Twice as Nice: Sides Wins Second Race of 2009 & Second of his Career at Eldora
For Jason Sides it was his second A-Feature win of the season and the fourth of his career with the World of Outlaws.
Courtesy: WoO Sprint Car Series Media Relations
Rossburg, OH— September 25, 2009— Eldora Speedway will always be near and dear to Jason Sides. After all, he won his first career World of Outlaws race at the famed track in the 2004 Kings Royal, making history, as he scored his first win with the series in one of the crown jewel events of sprint car racing. On Friday night he returned to the hallowed ground that is Eldora’s Victory Lane, taking the opener of the Team Chevy Four Crown Nationals.
For Sides it was his second A-Feature win of the season and the fourth of his career with the World of Outlaws. He dove under Tim Shaffer on the front straightaway on the 26th lap to take the lead and would pace the field for the final five laps of the 30-lap event to earn the $10,000 victory.
“This feels great,” said Sides. “It’s different when you start on the pole and win, like when we started on the pole at Chico (Silver Dollar Speedway) and finished second. We started eighth here tonight and drove up through there and actually passed cars and that makes it that much more special. I can’t thank everyone involved in this team enough. My crew does a great job and thanks to Shawn Dancer from Dancer Logistics and Kimball Wetherington from WTS, my parents and everyone that helps us do this.”
Sides started eighth and was up to third by the eighth lap and then battled Joey Saldana for the runner-up spot for the next 18 laps, nearly taking the spot on several occasions. He dove under Saldana in turn one on the 26th lap to take second as the pair worked lapped traffic and quickly closed in on Tim Shaffer who was leading and took the lead that same lap.
“You have to be in position to win the, this year,” explained that native of Bartlett, Tennessee. “Nobody fell out in front of us other than (Terry) McCarl having a flat. Other cars we actually passed. It was good all night and the car was really good in open air. It felt really good all night.”
The race began with Sammy Swindell leading from the pole, with Terry McCarl taking the top spot on the second lap coming off turn two. Swindell came to a stop on the sixth lap while running second with a mechanical failure bringing out the first caution of the night.
McCarl would pace the field until the eighth lap when Shaffer dove under him in turn two for the top spot. That same lap, McCarl came to a stop with a cut tire. On the ensuing restart Shaffer jumped to a quick lead with Sides battling Saldana for second.
Shaffer led again on a restart after a lap-13 red flag with Sides nearly taking second from Saldana at this point. By the 18th lap Shaffer had a big lead as he began to encounter lapped traffic. Shaffer worked through traffic pretty well for a couple of laps and then was held up a bit, allowing Saldana and Sides to close right in on him. After taking the lead on the 26th lap, Sides endured one final caution and used a very strong restart to pull away at the end in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim.
“In traffic the car was still a little tight,” Sides shared. “When we had that restart it just drove away. It was really good. The car took off great and the motor ran great. It sure feels good to get this one, after we’ve had a couple slip away from us this year.”
Shaffer wound up leading 18 laps en route to finishing second in the Kistler Engines J&J to score his best finish of the season with the World of Outlaws and his fourth Top-Five in eight starts with the series in 2009.
“It was a great night for us,” Shaffer said. “You definitely want to win, but Jason (Sides) had a great car and he did a great job. He got through lapped traffic really good.”
Joey Saldana continued a strong streak that has now seen him finish on the podium in five consecutive events as he came home third in the Budweiser Maxim and also brought him to within 38 points of Donny Schatz in the series standings. He ran second for a large part of the race after moving up to that spot on the ninth lap. He then held off Jason Sides for a number of laps as the latter challenged him for the position.
“It was a good solid night for our entire Budweiser team,” Saldana stated. “We had about a third-place car tonight, and didn’t really have anything to race Jason (Sides) there. He was rolling really good on the bottom and actually got beside me once and was good the whole race. I knew he was coming in lapped traffic and I left the bottom open that one time and he just ate me up.”
The final caution of the night flew on the 28th lap, setting up a three lap shootout between Sides, Shaffer and Saldana. On the restart, Shaffer looked high in turns one and two for the lead and again in turns three and four, but could not get enough momentum to make a pass.
“You just try to attack on those,” said Shaffer who hails from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. “He stumbled on the start and I kind of got on top of him and then he got away. It just didn’t work out. It wasn’t meant to be.”
Saldana gained a lot of ground on Shaffer in the middle of the race when the leaders got into heavy lapped traffic. Three cautions and a red flag led to four restarts, which Saldana did not really want to see.
“We’ve been fighting the motor taking off for some reason and having heat in it for some reason,” admitted the native of Brownsburg, Indiana. “On every restart, I was getting killed. I didn’t need the restarts. I needed to keep racing and get into lapped traffic. That was the only shot I had. Those guys would get all over me on the starts. It’s just something you have to go home and look at and see what you did wrong and get a little better.”
