gillsburg Rd. (SR 568).
• For Houston Raceway Park, take I-10 east of Houston to exit 798, go 3
miles south on SR 146, 0.8 miles southeast on FM 1405, then 1 1/2 miles
northeast on FM 565.
WHEN
• At Pike County Speedway, general admission begins at noon, with pit
gates opening at 2 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.
• At Houston Raceway Park, pit gates open at 2 p.m., grandstands at 4
p.m. and hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m.
TICKETS
• At Pike County, tickets are available ranging from $35 to $40. Call
(601) 684-9230 for more information.
• At Houston Raceway Park, advance tickets are available by calling HRP
at (281) 383-RACE, or event promoter SLS Promotions at (815) 344-2023.
General Admission tickets and pit passes will be available at the gate
on race day.
WEB SITES
• The World of Outlaws Sprint Series is at
http://www.theworldofoutlaws.com.
• Houston Raceway Park is at http://www.houstonraceway.com.
• SLS Promotions is at http://www.slspromotions.com.
ABOUT THE TRACKS
• Pike County Speedway is a high-banked, 3/8-mile clay oval. Jason
Johnson established the track record in an Outlaws event when he
circled the track in 13.391 seconds on March 21, 2003. Mark Kinser has
won four times at Pike County, more than any other driver in an Outlaws
event.
• Houston Raceway Park is a semi-banked, 4/10-mile oval. Mark Kinser’s
13.083-second lap on April 8, 2000, is still the track record in an
Outlaws event.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
• At Pike County, feature winners include Jeff Shepard on March 21,
2003; Mark Kinser on March 25, 2002; Mark Kinser on April 9, 2001;
Stevie Smith on April 5, 2000; Mark Kinser on March 19, 1999; Mark
Kinser on Feb. 13, 1998; Steve Kinser on March 14, 1997; Jac
Haudenschild on March 15, 1996; Danny Lasoski on April 2, 1995; and
Dave Blaney on March 23, 1994.
• At Houston Raceway Park, feature winners include Steve Kinser on
March 27, 2004; Steve Kinser on March 22, 2003; Mark Kinser on March
24, 2002; Mark Kinser on April 7, 2001; Steve Kinser on Oct. 14, 2001;
Steve Kinser on April 8, 2000; and Steve Kinser on Oct. 21, 2000.
TELEVISION THIS WEEK: At 8 p.m. Eastern Wednesday (March 16), The
Outdoor Channel will broadcast coverage of the
World of Outlaws Sprint Series event from Feb. 26 in Bakersfield
Speedway. The action from the J.D. Byrider World of Outlaws Nationals
at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will air March 23 and March 30, with racing
from Houston Raceway Park being
broadcast on April 6.
STANDINGS, through Las Vegas (March 11, 2005)
Rk Driver Pts Diff Pole Wins Top 5 Top 10 Prelim
1 Craig Dollansky 943 0 1 0 4 5 1
2 Steve Kinser 929 -14 1 1 4 6 0
3 Kraig Kinser 902 -41 0 0 3 4 1
4 Jason Meyers 896 -47 0 0 2 6 0
5 Danny Lasoski 892 -51 0 0 3 4 1
6 Donny Schatz 881 -62 2 1 3 4 0
7 Mark Kinser 877 -66 0 0 1 4 0
8 Daryn Pittman 855 -88 0 0 1 3 0
9 Shane Stewart 833 -110 0 1 0 4 0
10 Joey Saldana 816 -127 0 1 1 1 0
11 Sammy Swindell 790 -153 0 0 1 1 0
12 Paul McMahan 789 -154 0 0 0 1 0
13 Tim Shaffer 767 -176 1 0 1 2 0
14 Jason Sides 752 -191 0 0 0 1 0
15 Randy Hannagan 747 -196 0 0 0 0 0
16 Tim Kaeding 728 -215 0 0 0 0 0
17 Terry McCarl 714 -229 0 0 0 2 0
18 Brian Paulus 703 -240 0 0 0 1 0
19 Kevin Swindell 699 -244 0 0 0 0 0
20 Jason Solwold 678 -265 0 0 1 2 0
21 Brandon Wimmer 615 -328 0 0 0 1 0
22 Peter Murphy 388 -555 0 0 0 0 0
23 Natalie Sather 385 -558 0 0 0 0 0
24 Jac Haudenschild 384 -559 0 0 0 0 0
25 Dennis Moore, Jr 369 -574 0 0 1 1 0
NEWS & NOTES
• New point man: Craig Dollansky took over the points lead with his
third-place finish in the feature at Las Vegas. It marked his fourth
top-five finish in a main event this season and moved him 14 points
ahead of 19-time series champion Steve Kinser. “It’s just good to have
a strong start to the year,” Dollansky said. “If you can get started
off strong it definitely helps you down the stretch. We just need to
keep working hard.”
