BARBERVILLE, FL (2-6-08) by Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director
Night number two of the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals once again had 52 cars signed into the pits looking to steal the $7000 top prize put up by the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions. Craig Mintz and John Westbrook were unable to return after their night one crash, but Jason Sides and Chad Hillier filled their spots keeping the field at 52 of the finest sprint car drivers in the country. However, like at any All Star race throughout the decades, you just never know going in who is going to come out on top.
Danny Lasoski took the green flag in the 25 lap A-main event and got out to an early lead while Paul May and Mark Smith dueled for second place. Cautions on lap 7 for Daryn Pittman and on lap 9 for Brian Ellenberger slowed the action, but Lasoski retained the lead on each restart. The red flag flew for Brandon Martin on lap 11 as martin got caught up in a Cody Darrah spin and had no place to go but into the turn one fence sending the 11m end over end. On the restart it was Lasoski, Mark Smith, May, Hafertepe, and Wayne Johnson. Donny Schatz restarted in 9th after starting 19th.
The next several laps were wild as May and Smith traded slide jobs for the second spot and Hafertepe and Johnson duked it out behind the leaders. May started to fade late in the race while Hafertepe looked to run down The Dude in traffic. Wayne Johnson waited for the right time to strike. Hafertepe took the lead on lap 18 and Lasoski reclaimed it on lap 19. As the two were side by side going into turn one, Johnson made a sling shot move with a run off the bottom passing them both in turn two. Johnson managed to pull away over the next five laps to claim the victory. Hafertepe was second followed by Lasosksi, Dollansky who started 24th, and Schatz who started 19th.
An elated Johnson said from the victory stage, “I was trying to pass Hafertepe but I got such a good run I just drove past them both. I was kind of shocked myself. I knew we could run around the bottom when nobody else could, so I was just saving my tires when all those guys were running up in the rubber.”
“I have to thank all my guys and Penske Shocks,” said Johnson. “It shows just how good of a racecar we’ve got. I want to thank everyone who is involved with this thing because this is a low buck team. Tony Stewart’s guys can sit over there and spend all the money they want, but we’re one of the lowest budget teams in the pit area.”
Heat race action was intense with a much slicker track than the previous night. Heat race number one had some great action as All Star driver Brandon Martin found a sweet spot on the high side and charged from the back of the pack to a transfer spot, passing the King Steve Kinser in the process. Kinser, who was the fast qualifier of the night, was able to get back under Martin on the final lap, but Martin motored by on the outside at the flag stand sending Kinser to the B-main.
Heat race number two saw Donny Schatz run away with it while Craig Dollansky charged from 11th to 4th. Cody Darrah dominated heat race number three and Lucas Wolfe took the win in heat race number four while several great cars were sent packing to the C and B-mains.
The C-main was won by Greg Wilson who started on the front row by virtue of Terry McCarl opting not to start. Wilson jumped out to the lead over Paul McMahan and Kraig Kinser with Brock Mayes holding the final transfer spot. Bob Felmlee challenged Mayes several times but could not get past him as the track slicked off and the low line was the fastest way around the speedway. On lap 8, Kinser got loose in the marbles in turn three and spun taking himself out of contention. Felmlee inherited the final spot as Wilson won followed by McMahan and Mayes.
Steve Kinser won the B-main, but not without Joey Saldana nipping at his heels. Kinser appeared to let off the throttle on lap 8 as Saldana rocketed past the King, but kinser put the hammer back down and reclaimed the lead from Saldana and went on to win the event. Saldana was second followed by Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Chad Hillier. Tim Kaeding just missed the transfer spot after qualifying 7th earlier in the evening.
The All Stars will wrap up their Florida swing on Thursday February 7th at Volusia Speedway Park making way for the World of Outlaws season opener on Friday.