Jason Meyers had another solid night coming home fourth in the GLR Investments KPC. He began the night by setting fast time to earn five bonus points in the World of Outlaws championship standings and was able to cut another nine points off Donny Schatz’s lead, after the latter finished sixth. The margin between the two is now just nine points with eight events remaining this season.
“We unfortunately pulled the 10 for the dash and didn’t really make up a lot of ground in the dash which we needed to do,” commented Meyers. “The track was tough tonight, but low and behold it still put on a great race, especially when we got to lapped traffic. It was really getting interesting there and we’ve seen that a lot this year. It was another good run for us. We just keep charging and keep trying to put the good numbers on the board.”
Cale Conley finished fifth in the Health Bridge Imaging Maxim to earn his best career finish with the World of Outlaws.
Schatz was sixth in the Armor All J&J, with David Gravel scoring his best World of Outlaws finish with a seventh-place effort in the DDR Motorsports J&J after turning in the fourth quickest lap in time trials. Jac Haudenschild was eighth in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim, with Steve Kinser ninth aboard the Quaker State Maxim. Sam Hafertepe Jr. rounded out the Top-10 in the G.H. Plumbing Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, September 26 at Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania with the Commonwealth Clash.
ELDORA SPEEDWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Meyers paced the 44 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 12.828 seconds at 140.318 mph. For his qualifying effort, Meyers earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Joey Saldana (4), Cody Darrah (3), David Gravel (2), and Paul McMahan (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Cale Conley, Jason Sides, Sammy Swindell and Sam Hafertepe Jr. won heat races. Sammy Swindell won the Crane Cams Dash. Steve Kinser won the B-Main. Travis Rutz won the C-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 59 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway-twice, 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, 34 Raceway, I-55 Raceway, Castrol Raceway-twice, Skagit Speedway and Deer Creek Speedway), 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, Eldora Speedway, K-C Raceway and Dacotah Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway, Red River Valley Speedway, Ohsweken Speedway, Skagit Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway and Clay County Fair Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway, Nodak Speedway, Eagle Raceway, Charter Raceway Park and Lernerville Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lebanon Valley Speedway, I-55 Raceway and River Cities Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-twice), Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway and Limaland Motorsports Park), Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Sides (Ohsweken Speedway and Eldora Speedway), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway),Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway) and Stevie Smith (Lernerville Speedway).
• PRELIMINARY FEATURE WINNERS: There has been two World of Outlaws preliminary features this season. The winners include: Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway) and Joey Saldana (Silver Dollar Speedway).
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Eldora Speedway is a high-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series has raced 18 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),Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway) and Jason Sides (Eldora Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Eldora Speedway; Rossburg, OH; September 25, 2009
Qualifying
1) 14-Jason Meyers 12.828
2) 9-Joey Saldana 12.893
3) 89-Cody Darrah 12.961
4) 89G-David Gravel 12.975
5) 71X-Paul McMahan 13.047
6) 11-Steve Kinser 13.074
7) 19-Brad Sweet 13.075
8) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 13.099
9) 3C-Cale Conley 13.099
10) 24-Terry McCarl 13.107
11) 10-Sammy Swindell 13.109
12) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.126
13) 2-Dale Blaney 13.131
14) 7S-Jason Sides 13.137
15) 6-Danny Lasoski 13.138
16) 83X-Tim Shaffer 13.141
17) 84-Jimmy Stinson 13.143
18) R19-Jac Haudenschild 13.152
