Butler race report 2006-08-02

Four Score: Dollansky Wins at Butler for Fourth Win of 2006

Quincy, MI-August 2, 2006 -- Craig Dollansky had two fierce competitors chasing him on Wednesday night. One was Terry McCarl who used a late race charge to keep him in his sight. The other was a fast approaching storm. In the end, Dollansky outran both and picked up a $10,000 pay day in the process. McCarl settled for the runner-up position, and the storm began to pelt the track with rain just seconds after the checkered flag flew on the race.

For Dollansky, it was his fourth win this season as he rolled into the RacinSoles Victory Lane at Butler Speedway after the World of Outlaws Sprint Series took on the All Star Circuit of Champions.

The win was his first this season on a 3/8-mile oval. Dollansky drove the Karavan Trailers Maxim to victory twice this year at the half-mile Eldora Speedway and once at the quarter-mile Tri-State (Ind.) Speedway.

Terry McCarl finished second in the Big Game Treestands Eagle with Chad Blonde third TLC Auto Collision Maxim, marking the best finish of his career in a World of Outlaws event. Dale Blaney in the George Fisher Racing Maxim and Daryn Pittman in the Titan Garages & Carports Maxim rounded out the top five.

Dollansky started on the pole position after picking up a convincing win in the dash. He grabbed the initial lead, but a complete restart was in order after a yellow flag came out for a spin by Brooke Tatnell, without a full lap completed. This moved Joey Saldana into the outside front row starting spot and he would shadow Dollansky for the first nine laps of the race,

On lap 10, Saldana dove under Dollansky in traffic to take the lead. This came after the driver of the Mopar-powered Dodge/Curb Records JEI pulled alongside Dollansky countless times but could not quite get around him.

The lead was short lived for the Brownsburg, Ind. native, as Dollansky powered his way back to the front on lap 14 with an impressive move on the low side of the track to get around Saldana. From there, he would lead the final 22 laps of the 35-lap A-Feature.

"It definitely feels good to get a win here tonight," Dollansky said. "We're trying to get ready for the Knoxville Nationals, and get some momentum going here, and keep on it."

Though Dollansky led the final two-thirds of the race, it was no walk in the park. McCarl made a few late attempts to get around the Elk River, Minn. native. On a couple of late restarts, McCarl pulled along side and them ahead of Dollansky to remind him that he was there. McCarl surged ahead of Dollansky briefly with a handful of laps to go, on the outside of the track, but Dollansky quickly countered and used a slide job to retain the lead as they crossed the start-finish line.

"We were pretty decent on the restarts," said Dollansky. "All in all, I felt pretty good with the car. Terry (McCarl) got up beside us and actually had me a little bit and I slid him going into turn three. I guess he thought that was a little tight, but there was plenty of room there. It was a good win for the Karavan team. It was good to beat the rain as well."

McCarl was disappointed to finish second, but found some consolation knowing how hard he raced, and that he gave it everything that he had. Also, on a hot and muggy night on a tricky track, it was a good test for his still recovering left leg.

"My leg certainly doesn't like the roughness we had here and at Princeton," said McCarl. "Out in the car, it's not too bad. It's difficult to use the brakes, as much as I would like to. It's no excuse, if you're a World of Outlaws guy, you have to fight through that type of thing."

Chad Blonde finished a career best third on Wednesday night and after the race was ready to climb back in the car and run another 35 laps, as he seemingly passed cars at will.

"We feel pretty good about this," said Blonde. "This is the first time we have ever finished third in a World of Outlaws event. We were coming up through the field pretty good. We started 16th in the main event and to finish third is a pretty good run."

Dollansky had his car working on all parts of the track. He was going high and low as he was slicing through lap traffic on the ultra fast 3/8-mile track. He was glad though to see a couple of early cautions that put some clean racetrack ahead of him.

"I definitely felt like we had the car to beat out in the open traffic," said Dollansky. "Those restarts depend on the first corner. Hopefully this will get us some momentum."

