Lonnie Wheatley, DODGE CITY, Kan. (July 3, 2014) – Approximately 24 hours remain until Dodge Citians celebrate Independence Day with the annual World of Outlaws Boothill Showdown at the 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval in southwest Kansas.
The world’s elite Sprint Car drivers converge upon the state-of-the-art racing facility for two full nights of racing action on Friday and Saturday, with competition set for a 7:30 p.m. start time on both nights.
The World of Outlaws will be accompanied by the Colorado Lightning Sprints on both nights with Vintage Cars joining in on Saturday night festivities.
At the approximate midpoint of the grueling World of Outlaws trail, 17 different drivers have visited victory lane through the initial 43 events of the season. Current points leader Donny Schatz tops the list with eight wins.
A total of 257 different drivers have competed in at least one World of Outlaws event this season. Approximately 30 are expected for both nights of Boothill Showdown competition.
Here’s a quick look at the leading World of Outlaws regular competitors coming into the weekend, in order of current points ranking:
15 Donny Schatz (Fargo, ND) – The five-time WoO champ has busted open what was very recently a tight championship points battle with a recent hot streak that includes three wins in the last six races along with a runner-up finish and a third-place run. If the every-other-race win pattern continues, look for Schatz in victory lane on Friday night. With a series-best eight wins and 29 top-fives and a 106 point lead, Schatz enters Dodge City as a reigning Boothill Showdown winner after topping last year’s Friday feature.
9 Daryn Pittman (Owasso, OK) – The reigning series champ from just a few hours away near Tulsa, OK, has already racked up seven WoO wins this season with his most recent score at New Egypt, NJ, on May 20. Pittman topped off last year’s Boothill Showdown with his second trip to DCRP victory lane and first since 2007.
51 Paul McMahan (Elk Grove, CA) – The Cali native turned Nashville, TN, resident has qualifying down to a science and parlays that into consistent strong feature finishes, matching Schatz at the top of the charts with 38 top-tens through 43 events. Wins at Las Vegas and Haubstadt are among his 24 top-fives. He finished second to Pittman in last year’s Boothill Showdown finale.
71m Joey Saldana (Brownsburg, IN) – The only one better at qualifying than McMahan thus far in 2014, “The Brownsburg Bullet” has put up 15 fast times in 43 events. In the thick of the title chase much of the way, Saldana has lost ground recently with just one top ten finish in the seven events since his fifth win of the year took place at Jackson (MN) Speedway on June’s Friday the 13th. The winningest WoO driver at DCRP with five wins, Saldana was sixth in last year’s Boothill Showdown finale.
29 Kerry Madsen (St. Marys, NSW Australia) – “The Madman” has finished outside the top six just once since his third win of the year at Kansas City’s Lakeside Speedway on June 7 with four third-place finishes in the last six races. He was tenth in last year’s Boothill Showdown finale.
49 Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA) – After chopping a car in half at West Burlington, IA, last Friday night, the Cali native bounced back to post his fifth win of the year at Wisconsin’s Beaver Dam Raceway the next night. Sweet swaggers into Dodge City for the first time.
4 Cody Darrah (Red Lion, PA) – The third of three Kasey Kahne Racing entries along with Pittman and Sweet, Darrah’s lone win of the season thus far came at California’s King Speedway in April. A third-place finisher in last year’s Boothill Showdown finale, Darrah enters the weekend on a streak of six consecutive top-tens with nine top-tens in the last ten outings.
11 Steve Kinser (Bloomington, IN) – “The King of the Outlaws” added his 577th career WoO win early in the year to kick off his farewell tour. A 2012 Boothill Showdown opening night winner, Kinser is looking for his first top-five since a fourth-place run at New York’s Orange County Fair Speedway on May 18. He was 11th and 8th at DCRP last year.
11k Kraig Kinser (Bloomington, IN) – The son of the King finished off the 2012 version of the Boothill Showdown with a victory. Finding a rhythm, four of Kraig’s 16 top-tens this year have come in the last four events with a third-place finish at Salina’s High Banks in April his best of 2014. Kraig finds DCRP to his liking with finishes of third and seventh last year.
1 Sammy Swindell (Germantown, TN) – A WoO winner at Pevely, MO, to close out April, the Slammin’ One rides into Dodge City off a pair of top fives at Cedar Lake and Huset’s that finally put his season total in double digits. Sammy hovered around tenth at Dodge City last year with finishes of ninth and 11th.
7s Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN) – A 2011 Boothill Showdown winner, Sides fell just short at the line to Schatz in last year’s Boothill Showdown opener before finishing fourth in the Saturday finale. Dodge City could just be the cure for what ails Sides, whose ninth-place run at Grand Forks on June 20 is his only top-ten run in the last 19 events.
83 David Gravel (Watertown, CT) – Starting out part-time on the trail before hooking up with the Roth #83 entry, the Connecticut shoe has picked up wins at Eldora and Wilmot after an earlier score in a Tiner machine at miniature Cali oval Merced. Gravel chased Schatz to the line at Cedar Lake last Sunday night for his ninth top five of the season. He was eighth and 13th last year at DCRP.
1s Logan Schuchart (Hanover, PA) – The rookie WoO contender has enjoyed a few moments along the way including a runner-up finish at Las Vegas in March and a third-place showing at Charlotte in May.
1a Jacob Allen (Hanover, PA) – Among the feature field 19 times thus far in his WoO rookie campaign, a tenth-place run at Pevely, MO, in April is the highlight so far.
59 Tim Kaeding (San Jose, CA) – After a hiatus following his departure from the Roth 83, Kaeding has posted three top-ten runs in eight starts aboard the Phoenix Racing No. 59 entry that Gravel started the year in. TK was fifth in last year’s Boothill Showdown finale.
Those 15 along with a number of other strong challengers will make for two full nights of intense World of Outlaws racing action at this weekend’s Boothill Showdown atop the Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval.
Tickets for the World of Outlaws Boothill Showdown at Dodge City Raceway Park are available online at http://dirtcar.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=129 or by calling the track office at 620-225-3277.
Advance ticket combos for both nights are available for $75 for reserved seats and just $65 for general admission. Fans who purchase tickets in advance will also receive a free fan pit pass. Single day tickets are $45 for reserved seating and $40 for general admission. Children’s tickets (12 and under) are $10 per night in general admission seating only.
Dodge City Raceway Park is located on the south edge of Dodge City, KS, on US 283, then 0.9 miles west on US 56, then 0.1 miles south. For more information, contact the track at 620-225-3277 or check www.dodgecityraceway.com.
- Ross VanEck on Jul 03, 2014
- Article Date: 7/3/2014 by Lonnie Wheatley