Schatz’s seventh straight top five pushes his Outlaws championship lead to 72 points
ANTIOCH, Calif. - Sept. 10, 2012 - Looking for some good entertainment? Just watch Tim Kaeding.
In perhaps the pass of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season, Kaeding slid championship points leader Donny Schatz in turn four on the final lap to earn his fourth Outlaws win of the season on Monday at Antioch Speedway. The packed grandstands erupted for the San Jose native, who reciprocated the affection.
He egged them on by popping a wheelie down the frontstretch after taking the checkered flag. And if his last-lap pass and wheelie weren't enough, Kaeding was as entertaining in his postrace interview.
"Truthfully, it was a slide for life," Kaeding said. "I was either going to wear me out, him out or both of us at the same time. It was no holds barred, short track racing. This is what I love about it. It's always fun and exciting, especially for the fans."
While Kaeding crossed the finish line first, fellow Californian Jonathan Allard had the car to beat. After a red flag on the opening lap for a four-car pileup in turn one, Allard powered to the lead on the start with Schatz, who started on the pole, a close second.
The duo entered traffic on lap five and while Allard never pulled away, he maintained a couple of car lengths on Schatz until a caution with 10 laps remaining for Kenny Allen stopping on the frontstretch. Things continued to heat up on the restart as Rico Abreu hit the wall in turn four, tipped on his side and somehow managed to keep going as the red flag waved.
Once the race resumed, Allard again entered traffic on lap 27 and held a sizeable advantage as he was coming to the white flag when Craig Dollansky spun out in turn two. That forced a green-white-checkered finish, which turned out to be wild.
Allard, who chose the outside on the double-file restart, spun his tires and Schatz rocketed to the lead. Kaeding was in tow and slid by Allard entering turn one.
"I thought we had it," Allard said. "I knew the restart would be tough because the track was starting to go away. I tried to pick the right lane.
"I started to actually roll the throttle on and it got a bit tight. (I) tried to drive back around them and it spun the tire and (Schatz) took off."
Kaeding dove to the inside in turn three, but was unable to make a move on Schatz as they took the white flag. Kaeding followed Schatz around the high side exiting turn two and as Schatz ran the cushion in turn three, Kaeding dove to the bottom and executed a perfect slide job as they raced through turn four.
Kaeding slammed against the cushion and he drove across the track to edge Schatz by a little more than two tenths of a second.
"We KOed the curb and I drove straight down the race track so nobody could get back by me," Kaeding said.
Schatz, who recorded his seventh straight top-five finish, said he was surprised by the slide job.
"I just overdrove the car," he said. "TK got a big run and slid me going into (turn) three and surprised me. I just made a couple of mistakes there at the end. Just me overdriving the car."
Allard finished third and to make matters worse, he flipped in turn four on the cool-down lap.
"They said green-white-checkered on the thing, but I didn't really know what the lap count was," he said. "I saw Tim run it down the straightaway and I thought, 'Well, maybe there's something going on.' I ran it down in there and just lost control. So just a bad move on my part."
Cody Darrah placed fourth and Lucas Wolfe ended fifth. Sammy Swindell was sixth, Kerry Madsen seventh, Joey Saldana eighth and Steve Kinser earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 17th to ninth. Kraig Kinser rounded out the top 10.
Antioch Speedway Notebook
NOTES - Sammy Swindell captured quick time for the second straight race and a series-leading 14th time this season. … Donny Schatz claimed his 10 th heat race win, Kraig Kinser his 10th and Cody Darrah his eighth. … Bud Kaeding became the 38th different Last Chance Showdown winner. … Schatz earned his series-leading sixth dash win.
CONTINGENCY WINNERS - Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Jac Haudenschild; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Tim Kaeding; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Tim Kaeding; Armor All (case of product): Tim Kaeding; STP ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; UNOH ($50 cash): Lucas Wolfe; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Jac Haudenschild; JE Pistons (set of rings): Tyler Wolf; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Tyler Wolf; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky; Superflow ($50 cash): Tyler Wolf; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Tyler Wolf; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Chad Kemenah; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Travis Jacobson.
WINNERS - Sammy Swindell - 11 (Grays Harbor Raceway on Aug. 29, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 25, River Cities Speedway on Aug. 17, Autodrome Granby on July 27, Eldora Speedway on July 14, Lakeside Speedway on June 30, Red River Valley Speedway on June 16, Eldora Speedway on May 5, Knoxville Raceway on April 28, Missouri State Fair Speedway on April 20 and Merced Speedway on March 30); Donny Schatz - 9 (Calistoga Speedway on Sept. 9, Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 6, Nodak Speedway on Aug. 19, Junction Motor Speedway on Aug. 14, Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 11, Cornwall Motor Speedway on July 29, Farmer City Raceway on April 25, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Craig Dollansky - 7 (Castrol Raceway on Aug. 24, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 22, Lernerville Speedway on July 17, I-96 Speedway on June 2, Hagerstown Speedway on May 20, Tri-State Speedway on April 21 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Kerry Madsen - 5 (Willamette Speedway on Sept. 3, Skagit Speedway on Aug. 31, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 11, Belleville High Banks on June 29 and Knoxville Raceway on June 9); Joey Saldana - 5 (Autodrome Drummond on July 28, Eldora Speedway on July 13, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 25, Paducah International Raceway on April 13 and Perris Auto Speedway on March 10); Tim Kaeding - 4 (Antioch Speedway on Sept. 10, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 6, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8); Kraig Kinser - 4 (Beaver Dam Raceway on July 7, Dodge City Raceway Park on June 23, River Cities Speedway on June 15 and Kokomo Speedway on June 5); Steve Kinser - 3 (Dodge City Raceway Park on June 22, Orange County Fair Speedway on May 19 and Williams Grove Speedway on May 12); Chad Kemenah - 2 (Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 28 and Eldora Speedway on May 4); Tony Stewart - 2 (Ohsweken Speedway on July 31 and Lernerville Speedway on July 17); Sean Becker - 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 7); Cody Darrah - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 21); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 10); Mark Dobmeier - 1 (Huset's Speedway on July 3); Travis Jacobson - 1 (Skagit Speedway on Sept. 1); Kyle Larson - 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 8); Danny Lasoski - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18);Paul McMahan - 1 (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on May 16); Fred Rahmer - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 11); Brad Sweet - 1 (Clay County Fairgrounds on June 8) and Lucas Wolfe - 1 (Bloomington Speedway on Aug. 3).
TIME TRIALS - Sammy Swindell was the fastest qualifier around the 3/8-mile oval with a time of 11.594 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Tim Kaeding (4 points), Cody Darrah (3), Lucas Wolfe (2) and Jonathan Allard (1).
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- Admin Account on Sep 11, 2012
- Article Date: 9/10/2012 by Shawn Miller - World of Outlaws