Concord, NC—June 14, 2010—
Hard work all around: The crew at Dodge City Raceway Park along with World of Outlaws Officials worked very hard on Sunday to ensure that a full racing program would be completed for the very large crowd that stayed an extra day in Dodge City to see the finale of the Boot Hill Showdown. Ed Beckley, the promoter at the track, who was the 2009 World of Outlaws Promoter of the Year, worked the surface into shape after heavy rains throughout the night on Saturday that lasted well into Sunday morning, to provide a very racy track that saw Joey Saldana and Jason Meyers trade the lead three times.
“I’m happy we were able to get it in and that Dodge City stuck it out,” shared Lucas Wolfe, who finished third on Sunday afternoon. “We had a great race and two very good nights of racing and great crowds. Thanks to everyone for working so hard to make sure we had two racing programs.”
Every point matters: Joey Saldana set fast time in the opener of the Boot Hill Showdown on Friday night to earn his series-leading fourth quick time honor of the season. His Kasey Kahne Racing teammate Paul McMahan was quickest on Sunday and is tied with Saldana atop the leader board in that category. Saldana has qualified among the Top-Five a series-best 12 times this season to earn 40 bonus points in the championship standings. Jason Meyers, who is second in points, has been among the Top-Five 10 times to garner 31 bonus points. Last season, Meyers led the series in bonus points earned in time trials, while Saldana was third among the title contenders in that department in 2009.
Yet another winner: Sammy Swindell became the 12th driver to win a World of Outlaws A-Feature event this season in the first 25 races of the year. Last season a total of 16 drivers were victorious in 65 A-Feature events. Already this season, 20 drivers have led laps in feature events, while 25 paced the field all of last season, which was one of the most competitive seasons in series history.
Coming through the field: Steve Kinser charged all the way from the back of the field on Friday night in the opener of the Boot Hill Showdown after an opening lap spin, to finish eighth. The 20-time series champion followed that up with a solid fourth-place effort in the finale on Sunday afternoon to score his series leading 23rd Top-10 finish of the season. He is currently third in points, 48 markers out of the top spot as he chases his record 21st title.
A career-best finish: Ben Gregg, one of the contenders for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award this season, earned the best finish of his World of Outlaws career on Sunday afternoon at Dodge City Raceway Park, coming home ninth. It was his first Top-10 finish of the season and his first career Top-10 with the series. He currently leads Toni Lutar in the battle for the rookie title.
Strong again at Dodge City: Brian Ellenberger, who scored the best finish of his World of Outlaws career last year at Dodge City, coming home third, picked up his best finish of this season on Sunday afternoon as he ran a very strong eighth. Ellenberger also earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award coming from the 17th starting spot.
A track he knows well: Sam Hafertepe Jr. had a very strong run on Friday night at Dodge City, finishing sixth to earn his fourth Top-10 finish of the season. The native of Sunnyvale, Texas, who finished third at the track last year, has four career Top-10 finishes with the World of Outlaws at the high-banked 3/8-mile. Hafertepe qualified fourth on Sunday afternoon and raced his way into the dash before some trouble in the feature relegated him to a 15th-place finish.
“It’s a track that kind of fits our style,” said Hafertepe when asked what makes him so fast at Dodge City. “You keep up a lot of speed here and it’s a momentum joint and we are good at places like that where you keep a lot of speed up. It fits my driving style as well.”
A one of a kind trophy: Joey Saldana and Sammy Swindell each received a very unique trophy in addition to $10,000 for winning at Dodge City Raceway Park. A nearly two-foot long hand-crafted wooden Colt 45 that was designed especially for the World of Outlaws event at the state-of-the-art 3/8-mile was presented to the winner of each of the main events.
Looking to move up one spot: Jason Meyers has run very strong at both of the tracks the World of Outlaws visit this week as he continues to chase his first series title. He is a former winner at Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia and set a new track record at River Cities Speedway in time trials last August. The California native is currently second in points, just 32 markers behind Joey Saldana on the strength of a series-best six A-Feature wins, along with 21 Top-10 finishes of which 14 are Top-Five performances.
“All the track coming up are ones we do well at,” noted Meyers. “We’re looking forward to those and getting some good runs and trying to get back on top of the points.”
Up next: The third round of the Showdown for the Bud Crown, Kasey’s King of Sedalia Presented by Budweiser at Missouri State Fair Speedway in on tap on Wednesday, June 16, followed by a two-day event at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota on Friday, June 18 and Saturday, June 19.
Keep up with all the action: The number of “Followers” keeping up with the World of Outlaws via Twitter online and through text messages on cell phones continues to grow and recently surpassed the 4,000 “Follower” mark. Updates are provided throughout race nights beginning with hot laps and continuing all the way through the final checkered flag of the night. To sign-up visit: http://twitter.com/worldofoutlaws and receive live race updates, anywhere, anytime.
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), Chizmark & Larson Insurance, Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), 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 Jun 15, 2010
- Article Date: 6/15/2010