Rolling Wheels Raceway race report

Smith Wins Again at Rolling Wheels
By Richard Day

ELBRIDGE, NY (May 30) -- It was appropriate that Stevie Smith won his first Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series "A" Feature of the year at Rolling Wheels Raceway Wednesday.

Smith has won more main events at Rolling Wheels than any track -- five. It was also fitting that the 58th victory of his career pushed him into 10th place in the point standings. Stevie finished in the top 10 in his first 11 seasons with the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series. The $10,000 victory made Smith the series' 11th different winner in its first 20 events this season.

Smith, who started inside the third row, drove his #19 Ingersoll- Rand Maxim past pole-sitter and Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series points leader Mark Kinser in dense lapped traffic late in the 23rd lap and took the checkered flag with only .8 seconds to spare.

"We weren't making up much ground running the bottom, so I just let it all hang out and tried running the top," Stevie explained. "This Maxim Chassis and RPM engine were great tonight and, of course, the Goodyear tires got the job done.

"I really wanted to make it two in a row here (at Rolling Wheels) tonight, but I wasn't sure I was going to be able to catch Mark. I saw we had a whole bunch of lapped cars coming up, and I knew I had nothing to lose by trying the top in (turns) three and four. It was pretty close there coming off four. I had the right rear tire hanging off the edge of the track, and I think I bumped the wall starting down the straightaway."

Smith, the seventh-fastest qualifier in the 31-car field, finished second in the First O'Reilly Heat Race and followed Kinser, Paul McMahan, Joey Saldana and Tim Shaffer across the finish line in the CHANNELLOCK Dash.

Kinser and McMahan raced wheel-to-wheel through the fourth corner as the green flag fell in the "A" Feature. McMahan drove the #U2 United Expressline Eagle ahead in turn two, but the series' two- time champion took the lead with an inside move between the third and fourth corners.

Saldana, who won the Second O'Reilly Heat Race, exchanged third place with Shaffer twice in the first two laps. Smith challenged Shaffer for fourth place for three laps before passing him in the low groove between turns one and two early in the sixth lap.

Kinser was 1.3 seconds ahead of McMahan when he entered lapped traffic the next time around. McMahan narrowed the gap to one second within a lap, however.

Smith continued his run toward the front during the race's middle stages, passing Saldana with an inside move between the first and second corners early in lap 12.

Danny Wood challenged Shaffer for fifth place for seven laps before claiming his first top-five finish of the season with a low move between turns one and two early in the 16th lap.

Smith steered his #19 to the lowest point in the second corner to pass McMahan two laps later, and caught Kinser early in lap 21. Stevie immediately tried to take the lead in the high groove between turns three and four, but was unable to surge ahead. He used the same move to take over first place two laps later, and held off Kinser for the final 1 1/3 laps.

McMahan finished in third place, ahead of Saldana, Wood, fast- qualifier Steve Kinser, 12th-starting Johnny Herrera, Shaffer, Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year points leader Brad Furr and Donny Schatz.

Steve Kinser, who has won seven main events at Rolling Wheels Raceway, set quick-time for the fourth time this season with a 117.273-m.p.h. lap around the semi-banked, 5/8-mile oval. The defending and 16-time series champion finished seventh in the "A" Feature to pass Craig Dollansky for third place in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series point standings.

Danny Lasoski drove NASCAR Winston Cup star Tony Stewart's #20L J.D. Byrider Eagle past six cars to finish in 12th place, but fell 38 points behind Mark Kinser in their battle for the series championship.

-WoO