Volusia Speedway (2-6-08)
O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 11-Steve Kinser, 15.206; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 15.250; 3. 28-Brian Paulus, 15.301; 4. 7MX-Mark Smith, 15.303; 5. 71-Paul May, 15.309; 6. 5C-Chad Hillier, 15.315; 7. 10-Tim Kaeding, 15.331; 8. 9-Joey Saldana, 15.336; 9. 8H-Dustin Morgan, 15.373; 10. 18-Tony Bruce Jr., 15.381; 11. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.403; 12. 5-Danny Lasoski, 15.469; 13. 39-TJ Stutts, 15.489; 14. R19-Jac Haudenschild, 15.491; 15. 20E-Brian Ellenberger, 15.497; 16. 22-Greg Hodnett, 15.500; 17. 94-Wayne Johnson, 15.521; 18. 21-Daryn Pittman, 15.522; 19. 89-Cody Darrah, 15.548; 20. 4-Danny Smith, 15.567; 21. 51-Fred Rahmer, 15.630; 22. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.632; 23. 56R-Ryan Myers, 15.774; 24. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 15.782; 25. 14-Jason Myers, 15.789; 26. 1X-Randy Hannagan, 15.818; 27. 83-Shane Stewart, 15.825; 28. 8K-Chad Kemenah, 15.826; 29. 11M-Brandon Martin, 15.862; 30. 25-Chad Layton, 15.877; 31. 19-Stevie Smith, 15.883; 32. 1-Jeff Shepard, 15.922; 33. 30C-Lance Dewease, 15.937; 34. 2B-Dale Blaney, 15.956; 35. 16S-Lee Stark, 15.965; 36. 24-Terry McCarl, 15.982; 37. O-Paul McMahan, 15.998; 38. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.001; 39. 6F-Bob Felmlee, 16.008; 40. 20-Kraig Kinser, 16.023; 41. 11B-Brock Mayes, 16.057; 42. 2-Craig Dollanksy, 16.119; 43. 9P-Rager Phillps, 16.219; 44. 29A-Jason Botsford, 16.261; 45. 94S-Natalie Sather, 16.340; 46. 80-Spud Gustin, 16.414; 47. 7M-Geoff Didge, 16.438; 48. 4N-Neil Shepherd, 16.615; 49. 22B-Ben Gregg, 16.789; 50. 71J-Bob Schaeffer, 17.095; 51. B4-Eric Baldaccini, 18.022; 52. 72J-Johnny Johnson, 18.912;
Heat 1 - All Pro Heads
1. 51-Fred Rahmer; 2. 94-Wayne Johnson; 3. 71-Paul May; 4. 39-TJ Stutts; 5. 11M-Brandon Martin; 6. 11-Steve Kinser; 7. 14-Jason Myers; 8. 30C-Lance Dewease; 9. 8H-Dustin Morgan; 10. 11B-Brock Mayes; 11. O-Paul McMahan; 12. 22B-Ben Gregg; 13. 94S-Natalie Sather;
Heat 2 - Engler Machine & Tool
1. 15-Donny Schatz; 2. 21-Daryn Pittman; 3. 25-Chad Layton; 4. 2-Craig Dollanksy; 5. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.; 7. 2B-Dale Blaney; 8. 5C-Chad Hillier; 9. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 10. W20-Greg Wilson; 11. R19-Jac Haudenschild; 12. 80-Spud Gustin; 13. 71J-Bob Schaeffer;
Heat 3 - Hoosier Tire
1. 89-Cody Darrah; 2. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 3. 7S-Jason Sides; 4. 28-Brian Paulus; 5. 83-Shane Stewart; 6. 10-Tim Kaeding; 7. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 8. 19-Stevie Smith; 9. 9P-Rager Phillps; 10. 56R-Ryan Myers; 11. 7M-Geoff Didge; 12. 16S-Lee Stark; 13. B4-Eric Baldaccini;
Heat 4 - Hank's Performance Products
1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe; 2. 5-Danny Lasoski; 3. 4-Danny Smith; 4. 7MX-Mark Smith; 5. 22-Greg Hodnett; 6. 8K-Chad Kemenah; 7. 9-Joey Saldana; 8. 24-Terry McCarl; 9. 20-Kraig Kinser; 10. 1-Jeff Shepard; 11. 4N-Neil Shepherd; 12. 29A-Jason Botsford; 13. 72J-Johnny Johnson;
C-main - Outerwears Racing Accessories
1. W20-Greg Wilson; 2. O-Paul McMahan; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 5. 9P-Rager Phillps; 6. 94S-Natalie Sather; 7. 7M-Geoff Didge; 8. 4N-Neil Shepherd; 9. 22B-Ben Gregg; 10. 20-Kraig Kinser; 11. 80-Spud Gustin; 12. 71J-Bob Schaeffer; 13. 72J-Johnny Johnson; 14. 24-Terry McCarl; 15. 29A-Jason Botsford; 16. B4-Eric Baldaccini;
B-main - University of Northwestern Ohio
