Preliminary at Heartland Park Topeka, Saturday, June 19

Hillenburg Wins Sunflower Shootout Preliminary By Richard Day TOPEKA, KS (June 19) - If Vivarin gave a Perseverance Award for the first half of the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' 1999 season, Andy Hillenburg would be the unanimous choice to receive it. Whatever could go wrong has gone wrong for the Luxaire team ... but that hasn't stopped Hillenburg and his crew from striving to turn their fortunes around. After crashing the #2 Luxaire J&J during the qualifying session Saturday, Hillenburg came back to pass 17 cars on his way to winning the rain-delayed Preliminary Feature in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Sunflower Shootout at Heartland Park Topeka. TNN Motorsports will air the race Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m. eastern time. "I can't tell you how much this means to this team," Andy said. "We've struggled a lot lately, but these guys (Keith Carlson and Doug Runkle) have worked so hard. I'm just happy for them and our sponsors. "I look forward to coming back here again tomorrow and, hopefully, much more in the future. They've built an incredible facility here." Hillenburg, who suffered a broken axle while crashing during his first qualifying lap, took one lap at the end of time trials and was 18th-quick. He started inside the ninth row and raced past 13 cars during the first 21 laps. After passing Steve Kinser and Craig Dollansky, the 1988 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Rookie of the Year used an inside move in the first corner to take the lead from Johnny Herrera. He took the checkered flag with 1.6 seconds to spare. "The car was absolutely perfect tonight," Andy said. "Our brakes worked really well, and I think that let us run into the corners a little harder than anyone else." Kinser won his sixth Channellock Dash of the year for the right to start the Preliminary Feature on the pole. He drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim into the lead as the green flag fell in the 40-lap race. A crash involving Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner Joey Saldana, Gary Wright, Mark Kinser and Lance Blevins tightened the field two laps later. Herrera kept pace with Kinser as the race resumed, and took the high line through turns one and two to pass him early in lap five. Kevin Gobrecht and Brooke Tatnell spun between the third and fourth corners to bring out the caution flag late in the ninth lap. Daryn Pittman crashed on the back stretch two laps later. Saldana was unable to dodge the #47 Casey's General Stores Maxim and joined Pittman in the pit area. Herrera was 1.7 seconds ahead of his closest pursuers when he entered lapped traffic during the 16th lap. Dollansky used an inside move in turn one to pass Kinser for second later in the same lap. Dollansky cut Herrera's advantage to .6 seconds in dense lapped traffic during lap 21. Hillenburg passed Kinser for third place deep in the second corner two laps later. Scott Whitworth stopped on the front stretch with a mechanical problem early in the 25th lap, bringing out the caution flag and tightening the field. Herrera controlled the ensuing restart and opened a 1.8-second advantage within two laps. He enjoyed a 3.1-second lead by lap 29. Hillenburg cut into the low groove between turns three and four to pass Dollansky for second place the next time around. A third-corner crash involving Gobrecht and Tim Shaffer, and Donnie Crawford stopping with a brake failure in turn four, tightened the field and set up Hillenburg's winning pass. Hillenburg used an inside move in the first corner to pass Herrera for the lead as the green flag replaced the yellow. Kinser took the high line into turn two to pass Dollansky for third seconds later. Shane Stewart lost fifth place when he allowed the #8H Energy Release Eagle to spin in the second corner the next time around. Herrera was unable to complete his pass for the lead as the race resumed when the #1BK Networks Eagle bicycled in turn two. Kinser took the high line through the first corner pass Herrera for second early in lap 36, but was unable to catch Hillenburg. Dollansky used a last-lap pass in turn four to take third place from Herrera. Completing the top 10 were 15th-starting Donny Schatz, Gary Wright, Danny Lasoski, Stevie Smith, Brooke Tatnell and Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series points leader Mark Kinser. WoO

