Manzanita report 97-11-01

Mark Kinser Wins Western World Championships By Richard Day PHOENIX, AZ (November 1) - Although Mark Kinser will not join his father, Karl, as a 1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series champion, he has certainly performed like one this season. While commitments to an inexperienced NASCAR Truck Series team kept him from competing in five World of Outlaws events, Mark still leads the national sprint car series in earnings and "A" Feature victories. His most prestigious victory came Saturday at Manzanita Speedway, leading all 30 laps in the 30th Annual Action Performance Western World Championships. The program was taped for a Sunday-evening telecast on ESPN2. Kinser, who led all but six laps in Friday's Preliminary Feature, won his 16th Vivarin Dash of the season for the right to start the 30-lap main event on the pole. Mark drove the #5M Wirtgen Maxim into the lead as the green flag fell in the "A" Feature, and entered lapped traffic with a 14-car-length advantage within 4 1/2 laps. Preliminary Feature winner Stevie Smith narrowed the gap in dense lapped traffic during the sixth lap. Dave Blaney joined the battle for the lead the next time around, and Kinser, Smith and "The Buckeye Bullet" raced nose-to-tail throughout lap seven. Blaney challenged Smith for six laps before steering his #10 Vivarin J&J deep into turn three to take over second place late in the 13th lap. Stevie regained the position three laps later with a low move into the fourth corner. Kinser was a half-straightaway ahead of his closest pursuers when a steering malfunction forced Danny Lasoski to stop, bringing out the caution flag during the 18th lap. As the race resumed, Sean Fenn hit the retaining wall in turn four and flipped. Mark controlled the ensuing restart as his cousin, defending and eight-time Western World champion Steve Kinser, raced into sixth place from outside the fifth row. Mark opened a full straightaway advantage during lap 22, and caught the backmarkers again two laps later. Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series points leader Sammy Swindell, his face swollen after being hit with debris the night before, steered his #1 Channellock Gambler deep into turn four to pass Blaney for third place with 2 1/4 laps remaining. Stevie cut Mark's lead in half as the leaders roared through lapped traffic during the final seven laps, but his #19 Ingersoll-Rand Smith was in the third corner when Kinser took the checkered flag. The $10,000 victory was Mark's 24th of the season. Appearing in victory lane for the 25th time all but clinched Karl Kinser's 16th Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series car owner's title. With a 122-point lead heading into the series' finale - scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - all the Wirtgen team needs is show-up points to claim the championship. Swindell's third-place finish gave him a 146-point advantage over Blaney. Scoring 49 of a possible 194 points in Las Vegas will give Sammy his first World of Outlaws driver's championship in 15 years and the third of his career. "The Buckeye Bullet" finished the main event in fourth place, ahead of Andy Hillenburg, 19th-starting Jeff Swindell, Second Heat Race winner Dale Blaney, Steve Kinser, Jac Haudenschild and Greg Hodnett. Donny Schatz took command of the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' Rookie of the Year race by finishing 11th in the main event as Paul McMahan failed to qualify for the feature. Schatz, who eclipsed the $100,000 mark in earnings during the Western World Championships, only needs to score 41 points in Las Vegas to claim 1997 Rookie of the Year honors. WoO 1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series 30th Annual Action Performance Western World Championships Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix, AZ Saturday, November 1, Feature Program #70 Qualifications: 1. Danny Lasoski, Black 1Z, 15.884; 2. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 15.948; 3. Jeff Shepard, Stewart 4J, 15.960; 4. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 15.961; 5. Randy Tiner, Tiner 83T, 15.973; 6. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 16.041; 7. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 16.073; 8. Kenny Jacobs, Ashworth 92, 16.104; 9. Joey Saldana, Mox Motorsports 17, 16.171; 10. Dale Blaney, Blaney/Hylton 10, 16.180; 11. Randy Hannagan, TRH Racing 1x, 16.189; 12. Craig Dollansky, Wahlie 1W, 16.222; 13. Sean Fenn, Fenn 36, 16.268; 14. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 16.281; 15. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 16.305; 16. Calvin Landis, Landis 70, 16.329; 17. Peter Murphy, Williams 14, 16.344; 18. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 16.383; 19. Rick Ziehl, Ziehl 18, 16.428; 20. Travis Whitney, Whitney 7S, 16.436; 21. Dean Jacobs, Holbrook 8H, 16.511; 22. Don Droud, Jr., DOCC Motorsports 1BK, 16.465; 23. Jimmy Carr, Holbrook 8, 16.511; 24. