Chico Mini Gold Cup Friday results 2009-03-13

Saldana Shines at Silver Dollar Speedway: Wins Opening Night of Mini Gold Cup

Chico, CA-- March 13, 2009-- Over the years, Joey Saldana has learned that patience is a vital aspect of sprint car racing, especially on bullrings where lapped traffic always comes into play. Saldana used plenty of patience on Friday night in the opener of the 23rd Annual Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California to pick up the $10,000 win over Jason Meyers and Terry McCarl.

Saldana began the night by setting a new track record in time trials, charging around the high-banked ¼-mile in 10.918 seconds, becoming the first driver ever to eclipse the 11-second barrier in the 50-plus year history of the track. He then got around teammate Craig Dollansky in lapped traffic on the 26th lap of the 40-lap event and would lead the remainder of the way, enduring a number of late cautions.

"It feels great," said Saldana. "This is a great effort for Kasey Kahne Racing. We had a very good car. I can't thank Budweiser and Kasey enough for the opportunity that they have given me."

Saldana started fifth in the Budweiser Maxim and got around Jonathan Allard on the opening lap, before charging past Donny Schatz on the second circuit. He then shadowed Terry McCarl for a number of laps as the pair tried to track down Craig Dollansky. Saldana was able to get by McCarl on the seventh lap and then set his sights on his Kasey Kahne Racing teammate. He would catch Dollansky in traffic on the 26th lap as he was held up by a couple of slower machines, giving Saldana the perfect opening he needed to charger under him on the low side of the track on the front straightaway and quickly open a sizeable advantage.

"My car was so good the longer that we ran in open track," he explained. "I was keeping up with Craig (Dollansky) and waiting for lapped traffic to come to us. I kept moving around the track so I would be ready for that."

After a hard crash in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago, Jason Meyers rebounded in impression fashion finishing second on Friday night aboard the GLR Investments KPC. He started seventh and quickly moved into the Top-Five, before falling back to seventh and then working his way to the front again.

"For us right now, this is a great run and a good momentum builder for tomorrow night," shared Meyers. "We just had to hang on. The holes were pretty big down there and I didn't know if we could get through them or not. We tried to stay out of them and hang in there."

The field endured a total of 13 yellow flag periods and two red flags over the course of the 40 laps. The majority of the cars in the field were involved in some type of caution or red flag at some point during the 40-lap event. Meyers was able to stay out of trouble en route to earning his fourth Top-10 finish of the season.

"I think we ran about 200 laps tonight, but it gives you a chance to look at the race track," noted the native of Clovis, California. "Restarts on a track like this are always good places to make moves. It makes for exciting racing and you'll have yellows like that when the track has some holes in it. There is nothing wrong with that, it was a great race tonight. Guys came from the back to the front and I'm sure the fans got a good race tonight. It's great to be back for the Mini Gold Cup with the World of Outlaws."

Terry McCarl started on the pole in the opener of the Mini Gold Cup, after winning the Cranes Cams Dash and led the field down the front straightaway into turn one, before Craig Dollansky got around him on the high side of turn two. He remained in the Top-Four the entire race and had a couple of spirited battles with Jac Haudenschild and Sammy Swindell.

"We wanted to win the thing, but we came home third and that's what we are out here to do, run up front," stated McCarl. "It was a chess match up there not hooking the ruts. The track was in great condition, it just had a few ruts. I hooked a couple and lost some spots and so did Sammy (Swindell) and Craig (Dollansky). It was just one of those deals."

McCarl wound up third in the Big Game Treestands Maxim to pick up his best World of Outlaws finish this season and survived the rough and tumble 40-laps after enduring some serious damage late in the going.

"We had a great car," said the native of Altoona, Iowa. "I screwed up on that (late) restart and hooked a rut and messed Tim Kaeding up and he got into my left rear and nearly blew the tire and wheel off. It was smashed to bits, so we were lucky to finish."

Danny Lasoski finished fourth aboard the Casey's General Store Maxim to earn his best finish of the young World of Outlaws season as he continues his to gel with the Parsons Motorsports team.

Steve Kinser turned in a very impressive run coming from the back of the field after having to go to a back-up car after a hard crash in the Crane Cams Dash. The 20-time series champion lined up 24th for the 40-lap contest and finished fifth in the Quaker State Maxim, to earn the KSE Race Products Hard Charger Award.

Chad Kemenah was sixth in the Kantor Oil Company Maxim, with three-time World of Outlaws champion Sammy Swindell in seventh in the Tom Rolfe Trucking Maxim. Randy Hannagan was eighth in the Central Valley Meat Company Maxim, with Kerry Madsen in ninth, piloting the TK Concrete Maxim and three-time and defending series champion Donny Schatz rounded out the Top-10 in the Armor All J&J.