1. 11-Steve Kinser; 2. 9-Joey Saldana; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.; 4. 5C-Chad Hillier; 5. 10-Tim Kaeding; 6. 14-Jason Myers; 7. 1-Jeff Shepard; 8. 8K-Chad Kemenah; 9. 8H-Dustin Morgan; 10. O-Paul McMahan; 11. 56R-Ryan Myers; 12. R19-Jac Haudenschild; 13. 2B-Dale Blaney; 14. 19-Stevie Smith; 15. 30C-Lance Dewease; 16. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 17. W20-Greg Wilson; 18. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 19. 11B-Brock Mayes; 20. 16S-Lee Stark;
A-main - MSD Ignition Starting Position []
1. 94-Wayne Johnson[9]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[12]; 3. 5-Danny Lasoski[2]; 4. 2-Craig Dollanksy[24]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 6. 7MX-Mark Smith[1]; 7. 11-Steve Kinser[11]; 8. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[4]; 9. 71-Paul May[3]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides[6]; 11. 22-Greg Hodnett[8]; 12. 28-Brian Paulus[5]; 13. 4-Danny Smith[17]; 14. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[20]; 15. 5C-Chad Hillier[13]; 16. 25-Chad Layton[23]; 17. 83-Shane Stewart[21]; 18. 9-Joey Saldana[14]; 19. 51-Fred Rahmer[18]; 20. 39-TJ Stutts[7]; 21. 89-Cody Darrah[16]; 22. 21-Daryn Pittman[10]; 23. 11M-Brandon Martin[22]; 24. 20E-Brian Ellenberger[15];
Night number two of the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals once again had 52 cars signed into the pits looking to steal the $7000 top prize put up by the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions. Craig Mintz and John Westbrook were unable to return after their night one crash, but Jason Sides and Chad Hillier filled their spots keeping the field at 52 of the finest sprint car drivers in the country. However, like at any All Star race throughout the decades, you just never know going in who is going to come out on top.
Danny Lasoski took the green flag in the 25 lap A-main event and got out to an early lead while Paul May and Mark Smith dueled for second place. Cautions on lap 7 for Daryn Pittman and on lap 9 for Brian Ellenberger slowed the action, but Lasoski retained the lead on each restart. The red flag flew for Brandon Martin on lap 11 as martin got caught up in a Cody Darrah spin and had no place to go but into the turn one fence sending the 11m end over end. On the restart it was Lasoski, Mark Smith, May, Hafertepe, and Wayne Johnson. Donny Schatz restarted in 9th after starting 19th.
The next several laps were wild as May and Smith traded slide jobs for the second spot and Hafertepe and Johnson duked it out behind the leaders. May started to fade late in the race while Hafertepe looked to run down The Dude in traffic. Wayne Johnson waited for the right time to strike. Hafertepe took the lead on lap 18 and Lasoski reclaimed it on lap 19. As the two were side by side going into turn one, Johnson made a sling shot move with a run off the bottom passing them both in turn two. Johnson managed to pull away over the next five laps to claim the victory. Hafertepe was second followed by Lasosksi, Dollansky who started 24th, and Schatz who started 19th.
An elated Johnson said from the victory stage, “I was trying to pass Hafertepe but I got such a good run I just drove past them both. I was kind of shocked myself. I knew we could run around the bottom when nobody else could, so I was just saving my tires when all those guys were running up in the rubber.”
“I have to thank all my guys and Penske Shocks,” said Johnson. “It shows just how good of a racecar we’ve got. I want to thank everyone who is involved with this thing because this is a low buck team. Tony Stewart’s guys can sit over there and spend all the money they want, but we’re one of the lowest budget teams in the pit area.”
