The 2012 World of Outlaws schedule hit the ¼-mark yesterday as the Big Game Treestands #7 team returned to the Williams Grove Speedway for another night of action including the Morgan Cup Challenge after recording their ninth top-ten finish of the season the previous night.
Another great day of weather in ‘The Keystone State’ saw 45 drivers sign in for competition as Craig Dollansky made his 59th appearance at the famed ½-mile. After recording his 2nd fast-time of the season on Friday, ‘The Crowd Pleaser’ laid down another solid lap on Saturday at 17.169 seconds, good enough for 6th quick.
Early action in heat #2 saw Dollansky, teammate Sammy Swindell, and Jac Haudenschild go three-wide for second exiting turn 2 of the first lap. With Swindell taking the spot down the backstretch, Dollansky used the bottom in turns 3&4 to steal the position and race to a 2nd place finish. A little luck of a six-pill inversion for the dash put the MobileStar Maxim on the outside pole where Dollansky battled closely with Danny Lasoski but finished 2nd.
In the 30-lap A-Main the Aggressive Hydraulics #7 started outside row one and charged into the lead as the field took the green flag. ‘The Crowd Pleaser’ maintained the top spot until lap 8 when Steve Kinser used the low side in turn 2 to claim the point. Now in second until a caution on lap 10, Dollansky worked the high side on the restart but Kinser held the lead and the Eaton’s Aeroquip Performance Products Maxim slipped to third a few circuits later.
Running third until the halfway point, Dollansky then lost a couple more positions before a caution came on lap 22. After a red flag on the restart and an open red stoppage, Dollansky maintained the 5th spot during the final eight circuits to record his seventh top-five of the season.
“We had a solid weekend all the way around from qualifying on through the A-Mains both nights,” commented the Elk River, Minnesota native. “We got closer to where we needed to be with our car for Saturday night though I’m not happy running 5th after leading a few laps. I felt loose and knew we were going to struggle once we got the first lap of the feature in. Once I finally got my wing all the way back and moved down into the rubber groove we could maintain our position but at that point it was too late, we had already lost four spots and had to settle for a top-five. My crew did a great job and I’m looking forward to going back in July with what we learned this weekend.”
Saturday’s program also featured the Morgan Cup Challenge which pitted five Outlaws from last year’s National Open as well as the five highest finishers of the ‘PA Posse’. Starting from third in the $4,000-to-win event, Dollansky lost a spot at the start and ran the bottom like the rest of the field as passing was very difficult and finished 4th in the 12-lap race.
Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in New York now awaits Craig Dollansky and the Big Game Treestands #7 team of DJ Lindsey, Luke Dollansky, and Pete Stephens when racing resumes on Wednesday.
Photo courtesy of Kris Keath
- Craig Dollansky Racing on May 13, 2012
- Article Date: 5/13/2012 by Reid VanEck - CDR Public Relations