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 16.514; 25. Bill Robertson, Eckley 16, 16.537; 26. Keith Kauffman, Johnson U2, 16.547; 27. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 16.655; 28. Paul McMahan, Stanton 75, 16.668; 29. Randy Anderson, Anderson 71A, 16.683; 30. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 16.688; 31. Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 16.714; 32. Jason Lund, Lund 8L, 16.799; 33. Kevin Whitworth, Whitworth 5K, 16.808; 34. Larry Neighbors, Neighbors 29N, 16.849; 35. Jimmy Carter, Carter 26, 16.857; 36. Jeff Mitrisin, Sereg 5J, 16.868; 37. Dennis Moore, Jr., Moore 71, 16.896; 38. Rickey Hood, Herrera 45x, 16.898; 39. Marty Wilcox, Wilcox 3, 17.056; 40. Shane Liebig, Liebig 10L, 17.100; 41. Shawna Wilskey, Fauver 5, 17.109; 42. Victor Hensley, Hensley 51P, 17.220; 43. Shawn Sander, Sander 48, 17.288; 44. Keith Watkins, Martin 21AZ, 17.339; 45. Rich Bubak, Bubak 9, 17.494; 46. Kaylene Verville, Verville 01, 17.508; 47. Cesar Fuentes, Fuentes 27F, 17.799; 48. Cal Herdson, Herdson 16H, 17.890; 49. Jay Burns, Burns 2J, 17.946; 50. Tim Levin, Levin 10T, 17.975; 51. Bill Hatfield, Hatfield 44, 17.987; 52. Jerry Vandenhul, Vandenhul 7V, 18.081; 53. Perry McMillan, McMillan 27M, 18.120; 54. Jeff Slinkard, Stone 57, 18.214; 55. Ham Diaz, Fuentes 28, 18.676; 56. Buddy Earle, Earle 95, 19.364; 47. John McDonald, McDonald 78, no time. First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Joey Saldana, 2. Sean Fenn, 3. Randy Tiner, 4. Danny Lasoski, 5. Dean Jacobs, 6. Peter Murphy, 7. Randy Anderson, 8. Bill Robertson, 9. Kevin Whitworth, 10. Shawna Wilskey, 11. Rich Bubak, 12. Dennis Moore, Jr. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Dale Blaney, 2. Greg Hodnett, 3. Sammy Swindell, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Keith Kauffman, 6. Larry Neighbors, 7. Dion Hindi, 8. Don Droud, Jr., 9. Rickey Hood, 10. Victor Hensley, 11. Kaylene Verville, 12. Joe Gaerte. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jeff Swindell, 2. Andy Hillenburg, 3. Randy Hannagan, 4. Jeff Shepard, 5. Jimmy Carr, 6. Rick Ziehl, 7. Lance Blevins, 8. Jimmy Carter, 9. Marty Wilcox, 10. Shawn Sander, 11. Terry McCarl, 12. Cesar Fuentes. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Craig Dollansky, 2. Kenny Jacobs, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Johnny Herrera, 5. Calvin Landis, 6. Jason Lund, 7. Jeff Mitrisin, 8. Paul McMahan, 9. Travis Whitney, 10. Keith Watkins, 11. Shane Liebig, 12. Cal Herdson. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically qualified Stevie Smith, Mark Kinser, Dave Blaney and Jac Haudenschild for the first four starting positions in the Vivarin Dash. Vivarin Dash (five laps): 1. Mark Kinser, 2. Stevie Smith, 3. Dave Blaney, 4. Sammy Swindell, 5. Jac Haudenschild, 6. Danny Lasoski, 7. Donny Schatz, 8. Jeff Shepard. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) D Feature (six laps): 1. Jay Burns, 2. Perry McMillan, 3. Tim Levin ($100); 4. Bill Hatfield ($80); 5. Jerry Vandenhul ($60); 6. Jeff Slinkard ($40); 7. Ham Diaz ($30); 8. Buddy Earle ($25); 9. John McDonald ($25). (first two qualified for the "C" Feature) C Feature (eight laps): 1. Larry Neighbors, 2. Jeff Mitrisin, 3. Shane Liebig, 4. Jimmy Carter ($125); 5. Marty Wilcox ($100); 6. Rickey Hood ($80); 7. Dennis Moore, Jr. ($70); 8. Keith Watkins ($60); 9. Rich Bubak ($50); 10. Victor Hensley ($40); 11. Shawna Wilskey ($30); 12. Cal Herdson ($30); 13. Shawn Sander ($30); 14. Kaylene Verville ($30); 15. Jay Burns ($50); 16. Kevin Whitworth ($30); 17. Perry McMillan ($50); 18. Cesar Fuentes ($30). (first three qualified for the "B" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Rick Ziehl, 2. Peter Murphy, 3. Dean Jacobs, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Keith Kauffman ($200); 6. Calvin Landis ($175); 7. Terry McCarl ($150); 8. Larry Neighbors ($120); 9. Dion Hindi ($90); 10. Paul McMahan ($80); 11. Travis Whitney ($60); 12. Jason Lund ($50); 13. Randy Anderson ($50); 14. Jimmy Carr ($50); 15. Jeff Mitrisin ($70); 16. Lance Blevins ($50); 17. Bill Robertson ($50); 18. Shane Liebig ($70). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (30 laps): 1. Mark Kinser ($10,000); 2. Stevie Smith ($6,000); 3. Sammy Swindell ($3,500); 4. Dave Blaney ($3,200); 5. Andy Hillenburg ($3,000); 6. Jeff Swindell ($2,500); 7. Dale Blaney ($2,300); 8. Steve Kinser ($2,200); 9. Jac Haudenschild ($2,100); 10. Greg Hodnett ($2,000); 11. Donny Schatz ($1,500); 12. Craig Dollansky ($1,400); 13. Kenny Jacobs ($1,300); 14. Randy Tiner ($1,200); 15. Johnny Herrera ($1,000); 16. Joey Saldana ($1,000); 17. Dean Jacobs ($820); 18. Joe Gaerte ($620); 19. Randy Hannagan ($600); 20. Rick Ziehl ($620); 21. Sean Fenn ($600); 22. Danny Lasoski ($600); 23. Jeff Shepard ($600); 24. Peter Murphy ($620). Lap leader: Mark Kinser 1-30 Channellock Fast-Time Award winner: Danny Lasoski WoO