Heat race action was intense with a much slicker track than the previous night. Heat race number one had some great action as All Star driver Brandon Martin found a sweet spot on the high side and charged from the back of the pack to a transfer spot, passing the King Steve Kinser in the process. Kinser, who was the fast qualifier of the night, was able to get back under Martin on the final lap, but Martin motored by on the outside at the flag stand sending Kinser to the B-main.
Heat race number two saw Donny Schatz run away with it while Craig Dollansky charged from 11th to 4th. Cody Darrah dominated heat race number three and Lucas Wolfe took the win in heat race number four while several great cars were sent packing to the C and B-mains.
The C-main was won by Greg Wilson who started on the front row by virtue of Terry McCarl opting not to start. Wilson jumped out to the lead over Paul McMahan and Kraig Kinser with Brock Mayes holding the final transfer spot. Bob Felmlee challenged Mayes several times but could not get past him as the track slicked off and the low line was the fastest way around the speedway. On lap 8, Kinser got loose in the marbles in turn three and spun taking himself out of contention. Felmlee inherited the final spot as Wilson won followed by McMahan and Mayes.
Steve Kinser won the B-main, but not without Joey Saldana nipping at his heels. Kinser appeared to let off the throttle on lap 8 as Saldana rocketed past the King, but kinser put the hammer back down and reclaimed the lead from Saldana and went on to win the event. Saldana was second followed by Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Chad Hillier. Tim Kaeding just missed the transfer spot after qualifying 7th earlier in the evening.
The All Stars will wrap up their Florida swing on Thursday February 7th at Volusia Speedway Park making way for the World of Outlaws season opener on Friday.
Volusia Speedway (2-6-08)
O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 11-Steve Kinser, 15.206; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 15.250; 3. 28-Brian Paulus, 15.301; 4. 7MX-Mark Smith, 15.303; 5. 71-Paul May, 15.309; 6. 5C-Chad Hillier, 15.315; 7. 10-Tim Kaeding, 15.331; 8. 9-Joey Saldana, 15.336; 9. 8H-Dustin Morgan, 15.373; 10. 18-Tony Bruce Jr., 15.381; 11. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.403; 12. 5-Danny Lasoski, 15.469; 13. 39-TJ Stutts, 15.489; 14. R19-Jac Haudenschild, 15.491; 15. 20E-Brian Ellenberger, 15.497; 16. 22-Greg Hodnett, 15.500; 17. 94-Wayne Johnson, 15.521; 18. 21-Daryn Pittman, 15.522; 19. 89-Cody Darrah, 15.548; 20. 4-Danny Smith, 15.567; 21. 51-Fred Rahmer, 15.630; 22. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.632; 23. 56R-Ryan Myers, 15.774; 24. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 15.782; 25. 14-Jason Myers, 15.789; 26. 1X-Randy Hannagan, 15.818; 27. 83-Shane Stewart, 15.825; 28. 8K-Chad Kemenah, 15.826; 29. 11M-Brandon Martin, 15.862; 30. 25-Chad Layton, 15.877; 31. 19-Stevie Smith, 15.883; 32. 1-Jeff Shepard, 15.922; 33. 30C-Lance Dewease, 15.937; 34. 2B-Dale Blaney, 15.956; 35. 16S-Lee Stark, 15.965; 36. 24-Terry McCarl, 15.982; 37. O-Paul McMahan, 15.998; 38. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.001; 39. 6F-Bob Felmlee, 16.008; 40. 20-Kraig Kinser, 16.023; 41. 11B-Brock Mayes, 16.057; 42. 2-Craig Dollanksy, 16.119; 43. 9P-Rager Phillps, 16.219; 44. 29A-Jason Botsford, 16.261; 45. 94S-Natalie Sather, 16.340; 46. 80-Spud Gustin, 16.414; 47. 7M-Geoff Didge, 16.438; 48. 4N-Neil Shepherd, 16.615; 49. 22B-Ben Gregg, 16.789; 50. 71J-Bob Schaeffer, 17.095; 51. B4-Eric Baldaccini, 18.022; 52. 72J-Johnny Johnson, 18.912;
