Dollansky repeats as Federated Auto Parts Ironman 55 champion in afternoon event
PEVELY, Mo. - Oct. 13, 2012 - Jason Sides crawled from his sprint car with an exhausted - and thrilled - look on his face.
Reeling from the passing of a close friend earlier this week, Sides carried a heavy heart into Saturday's World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series doubleheader at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 - the culmination of a pair of rainouts earlier this season.
And after a total 95 green-flag feature laps on the high-banked track on a humid and windy Midwest day, Sides captured the Spring Classic after recording a third-place finish in the Federated Auto Parts Ironman 55 presented by Summit Distributing/Coors Light in the afternoon.
"I had Mark Hardee riding with me," Sides said. "It wasn't his time to go, but the cancer got him and we hate that. He'll be with us a lot in our hearts and everything, so hopefully we'll get us a couple more wins with him riding with us."
It was Sides' first World of Outlaws feature win since July 2 of last season and extended his streak of at least one Outlaws victory in the each of the past four years.
"I think it was our given night to win and I'm glad we did," he said. "We had a win the last few years and (I was) just trying to get us a win. I didn't want to go winless, but it was coming down to the last couple of races."
It was anything but a given for Sides, who started the 40-lap main event on the pole. He led the first eight laps before Lucas Wolfe drove around him for the top spot exiting turn four in thick traffic.
Sides eventually faded to sixth place with 10 laps remaining before he began to work his way toward the front. He passed Donny Schatz for fifth place on lap 31 and maneuvered around Kerry Madsen for fourth on lap 33. Sides restarted fourth with six laps remaining and quickly drove into the runner-up position.
"I had to learn to slow down to go faster and hit the bottom," he said.
Sides and Chad Kemenah, who took the lead from Wolfe on lap 32, were side by side when a caution came out to set up the first of two green-white-checkered finishes. As the leader, Kemenah chose the inside line on the double-file restart and Sides drove by him as the duo exited turn four coming to the white flag.
With victory in sight, the seventh - and final - caution waved. This time Sides chose the inside line and as Kemenah appeared to have fuel issues on the restart, Sides escaped a hectic finish behind him.
With drivers sliding each other and racing wheel to wheel, Kemenah and Wolfe faded from their second and fourth restart positions as they apparently ran out of fuel.
Schatz rallied to record his second runner-up performance of the season and Brian Brown, who lined up sixth on the final restart, rounded out the podium.
"There were times I thought I was going to win it and there were times I thought I was going to run 10th," Brown said. "Pevely is a really fun track.
"It's a 120-mile-per-hour chess match. It just didn't work out tonight, but we're working really hard to get our first win on this Outlaws deal."
Madsen finished fourth and Kraig Kinser drove from 13th to his second straight fifth-place result. Greg Wilson was sixth, Wolfe ended seventh and Brad Loyet earned the KSE Hard Charger Award for piloting from 20th to eighth. Kemenah placed ninth and Craig Dollansky rounded out the top 10.
Federated Auto Parts Ironman 55 presented by Summit Distributing/Coors Light
Dollansky became the first repeat winner of the $20,000-to-win Federated Auto Parts Ironman 55 presented by Summit Distributing/Coors Light to kick off the long day.
The first feature was just as wild as the nightcap as seven cautions wreaked havoc, involving seven cars running in the top 10. None were worse than Madsen's luck as his car was nearly destroyed after colliding with a lapped car in turn one with nine laps remaining.
Madsen, who started on the pole, led the first 21 laps before Dollansky slid him for the lead on a restart. Madsen returned the favor in traffic on lap 33 and had extended his advantage to several car lengths when he crashed violently into the wall after contact with Joey Boyd.
That gave the lead back to Dollansky, who was forced to survive two more cautions and a green-white-checkered finish to claim the 55-lap feature - the most laps in any World of Outlaws event this season.
"It's a long race," Dollansky said after his ninth World of Outlaws win of the season. "Tonight was an intense race, but it was great to get a win."
Schatz placed second with Sides in third. Darrah was fourth and Kinser fifth. Wolfe ended sixth, Joey Saldana seventh, Sammy Swindell eighth, Paul May ninth and Kemenah rounded out the top 10.
Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 Notebook
NOTES - Cody Darrah set quick time in qualifying for the third race this season. … Steve Kinser claimed his 18th heat race win, Chad Kemenah his 15th, Jason Sides his sixth and Greg Wilson his second. … Bill Rose became the 45th different Last Chance Showdown winner. … Sides won his fifth dash.
IRONMAN 55 CONTINGENCY WINNERS - Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Craig Dollansky; Armor All (case of product): Jason Sides; STP ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; UNOH ($50 cash): Kraig Kinser; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Bill Rose; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Bill Rose; Superflow ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Korey Weyant; JE Pistons (set of rings): Kody Kinser; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Kody Kinser; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Jim Moughan.
SPRING CLASSIC CONTINGENCY WINNERS - Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Jason Sides; Armor All (case of product): Jason Sides; STP ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; UNOH ($50 cash): Kraig Kinser; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Lucas Wolfe; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Sammy Swindell; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Steve Kinser; Superflow ($50 cash): Sammy Swindell; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Bill Rose; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Bill Rose; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Bill Rose.
WINNERS - Sammy Swindell - 12 (Eagle Raceway on Sept. 19, 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 - 11 (Williams Grove Speedway on Sept. 29, Clay County Fair Speedway on Sept. 14, 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 - 9 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Oct. 13, Deer Creek Speedway on Sept. 15, 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 - 4 (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on Oct. 6, 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); Paul McMahan - 2 (Williams Grove Speedway on Sept. 28 and Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on May 16); Tony Stewart - 2 (Ohsweken Speedway on July 31 and Lernerville Speedway on July 17); Sean Becker - 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 7); Dale Blaney - 1 (Lernerville Speedway on Sept. 22); 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); Fred Rahmer - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 11); Jason Sides - 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Oct. 13); Brad Sweet - 1 (Clay County Fair Speedway on June 8) and Lucas Wolfe - 1 (Bloomington Speedway on Aug. 3).
TIME TRIALS - Cody Darrah was the fastest qualifier around the third-mile oval with a time of 10.494 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Brian Brown (4 points), Craig Dollansky (3), Sammy Swindell (2) and Joey Saldana (1).
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Photo Credit: Mudclodbob Photo
- Admin Account on Oct 14, 2012
- Article Date: 10/13/2012 by Shawn Miller - World of Outlaws