Champions Lead World of Outlaws Charge into Paducah International Raceway

jdearing

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Paducah, KY—For just the second time in the 31-year history of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, four current and former champions are beginning the season on the road with the “Greatest Show on Dirt.” Those drivers who account for 27 series titles and nearly 1,000 combined A-Feature wins with the series will lead the charge into Paducah International Raceway on Friday, April 17 for the series lone stop in the Bluegrass state this season.

Of those drivers, just one has visited the winner’s circle at Paducah, with that being 2001 series champion Danny Lasoski, who came all the way from the 15th starting spot to win in 2007, which was his last visit to the always racy high-banked 3/8-mile. The native of Dover, Missouri is in the midst of his first season behind the wheel for longtime car owner Lonnie Parsons out of Iowa and is closing in on his first win of the 2009 campaign.

Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws champion, has three career Top-Five finishes at Paducah, including a runner-up performance in 2001. He finished third at the track last season to earn his third podium finish there. He currently leads the World of Outlaws in Top-10 finishes this season and is second in points as he chases his record 21st title.

Donny Schatz, the three-time and defending series champion, finished seventh last season at the track and was sixth the year before. He set a new track record in qualifying for the event last season, circling the high banks in 13.107 seconds at 102.998 mph. The North Dakota native is in his second season driving for car owner Tony Stewart, who is a part owner of Paducah.

Sammy Swindell, the three-time series champion has made just one start in his career at Paducah International Raceway and that came in 1998, when he finished fifth in an event won by his brother Jeff. Swindell has had a very consistent start to the 2009 season and is just outside of the Top-Five in points.

Along with these four champions, also in action on Friday, April 17 will be Joey Saldana and Craig Dollansky driving for Kasey Kahne Racing, Jason Meyers who finished second at Paducah last season and is in the Top-Five in points, third generation star Kraig Kinser driving for Tony Stewart, veteran Terry McCarl of Iowa, Jason Sides of Tennessee, Australian Kerry Madsen, veteran Jac Haudenschild, who will be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame this year, third-year driver Sam Hafertepe Jr. of Texas, second-year pilot Lucas Wolfe of Pennsylvania and rookie Brian Ellenberger also of Pennsylvania.

The event will kick-off with Meyers, Dollansky and Sides all signing autographs for fans behind the main grandstands on the concourse, a half-hour prior to the drivers meeting, along with Joey Saldana and Lucas Wolfe taking part in a radio broadcast hosted by Ed Dunning of the Horsepower Radio Network
 




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