Joey Saldana Captures First World of Outlaws Win in ’11
Joey Saldana held off Jason Meyers and Danny Schatz for the victory in Las Vegas on Wednesday night. The win netted Saldana a $10,000 payday for his efforts.
Courtesy: WoO Media Relations
LAS VEGAS — March 2, 2011 — It was a night of firsts on Wednesday for Joey Saldana
in the Las Vegas National Presented by J.D. Byrider at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He
fought off late charges from Jason Meyers and Donny Schatz to earn his first victory
of the season, the first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of his career at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first win for new sponsor Red Bull, and the first
victory with new crew chief Kale Kahne.
“When you are competing out here with the likes of [Steve Kinser’s crew chief] Scott
Gerkin and [Donny Schatz’s crew chief] Ricky Warner, it says a lot when someone can
come out here and set a car up that wins,” said an excited Saldana, of Pittsboro,
Ind. “We had a great run with Willie Kahne as crew chief but I’m really looking
forward to what Kale and I can do together as we get into this season.”
Saldana started alongside Kasey Kahne Racing teammate Cody Darrah on the outside of
Row 2, directly behind four-time champion Donny Schatz. Darrah swept to the lead
past polesitter Terry McCarl on the green flag with Saldana powering his way to the
front a lap later. Schatz remained in the hunt for all 30 laps with his #15
STP/Armor All/ Chevrolet but a late-race surge by the sixth-starting Meyers made it
close. Meyers wound up edging Schatz for second with Darrah in the Great Clips Maxim
and Craig Dollansky in the Big Game Treestands Maxim rounding out the Top Five.
“It’s sad to say but this our best finish so far this season,” said Meyers, the 2010
World of Outlaws champion from Clovis, Calif., who on Tuesday took flight with the
U.S. Navy Blue Angels in southern California. “We’ve run well all year but this was
the first time we were able to put it all together and really get a good finish out
of it.”
Schatz, a six-time winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is hoping his podium finish
will give him some momentum going into Thursday’s finale at Las Vegas.
“We feel like we’ve turned the corner a little bit,” said Schatz, a native of Fargo,
N.D. “The car was very fast tonight and hopefully this continues.”
The star-studded night included Kasey Kahne watching from the pits while fellow
NASCAR superstar and World of Outlaws car owner Tony Stewart decided to join the
action, piloting a third TSR entry with Bass Pro Shops, J.D. Byrider and Chevrolet
on board. However, contact with points leader and TSR driver Steve Kinser on Lap 4
ended Stewart’s night.
The red-hot action reached a boiling point with six laps to go when Sammy Swindell
and Jason Sides made contact while racing for sixth position. It was enough to send
Sides, who had finished first or second in the previous three World of Outlaws
events, tumbling end over end in his Wetherington Tractor Service ride. Sides’ car
sustained heavy damage but Swindell was able to continue in the #1 Big Game
Treestands Maxim.
Reduced to a six-lap shootout, a big pileup on the backstretch caught Steve Kinser
again. Kinser’s crew worked feverishly to replace several front end components to
get the 20-time champion back on the track. Another caution on the restart when Jac
Haudenschild, making his first start of the season, caught an inside tire marker and
had the front end of his Dennis Roth-owned car roll under allowed Kinser’s crew
enough time to get him back on the track.
The restarts benefited Meyers, who capitalized on the high side by charging from
fourth to second, but unlike in 2010 when Meyers was able to race from 18th to
victory at Las Vegas, he would come up one spot short as Saldana was too strong in
the Red Bull Maxim.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series wraps up the Las Vegas Nationals Presented by
J.D. Byrider on Thursday night. If you can’t attend, you can watch all of the action
at DIRTVision.com, which is featuring multi-camera video coverage for only $14.99.
Las Vegas Nationals Notebook
QUICKTIME – Donny Scahtz was the night’s fastest qualifier at a 14.420, earning five
more championship points. Saldana, Darrah, McCarl and Dollansky also earned points
during time trials.
WINNERS - There have been six World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature event
winners in 2011. They include Steve Kinser (2-Volusia Speedway Park, Pike County
Speedway), Jason Sides (1-Volusia Speedway Park), Sammy Swindell (1-Royal Purple
Raceway), and Joey Saldana (1-Las Vegas Motor Speedway).
NEW ONLINE HOME – Make sure to check out the all-new WorldofOutlaws.com for the
latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also
listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com.
