[b Donny Schatz Fastest in both Rounds of World Finals Qualifying]
[i Concord, NC— November 6, 2009]
Knowing just how important every single point in as he is locked in the closest points race in World of Outlaws history Donny Schatz earned the maximum number of points he could on Thursday night as the third annual World Finals at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in North Carolina kicked off with two rounds of time trials which will set the lineups for Friday and Saturday’s racing programs. The three-time and defending World of Outlaws champion was fastest in both sessions to earn 10 bonus points and now holds a 29-point lead over Jason Meyers heading into the final two nights of World Finals, with Saturday night’s race airing live on SPEED beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Schatz circled the four-tenths-mile in 13.794 seconds to best a stout 57-car field, the largest in World Finals history in the first round of time trails and was even faster in the second session aboard the Armor All J&J, putting down a lap of 13.770 to best the 56 cars that took to the track.
“It was a great start to the weekend,” said Schatz. “Those qualifying points are very important right now and that’s what our goal was coming in. As long as we get through our heat race we are locked into a dash spot. Going for quick times this year is what has put us a little bit ahead. We’re happy to go into the weekend with that. This car is awesome fast. These guys have definitely done their homework and they are pumped up right now.”
With the two fast time honors on Thursday night, Schatz increased his series leading total to 13 on the season, which is three better than Jason Sides who has been quickest in qualifying 10 times. Schatz was the ninth car out in the first session of time trials and was the 51st of 56 cars to hit the track in the second round.
“It’s a good place to be and it’s a true testament to what these guys do,” stated the North Dakota native. “It gives the fans a little bit of excitement too. To go out at the end like that and have a car that good is fun to drive.”
Jason Sides was second fastest in the Friday qualifying session aboard the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim to put himself in a good position for the racing program. Sides finished second at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway back in May as he looks for his first career win at the track.
“For going out that late it was good for us,” said Sides. “The track was going away a bit. We were trying to get a quick time so we could get back tied with Donny, but he is now two up on us (after the first round). Hopefully we can go out and have a good Saturday qualifying and just have a good all around night. We’ll see how it goes.”
Dale Blaney was third fastest in the qualifying session for Friday in the Ti-22 Performance Maxim with 20-time series champion Steve Kinser fourth in the Quaker State Maxim and Craig Dollansky fifth in his first event in the Big Game Treestands Maxim. Jason Meyers who was the second to last car to go on the clock was 10th quick in the GLR Investments KPC, which will put him on the front row of a heat race, while Joey Saldana who is third in the title race was 18th quick aboard the Budweiser Maxim.
Ed Lynch Jr., Jeremy Campbell, Brian Montieth and Danny Lasoski will all start on the pole of heat races on Friday night.
In the second round of time trials which will set the field for Saturday night’s program, Steve Kinser was second fastest after a fourth-place effort in the first round. Kinser has made 20 starts at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in his career and finished in the Top-10 in each and every one.
“It’s not too bad,” note Kinser of his qualifying efforts. “We certainly would have liked to have been in the Top-two for both. It’s a good start and we had put a new car together and have been playing with it. We’ll see what happens here.”
Ed Lynch Jr. was third in qualifying for the Saturday night program aboard the Howard Concrete J&J, with Danny Lasoski in the Casey’s General Store JEI fourth and Jason Sides fifth. Joey Saldana was 11th fastest while Jason Meyers was 12th quick.
Cody Darrah, Craig Dollansky, Brandon Wimmer and Bob Felmlee will start on the pole of heats on Saturday night in the finale of the World Finals which will air live on SPEED beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
WORLD FINAL NIGHT #1 NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 57 cars that took time for Friday’s portion of the World Finals with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked four-tenths-mile oval at 13.794 seconds. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jason Sides (4), Dale Blaney (3), Steve Kinser (2) and Craig Dollansky (1).
•FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 56 cars that took time for Saturday’s portion of the World Finals with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked four-tenths-mile oval at 13.770 seconds. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Steve Kinser (4), Ed Lynch Jr. (3), Danny Lasoski (2) and Jason Sides (1).
