Series Beaver Dam event report 2010-07-10

Two in a Row: Joey Saldana Comes Out on Top of Jim Boyd "JB" Memorial at Beaver Dam Raceway

Beaver Dam, WI-- July 10, 2010-- Joey Saldana has said a number of times this season that you need a little luck on your side when racing with the World of Outlaws, and he has had a couple of potential wins slip through his fingers by circumstances out of his control and by having some bad luck. He certainly had good luck on his side on Saturday night as he was victorious at Beaver Dam Raceway in Wisconsin in the Jim Boyd "JB" Memorial, despite having a rapidly deflating right rear tire during the waning laps at the high-banked 1/3-mile bullring.

Saldana had his Kasey Kahne Racing teammate Paul McMahan battle with him down the stretch, including on a couple of double file restarts. He held off McMahan to earn his series leading eighth A-Feature win of the season. The $10,000 victory for the second generation driver was the 67th of his World of Outlaws career which ties him with Stevie Smith for eighth on the all-time win list.

"We've given a few races away this year and in a situation like that, it's out of your control and I thought we were going to give another one away tonight," said Saldana in Victory Lane, when asked about his right rear tire. "We were able to hang in there and win the race. The crew definitely deserves to win with how hard they work day in and day out."

Saldana was out front on six double file restarting, choosing the low line twice and the high line four times, including on the final double file restart with three laps to go. Following that restart, the red flag waved for a three-car incident involving Jason Meyers, Jac Haudenschild and Tim Kaeding before a lap had been completed, leading to a single file restart by way of rules.

"I was running better on the top and wanted to make that work up there," explained the winner. "My car was good and it was a demanding race. Lapped traffic was pretty tough. You didn't know where they were going to go. You just had to try and not make too many mistakes and luckily tonight we didn't make too many."

Saldana used the win to extend his lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings to 32 markers over 20-time series champion Steve Kinser as he chases his first title. In addition to leading the series in wins with eight, Saldana tops the leader board in Top-Five finishes with 23 aboard the Budweiser Maxim.

"We're just doing the best we can do and I think we are better than what we are showing," stated the native of Brownsburg, Indiana. "We've had a lot of situations that have been out of our control that have knocked us out of races. It was good to tonight. You have to have luck with these guys and tonight we had it."

McMahan started fourth and got around Jason Meyers on the fifth lap for third and then worked his way by Lucas Wolfe on the 10th lap to set his sights on his teammate. McMahan was able to track Saldana down in traffic a couple of times, but was not quite able to make a pass. He fell back to third just past the halfway point of the 40-lap contest and again battled Wolfe for the runner-up spot before retaking it with 11 laps to go. The veteran would end up in the runner-up spot in the Great Clips Maxim.

"Joey (Saldana) had a tire going down and that was my only shot at getting by him since we weren't going to get back into lapped traffic," McMahan shared. "It was another good night for the Kasey Kahne Racing coming home first and second. My crew worked hard as always and it's great to get good finishes for all of the people involved in this and who believe in me."

Steve Kinser lined up seventh and steadily worked his way to the front to come home third aboard the Bass Pro Shops Maxim to earn his series leading 32 nd Top-10 finish of the season. He used a couple of strong double file restarts to pick up three spots over the final 10 laps of the race.

"It wasn't too bad," said Kinser of his run. "It's hard to run third to those (two) cars the last couple of nights. We got going pretty good at the end of the race, was just a little bit tight. I felt good those last couple of laps, we just came up a little short."

McMahan was able to keep pace with Saldana on the restarts and also gained a lot of ground on him in lapped traffic. The runner-up finish for McMahan helped mark the second consecutive one/two finish for Kasey Kahne Racing.

"The car was better around the top," noted McMahan. "The restarts were pretty tough on the bottom. We were fortunate on that last double file restart to get up on top and try to chase Joey (Saldana) down. It just wasn't meant to be. If we keep clicking off these finishes, we'll get our wins."

Lucas Wolfe continued his strong season coming home fourth in the Allebach Racing Maxim, after starting the night by setting fast time in qualifying. He started third and moved into second in the early going and then just past the halfway point retook that spot and was right on Joey Saldana in traffic. For Wolfe it was his 12th Top-Five finish of the season as he continues to close in on his first World of Outlaws win.

Craig Dollansky came home fifth in the Big Game Treestands Maxim, with Donny Schatz sixth aboard the Armor All/STP J&J. Kerry Madsen was seventh in the Halls Haulage KPC. Brian Ellenberger finished in the Top-10 for the second straight year at Beaver Dam Raceway coming home eighth in the Ti-22 Performance JEI. The reigning Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year came all the way from the 24th starting to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.

Sammy Swindell was ninth aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim, with Kraig Kinser rounding out the Top-10 in the Quaker State Maxim.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Sunday, July 11 at Cedar Lake Speedway.

BEAVER DAM RACEWAY NOTES

* FAST QUALIFIER: Lucas Wolfe paced the 32 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval at 11.833 seconds at 101.210 mph. For his qualifying effort, Wolfe earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Craig Dollansky (4), Donny Schatz (3), Bill Balog (2) and Kerry Madsen (1).

* BEAVER DAM RACEWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Sammy Swindell and Paul McMahan won heat races. Joey Saldana won the dash. Ben Gregg won the Last Chance Showdown

* FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 35 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, I-55 Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park, River Cities Speedway, LaSalle Speedway and Beaver Dam Raceway), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway, I-96 Speedway and North Central Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, River Cities Speedway and Lakeside Speedway), Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park , Tri-City Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway and Knoxville Raceway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park and The Dirt Track at Charlotte), Sammy Swindell (Dodge City Raceway and Huset's Speedway), Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway and Junction Motor Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway) and Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway).

* 1/3-WINNERS: Beaver Dam Raceway is a high-banked 1/3-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced five times on a track that size this season. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, I-55 Raceway and Beaver Dam Raceway). Jason Meyers (Thunderbowl Raceway and North Central Speedway).

-source: WoO