Heat 1 - All Pro Heads
1. 51-Fred Rahmer; 2. 94-Wayne Johnson; 3. 71-Paul May; 4. 39-TJ Stutts; 5. 11M-Brandon Martin; 6. 11-Steve Kinser; 7. 14-Jason Myers; 8. 30C-Lance Dewease; 9. 8H-Dustin Morgan; 10. 11B-Brock Mayes; 11. O-Paul McMahan; 12. 22B-Ben Gregg; 13. 94S-Natalie Sather;
Heat 2 - Engler Machine & Tool
1. 15-Donny Schatz; 2. 21-Daryn Pittman; 3. 25-Chad Layton; 4. 2-Craig Dollanksy; 5. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.; 7. 2B-Dale Blaney; 8. 5C-Chad Hillier; 9. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 10. W20-Greg Wilson; 11. R19-Jac Haudenschild; 12. 80-Spud Gustin; 13. 71J-Bob Schaeffer;
Heat 3 - Hoosier Tire
1. 89-Cody Darrah; 2. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 3. 7S-Jason Sides; 4. 28-Brian Paulus; 5. 83-Shane Stewart; 6. 10-Tim Kaeding; 7. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 8. 19-Stevie Smith; 9. 9P-Rager Phillps; 10. 56R-Ryan Myers; 11. 7M-Geoff Didge; 12. 16S-Lee Stark; 13. B4-Eric Baldaccini;
Heat 4 - Hank's Performance Products
1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe; 2. 5-Danny Lasoski; 3. 4-Danny Smith; 4. 7MX-Mark Smith; 5. 22-Greg Hodnett; 6. 8K-Chad Kemenah; 7. 9-Joey Saldana; 8. 24-Terry McCarl; 9. 20-Kraig Kinser; 10. 1-Jeff Shepard; 11. 4N-Neil Shepherd; 12. 29A-Jason Botsford; 13. 72J-Johnny Johnson;
C-main - Outerwears Racing Accessories
1. W20-Greg Wilson; 2. O-Paul McMahan; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 5. 9P-Rager Phillps; 6. 94S-Natalie Sather; 7. 7M-Geoff Didge; 8. 4N-Neil Shepherd; 9. 22B-Ben Gregg; 10. 20-Kraig Kinser; 11. 80-Spud Gustin; 12. 71J-Bob Schaeffer; 13. 72J-Johnny Johnson; 14. 24-Terry McCarl; 15. 29A-Jason Botsford; 16. B4-Eric Baldaccini;
B-main - University of Northwestern Ohio
1. 11-Steve Kinser; 2. 9-Joey Saldana; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.; 4. 5C-Chad Hillier; 5. 10-Tim Kaeding; 6. 14-Jason Myers; 7. 1-Jeff Shepard; 8. 8K-Chad Kemenah; 9. 8H-Dustin Morgan; 10. O-Paul McMahan; 11. 56R-Ryan Myers; 12. R19-Jac Haudenschild; 13. 2B-Dale Blaney; 14. 19-Stevie Smith; 15. 30C-Lance Dewease; 16. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 17. W20-Greg Wilson; 18. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 19. 11B-Brock Mayes; 20. 16S-Lee Stark;
A-main - MSD Ignition Starting Position []
1. 94-Wayne Johnson[9]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[12]; 3. 5-Danny Lasoski[2]; 4. 2-Craig Dollanksy[24]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 6. 7MX-Mark Smith[1]; 7. 11-Steve Kinser[11]; 8. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[4]; 9. 71-Paul May[3]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides[6]; 11. 22-Greg Hodnett[8]; 12. 28-Brian Paulus[5]; 13. 4-Danny Smith[17]; 14. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[20]; 15. 5C-Chad Hillier[13]; 16. 25-Chad Layton[23]; 17. 83-Shane Stewart[21]; 18. 9-Joey Saldana[14]; 19. 51-Fred Rahmer[18]; 20. 39-TJ Stutts[7]; 21. 89-Cody Darrah[16]; 22. 21-Daryn Pittman[10]; 23. 11M-Brandon Martin[22]; 24. 20E-Brian Ellenberger[15];