World of Outlaws Statistical Report: World Finals Qualifying Round 1; The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway; Concord, NC; November 5, 2009
Qualifying
- 15-Donny Schatz 13.794
- 7S-Jason Sides 13.837
- 2-Dale Blaney 13.861
- 11-Steve Kinser 13.869
- 7-Craig Dollansky 13.903
- 3C-Cale Conley 13.915
- 51-Fred Rahmer 13.941
- 22H-Greg Hodnett 13.956
- 6F-Bob Felmlee 13.958
- 14-Jason Meyers 13.984
- 24-Terry McCarl 14.036
- 19-Cody Darrah 14.052
- 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. 14.059
- G1-Jeremy Campbell 14.070
- 21-Brian Montieth 14.086
- 6-Danny Lasoski 14.095
- 22B-Ben Gregg 14.126
- 9-Joey Saldana 14.139
- 35-Justin Henderson 14.180
- 43-Doug Dodson 14.201
- 83X-Tim Shaffer 14.230
- 20-Kraig Kinser 14.237
- R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.262
- 30C-Lance Dewease 14.269
- 22-Brian Ellenberger 14.276
- 17-Daryn Pittman 14.305
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.311
- 91-Brad Sweet 14.315
- 7M-Mark Smith 14.343
- 27-Curt Michael 14.368
- O7X-Brandon Wimmer 14.374
- 25-Brook Tatnell 14.397
- 93-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.398
- 55-Chad Layton 14.401
- 1Z-Jessica Zemken 14.411
- 63-Chad Kemenah 14.441
- 1-Chris Shirek 14.445
- 13-Don Droud Jr 14.473
- 83-Tim Kaeding 14.479
- 94-Zach Zimmerly 14.523
- 1B-Keith Baxter 14.545
- 81-Craig Folmar 14.564
- O-Glenn Styres 14.621
- 15X-Adam Wilt 14.650
- 49-Bob Howard 14.725
- 89-Robbie Stillwaggon 14.759
- 28-Todd Kane 14.792
- 63J-Josh Weller 14.813
- 4K-Kris Spitz 14.874
- 5-John Smith 14.881
- D4-Danny Holtgraver 14.934
- 13X-Kramer Williamson 14.941
- 60C-Kory Crabtree 15.086
- 6W-Brad Wickham 15.151
- 19K-Kyle Pruitt 15.390
- 6X-Mark Cole 15.407
- 23-Todd Zinn 15.730
World of Outlaws Statistical Report: World Finals Qualifying Round 2; The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway; Concord, NC; November 5, 2009
Qualifying
- 15-Donny Schatz 13.770
- 11-Steve Kinser 13.859
- 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. 13.883
- 6-Danny Lasoski 13.883
- 7S-Jason Sides 13.922
- 3C-Cale Conley 13.955
- 2-Dale Blaney 13.960
- 22H-Greg Hodnett 13.970
- 24-Terry McCarl 13.990
- 51-Fred Rahmer 14.075
- 9-Joey Saldana 14.093
- 14-Jason Meyers 14.102
- 19-Cody Darrah 14.126
- 7-Craig Dollansky 14.132
- O7X-Brandon Wimmer 14.139
- 6F-Bob Felmlee 14.156
- 94-Zach Zimmerly 14.184
- 91-Brad Sweet 14.187
- 1Z-Jessica Zemken 14.203
- 13-Don Droud Jr 14.207
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.210
- 7M-Mark Smith 14.210
- 43-Doug Dodson 14.214
- 28-Todd Kane 14.217
- 83X-Tim Shaffer 14.255
- G1-Jeremy Campbell 14.268
- 27-Curt Michael 14.271
- 21-Brian Montieth 14.285
- 63-Chad Kemenah 14.326
- 30C-Lance Dewease 14.334
- 17-Daryn Pittman 14.354
- 1B-Keith Baxter 14.361
- 20-Kraig Kinser 14.362
- 35-Justin Henderson 14.384
- 22B-Ben Gregg 14.427
- 93-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.436
- 15X-Adam Wilt 14.489
- 25-Brooke Tatnell 14.492
- 83-Tim Kaeding 14.518
- 81-Craig Folmar 14.548
- 1-Chris Shirek 14.615
- R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.624
- 13X-Kramer Williamson 14.644
- 60C-Kory Crabtree 14.669
- 22-Brian Ellenberger 14.686
- 55-Chad Layton 14.726
- D4-Danny Holtgraver 14.785
- 89-Robbie Stillwaggon 14.794
- 49-Bob Howard 14.865
- 6W-Brad Wickham 14.884
- O-Glenn Styres 14.897
- 63J-Josh Weller 14.919
- 4K-Kris Spitz 15.375
- 19K-Kyle Pruitt 15.602
- 23-Todd Zinn 15.858
- 6X-Mark Cole 16.232
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 Nov 06, 2009
- Article Date: 11/6/2009