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Swindell Pads
Outlaw Points lead with Eldora Victory
Eldora Speedway...
First Eldora Win Since 2006 – Jeff Babcock Prevails in Modified Finale
By Larry Boos, eldoraspeedway.com
ROSSBURG, Ohio (May 5) – In two of his most recent appearances at
Eldora Speedway – including Friday night – tire issues have left
veteran Sammy Swindell deflated. But in the World of Outlaws (WoO)
Sprint Car feature on Saturday, the only shredding for the Germantown,
Tenn., driver is what he did to the field. Swindell led all 30 laps to
capture his fourth WoO victory this season in the concluding night of
the Outlaw Thunder presented by Goodyear doubleheader weekend.
In the UMP DIRTcar Modified feature, Wayne, Ohio’s Jeff Babcock
benefitted from a late caution that bunched the field to take the lead
and run off the final five laps of the 18-lap feature. In the two UMP
DIRTcar features at Eldora this season he’s finished first and second.
Swindell started second to pole-sitter Paul McMahan and stormed to the
lead to click off the first lap. He stretched his lead to a dominating
1.8 seconds over Joey Saldana with 12 laps complete. But Saldana
started reeling in Swindell over the next two laps, trimming that
nearly two-second deficit to 0.6 seconds on lap 14. Swindell never
relinquished the lead but worry entered his mind on lap 24 when Jason
Sides shredded a tire and again on lap 28 when Kraig Kinser’s tire went
flat.
At the Kings Royal in 2011, Swindell was charging out of turn 4 to the
sure victory when he shredded a tire and limped past the line to finish
second. On Friday night, Swindell’s night was slowed when he cut a tire
with seven laps left to finish sixth.
“I really hated to see those because the tires do get pretty warm here.
Having those two yellows back-to-back we thought we might lose some
(tire) pressure,” said Swindell, who holds an 11-point lead over Donny
Schatz for the WoO points lead. “I was thinking about the Kings Royal
and about not making it that last corner. This Big Game Tree Stands
car’s been awesome.”
Kinser’s flat set up an exciting green-white-checkered flag finish for
the Outlaws. Swindell, as he did in the previous caution, chose the
outside on the double-file restart. The pack engulfed Saldana on the
restart as his engine faltered. Dale Blaney took advantage to jump up
to second but didn’t have time to chase down Swindell.
“I wasn’t stuck to where I had to run right up against the curb,” said
Swindell, who ran along the outer wall but maneuvered around traffic
both high and low on Eldora’s banking. “I could move down and that
really was the key in the lapped traffic. … We could just breeze right
through there pretty easy.”
Blaney, Big Game Tree Stand teammate Craig Dollansky, David Gravel and
Daryn Pittman rounded out the top five. Saldana finished seventh.
“We weren’t really, really good the first 15 or 20 laps … but overall
it was a great night,” Blaney said. “I was going to run fourth until
those cautions but we got through to second. I’m looking forward to
coming back for the Kings Royal weekend.”
Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart arrived in Ohio following qualifying
for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama – he
qualified eighth for the Sprint Cup race – to compete with the second
night with the Outlaws. The reigning and three-time NASCARSprint Cup
Series champion qualified ninth and finished 18th in the feature.
Stewart won the Last Chance Showdown to reach the main event.
The victory was the 19th at Eldora for Swindell and his first since
April 8, 2006. Only Steve Kinser (35) has more WoO wins on Eldora’s
all-time list.
David Gravel topped the two-lap qualifying session for the second
straight night with a 13.213 around the half-mile oval. Gravel also was
fast qualifier Friday with a 13.228.
“It usually doesn’t happen for me here but we found something,” Gravel
said of his qualifying sessions.
McMahan, Trey Starks, Steve Kinser and Jac Haudenschild all won heats.
In the Modified feature, Aaron Orr led the first 12 laps before tagging
the wall in turn 3-4 to bring out a caution and surrender the lead to
Matt Westfall. Westfall fought off a slide job by Babcock on lap 13,
but couldn’t hold off a second one as Westfall brushed the wall in turn
3-4 and Babcock raced past. Babcock charged ahead of the field and beat
Westfall to the finish line by a comfortable 3.4 seconds. Jesse
Bitterling, Joey Kramer and Rob Williams finished among the top five.
“I thought I could get him the lap before but I didn’t have the
clearance,” Babcock said of that first pass attempt of Westfall. “I
thought the next lap I’ll set him up good to where I can get him.
Everybody is so fast around here. The race track is perfect like this,
everybody is fast and you can go anywhere. It makes the racing a lot of
fun.”
Jesse Bitterling, Babcock, Scott Orr and Westfall all won heats. Joey
Kramer and Scott Bowersock won B-Features.
