Series Lima event report 2010-07-14

In a League of His Own: Dale Blaney Victorious In Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park

Lima, OH-July 14, 2010- Growing up in Ohio, Dale Blaney looked up to Brad Doty as he had the chance to watch the Hall of Famer race numerous times over the years in their home state. While Blaney never got to race against him, he watched his brother compete against Doty and gained a great respect for the fellow Ohio native. Blaney, who has won some big races in his career, added another to that list on Wednesday night as he was victorious in The 22nd Annual Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics at Limaland Motorsports Park in front of the largest crowd in the track's storied history.

For Blaney, it was his second win in the Brad Doty Classic, though his first with the event being under the World of Outlaws sanction and first since the event was moved to Limaland Motorsports Park, where he has won a number of times in his career. The victory on Wednesday night was worth $10,000 to the native of Hartford, Ohio and was his fifth with the World of Outlaws.

"This is awesome," said Blaney. "I won this race a long, long time ago when it was an All Star race at Attica (Raceway Park). I've been in contention here a couple of times and ran a couple of times in the Top-10. I love this place when it gets like this, slick, with a little cushion, a little bottom and a little middle. I've made more laps than probably most everybody at this place, so that was crucial. This is a very special win."

Blaney started on the pole in the Ti-22 Performance Maxim after winning the dash and beat fellow front row starter Kraig Kinser into turn one at the drop of the green. He quickly began to pull away when the first caution of the night flew on the sixth lap. The veteran was out front for two cautions and one red flag, choosing the low side of the ¼-mile bullring each time on the double file restarts. On a lap-20 restart, Paul McMahan inched ahead of Blaney in turn one, though Blaney blasted back by him in turn two and was credited with officially leading that lap and all 40 circuits on the night.

"I was looking for some help on the last one, whether I should go to the top," explained the winner. "It made it easier when I saw (Jason) Sides beside me, because I didn't know who was there and it made it a little easier of a choice. I knew someone would throw one at me in turn one and I just tried to diamond off and get into (turn) two as quick as I could. As long as I left (turn) two in the lead, I felt pretty good."

Blaney looks to carry the momentum from his win in the Brad Doty Classic into this weekend's King Royal at Eldora Speedway, where he is a former winner of that famed event with the World of Outlaws. He has won a World of Outlaws event in each of the last two seasons in his home state of Ohio.

"This leads into a big, huge month and a half of awesome racing," shared Blaney. "It gives us a little momentum going into this weekend. I have always run well over there at Eldora (Speedway) and hopefully we can follow this up with a couple of good runs over there. If the car is as good over there as it was tonight, we'll be a player."

Steve Kinser got around Jason Sides on the last lap on Wednesday night to take the second position in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim, after the pair had a spirited battle. The 20-time series champion also challenged Paul McMahan for a number of laps earlier in the race for third. Kinser used the runner-up finish, which was his series-leading 34th Top-10 finish of the year to take over the lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings by four points over Joey Saldana, who finished 17th, as he chases his record 21st title.

"I stuck myself too much in the middle and kept thinking I was going to come in and work better than everybody else," noted Kinser. "Finally I climbed on the top when the (No) 91 showed it back to me, and started driving around those guys, but I would have had to have found it earlier. I should have gone up there and tried it earlier, that's my fault. I'm not going to complain, but I sure would have liked to have won it."

Jason Sides wound up third in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim to match his best career finish at Limaland Motorsports Park. He got around Kraig Kinser at the start to move into third and then battled Paul McMahan for a number of laps for second.

"I probably should have stayed in the middle line that I was running and I thought we found something on the bottom and could get to (Dale) Blaney there and I left the middle open for Steve (Kinser) and he came charging," said Sides. "To get beat by those two guys isn't too bad, but I wanted to win it starting up toward the front. Maybe next year."

After qualifying 32nd, Kinser found himself starting eighth in the fourth heat. He charged all the way to a second-place finish in that 10-lap contest to earn a spot in the dash, where he would finish seventh to pick up a fourth row starting spot in the feature. He got around Jessica Zemken on the second lap of the main event to move into sixth and then passed his son Kraig on the sixth circuit to move into the Top-Five. He then battled Danny Lasoski for fourth before working on McMahan and Sides.

"That definitely made a bunch of the night right there or I would have had to have started way at the back," he stated of the heat race finish. "That saved our night."

Sides did everything he could late in the race to try and track down Blaney. He was able to keep pace with him on a couple of restarts, but once the race got going again, Blaney would pull away each and every time, both in open track and in lapped traffic. The native of Bartlett, Tennessee opened the night by setting fast time for the fourth time this season.

"We got a little loose at the end and I was slipping and sliding coming off the corners with the wing all the way back," Sides said. "It just got a little too loose, but we'll take a third-place tonight."

Kraig Kinser ended up fourth in the Quaker State Maxim on Wednesday night, with Paul McMahan fifth in the Great Clips Maxim. Tim Kaeding was sixth in the DTR Transport KPC, while Sam Hafertepe Jr. was seventh in the G.H. Plumbing Maxim. Danny Lasoski came home eighth in the Casey's General Store JEI, with Greg Wilson ninth piloting the All Star Plumbing Maxim. Tim Shaffer rounded out the Top-10 aboard the Kistler Engines J&J.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday, July 16 with the Knight Before the Kings Royal at the famed Eldora Speedway.

LIMALAND MOTORSPORTS PARK NOTES

* FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Sides paced the 47 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 1/4-mile oval at 11.008 seconds at 81.169 mph. For his qualifying effort, Sides earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Tim Kaeding (4), Lee Jacobs (3), Lucas Wolfe (2) and Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1).

* LIMALAND MOTORSPORTS PAKR QUALIFYING WINNERS: Paul McMahan, Randy Hannagan, Dale Blaney and Danny Lasoski won heat races. Dale Blaney won the dash. Chad Kemenah won the Last Chance Showdown. Daryn Pittman won the C-Main

* FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 36 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), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway and Cedar Lake 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), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway) and Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway).

* 1/4-WINNERS: Limaland Motorsports Park is a semi-banked ¼-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced four times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Joey Saldana (River Cities Speedway and LaSalle Speedway), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Steve Kinser (River Cities Speedway), and Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park).

-source: WoO