McCarl would not have minded seeing a late caution as Dollansky pulled away in the last handful of laps. He and Dollansky raced hard at Princeton last weekend and continued that at Butler much to the delight of the fans.

"Traffic wasn't too bad," said McCarl. "We could move around pretty good. Without a yellow he (Dollansky) was out there good, and had a good pace going."

Dollansky and his team carry a good amount of momentum into Eldora Speedway on Friday, and there is nothing that would please him more than to pick up a trio of wins this season at the always demanding and very storied track.

"It would be great to make it three wins there this year," said Dollansky. "It's a tough place to win at, so we?ll be going in there giving it all we got, and we'll see what we come up with."

McCarl was happy that the fans got to see a thrilling race on Wednesday and was very appreciative to the large number of fans that attended the race, even with the threat of rain in the forecast all day.

"It was a great race for the fans, that?s for sure," said McCarl. "We'll take second tonight and we?ll be back."

McCarl and the rest of the Mean 15, as well as the All Star Circuit of Champions will do battle again on Friday night. For McCarl who won a preliminary feature at Williams Grove Speedway a couple weeks back, going to Eldora adds motivation. Being a student of sprint car racing history, he wants to win at as many of the legendary tracks as he can.

"I'm hoping to come out of there with a win," McCarl said. "It would be a nice pump-up for the (Knoxville) Nationals. Plus, you don't have to use the brakes very much at Eldora, so that works a little better for us."

Blonde passed more cars than anyone on the track all night, as he made a brilliant charge from the 16th starting spot to finish in third. He was the highest finishing regular with the All Stars. One of the thrills of his night, was using patience to work his way past Dale Blaney, who is a mentor to the young driver from Litchfield, Mich.

"It wasn't that easy," said Blonde. "It took me quite a few laps to get around Dale. He is a good driver and has been around a long time. I have learned a lot from Dale. He helps me out a lot. Once we got by him, we were running down McCarl, but by then it was too late. When you start deep in the field like that, it makes it tougher."

Blonde had an advantage on many of the drivers on Wednesday night in the fact that, he knew Butler Speedway very well. He has raced at the facility more times than he can remember, and those laps came into play as he found the perfect set-up in the A-Feature to propel him to his best career World of Outlaws finish.

"Traffic here doesn't affect me much," Blonde said. "I am very familiar with the track. I grew up around here and live only seven miles from here. It was a nice short drive for us and we enjoyed it a lot."

After a strong run over the weekend at Princeton Speedway in the PolyDome Princeton Nationals, Blonde looks forward to competing at Eldora on Friday. His team is working very hard and he gains more confidence and priceless experience every time he takes to the track.

"We feel pretty good about going to Eldora," said Blonde. "I don't have a lot of laps around Eldora, which hurt a little bit. We'll try to do the best we can and see what happens."

Dale Blaney was consistent all night as he started on the outside of the fourth row, but was elevated to the third row after Tatnell?s spin. The veteran ran as high as second late in the race, before McCarl and Blonde got back around him. He turned in a solid run to come home fourth.

Daryn Pittman coming off a sweep of the PolyDome Princeton Nationals turned in a strong run to finish fifth. He had a torrid battle with Chad Blonde in the middle of the race. The native of Owasso, Okla., started the 35-lapper in the ninth spot and methodically worked his way into the top-five.

Jeremy Campbell who lives only about an hour from the track, rebounded from a tough early part of the night to finish sixth. He began the evening by qualifying in the fifth spot. Then in his heat race, he came up just short from transferring into the A-Feature, and had to run the B-Main, which he dominated to earn the 12th staring spot in the feature. He was the highest finishing challenger for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award Presented by Maxim Racing and ButlerBuilt.

