Skagit opener report

JEFF SWINDELL WINS SKAGIT OPENER, HIS SECOND STRAIGHT VICTORY By Richard Day ALGER, WA (August 26) - Although he wasn't around when the World of Outlaws last raced at Skagit Speedway 15 years ago, Jeff Swindell has fond memories of the facility. "It's great to be back here in the Northwest," Jeff told the crowd Friday after winning the World of Outlaws' Preliminary Feature. "The last time I was here, I won the Dirt Cup." Jeff earned World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year honors two years after the series first invaded Skagit in June of 1979. Jeff, the third-fastest qualifier in Friday's 61-car field, earned the right to start the 25-lap Preliminary Feature on the pole by winning the Vivarin Dash. He burst into the lead immediately after the green flag fell, only to have the start called back when a seven-car crash unfolded before he completed the first lap. Jac Haudenschild bumped Sammy Swindell, which turned the #22 Pennzoil Maxim sideways in front of the majority of the field on the back straightaway. Jim Carr and Steve Kent flipped, while Joe Gaerte, Danny Burton, Johnny Herrera and Shawna Wilskey joined the fracas. Outside polesitter Kenny Jacobs drove the #71M Ecowater Stealth into the lead when the green flag replaced the red, only to have Jeff race around him in the second corner. After Ecowater Fast-Time Award winner Stevie Smith and Dave Blaney relegated Jacobs to fourth place with second- and fourth-lap passes, Jeff entered lapped traffic with a 10-car-length advantage six laps into the race. As Smith and Blaney lapped Burton early in the 10th lap, "The Buckeye Bullet" also managed to drive the #10 Vivarin J&J past Stevie for the runner-up spot. Jeff had been trying to lap local hero Steve Beitler for two laps when Blaney caught him midway through the race. The 13th lap proved unlucky for Jeff, as "The Buckeye Bullet" raced wheel-to-wheel with him through the first corner and took the lead in turn two. As Swindell attempted to regain the lead, Steve Kinser and Andy Hillenburg passed each other for fourth place five times in the next five laps. "The King of the Outlaws" drove the #11 Valvoline Maxim past Hillenburg high between turns one and two with eight laps remaining, and took third from Smith in the same spot the next time around. "The Buckeye Bullet" was three car-lengths ahead of Jeff when he caught the backmarkers again with three laps remaining. The leaders were heading for the white flag when Jeff took the low road into turn three and regained first place as Blaney tried to lap Wilskey and "B" Feature winner John Youngquist in the fourth corner. Jeff took the checkered flag three car-lengths ahead of Blaney for his second Preliminary Feature victory of the year. "The Gold Eagle crew has been doing a great job lately," Jeff said. "They've really been giving me a good car to drive." Kinser and Smith received the final two automatic starting positions in Saturday's Snap-on Tools Dash by finishing third and fourth. Rounding out the top 10 in the Preliminary Feature were Hillenburg, Jacobs, 12th- starting Greg Hodnett, Haudenschild, Brent Kaeding and Sammy Swindell. In addition to receiving his second Ecowater Fast-Time Award of the season, Smith accepted an extra $1,000 from Wild Wild Northwest Tour promoter Fred Brownfield after breaking Skagit's one-lap