1999 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series O'Reilly Auto Parts Sunflower Shootout Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, KS Saturday, June 19, Preliminary Program Vivarin qualifications: 1. Joey Saldana, Mox 17, 16.753 (new single-lap record); 2. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83, 16.790; 3. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 16.934; 4. Shane Stewart, Holbrook 8H, 16.961; 5. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 17.115; 6. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 17.152; 7. Gary Wright, Wright 9, 17.164; 8. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 104+, 17.182; 9. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 17.186; 10. Johnny Herrera, DOCC Motorsports 1BK, 17.275; 11. Kevin Gobrecht, Hylton/Blaney 93, 17.343; 12. Craig Dollansky, Dollansky 7, 17.396; 13. Daryn Pittman, Sonner 47, 17.409; 14. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 17.449; 15. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 17.510; 16. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 17.604; 17. Kerry Madsen, Madsen 2A, 17.607; 18. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 17.643; 19. Scott Whitworth, Whitworth 96, 17.691; 20. Brooke Tatnell, Tatnell 7K, 17.723; 21. Tim Shaffer, Helm 11H, 17.757; 22. Nick Smith, Smith 15S, 17.878; 23. Travis Whitney, Whitney 7S, 17.921; 24. Steve King, King 88K, 17.924; 25. Bill Robertson, Eckley 16, 17.983; 26. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 18.023; 27. Donnie Crawford, Hillenburg 1H, 18.052; 28. Rick Ziehl, Ziehl 18, 18.118; 29. J.R. Topper, Topper 92J, 18.244; 30. Rich Bubak, Bubak 9x, 18.386; 31. Dan Oswalt, Oswalt D1, 18.387; 32. Billy Vielhauer, Vielhauer 12x, 18.629; 33. Mallory Armfield, Armfield 5MA, 19.765; 34. Bob Moore, Moore 71, 96.240; 35. Bubba Hunt, Hunt 4B, no time. First NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Joey Saldana, 2. Tim Shaffer, 3. Jeff Swindell, 4. Bill Robertson, 5. Lance Blevins, 6. J.R. Topper, 7. Mallory Armfield, 8. Kerry Madsen, 9. Tyler Walker. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Second NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Danny Lasoski, 3. Gary Wright, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. Andy Hillenburg, 6. Nick Smith, 7. Rich Bubak, 8. Brian Paulus. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Third NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Kevin Gobrecht, 5. Scott Whitworth, 6. Donnie Crawford, 7. Travis Whitney, 8. Dan Oswalt. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Fourth NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Craig Dollansky, 2. Mark Kinser, 3. Daryn Pittman, 4. Shane Stewart, 5. Steve King, 6. Rick Ziehl, 7. Billy Vielhauer, 8. Bubba Hunt, 9. Brooke Tatnell. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Channellock Dash (seven laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Johnny Herrera, 3. Craig Dollansky, 4. Shane Stewart, 5. Mark Kinser, 6. Stevie Smith, 7. Joey Saldana, 8. Danny Lasoski. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the Preliminary Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Tyler Walker, 2. Brooke Tatnell, 3. Donnie Crawford, 4. Brian Paulus, 5. Rick Ziehl ($150); 6. Nick Smith ($125); 7. Kerry Madsen ($100); 8. Billy Vielhauer ($75); 9. Rich Bubak ($60); 10. Mallory Armfield ($50); 11. Bubba Hunt ($40); 12. Travis Whitney ($40); 13. J.R. Topper ($40); 14. Dan Oswalt ($40); 15. Bob Moore ($40). (first four qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Preliminary Feature (40 laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg ($5,000); 2. Steve Kinser ($2,500); 3. Craig Dollansky ($1,700); 4. Johnny Herrera ($1,500); 5. Donny Schatz ($1,350); 6. Gary Wright ($1,250); 7. Danny Lasoski ($1,200); 8. Stevie Smith ($1,100); 9. Brooke Tatnell ($1,095); 10. Mark Kinser ($1,050); 11. Tyler Walker ($1,020); 12. Brian Paulus ($920); 13. Sammy Swindell ($800); 14. Tim Shaffer ($700); 15. Kevin Gobrecht ($600); 16. Jeff Swindell ($500); 17. Shane Stewart ($400); 18. Donnie Crawford ($420); 19. Steve King ($400); 20. Scott Whitworth ($400); 21. Joey Saldana ($400); 22. Bill Robertson ($400); 23. Daryn Pittman ($400); 24. Lance Blevins ($400). Lap leaders: Steve Kinser 1-4, Johnny Herrera 5-32, Andy Hillenburg 33-40 Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Joey Saldana WoO