[b Dollansky Dominates Lebanon Valley: Picks up First Win with Kasey Kahne Racing]
[i West Lebanon, NY— July 26, 2009]
Craig Dollansky had been knocking on the door all season of picking up his first win since joining Kasey Kahne Racing and he broke through on Sunday night, dominating the event at Lebanon Valley Speedway in New York to score his first win of the season and his first victory since joining the team owned by the NASCAR star.
For Dollansky, it was the 29th A-Feature win of his career with the World of Outlaws and the first triumph of his career in the state of New York. He has now won A-Feature events in 18 different states with the series.
“It’s great to be back in Victory Lane,” said Dollansky. “My crew has been working so hard, I am so happy to win this one for them. Kasey Kahne Racing is a great organization. We made some changes that seem to be suiting me better. These guys work hard as does everyone that stands behind this team. I am just so glad that we got our first win.”
Dollansky started second in the DirecTV Maxim and shot to the lead on the high side of the track heading into turns one and two with Steve Kinser who started on the pole in tow. The only yellow flag of the night flew on the opening lap when Jac Haudenschild and Brian Ellenberger got tangled up, leading to a complete restart. On the second start, Dollansky again jumped to a quick lead over Kinser as he powered his way down the front straightaway into turns one and two.
“I felt pretty good,” he shared when asked about the second start. “That car was a joy to drive. It’s been a while since I had a race car like that and again it goes back to some of the changes that we made and I am really happy with it. Speedway Motors does a great job with our engines. This whole team works hard. I am so happy for everyone that supports this team and my family and fans. I couldn’t be happier for all of them.”
After the first lap caution, the remainder of the race went non-stop and Dollansky encountered lapped traffic for the first time on the seventh lap on the blazing fast half-mile. He would be in traffic for the majority of the race. The native of Elk River, Minnesota worked his way through heavy traffic just past the halfway point of the race and cleared those machines by the 17th go-around. With three laps to go, he again encountered very heavy traffic, and worked his way through those cars and wound up winning by nearly three seconds.
“The car felt really good in traffic,” noted the winner. “I was just trying to pick my way through it. I was attacking it pretty aggressive. I didn’t know how close those guys behind me were, but you have to run like they are right on you. I just kept pushing it. It’s great to get this first win of the season.”
Steve Kinser started on the pole after winning the Crane Cams Dash and ran second for the entirety of the 25-lap contest. After working on Dollansky for the first couple of laps, he had his hands full with Danny Lasoski who was all over him. The 20-time series champion held him off en route to his 22nd Top-Five finish of the season aboard the Quaker State Maxim.
Lasoski battled Kinser for the runner-up spot for a number of laps in the first half of the race. On the third circuit, he nearly got around Kinser as dove under him in turns one and two and slid up the track, giving Kinser a chance to stay on the throttle and keep the spot as the pair charged down the back straightaway. For Lasoski, the third-place finish was his 17th Top-Five of the year in the Casey’s General Store Maxim.
“I’m really proud of this team and everyone did a great job tonight,” said Lasoski. “Tonight was like always, when you can start in the front row is pretty good. The (No.) 19 car has been knocking on the door of getting a win and my hat is off to them and ‘The King’ (Kinser) is always tough. We’ll go on to Canada and see if we can win there.”
Lasoski kept pace with Kinser early in the 25-lap contest in open track and lost some ground in lapped traffic as he contended with a number of slower machines. The native of Dover, Missouri made up some ground on Kinser on the 17th lap in heavy traffic, but was held up by a couple of cars late in the going.
“You come up on them really fast and they didn’t know where we were at, so it’s not their fault,” explained the 2001 series champion. “You have to really pay attention when you come up on them.”
Donny Schatz finished fourth in the Armor All J&J to extend his lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings to 51 points over Jason Meyers. The three-time and defending series champion began the night by turning the fastest lap in time trials for the 10th time this season.
Jason Meyers finished fifth in the GLR Investments KPC, with Joey Saldana sixth in the Budweiser Maxim. Jason Sides was seventh in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, with Lucas Wolfe eighth in the Allebach Racing Maxim. Chad Kemenah came home in the ninth, with Kraig Kinser rounding out the Top-10 in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Tuesday, July 28 at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada for two full nights of racing.
LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 20 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 16.490 seconds at 136.446 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Danny Lasoski (4), Steve Kinser (3), Jason Meyers (2), and Jac Haudenschild (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Kraig Kinser, Chad Kemenah and Joey Saldana won heat races. Steve Kinser won the Crane Cams Dash.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 43 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Lone Star Speedway, Houston Raceway Park, The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park-twice, U.S. 36 Raceway and 34 Raceway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Canandaigua Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway and Eldora Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway, Nodak Speedway, Eagle Raceway, Charter Raceway Park and Lernerville Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-twice), Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway and Limaland Motorsports Park), Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Craig Dollansky (Lebanon Valley Speedway), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway),Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway) and Stevie Smith (Lernerville Speedway).