record. Stevie drove the #12x Beaver Drill & Tool Gambler around the high-banked, 3/10- mile oval in 11.920 seconds, an average speed of 90.604 m.p.h. Herrera had problems getting the #77 MAC Tools J&J to fire as he was lining up for the Fifth Snap-on Tools Heat Race. He earned the last starting position in the feature by finishing fourth in the "B," and passed four cars to finish 14th in the main event. WoO 1994 WORLD OF OUTLAWS/COPENHAGEN-SKOAL SHOOTOUT Skagit Speedway, Alger, WA, Friday, August 26, Preliminary Program Qualifications: 1. Stevie Smith, Veilhauer 12x, 11.920 (new one-lap record); 2. Dave Blaney, Luna 10, 11.979; 3. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 12.053; 4. Kenny Jacobs, Motter 71M, 12.121; 5. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 12,194; 6. Jim Carr, Carr 65, 12.199; 7. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 12.301; 8. Sammy Swindell, Gilliam 1, 12.306; 9. Drew Church, Church 71, 12.308; 10. Brent Kaeding, Kaeding 69, 12.339; 11. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 12.382; 12. Steve Kent, Helm 11K, 12.419; 13. Greg Hodnett, Two Winners 8TW, 12.439; 14. Greg Brown, Collis 44B, 12.457; 15. Joe Gaerte, Two Winners 9TW, 12.459; 16. John Youngquist, Youngquist 56, 12.519; 17. Keith Kauffman, Berry 7, 12.525; 18. Rick Fauver, Rotary Corp. 17, 12.545; 19. Danny Burton, Mitchell 10M, 12.558; 20. Johnny Herrera, Hamilton 77, 12.563; 21. Greg DeCaires, Roth 83, 12.586; 22. Shawna Wilskey, Wilskey 5JR, 12.600; 23. Randy Hannagan, Hannagan 1x, 12.651; 24. Bobby Burrow, Burrow 1B, 12.694; 25. Alan Munn, Norical 42, 12.711; 26. Kirk Fellers, Fellers 77F, 12.725; 27. Tom Waggoner, Waggoner 15, 12.728; 28. Craig Smith, Smith 38, 12.736; 29. Steve Beitler, Beitler 21, 12.768; 30. Marc Huson, Huson 73, 12.772; 31. Jeff Fletcher, Fletcher 5, 12.850; 32. Kevin Rudeen, Rudeen 26, 12.852; 33. Richard Brown, Carpenter 33, 12.900; 34. Tim Levin, Levin 7L, 12.905; 35. George Graham, Graham/Hawks 22G, 12.938; 36. Phil Sivo, Sivo 6PK, 12.948; 37. Randy Ridge, Cain 23K, 13.004; 38. Mike Hubert, Jr., Rasmussen 74, 13.068; 39. Jay Smith, Smith 32H, 13.099; 40. Jerry Bundy, Bullet Racing 47, 13.102; 41. Steve Dyer, Dyer 9A, 13.120; 42. Bo Mann, Mann 8M, 13.154; 43. Butch Gilbert, Gilbert 04, 13.185; 44. Denny Smith, Smith 44, 13.229; 45. Mark Ellis, Sherman 11E, 13.256; 46. Jason Sorwold, Sorwold 39, 13.260; 47. John Vangemert, Chapman 3C, 13.286; 48. Jay Cole, Cole 0J, 13.296; 49. Glenn Borden, Jr., Borden 72, 13.399; 50. Wes Gibbs, Hillier 24U, 13.410; 51. Jack Rose, Rose 60, 13.535; 52. Darren Kennedy, Kennedy 55, 13.605; 53. Ed Evans, Evans 78, 13.628; 54. Sid Blandford, Blandford 31, 13.698; 55. Jay Follman, Follman 7F, 13.739; 56. Mark Evono, Evono 85, 13.786; 57. Jim Kirkham, Kirkham 62, 13.845; 58. Randy Vincent, Vincent 21F, 14.302; 59. Bert Johnson, Johnson 76, 14.392; 60. Steve Tupper, D&S Enterprises 48, 14.623; 61. Stormy Glick, Glick 20, 19.226. (first 50 qualified for the Snap-on Tools Heat Races) First Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Greg DeCaires, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Jim Carr, 5. John Youngquist, 6. Kirk Fellers, 7. Jeff Fletcher, 8. Steve Dyer, 9. Phil Sivo, 10. Jason Sorwold. (first four qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Second Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Steve Kent, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Dave Blaney, 4. Shawna Wilskey, 5. Keith Kauffman, 6. Tom Waggoner, 7. Randy Ridge, 8. John Vangemert, 9. Kevin Rudeen, 10. Bo Mann. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Third Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Randy Hannagan, 2. Jeff Swindell, 3. Sammy Swindell, 4. Rick Fauver, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Butch Gilbert, 7. Jay Cole, 8. Mike Hubert, Jr., 9. Richard Brown, 10. Craig Smith. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Fourth Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Steve Beitler, 2. Danny Burton, 3. Kenny Jacobs, 4. Bobby Burrow, 5. Tim Levin, 6. Jay Smith, 7. Greg Brown, 8. Drew Church, 9. Denny Smith, 10. Glenn Borden, Jr. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Fifth Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Brent Kaeding, 3. Joe Gaerte, 4. Marc Huson, 5. Alan Munn, 6. Wes Gibbs, 7. Jerry Bundy, 8. George Graham, 9. Mark Ellis, 10. Johnny Herrera. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Vivarin Dash (seven laps): 1. Jeff Swindell, 2. Kenny Jacobs, 3. Dave Blaney, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Steve Kinser, 6. Sammy Swindell, 7. Jac Haudenschild, 8. Jim Carr. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the Preliminary Feature) D Feature (10 laps): 1. Sid Blandford, 2. Jay Follman, 3. Darren Kennedy, 4. Mark Evono, 5. Jim Kirkham ($10); 6. Stormy Glick ($10); 7. Jack Rose ($10); 8. Steve Tupper ($10); 9. Randy Vincent ($10); 10. Bert Johnson ($10); 11. Ed Evans ($10). (first four qualified for the "C" Feature) C Feature (10 laps): 1. Steve Dyer, 2. Jay Smith, 3. Butch Gilbert ($110); 4. Jerry Bundy ($90); 5. Sid Blandford ($70); 6. Mark Ellis ($60); 7. Denny Smith ($50); 8. Wes Gibbs ($40); 9. Jay Follman ($35); 10. Glenn Borden Jr. ($35); 11. Jay Cole ($35); 12. John Vangemert ($35); 13. Darren Kennedy ($35); 14. Mark Evono ($35); 15. Jason Sorwold ($35); 16. Bo Mann ($35). (first two qualified for the "B" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. John Youngquist, 2. Greg Hodnett, 3. Greg Brown, 4. Johnny Herrera, 5. Drew Church ($160); 6. Keith Kauffman ($135); 7. Alan Munn ($110); 8. Jeff Fletcher ($85); 9. Tom Waggoner ($70); 10. Richard Brown ($60); 11. Steve Dyer ($70); 12. George Graham ($50); 13. Mike Hubert, Jr. ($50); 14. Rick Fellers ($50); 15. Randy Ridge ($50); 16. Kevin Rudeen ($50); 17. Craig Smith ($50); 18. Phil Sivo ($50); 19. Jay Smith ($70); 20. Tim Levin ($50). (first four qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Preliminary Feature (25 laps): 1. Jeff Swindell ($4,010); 2. Dave Blaney ($2,310); 3. Steve Kinser ($1,610); 4. Stevie Smith ($1,410); 5. Andy Hillenburg ($1,260); 6. Kenny Jacobs ($1,110); 7. Greg Hodnett ($1,030); 8. Jac Haudenschild ($860); 9. Brent Kaeding ($810); 10. Sammy Swindell ($760); 11. Greg DeCaires ($460); 12. Bobby Burrow ($410); 13. Rick Fauver ($360); 14. Johnny Herrera ($330); 15. Joe Gaerte ($260); 16. Marc Huson ($210); 17. Steve Beitler ($210); 18. Randy Hannagan ($210); 19. Greg Brown ($230); 20. John Youngquist ($230); 21. Shawna Wilskey ($210); 22. Danny Burton ($210); 23. Jim Carr ($210); 24. Steve Kent ($210). Lap leaders: Jeff Swindell 1-12, 24-25; Dave Blaney 13-23 Ecowater Fast-Time Award winner: Stevie Smith WoO *eot