• What happens in Vegas … Well, if you’re Donny Schatz, you hope what
happens in Vegas also happens in Magnolia, Miss., and Baytown, Texas.
After qualifying for the dash in the preliminary feature of the J.D.
Byrider World of Outlaws Nationals last Thursday, Schatz took the
checkered flag in the main event Friday night to regain some of the
momentum he had after winning the 2004 season finale in Las Vegas and
the 2005 season opener in Australia.
• A Texas welcome: The event Saturday at Houston Raceway Park is being
promoted by SLS Promotions. This marks the second of 12 events the
group is putting together this season, although the first one at
Manzanita Speedway was postponed by rain until Oct.11. One of the
group’s owners, Scott Boyd, also is involved in the ownership of Craig
Dollansky’s car, but that doesn’t mean Dollansky is putting any more
emphasis on winning at Texas than any other event. “For me, SLS
promotes several races throughout the year, but it doesn’t matter if
I’m going to a SLS event or I’m going to a Fred Brownfield event, I’m
going there to win.”
• Remembering a milestone: When the series rolls into Houston Saturday,
it will mark Steve Kinser’s first trip back to site of his 500th career
feature victory last March. For Kinser, who won his 514th career
feature in February at Volusia, moving past the milestone and all the
attention it garnered was more of a relief than anything. “It was a big
win,” he said. “We just wanted to get it off our shoulders and get it
out beneath us. We got it pretty quick early in the season. We always
enjoy running at Baytown because it’s a nice racetrack, a nice
facility. It’s always a lot of fun to race there. I can just remember
it being the 500th win more than anything else. We were glad to win it.
It was built up a little bit bigger than what it was to me, but it was
a nice win.”
• Making music: Chris Luck, co-owner of the No. 7tw GLR/Premier
Transportation machine, brought a little music to the pits Friday night
at Las Vegas when he had Noah Bernardo, the founder of Rescue Records,
at the event. Bernardo launched the San Diego-based band P.O.D. and the
group saw its first World of Outlaws race in 2004. “They had never been
to a sprint car race and came last year and just loved it,” Luck said.
“We’re looking at some co-branding ideas with them of record launches
and some distribution across the country. They’re very interested. They
loved what they saw. They loved the extreme nature of the sport and
really enjoyed themselves. We’ve got a lot of things we’re working on
for Brandon and our race team and we’re really excited about the 2005
season.”