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Lebanon Valley Speedway is a half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series has raced 17 times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Lone Star Speedway and Virginia Motor Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-twice), Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Meyers (I-96 Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lebanon Valley Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway) and Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Summer Nationals at Lebanon Valley Speedway; West Lebanon, NY; July, 26, 2009
Qualifying
- 15-Donny Schatz 16.490
- 6-Danny Lasoski 16.513
- 11-Steve Kinser 16.550
- 14-Jason Meyers 16.649
- R19-Jac Haudenschild 16.651
- 19-Craig Dollansky 16.708
- 20-Kraig Kinser 16.744
- 35-Chad Kemenah 16.761
- 9-Joey Saldana 16.767
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe 16.782
- 7S-Jason Sides 16.879
- 22-Brian Ellenberger 16.965
- 17-Dayrn Pittman 17.505
- 33-Scott Lutz 17.800
- 3T-Tony Beaber 18.234
- 71C-Jack Helget 19.015
- 17T-Jeff Taylor 19.059
- 138-Jay Shypinka 19.402
- 87-George Suprick III -.---
- 5-Bubba Broderick 18.200
- 6X-Mark Cole 18.679
- 77-Josh Flach -.---
Note: The 5, 6X and 77 cars all had illegal wings and thus were scored behind any legal cars for the entire night of racing.
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
- 20-Kraig Kinser
- 15-Donny Schatz
- 14-Jason Meyers
- 17-Dayrn Pittman
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe
- 87-George Suprick III
- 77-Josh Flach
- 71C-Jack Helget
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
- 35-Chad Kemenah
- R19-Jac Haudenschild
- 7S-Jason Sides
- 6-Danny Lasoski
- 33-Scott Lutz
- 17T-Jeff Taylor
- 5-Bubba Broderick
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
- 9-Joey Saldana
- 19-Craig Dollansky
- 22-Brian Ellenberger
- 11-Steve Kinser
- 138-Jay Shypinka
- 3T-Tony Beaber
- 6X-Mark Cole
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
- 11-Steve Kinser
- 19-Craig Dollansky
- 6-Danny Lasoski
- 15-Donny Schatz
- 14-Jason Meyers
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe
- 35-Chad Kemenah
- 20-Kraig Kinser
- 9-Joey Saldana
- R19-Jac Haudenschild
A-main (25 laps) - Starting Position [#]
- 19-Craig Dollansky[2] [$10,000]
- 11-Steve Kinser[1] [$5,500]
- 6-Danny Lasoski[3] [$3,200]
- 15-Donny Schatz[4] [$2,800]
- 14-Jason Meyers[5] [$2,500]
- 9-Joey Saldana[9] [$2,300]
- 7S-Jason Sides[11] [$2,200]
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe[6] [$2,100]
- 35-Chad Kemenah[7] [$2,050]
- 20-Kraig Kinser[8] [$2,000]
- 17-Dayrn Pittman[13] [$1,500]
- 87-George Suprick III[18] [$1,200]
- 33-Scott Lutz[14] [$1,100]
- 138-Jay Shypinka[17] [$1,050]
- 71C-Jack Helget[19] [$1,000]
- 3T-Tony Beaber[15] [$900]
- 17T-Jeff Taylor[16] [$800]
- R19-Jac Haudenschild[10] [$800]
- 22-Brian Ellenberger[12] [$800]
- 5-Bubba Broderick[20] [$800]
- 6X-Mark Cole[21] [$800]
- 77-Josh Flach[22] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-25
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Jason Meyers
Penske Power Position Award: Danny Lasoski
KSE Hard Charger Award: George Suprick
World of Outlaws Championship Standing through July 26
- Donny Schatz 5763
- Jason Meyers 5712 -51
- Joey Saldana 5670 -93
- Steve Kinser 5661 -102
- Danny Lasoski 5522 -241
- Jason Sides 5503 -260
- Craig Dollansky 5410 -353
- Jac Haudenschild 5312 -451
- Kraig Kinser 5260 -503
- Lucas Wolfe 4918 -845
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), Quaker State (Official Motor Oil), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo; Engine Builder's Challenge participants Don Ott Racing Engines, Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines; and Chassis Builder’s Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.
- Tony Veneziano on Jul 27, 2009
- Article Date: 7/27/2009