Eldora Speedway hosts Mobil 1 Family Fun Night on Saturday, May 19. The
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds and Eldora Stock Cars will be in action. Fans
also will be treated to a pyrotechnic-filled fireworks extravaganza.
Information for the Family Fun Night, the Kings Royal weekend, and all
other Eldora events are available through the track office at (937)
338-3815 or online 24 hours a day at www.EldoraSpeedway.com. Like us at
www.Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway or catch all the behind-the-scenes
preparation for the event on Twitter @EldoraSpeedway.
GOODYEAR OUTLAW THUNDER NIGHT #2
MAY 5, 2012
WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINTS - 36 CARS
Qualifying - 1. 89G-David Gravel, 13.21; 2. 2-DaleBlaney, 13.24; 3.
9-Joey Saldna 13.25; 4. 27-Daryn Pittman, 13.28; 5. W20-Greg Wilson,
13.29; 6. 4-Cody Darrah, 13.33; 7. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.35; 8. 29-Kerry
Madsen, 13.39; 9. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.41; 10. D4-Danny Holtgraver,
13.42; 11. 00-Jim Nier, 13.42; 12. 7-Craig Dollansky, 13.42; 13.
45-Paul McMahan, 13.43; 14. 55-Trey Starks, 13.44; 15. 11-Steve Kinser,
13.45; 16. 5-Jac Haudenschild, 13.45; 17. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.45; 18.
6-Bill Rose, 13.48; 19. 19-Stevie Smith, 13.50; 20. 54-Cap Henry,
13.51; 21. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.51; 22. 83-Tim Shaffer, 13.53; 23.
7S-Jason Sides, 13.57; 24. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.59; 25. 1X-Randy
Hannagan, 13.63; 26. 2M-Dustin Daggett, 13.64; 27. 24H-Bryan Sebbetto,
13.64; 28. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.66; 20. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.71;
30. 56R Ryan Myers, 13.77; 31. 4S-Danny Smith, 13.78; 32. 12-Jared
Ridge, 13.84; 33. 28-Brian Paulus, 13.88; 34. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.91;
35. 71M- Paul May, 14.27; 36. 19T Todd King, NT.
Heat 1 – (8 laps, Top 5 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1.
45-Paul McMahan (1), 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser (5); 3. 89G-David Gravel (4);
4. W20-Greg Wilson (3); 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe (6); 6. 14-Tony Stewart (2);
7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild (8); 8. 1X-Randy Hannagan (7); 9. 28-Brian
Paulus (9).
Heat 2 – (8 laps, Top 5 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1.
55-Trey Starks (1), 2. 2-Dale Blaney (2), 3. 4-Cody Darrah (3), 4.
83-Tim Shaffer (6), 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver (2), 6. 40-Caleb Helms (9),
7. 2M-Dustin Daggett (7), 8. 6-Bill Rose (5), 9. 56R-Ryan Myers (8),
DNF.
Heat 3 – (8 laps, Top 5 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1.
11-Steve Kinser (1), 2. 1-Sammy Swindell (3), 3. 9-Joey Saldana (4), 4.
00-Jim Nier (2), 5. 7S-Jason Sides (6), 6. 19-Stevie Smith (5), 7.
24H-Bryan Sebbetto (7), 8. 71M-Paul May (9), 9. 4S-Danny Smith (8).
Heat 4 – (8 laps, Top 5 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1. 5-Jac
Haudenschild (1), 2. 7-Craig Dollansky (2), 3. 63-Chad Kemenah (6), 4.
29-Kerry Madsen (3), 5. 27-Daryn Pittman (4), 6. 55-Cap Henry (5), 7.
12-Jared Ridge (8), 8. 15-Donny Schatz, (7) DNF, 9. 19T-Todd King (9),
DNS.
Dash (6 laps) – 1. 45-Paul McMahan (1), 2. 1-Sammy Swindell (3), 3.
9-Joey Saldana (4), 4. 2-Dale Blaney (5), 5. 7-Craig Dollansky (2), 6.
89G-David Gravel (6), 7. 11-Steve Kinser (8), 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser (10),
9. 5-Jac Haudenschild (9), 10. 55-Trey Starks (7).
Last Chance Showdown (12 laps, Top 4 finishers to A-Main): 1. 14-Tony
Stewart (1), 2. 1X-Randy Hannagan (5), 3. 15-Donny Schatz (8), 4.
54-Cap Henry (4), 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild (9), 6. 6-Billl Rose (2),
7. 24H-Bryan Sebbetto (7), 8. 19-Stevie Smith (3), 9. 2M-Dustin Daggett
(6), 10. 28-Brian Paulus (13), 11. 40-Caleb Helms (14), 12. 71M-Paul
May (15), 13. 4S-Danny Smith (11), 14. 12-Jared Ridge (12), 15.
56R-Ryan Myers (10), 16. 19T-Todd King (16).