• The Mean 15: The impressive 2005 edition of the World of Outlaws
Sprint Series’ Mean 15 racers includes Craig Dollansky (No. 7 owned by
Karavan Motorsports), Tim Kaeding (No. 83 owned by Dennis Roth), Kraig
Kinser (No. 11k owned by Steve Kinser Racing), Mark Kinser (No. 35
owned by Rick Wright), Steve Kinser (No. 11 owned by Steve Kinser
Racing), Danny Lasoski (No. 20 owned by Tony Stewart Motorsports), Paul
McMahan (No. 11h owned by David Helm), Jason Meyers (No. 14 owned by
the Elite Racing Team), Brian Paulus (No. 28 owned by Pender
Motorsports), Daryn Pittman (No. 21 owned by Titan Racing), Joey
Saldana (No. 2 owned by Woodward Racing), Donny Schatz (No. 15 owned by
Schatz Motorsports), Tim Shaffer (No. 6 owned by Parsons Motorsports),
Jason Sides (No. 7s owned by Sides Motorsports), and Brandon Wimmer
(No. 7tw owned by Wimmer-Luck Racing).
• On tour, too: Several other drivers have committed to running the
bulk of the schedule with the World of Outlaws Sprint Series in 2005
with hopes of earning a spot in a future Mean 15. Australian Brooke
Tatnell is back in the series with the newly formed Rush Racing team;
Terry McCarl, who has won the past six 410 sprint championships at
Knoxville Raceway; Shane Stewart, the current leader in the battle for
the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year title; Randy Hannagan, a
long-time Outlaws competitor is running with the series again; Sammy
Swindell, a sprint car legend and three-time Outlaws champion; and
Kevin Swindell, a recently turned 16-year-old who became the youngest
driver to finish in the top 10 with the Outlaws when finished sixth in
the feature at Parramatta City Raceway in January.
• Early season winners: Donny Schatz became the first repeat feature
winner this season when he took the checked flag in the J.D. Byrider
World of Outlaws Nationals at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway. He also captured the season opening Outlaws Down Under II
event in Australia. Other winners this season include Jeff Shepard and
Steve Kinser at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.; Tim Shaffer
at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.; and Craig Dollansky at
Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale, Calif. Dollansky also won the Cactus
Classic preliminary A-main at Manzanita Speedway before the feature was
postponed by rain to Oct. 11, 2005.
• Race review I: The Outlaws return to Pike County for the first time
since 2003, when Jeff Shepard took the checkered flag. It was Shepard’s
first victory with the Outlaws since 2001, when he won the Kevin
Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award. He led the first five laps from the
pole and regained first place when Joey Saldana’s engine lost power
with 11 laps remaining.
• Race review II: Steve Kinser captured the 500th feature victory in
his career when the Outlaws raced at Houston Raceway Park in 2004.
Kinser slipped past pole-sitter Brooke Tatnell late in the 10th lap and
held off a furious last-lap charge by Donny Schatz to claim the
milestone victory by half a car-length.
• Tune into the Web: If fans can’t get to Pike County Speedway or
Houston Raceway Park to see the racing Friday and Saturday, they can
experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Sprint Series live on
Dirtvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network, where announcer John
Gibson keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the event. 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. Companies who
are interested in advertising on the new DIRT Radio Network should
contact Mark Noble, DIRT MotorSports VP Sales and Marketing, at
719-884-2141. For technical support or questions, e-mail
webmaster@dirtvision.com.
• Hear it firsthand: RACEceiver is the Official Driver Communicator of
DIRT MotorSports. A compact radio receiver that conveniently fits into
a driver’s pocket, a RACEceiver allows each driver to hear directions
from series officials, which greatly enhances the safety and timeliness
of events. A similar version available to fans will allow RACEceiver
users to hear what information series officials are relaying to the
drivers. For more information about RACEceiver, visit
www.raceceiver.com, call 866-301-7223, or look for their sales trailers
at various events.
QUOTABLE
Donny Schatz, driver of the No. 15 Parker Stores car and winner of last
week’s J.D. Byrider World of Outlaws Nationals at The Dirt Track at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway
• On building from the momentum gained at Las Vegas: “We need to just
keep winning races. We’re not focusing on seconds and thirds. We need
to win races, it’s the plain flat bottom line. You win a lot of races,
things are going to go your way and the points will take care of
themselves. We don’t need to be falling out. We were really good the
first night down in Florida, had a good start but just didn’t finish
that way. Hopefully we’ve got all the bad stuff behind us. I think
we’ll be all right. These guys work awfully hard and I’ve been a tough
guy to deal with lately with the way we’ve been running so maybe this
will ease my blood pressure a little bit. … It’s a chemistry. It’s not
just one person, it’s a lot of people. These guys work awful hard, but
the only thing I can do is get in the car and go so I got to just keep
fighting that way.”
