(Photo by Lonnie Wheatley)
Inside Line Promotions – DODGE CITY, Kan. (July 6, 2015) – Jason Sides is on Cloud 9 after recording his first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature victory of the season last Friday at Dodge City Raceway Park.
Sides claimed the opening round of the Boot Hill Showdown, which was his first World of Outlaws win since 2012 and snapped a 202-race winless streak with the series.
“They are hard to get, especially with the caliber of cars you race with,” he said. “I’ve had that big egg in the win column the last two years. To get that out of there, now you know you can do it. Not to be greedy, but hopefully I can get a couple more now.”
Sides kicked off last Friday’s race by qualifying fourth quickest before he finished where he started – third – during a heat race to lock himself into the dash. A fifth-place result in the dash lined him up on inside of the third row for the 30-lap main event.
“(David) Gravel tried to the run the top and (Jason) Johnson and (Donny) Schatz got by him real quick and I did, too,” he said. “I was running third on the first lap. We got to traffic pretty quickly and I just stayed on the bottom. We got by both of them on the bottom. We ran up on a couple of lapped cars and it took a bit to get by and they said later that Schatz would close up on me, but once I’d get by the lapped cars I’d pull away.”
Sides took the lead on Lap 14 and never looked back en route to the emotional victory at a track he last won at in 2011.
“A lot of it was the race track had a really good bottom,” he said. “It was a big boost for our team.”
Sides closed the Boot Hill Showdown on Saturday by qualifying seventh quickest, which started him on the inside of the second row for a heat race.
“We got the heat race win, which put us in the dash,” he said. “They drew the six, which was perfect. We won the dash and was on the pole for the feature. By that time they worked the top. The bottom had been decent all night long.”
That forced Sides, who was on the pole for the main event, to start in the bad lane.
“On the start it was already slick,” he said. “On the original start I went through turn one and slid up there. Somebody got by me and then Joey (Saldana) spun out. On the next attempt I drove up there by the flagstand and got in line and ran second to Donny for 14 or 15 laps until we had a caution. He chose the outside so I was on the bottom again. This time I couldn’t get there quick enough. (Paul) McMahan and Johnson got by and then I got in line in fourth and ran there.”
Sides held on for a fourth-place finish, which marked his 11th top five of the season.
He also competed last Wednesday at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. Sides set quick time during qualifying for the second time in three races before he placed third in a heat race. He then finished fourth in the dash to start the main event on the outside of the second row.
“I made the wrong decision and didn’t get up to the top quick enough,” he said. “I tried to run the bottom and couldn’t really hold the bottom too well early with all the fuel in the car. I moved to the outside when I needed to late in the race. It was a product of tightening up too much and not getting to the top when I should have.”
Sides ended with an 11th-place result.
He returns to action this Saturday and Sunday at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., with the World of Outlaws.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 1 – Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Dash: 4 (4); Feature: 11 (4).
July 3 – Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kan. – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 3 (3); Dash: 5 (3); Feature: 1 (5).
July 4 – Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kan. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 1 (3); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 4 (1).
SEASON STATS –
48 races, 2 wins, 11 top fives, 25 top 10s, 40 top 15s, 43 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday and Sunday at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SidesMotorsports.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SidesMotorsport
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sides-Motorsports/283833970847?ref=br_tf
LIVE AUDIO –
Keep up with Sides Motorsports via free, live audio from DIRTVision at every World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event throughout the season. Select events also include live Pay-Per-View video. For more information, click http://www.DIRTVision.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Jim Schuhknecht
“Jim started helping out a couple of years ago,” Sides said. “He’s a really good guy and has helped me when I’ve needed it the most.”
Sides would also like to thank Wetherington Tractor Service, Inc., King Racing Products, Clean Seal, Inc., R.E. Enterprises, BR Motorsports, VRP Shocks, FSR Radiators, Dancer Logistics, Inc., East Coast Logistics, Driven Racing Oil, Ingles Racing Engines, Wings Unlimited and All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jul 06, 2015
- Article Date: 7/6/2015 by Inside Line Promotions