Series Paducah event report 2010-04-16

Back in Victory Lane: Jac Haudenschild Wins at Paducah to Score First Victory Since 2008

Paducah, KY- April 16, 2010- Jac Haudenschild came close to winning a couple of times last season, after being victorious five times in 2008, which was his first year driving for the Carnahan Motorsports Team. The Hall of Famer certainly did not forget the way to Victory Lane, as returned to the top of the podium on Friday night at Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky to score his first win of 2010 and the 52nd of his World of Outlaws career.

Haudenschild took the lead on the opening lap from Jason Sides, who started on the pole and then withstood battles from Jason Meyers and Joey Saldana to score his first career win at Paducah before a very large crowd.

"I have to thank my car owner Lon Carnahan and Leonard (Lee) and the entire crew," said Haudenschild. "The car has been fast all year and we just haven't been able to win. Maybe now we can get rolling and win a few more races."

There were five double file restarts during the 30-lap contest and Haudenschild lined up on the low side of the track on each and every one, leading at the drop of the green and powering his way down the front straightaway into turns one and two. He had Jason Sides line up next to him on the first two double file restarts, with Jason Meyers to his outside once and Joey Saldana on the file pair of two-by-two starts.

"It was a pretty easy choice," he shared when asked about the low line. "The bottom when it gets that slick you can get a good run off it. The top felt good too once you got back to racing. The bottom was definitely good on the starts."

Haudenschild opened the night by turning the third fastest lap in time trials of the very strong 34-car field. He followed that up with a third-place run in the third heat race and lined up sixth in the dash, where he raced his way into second, to earn a front row starting spot in the A-Feature in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass XXX.

Jason Sides led the field to green and through turns one and two, with Haudenschild keeping pace and using the low side of the track in turn four on the opening circuit to take the lead, which he would not relinquish the rest of the way.

"The car was great all night," stated Haudenschild. "Leonard (Lee) changed it up a bit for the feature and got it tighter and it felt great."

Joey Saldana lined up 10th on Friday night and quickly worked his way up to fourth by just the fourth lap. By the eighth go-around he was running third and he got around Jason Meyers for second on a restart on the 12th lap. On the final restart of the race with 10 laps to go, Saldana was able to get around Haudenschild as the pair headed to turn three, but in turn four the latter got back by and officially was scored the leader at the line.

"I was thrilled with that," Saldana said after his runner-up finish. "I kind of set my expectations like the other weekends and get good solid finishes. We had a really good car. Actually, my car was better than I was. We'll just go from here and hopefully tomorrow we can run just as good."

For Saldana, it was his second race competing with 10 screws and a plate in his broken left hand. He finished 10th last weekend and has now finished among the Top-10 in all but one race this season. He moved up to second in points, and is 32 markers behind Jason Meyers as he chases his first World of Outlaws title aboard the Budweiser Maxim. Saldana began the night by turning the fastest lap in time trials for the second consecutive year at Paducah.

"I have a really doctor back in Indianapolis, Dr. Hastings," shared the second generation driver when asked about his broken hand. "They have a really good rehab program as well. They work on it two hours a day every day. This week we I got cortisone. After last week it hurt so much, they thought I needed that. It made a world of difference, but I'm sure I'll feel it on Sunday."

Sammy Swindell finished third on Friday night in his first World of Outlaws start of the season. The three-time series champion was filling in for Terry McCarl, who sustained an arm injury on Thursday.

"It was a good run after starting where we did," said Swindell. "I kind of got in the wrong spot a few times. We made a few little changes in the car with it being the first time, not knowing what I needed to do. I was in the wrong place a few times and got trapped, but I made some good moves too.

Swindell lined up sixth in the Big Game Treestands Maxim and used a very strong restart on the 12th lap to get around Jason Sides and Danny Lasoski to move into fourth. He then worked on Jason Meyers for several laps, taking the third spot from him on the 20th lap. He tried all he could to track down Joey Saldana late in the going as the leaders worked through lapped traffic in the waning laps.

"I got a little greedy when I got caught back up to Joey (Saldana) and got next to the wall and had to settle back down a little bit," explained the Tennessee native. "I was trying a little too hard and had to get my rhythm back. It's not too bad."

Jason Meyers finished fourth on Friday night in the GLR Investments KPC to extend his streak of Top-10 finishes to start the season to 11. He currently has a 32 point lead over Joey Saldana in the World of Outlaws championship standings as he chases his first series title.

Donny Schatz, the four-time and defending series champion, was fifth aboard the Armor All/STP J&J. Danny Lasoski came home sixth in the Casey's General Stores JEI, with Brad Sweet seventh piloting the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Maxim. Randy Hannagan was eighth, with 20-time series champion Steve Kinser ninth in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim. Tim Shaffer rounded out the Top-10 aboard the Kistler Engines J&J.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, April 17 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri.

PADUCAH INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY NOTES

* FAST QUALIFIER: Joey Saldana paced the 34 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 3/8-mile oval at 13.055 seconds at 103.409 mph. For his qualifying effort, Saldana earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Sammy Swindell (4), Jac Haudenschild (3), Brad Sweet (2) and Craig Dollansky (1).

* PADUCAH INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Lucas Wolfe, Danny Lasoski, Randy Hannagan and Jason Meyers won heat races. Jason Sides won the dash. Chad Kemenah won the B-Main.

* FILLING IN: Three-time World of Outlaws Champion Sammy Swindell filled in for Terry McCarl on Friday night at Paducah International Raceway after McCarl suffered an arm injury on Thursday. By way of the World of Outlaws Rulebook, Section 2.4B McCarl will receive 50 medical exemption points for the span of either six races or 14 days, whichever comes first if he is not present at the track and will receive 75 medical exemption points if he is present at the track during that span.

* FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 11 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway and Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway), Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway and Volunteer Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park) and Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park).

* 3/8-MILE WINNERS: Paducah International Raceway is a high-banked 3/8-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced twice on a track that size this season. The winners include: Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway) and Jason Meyers (Tri-State-Okla. Speedway).

-source: WoO