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Las
Vegas, Nevada; March 2, 2011
A-main (30 laps) - Starting Position [#] — 1) 9-Joey Saldana[4] [$10,000]; 2)
14-Jason Meyers[6] [$5,000]; 3) 15-Donny Schatz[2] [$3,000]; 4) 91-Cody Darrah[3]
[$2,700]; 5) 7-Craig Dollansky[5] [$2,500]; 6) 24-Terry McCarl[1] [$2,200]; 7)
6-Kraig Kinser[12] [$2,000]; 8) 83-Paul McMahan[10] [$1,800]; 9) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[9]
[$1,600]; 10) 11-Steve Kinser[8] [$1,450]; 11) 21-Brian Brown[16] [$1,300]; 12)
1-Sammy Swindell[18] [$1,200]; 13) 63-Chad Kemenah[13] [$1,100]; 14) 2L-Logan
Forler[24] [$1,000]; 15) 94-Zach Zimmerly[20] [$950]; 16) 6R-Bill Rose[17] [$900];
17) 55-Trey Starks[22] [$850]; 18) 5D-Josh Dewitt[23] [$750]; 19) 83SR-Jac
Haudenschild[21] [$725]; 20) 30C-Lance Dewease[14] [$700]; 21) 83JR-Tim Kaeding[15]
[$700]; 22) 2B-Ben Gregg[19] [$700]; 23) 7S-Jason Sides[7] [$700]; 24) 11S-Tony
Stewart[11] [$700]. Lap Leaders: Cody Darrah 1, Joey Saldana 2-30. KSE Hard Charger
Award: Logan Forler.
Qualifying — 1) 15-Donny Schatz 14.420; 2) 9-Joey Saldana 14.428; 3) 91-Cody Darrah
14.450; 4) 24-Terry McCarl 14.490; 5) 7-Craig Dollansky 14.526; 6) 11S-Tony Stewart
14.545; 7) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.551; 8) 14-Jason Meyers 14.578; 9) 7S-Jason Sides
14.590; 10) 83-Paul McMahan 14.646; 11) 6-Kraig Kinser 14.656; 12) 11-Steve Kinser
14.662; 13) 63-Chad Kemenah 14.685; 14) 30C-Lance Dewease 14.702; 15) 83JR-Tim
Kaeding 14.721; 16) 21-Brian Brown 14.742; 17) 6R-Bill Rose 14.799; 18) 1-Sammy
Swindell 14.832; 19) 2B-Ben Gregg 14.857; 20) 94-Zach Zimmerly 14.899; 21) 83SR-Jac
Haudenschild 14.902; 22) 55-Trey Starks 14.975; 23) 5D-Josh Dewitt 15.110; 24)
2L-Logan Forler 15.191; 25) 44W-Austen Wheatley 16.543.
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) — 1) 83-Paul McMahan[1];
2) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[2]; 3) 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 4) 24-Terry McCarl[3]; 5) 63-Chad
Kemenah[5]; 6) 2B-Ben Gregg[7]; 7) 21-Brian Brown[6]; 8) 55-Trey Starks[8]; 9)
44W-Austen Wheatley[9];
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) — 1) 14-Jason Meyers[2];
2) 7-Craig Dollansky[3]; 3) 9-Joey Saldana[4]; 4) 6-Kraig Kinser[1]; 5) 30C-Lance
Dewease[5]; 6) 6R-Bill Rose[6]; 7) 5D-Josh Dewitt[8]; 8) 94-Zach Zimmerly[7];
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) — 1) 11-Steve Kinser[1];
2) 7S-Jason Sides[2]; 3) 91-Cody Darrah[4]; 4) 1-Sammy Swindell[6]; 5) 11S-Tony
Stewart[3]; 6) 83JR-Tim Kaeding[5]; 7) 83SR-Jac Haudenschild[7]; 8) 2L-Logan
Forler[8];
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) —
1) 24-Terry McCarl[1]; 2) 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 3) 91-Cody Darrah[2]; 4) 9-Joey
Saldana[3]; 5) 7-Craig Dollansky[5]; 6) 14-Jason Meyers[7]; 7) 7S-Jason Sides[8]; 8)
11-Steve Kinser[10]; 9) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[6]; 10) 83-Paul McMahan[9];
B-main (8 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) — 1) 83SR-Jac
Haudenschild[3]; 2) 21-Brian Brown[1]; 3) 55-Trey Starks[4]; 4) 94-Zach Zimmerly[2];
5) 5D-Josh Dewitt[5]; 6) 2L-Logan Forler[6]; 7) 44W-Austen Wheatley[7] [$200].