• On Pike County Speedway: “It’s been a decent place to go. I missed
out on it the last time we went because I was doing some Silver Crown
racing in Phoenix. I haven’t been there in a while. When you get down
near New Orleans it’s kind of nice if you get a little time to go
there. I’m sure the boys will get a chance to go down there.”
• On Houston Raceway Park: “Houston’s a nice facility. It’s a nice
racing surface.”
Steve Kinser, a 19-time series champion and owner of Steve Kinser
Racing
• On son Kraig’s performance this season: “He’s been running good all
year. He’s only had one bad race and other than that he’s run good the
whole time. He’s into his second season and it looks like he’s come out
running good. I think he’s going to be OK.”
• On winning No. 500 last year at Houston Raceway Park: “It was a big
win. We just wanted to get it off our shoulders and get it out beneath
us. We got it pretty quick early in the season. We always enjoy running
at Baytown because it’s a nice racetrack, a nice facility. It’s always
a lot of fun to race there. … I can just remember it being the 500th
win more than anything else. We were glad to win it. It was built up a
little bit bigger than what it was to me, but it was a nice win.”
Danny Lasoski, driver of the Tony Stewart Motorsports No. 20 Bass Pro
Shops machine
• On recovering from early season qualifying struggles: “We’ll keep
plugging away and get closer and closer, we just need to get
consistent. When we get consistently in the top five we’re going to win
our share. The sign of a good team is that you don’t let one bad night
ruin your season. You just look ahead to the next night because we have
100 nights.”
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “It’s amazing. If you show up at
noon there’s people in line ready to go in the grandstand. They totally
support World of Outlaws racing. It’s exciting for us to come down
there. They cook crawfish and all that stuff we’re not used to having
so it’s a good time to go down there.”
• On Houston Raceway Park: “It’s probably one of the nicest facilities
we go to all year. It’s a great place to go racing and we hope the
grandstands are full.”
Mark Kinser, in his first season driving for car owner Rick Wright
• On his season so far: “Well, we’re shaking down a couple of new cars.
I’ve never worked with this team and they’ve never worked with me but I
think we’re pretty well on track. We’ve had a couple of top-fives and a
couple of top-10s so we’re not doing too bad.”
• On racing at Pike County Speedway, where he has won four times with
the Outlaws: “We’ve run very good at Pike County and had a couple of
good runs at Houston, so when you’re going to places where your batting
average is up, it always makes it go a little bit smoother.”
Brandon Wimmer, rookie driver of the No. 7tw Wimmer-Luck car
• On running for the rookie title: “It’s difficult. It’s not just
running against Tim [Kaeding] and Shane [Stewart], it’s running
everybody every night. We’ve struggled here at the beginning of the
year but we’ll get going pretty soon. It’s difficult every night. You
got to go out and do your best every night and hopefully we end up on
top at the end of the year.”
Terry McCarl, driver of the No. 24 Big Game Tree Stands car
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “I’ve always run real well there.