A-Main (30) – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell (2), 2. 2-Dale Blaney (4), 3. 7-Craig
Dollansky (5), 4. 39G-David Gravel (6), 5. 27-Daryn Pittman (11), 6.
15-Donny Schatz (24), 7. 9-Joey Saldana (3), 8. 11-Steve Kinser (7), 9.
W20-Greg Wilson (12), 10. 63-Chad Kemenah (22), 11. 45-Paul McMahan
(1), 12. 29-Kerry Madsen (14), 13. 5W-Lucas Wolfe (19), 14. 5-Jac
Haudenschild (9), 15. 55-Trey Sparks (10), 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser (8),
17. 4-Cody Darrah (13), 18. 14-Tony Stewart (15), 19. 7S-Jason Sides
(21), 20. D4-Danny Holtgraver (16), 21. 83-Tim Shaffer (20), 22.
1X-Randy Hannagan (23), 23. 54-Cap Henry (18), 24. 6-Bill Rose (25),
25. 00-Jim Nier (17).
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds - 39 CARS
Heat 1 – (8 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1.
225-Jesse Bitterling (1), 2. 11-Rob Williams (8), 3. 52-John Phlipot
Jr. (7), 4. 21M-Donnie Miller (2), 5. 15-Nick Katterhenry (4), 6.
03-Cory Seeling (10), 7. 21T-Tom Treon (6), 8. 45B-Brian Post (5) DNF,
9. 31J-John Brooks (3) DNF.
Heat 2 – (8 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1.
7B-Jeff Babcock (4), 2. 188-Aaron Orr (2), 3. 05-David Smith (10), 4.
7A-Doug Adkins (9), 5. 22B-Andy Bibler (8), 6. 4J-David Treon Jr. (6),
7. 8-Fireball Pinkerton (3), 8. 79-Shane Unger (7), 9. 36-Brandon
Vaughan (5), 10. 1-Scott Williams (1).
Heat 3 – (8 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1.
88-Scott Orr (3), 2. 28-Shaun Smith (2), 3. 7-Evan Taylor (6), 4.
0-Brent Hole (4), 5. 77-Joey Kramer (7), 6. 00-Dave Daugherty (8), 7.
1S-Steve Billenstein (1), 8. 5-Jonathan Taylor (6), 9. 29-Mark Kowarsch
(10), 10. 4-Mike Chrisman (5).
Heat 4 – (8 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer to A-Main feature): 1.
20W-Matt Westfall (2), 2. 18-Ryan Sutter (4), 3. 20-Josh Morton (1), 4.
5X-Tim Richardson (6), 5. 10-Scott Bowersock (9), 6. 26-Mike Dirksen
(7), 7. 31-Matt Bex (3), 8. 24-Terry Grillot (5), 9. 8C-Corey Bevard (8)
B-Main 1 (8 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer to A-Main): 1. 77-Joey
Kramer (2), 2. 15-Nick Katterhenry (1), 3. 900-Dave Daugherty (4), 4.
21T-Tom Treon (5), 5. 5-Jonathan Taylor (8), 6. 29-Mark Kowarsch (10),
7. 4-Mike Chrisman (12), 8. 45P-Brian Post (7), 9. 1S-Steve Billenstein
(6).
B-Main 1 (8 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer to A-Main): 1. 10-Scott
Bowersock (2), 2. 4J-David Treon Jr. (3), 3. 8-Fireball Pinkerton (5),
4. 26-Mike Dirksen (4), 5. 31-Matt Bex (6), 6. 79-Shane Unger (7), 7.
8C-Corey Bevard (10), 8. 1-Scott Williams (11), 9-22B-Andy Bibler (1),
10. 24-Terry Grillot (8), 11. 36-Brandon Vaughn (9).
A-Main (18 laps) – 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock (6), 2. 20W-Matt Westfall (4), 3.
225-Jesse Bitterling (7), 4. 77-Joey Kramer (17), 5. 11-Rob Williams
(3), 6. 18-Ryan Sutter (8), 7. 05-David Smith (10), 8. 7A-Doug Adkins
(14), 9. 28-Shaun Smith (1), 10. 7-Evan Taylor (11), 11. 88-Scott Orr
(5), 12. 52-Weasel Phlipot (9), 13. 10-Scott Bowersock (18), 14.
00-Dave Daughterty (21), 15. 21M-Donnie Miller (13), 16. 20M-Josh
Morton (12), 17. 0-Brent Hole (15), 18. 15-Nick Katterhenry (19), 19.
26-Mike Dirksen (24), 20. 5X-Tim Richardson (16), 21. 4J-David Treon
Jr. (20), 22. 8-Fireball Pinkerton (22), 23. 188-Aaron Orr (2), 24.
21T-Tom Treon (23).
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