After leading the first 25 laps of the race and then running in the Top-Three for the next 10, Craig Dollansky spun with just five laps remaining and had to restart at the tail of the field. He ended up working his way back up to 11th aboard the DirecTV Maxim.

The Mini Gold Cup wraps up on Saturday night for the World of Outlaws at Silver Dollar Speedway with another 40-lap main event that will see the winner pocket $10,000.

MINI GOLD CUP NIGHT #1 NOTES

* FAST QUALIFIER: Joey Saldana paced the 53 cars that took time with a record setting AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/4-mile oval at 10.918 seconds at 82.433 mph. For his qualifying effort, Saldana earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jonathan Allard (4), Randy Hannagan (3), Sammy Swindell (2), and Jac Haudenschild (1).

* QUALIFYING WINNERS: Steve Kinser, Jonathan Allard, Craig Dollansky and Jason Meyers won heat races... Terry McCarl won the Crane Cams Dash... Danny Lasoski won the B-Main.... Jesse Hockett won the C-Main.

* FEATURE WINNERS: There has been five World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park and Silver Dollar Speedway).

* ¼-MILE WINNERS: Silver Dollar Speedway is a high-banked 1/4-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced once this season on a track that size. The winner was Joey Saldana (Silver Dollar Speedway).

***

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Silver Dollar Speedway; Chico, CA; March 13, 2009

Qualifying
1) 9-Joey Saldana 10.918
2) O-Jonathan Allard 10.954
3) 1X-Randy Hannagan 11.036
4) 10-Sammy Swindell 11.038
5) R19-Jac Haudenschild 11.038
6) 83-Tim Kaeding 11.062
7) 19-Craig Dollansky 11.084
8) 24T-Tyler Walker 11.087
9) 6X-Kyle Hirst 11.088
10) 11C-Roger Crockett 11.093
11) 24-Terry McCarl 11.097
12) 14-Jason Meyers 11.151
13) 11-Steve Kinser 11.168
14) 8K-Chad Kemenah 11.168
15) 2F-Brad Furr 11.185
16) 15-Donny Schatz 11.194
17) 92-Andy Forsburg 11.203
18) 55-Kerry Madsen 11.211
19) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.246
20) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 11.260
21) 33E-Evan Suggs 11.267
22) 2SB-Sean Becker 11.300
23) 22-Brian Ellenberger 11.324
24) 25-Jason York 11.362
25) 6-Danny Lasoski 11.374
26) 69-Brent Kaeding 11.375
27) 20-Kraig Kinser 11.389
28) 54-Mark Hall 11.418
29) 1XX-Brett Miller 11.436
30) 6M-Jon Mailand 11.436
31) 33-Kyle Harris 11.457
32) 39-Greg Decaires 11.458
33) 7S-Jason Sides 11.460
34) 24C-Colby Copeland 11.467
35) 55X-Brandon Carey 11.479
36) 75-Dan Menne 11.480
37) 2-Jessie Hockett 11.481
38) 82-Robbie Whitechurch 11.507
39) 22M-Mason Moore 11.553
40) 73-Jason Solwold 11.554
41) 35A-Wayne Johnson 11.633
42) 4X-Toni Lutar 11.691
43) 7B-Brent York 11.694
44) 26B-Bobby McMahan 11.757
45) 19W-Tyler Wolf 11.759
46) 83M-Mike Stallings 11.780
47) 25C-Chad Groves 11.784
48) 26-Tayler Malsam 11.809
49) 11VS-John-Michael Bunch 11.856
50) 4S-Dan Simpson 11.964
51) 11MD-Mathew Davis 12.091
52) 98M-Mitch Olson 12.674
53) 15X-Pat Harvey 23.196
54) 29-Bud Kaeding -.---

Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild
3) 9-Joey Saldana
4) 92-Andy Forsburg
5) 1XX-Brett Miller
6) 6-Danny Lasoski
7) 35A-Wayne Johnson
8) 7S-Jason Sides
9) 11VS-John-Michael Bunch
10) 33E-Evan Suggs
11) 15X-Pat Harvey
12) 19W-Tyler Wolf
13) 2-Jesse Hockett
14) 6X-Kyle Hirst

Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) O-Jonathan Allard
2) 11C-Roger Crockett
3) 83-Tim Kaeding
4) 8K-Chad Kemenah
5) 55-Kerry Madsen
6) 2SB-Sean Becker
7) 69-Brent Kaeding
8) 82-Robbie Whitechurch
9) 6M-Jon Mailand
10) 29-Bud Kaeding
11) 83M-Mike Stallings
12) 24C-Colby Copeland
13) 4X-Toni Lutar
14) 4S-Dan Simpson

Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 19-Craig Dollansky
2) 24-Terry McCarl
3) 1X-Randy Hannagan
4) 2F-Brad Furr
5) 22-Brian Ellenberger
6) 55X-Brandon Carey
7) 22M-Mason Moore
8) 7B-Brent York
9) 20-Kraig Kinser
10) 11MD-Mathew Davis
11) 25C-Chad Groves
12) 33-Kyle Harris
13) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.

Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 24T-Tyler Walker
4) 10-Sammy Swindell
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
6) 54-Mark Hall
7) 25-Jason York
8) 75-Dan Menne
9) 26B-Bobby McMahan
10) 26-Tayler Malsam
11) 73-Jason Solwold
12) 98M-Mitch Olson
13) 39-Greg Decaires

Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 24-Terry McCarl
2) 19-Craig Dollansky
3) 15-Donny Schatz
4) O-Jonathan Allard
5) 9-Joey Saldana
6) 1X-Randy Hannagan
7) 14-Jason Meyers
8) R19-Jac Haudenschild
9) 11-Steve Kinser
10) 11C-Roger Crockett

C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 2-Jessie Hockett
2) 35A-Wayne Johnson
3) 26-Tayler Malsam [$125]
4) 26B-Bobby McMahan [$125]
5) 22M-Mason Moore [$125]
6) 7B-Brent York [$100]
7) 98M-Mitch Olson [$100]
8) 82-Robbie Whitechurch [$100]
9) 83M-Mike Stallings [$100]
10) 11MD-Mathew Davis [$100]
11) 4S-Dan Simpson [$100]
12) 15X-Pat Harvey [$100]
13) 11VS-John-Michael Bunch [$100]
14) 25C-Chad Groves [$100]
15) 19W-Tyler Wolf [$100]
16) 29-Bud Kaeding [$100]
17) 4X-Toni Lutar [$100]
18) 73-Jason Solwold [$100]

B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Danny Lasoski
2) 6X-Kyle Hirst
3) 20-Kraig Kinser
4) 33E-Evan Suggs
5) 7S-Jason Sides [$200]
6) 39-Greg Decaires [$180]
7) 69-Brent Kaeding [$175]
8) 35A-Wayne Johnson [$160]
9) 2-Jessie Hockett [$150]
10) 75-Dan Menne [$150]
11) 55X-Brandon Carey [$150]
12) 24C-Colby Copeland [$150]
13) 2SB-Sean Becker [$150]
14) 54-Mark Hall [$150]
15) 6M-Jon Mailand [$150]
16) 33-Kyle Harris [$150]
17) 25-Jason York [$150]
18) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [$150]

A-main (40 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[5] [$10,000]
2) 14-Jason Meyers[7] [$5,000]
3) 24-Terry McCarl[1] [$3,000]
4) 6-Danny Lasoski[21] [$2,700]
5) 11-Steve Kinser[24] [$2,500]
6) 8K-Chad Kemenah[14] [$2,200]
7) 10-Sammy Swindell[10] [$2,000]
8) 1X-Randy Hannagan[6] [$1,800]
9) 55-Kerry Madsen[17] [$1,600]
10) 15-Donny Schatz[3] [$1,450]
11) 19-Craig Dollansky[2] [$1,300]
12) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[18] [$1,200]
13) 20-Kraig Kinser[22] [$1,100]
14) 22-Brian Ellenberger[20] [$1,000]
15) 33E-Evan Suggs[19] [$950]
16) 83-Tim Kaeding[11] [$900]
17) O-Jonathan Allard[4] [$850]
18) 24T-Tyler Walker[12] [$750]
19) R19-Jac Haudenschild[8] [$725]
20) 7S-Jason Sides[25] [$0]
21) 92-Andy Forsburg[16] [$700]
22) 6X-Kyle Hurst[13] [$700]
23) 11C-Roger Crockett[9] [$700]
24) 2F-Brad Furr[15] [$700]
25) 1XX-Brett Miller[23] [$700]

Notes: Steve Kinser started 24th in the A-Feature after having to utilize a back-up car after an accident in the Crane Cams Dash.

Jason Sides used a World of Outlaws provisional to start the A-Feature.

Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-25, Joey Saldana 26-40

SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Jonathan Allard
Penske Power Position Award: Terry McCarl
KSE Hard Charger Award: Steve Kinser

-credit: WoO