I like that place. It’s a real racy little track. Usually you can race
all over the place because it doesn’t lay rubber. The last time we were
there, they sold the grandstands out and I saw a man and a woman — the
guy had a sport coat on and the woman had a dress on — who bought pit
passes standing in the infield behind a little snow fence. I couldn’t
believe it. That’s what’s fun about traveling with the World of
Outlaws, when you go to tracks like that. Last year we went to a place
in Louisiana and I sat up in the stands and watched the first set of
hot laps, and these fans are used to seeing stock cars cruise around
their track, and first of all we scared the hell out of them and then
as soon as the checkered flag flew I turned around they were all smiles
from ear to ear, they freaked out, there were people high-fiving. If
you haven’t seen a sprint car on a short track, they’re crazy. A sprint
car on a little dirt track like that at 100 mph and these guys are used
to seeing street stocks, holy crap. It was the neatest thing. I turned
around and the whole crowd, honest to God, was high-fiving. That was
really awesome. That’s what’s fun about going to tracks like that which
don’t get to see us but maybe once a year.”
Brian Paulus, driver of the No. 28 Arnold Transportation machine
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “The fans in Mississippi are very
fanatical. They’re very die-hard. When they show up to the race, they
show up 100 percent to support the guy that they’ve been cheering for
the past five to 30 years.”
Daryn Pittman, driver of the No. 21 Titan Racing car
• On racing at Pike County Speedway: “The fans down there are
incredible. The racetrack is really good. I think I’ve run second there
twice and I think I’ve destroyed two cars there so I’ve either been one
side or the other. It’s definitely a fast three-eighths.”
• On competing at Houston Raceway Park: “Houston is one of the most
underrated racetracks we go to. It is the nicest facility, nicest
everything and the racetrack is excellent. Out of all the newer
racetracks we go to, I think everybody would agree that’s by far the
nicest one we go to. Hopefully we get some good weather.”
Joey Saldana, driver of the No. 2 Volcano Joe’s Coffee car
• On the Pike County Speedway fans: “They’re pretty intense. The
grandstands will be packed and we’re still in there working on our
racecars. It’s pretty intense. When you go to a place like that with
that many fans, that’s obviously where we got to be.”
• On Houston Raceway Park: Of all the newer tracks they’ve built like
Charlotte, Fort Worth and even Vegas, Houston’s probably one of the
best. Hopefully they get a good turnout and we get to go back because
that’s definitely one of the nicer we facilities we race at.”
• On his season to this point: “At Bakersfield we had a good shot at
winning and Craig [Dollansky] just beat me in lapped traffic. That’s
probably been the highlight of our year so far. We know we can race
with these guys, we just can’t seem to qualify. If you don’t qualify
with the Outlaws, you’re in deep trouble.”
Tim Kaeding, rookie driver of the Dennis Roth-owned No. 83 Beef Packers
car
• On racing at Pike County Speedway and Houston Raceway Park for the
first time: “You try to find five or six guys who qualify good on a
regular basis, like Steve [Kinser], Danny [Lasoski], Craig Dollansky.
You try to find five or six guys in hot laps that run a good line
around the racetrack who are fast and just try to mimic their lines for
qualifying to try to get as close as you can to running where they’re
running. It’s just a learning curve. This year Dennis knows it’s a
learning curve for us and we’re just coming out here to try to get more
seat time. Hopefully, if everything goes good through the season we can
come back next year and go for the points championship.”
Jason Meyers, driver of the No. 14 Elite Racing car
• On Houston Raceway Park: “Houston is honestly the best-designed
facility we go to and it’s a great-shaped racetrack. Last year was
probably the best I’ve ever seen that racetrack. With SLS taking over
the promotions they did a great job having it slick up to a cushion.
They always had a problem where the whole thing would slick off and
then it would take rubber and it was very boring race. Last year they
had it slick to a nice curb about two-thirds of the way up the track
and it was a great race. Hopefully they can do that again.”
Tim Shaffer, driver of the No. 6 Casey’s General Store car
• On the fans at Pike County Speedway and Houston Raceway Park: “We
don’t run down there very often and when we do we get a hell of a good
crowd there.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
After racing in Texas, the World of Outlaws Sprint Series takes a
weekend off before the series hits Batesville Speedway on April 1, I-55
Speedway on April 2, and Eldora Speedway for a two-night show April
8-9.