The rest of the Top-10 was Brock Mayes representing the All Stars in seventh. Jac Haudenschild was eighth. Becca Anderson picked up her third top-10 finish if the year in 9th. Fellow rookie contender Justin Henderson was 10th.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Series travels Friday to intimidating Eldora Speedway for the final time this season before heading Saturday to fast-paced K-C Raceway.

BUTLER SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK

* FAST QUALIFIER: Brooke Tatnell paced the 40 cars in time trials with an AMB i.t.-timed lapped around the 3/8-mile high-banked oval at 12.849 seconds at 105.067 mph. For his qualifying effort, Tatnell earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Becca Anderson (4), Joey Saldana (3), Randy Hannagan (2), and Jeremy Campbell (1).

* QUALIFYING EVENT WINNERS: Heat race winners included: Mean 15 driver Jac Haudenschild, as well as Brandon Martin, Sean Robinson, and Neil Shepherd. ? Jeremy Campbell won the B-Main. ? Craig Dollansky picked up the win in the dash.

* FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 14 different winners in 39 A-feature events to visit the RacinSoles Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws this season. The win list includes: Donny Schatz (March 9 at The Dirt Track @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 31 at Batesville Speedway, April 1 at I-55 Raceway, May 16 at Grandview Speedway, May 30 at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, June 18 at Red River Valley Speedway, June 30 at 81 Speedway, July 18 at Lernerville Speedway, July 23 at Lebanon Valley Speedway, and July 25 at Fulton Speedway), Joey Saldana (Feb.10 at Volusia, June 4 at Terre Haute, June 23 at Knoxville Raceway, July 1 at Dodge City Raceway Park, July 13 at Limaland Motorsports Park, and July 15 at Eldora Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (May 6 at U.S. 36 Raceway, May 20 at Sharon Speedway, June 14 at The Raceway @ Powercom Park, and July 7 at Lawrenceburg Speedway), Craig Dollansky (April 15 at Tri-State Speedway, June 4 at Eldora Speedway, July 14 at Eldora Speedway, and Aug. 2 at Butler Speedway), Daryn Pittman (June 10 at Eagle Raceway, July 22 at Williams Grove, and July 29 at Princeton Speedway), Brooke Tatnell (May 7 at Huset's Speedway, May 29 at Orange County Fair Speedway, and July 8 at I-55 Raceway), Sammy Swindell (April 8 at Eldora Speedway and March 10 at the Dirt Track @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway), Dean Jacobs (May 31 at Lernerville Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Feb. 9 at Volusia), Danny Lasoski (March 3 at Manzanita), Terry McCarl (July 3 at Huset's Speedway), Paul McMahan (March 4 at USA Race Park), Fred Rahmer (May 27 at Williams Grove), and Kevin Swindell (May 24 at The Dirt at Lowe's Motor Speedway).

* PRELIMINARY FEATURE WINNERS: There have been seven preliminary features run this season by the World of Outlaws. The winners list includes: Daryn Pittman who won the prelim night at Eagle Raceway on June 9, and at Princeton Speedway on July 28, Donny Schatz who won the prelim night June 17 at Red River Valley, Fred Rahmer, who won the prelim night on May 26 at Williams Grove Speedway Sammy Swindell, who won the prelim night on April 7 at Eldora Speedway, Terry McCarl who won the prelim night at Williams Grove on July 20, and Craig Dollansky who won the prelim night at Williams Grove on July 21.

* 3/8-MILE WINNERS: Butler Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile track. The series has raced seven times this season on a track that size. Winners include: Donny Schatz (Batesville Speedway, 81 Speedway, and Fulton Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (U.S. 36 Raceway and Sharon Speedway), Paul McMahan (USA Race Park), and Craig Dollansky (Butler Speedway).

* ON TELEVISION: The Outdoor Channel will air at 8 p.m. (ET) on August 9 the 15th Annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup from Lernerville Speedway. The Outdoor Channel is available nationwide through the DISH Network (Channel 153) and DIRECTV (Channel 606).

-woo