19) W20-Greg Wilson 13.154
20) 29-Bud Kaeding 13.177
21) 1X-Randy Hannagan 13.187
22) 15-Donny Schatz 13.188
23) B20-Butch Schroeder 13.190
24) 59-Erin Crocker 13.207
25) 28-Todd Kane 13.210
26) O-Brandon Wimmer 13.231
27) 22-Brian Ellenberger 13.237
28) 71M-Paul May 13.242
29) O7X-Wayne Johnson 13.249
30) 4X-Toni Lutar 13.251
31) 83-Tim Kaeding 13.257
32) 63-Chad Kemenah 13.270
33) 22K-Mikey Kuemper 13.277
34) OO-James Nier 13.278
35) 97-Dean Jacobs 13.321
36) 35-Ronnie Blair 13.344
37) OS-Glenn Styres 13.354
38) 8-Travis Rutz 13.394
39) 20-Kraig Kinser 13.428
40) 8H-Mike Brecht 13.481
41) 25-Lee Jacobs 13.567
42) 6R-Bill Rose 13.627
43) 5T-Travis Philo 13.649
44) 93-Sheldon Haudenschild 14.309
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 3C-Cale Conley
2) 14-Jason Meyers
3) 2-Dale Blaney
4) 71X-Paul McMahan
5) O7X-Wayne Johnson
6) 28-Todd Kane
7) 25-Lee Jacobs
8) 84-Jimmy Stinson
9) 22K-Mikey Kuemper
10) OS-Glenn Styres
11) 1X-Randy Hannagan
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7S-Jason Sides
2) 24-Terry McCarl
3) 9-Joey Saldana
4) R19-Jac Haudenschild
5) 15-Donny Schatz
6) OO-James Nier
7) 4X-Toni Lutar
8) 8-Travis Rutz
9) O-Brandon Wimmer
10) 11-Steve Kinser
11) 6R-Bill Rose
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 10-Sammy Swindell
2) 6-Danny Lasoski
3) 19-Brad Sweet
4) 89-Cody Darrah
5) W20-Greg Wilson
6) 83-Tim Kaeding
7) 22-Brian Ellenberger
8) 97-Dean Jacobs
9) 20-Kraig Kinser
10) B20-Butch Schroeder
11) 5T-Travis Philo
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
2) 83X-Tim Shaffer
3) 89G-David Gravel
4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
5) 59-Erin Crocker
6) 71M-Paul May
7) 63-Chad Kemenah
8) 29-Bud Kaeding
9) 35-Ronnie Blair
10) 93-Sheldon Haudenschild
11) 8H-Mike Brecht
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 10-Sammy Swindell
2) 83X-Tim Shaffer
3) 24-Terry McCarl
4) 9-Joey Saldana
5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
6) 3C-Cale Conley
7) 89-Cody Darrah
8) 7S-Jason Sides
9) 14-Jason Meyers
10) 6-Danny Lasoski
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 8-Travis Rutz
2) 97-Dean Jacobs
3) 35-Ronnie Blair [$125]
4) 8H-Mike Brecht [$125]
5) OS-Glenn Styres [$125]
6) 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [$100]
7) 20-Kraig Kinser [$100]
8) 6R-Bill Rose [$100]
9) 25-Lee Jacobs [$100]
10) 5T-Travis Philo [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) 84-Jimmy Stinson
3) 29-Bud Kaeding
4) 1X-Randy Hannagan
5) 83-Tim Kaeding [$200]
6) B20-Butch Schroeder [$180]
7) 22-Brian Ellenberger [$175]
8) 71M-Paul May [$160]
9) 97-Dean Jacobs [$150]
10) OO-James Nier [$150]
11) 4X-Toni Lutar [$150]
12) 8-Travis Rutz [$150]
13) 22K-Mikey Kuemper [$150]
14) 63-Chad Kemenah [$150]
15) O-Brandon Wimmer [$150]
16) 28-Todd Kane [$150]
A-main (30 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 7S-Jason Sides[8] [$10,000]
2) 83X-Tim Shaffer[2] [$5,500]
3) 9-Joey Saldana[4] [$3,200]
4) 14-Jason Meyers[9] [$2,800]
5) 3C-Cale Conley[6] [$2,500]
6) 15-Donny Schatz[22] [$2,300]
7) 89G-David Gravel[11] [$2,200]
8) R19-Jac Haudenschild[18] [$2,100]
9) 11-Steve Kinser[13] [$2,050]
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5] [$2,000]
11) 71X-Paul McMahan[12] [$1,500]
12) 6-Danny Lasoski[10] [$1,200]
13) 20-Kraig Kinser[25] [$300]
14) 19-Brad Sweet[14] [$1,050]
15) 1X-Randy Hannagan[21] [$1,500]
16) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[15] [$900]
17) W20-Greg Wilson[19] [$800]
18) O7X-Wayne Johnson[24] [$800]
19) 22-Brian Ellenberger[26] [$0]
20) 29-Bud Kaeding[20] [$800]
21) 24-Terry McCarl[3] [$800]
22) 89-Cody Darrah[7] [$800]
23) 2-Dale Blaney[16] [$800]
24) 59-Erin Crocker[23] [$800]
25) 10-Sammy Swindell[1] [$800]
26) 84-Jimmy Stinson[17] [$800]
Note- Kraig Kinser and Brian Ellenberger used World of Outlaws Provisionals to start the A-Feature.
Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1, Terry McCarl 2-7, Tim Shaffer 8-25, Jason Sides 26-30
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Travis Rutz
Penske Power Position Award: Joey Saldana
KSE Hard Charger Award: Donny Schatz
World of Outlaws Championship Standings through September 25
1. Donny Schatz 8038
2. Jason Meyers 8029 -9
3. Joey Saldana 8000 -38
4. Steve Kinser 7836 -202
5. Jason Sides 7766 -272
6. Danny Lasoski 7634 -404
7. Craig Dollansky 7535 -503
8. Kraig Kinser 7335 - 703
9. Jac Haudenschild 7282 -756
10. Lucas Wolfe 6952 -1086
