Southern New Mexico report 96-10-22

Hillenburg Wins Southern New Mexico Event By Richard Day LAS CRUCES, NM (October 22) - Racing in New Mexico in Skoal Outlaw Series events promoted by one of the state's former Lieutenant Governors, Casey Luna, brings out the best in Andy Hillenburg. When Hillenburg won his first World of Outlaws "A" Feature at Duke City Raceway in Albuquerque, NM, on September 25, 1989, Luna - who also owns the #10 Vivarin J&J - promoted the event. Luna was the promoter again Tuesday when Andy won at Southern New Mexico Speedway for his first main event victory of the season. When asked what the correlation between him and Luna's races in New Mexico is, he said, "I really don't know. All I know is, it was nice to get that big check." The $6,000 victory pushed Hillenburg past Stevie Smith into sixth place in the Skoal Outlaw Series point standings. Eleven different drivers have won World of Outlaws events this season. Andy, the third-fastest qualifier in the 42-car field, earned the right to start the Skoal Outlaw Series' 64th "A" Feature of the year inside the second row by following EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner Mark Kinser and Sammy Swindell across the finish line in the Vivarin Dash. Hillenburg kept his #2 STP J&J out of trouble as a turn-four collision involving Smith and Fourth Quaker State Heat Race winner Dave Blaney sent Stevie flipping within seconds after the green flag fell in the feature. Although Smith's crew managed to repair the #71M EcoWater Systems Maxim, Stevie wasn't able to restart until a ninth-lap caution temporarily stopped the race. Smith eventually finished in 18th place. Kinser burst into the lead while Hillenburg passed Swindell on the front straightaway as the green flag replaced the yellow. Andy pressured Mark for 1 1/2 laps before taking the low line through the fourth corner to take the lead. He opened a 10-car- length advantage within a lap, and entered lapped traffic four laps into the race. Steve Kinser had problems throughout the program. His flip during the Vivarin Dash destroyed the #11 Quaker State Maxim. Because he unloaded a backup car, he started at the rear of the 24-car field in the "A" Feature. "The King of the Outlaws" brought out the caution flag early in the ninth lap when a nozzle line came loose from his engine, forcing him to stop in turn one. A collision with Albuquerque's Dion Hindi sent Blaney spinning as the race resumed. The caution flag was flying again seconds later as Sammy took his #1 Channellock Gambler for a spin in turn four and collided with Joe Gaerte and Greg Hodnett. Jim Carr drove the #7M American Fire Extinguishers Avenger into fifth place as "B" Feature winner Terry McCarl spun to a stop in turn one early in lap 11. Hillenburg was a half-stretch ahead of his closest pursuers when he caught the backmarkers again during the 16th lap. Mark narrowed the gap two laps later when Andy collided with John Carney, only to have Hillenburg break out of lapped traffic and open a 10-car-length advantage with 10 laps remaining. "The King of the Outlaws" passed Joey Saldana for seventh place just before a pair of caution periods tightened the field during the 25th and 26th lap. Mark was unable to duplicate the move he executed to win the 23rd Annual Winter Nationals at Devil's Bowl Speedway three days earlier, and Hillenburg won the race with six car-lengths to spare. "This has really been a tough year for us, so it's nice to finally win one," Hillenburg told the near-capacity crowd from victory lane. "My crew gave me a nice car to drive and this is a nice race track, too. I'm looking forward to coming back and racing here again." Jeff Swindell held off hard-charging Gary Wright for third place. Carr's fifth-place finish was his best so far this season. Johnny Herrera finished sixth, ahead of Steve Kinser, Saldana, Second Quaker State Heat Race winner Jac Haudenschild and Paul McMahan. With #75 Mopar Maxim team still having problems with its tow rig, Saldana drove Joe Herrera's #45x Avenger Tuesday. He raced into eighth place from outside the eighth row in the feature. Mark Kinser opened the festivities by earning his 40th EcoWater Quick-Time Award of the year. He set his 18th one-lap record of the year with an 11.673-second qualifying run. WoO 1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series Southern New Mexico Speedway, Las Cruces, TX Tuesday, October 22, Feature Program #64 Qualifications: 1. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 11.673 (new one- lap record); 2. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 11.811; 3. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 11.877; 4. Dave Blaney, Luna 10, 11.934; 5. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 12.004; 6. Stevie Smith, Motter 71M, 12.050; 7. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 12.070; 8. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 12.073; 9. Greg Hodnett Helm 11H, 12.079; 10. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 12.092; 11. Jim Carr, McCarr Racing 7M, 12.121; 12. Jeff Swindell Two Winners 7TW, 12.124; 13. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 12.140; 14. Paul McMahan, Roth 83, 12.167; 15. Terry McCarl, Holbrook 8H, 12.175; 16. Joey Saldana, Herrera 45x, 12.195; 17. Marlon Jones, Oswalt 1J, 12.255; 18. Ham Diaz, Fuentes 28x, 12.271; 19. Gary Wright, White 9, 12.326; 20. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 12.409; 21. Chris Ikard, Miller 5, 12.410; 22. Larry Neighbors, Neighbors 29, 12.454; 23. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11x, 12.458; 24. Rick Ziehl, Ziehl 18, 12.536; 25. Scott Jones, Jones 13, 12.561; 26. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 12.569; 27. Kevin Gobrecht, Crown Enterprises 63, 12.624; 28. Bo Baker, Baker 22B, 12.695; 29. Ronnie Yeatman, Yeatman 75Y, 12.909; 30. John Carney, Carney 2T, 12.947; 31. Billy Wilburn, Wilburn 10W, 12.948; 32. Dan Williams, Williams 9B, 12.983; 33. Sonny Holden, Holden 2Y, 13.051; 34. Kenny Ozment, Ozment 18K, 13.062; 35. Rodney Turner, Turner 69, 13.125; 36. Rusty Bradham, Bradham 1D, 13.269; 37. Mike Wells, Wells 56, 13.292; 38. Bob Broege, Broege 40, 13.586; 39. Allan Dahringer, Ray/Jones 4, 13.646; 40. Shawn Sander, Sander 49, 13.683; 41. Bobby Davis, Jr., Davis 4, 13.783; 42. Ted Lee, Senior 44, no time. First Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Steve Kinser, 3. Mark Kinser, 4. Chris Ikard, 5. Marlon Jones, 6. Greg Hodnett, 7. Scott Jones, 8. Ronnie Yeatman, 9. Sonny Holden, 10. Mike Wells, 11. Bobby Davis, Jr. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Second Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jac Haudenschild, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Larry Neighbors ($210); 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Brian Paulus, 6. John Carney, 7. Paul McMahan, 8. Bob Broege, 9. Kenny Ozment, 10. Ted Lee. DNS - Ham Diaz. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Third Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Gary Wright, 2. Andy Hillenburg, 3. Jim Carr, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Dion Hindi, 6. Billy Wilburn, 7. Allan Dahringer, 8. Kevin Gobrecht, 9. Rodney Turner, 10. Terry McCarl. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Dave Blaney, 2. Lance Blevins, 3. Jeff Swindell, 4. Johnny Herrera, 5. Joey Saldana, 6. Rick Ziehl, 7. Dan Williams, 8. Rusty Bradham, 9. Shawn Sander, 10. Bo Baker. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Vivarin Dash (five laps): 1. Mark Kinser, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Andy Hillenburg, 4. Dave Blaney, 5. Stevie Smith, 6. Joe Gaerte, 7. Johnny Herrera, 8. Steve Kinser. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Terry McCarl, 2. Rick Ziehl, 3. Greg Hodnett, 4. Paul McMahan, 5. John Carney, 6. Kevin Gobrecht ($185); 7. Ted Lee ($160); 8. Rodney Turner ($110); 9. Allan Dahringer ($100); 10. Ronnie Yeatman ($90); 11. Billy Wilburn ($70); 12. Bo Baker ($60); 13. Bob Broege ($50); 14. Bobby Davis, Jr. ($50); 15. Mike Wells ($50); 16. Scott Jones ($50); 17. Kenny Ozment ($50); 18. Shawn Sander ($50); 19. Rusty Bradham ($50); 20. Dan Williams ($50); 21. Sonny Holden ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (30 laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg ($6,010); 2. Mark Kinser ($3,510); 3. Jeff Swindell ($2,510); 4. Gary Wright ($2,210); 5. Jim Carr ($2,110); 6. Johnny Herrera (2,010); 7. Steve Kinser ($1,610); 8. Joey Saldana ($1,510); 9. Jac Haudenschild ($1,410); 10. Paul McMahan ($1,330); 11. Sammy Swindell ($1,160); 12. Dave Blaney ($1,110); 13. Lance Blevins ($1,060); 14. Terry McCarl ($1,030); 15. John Carney ($730); 16. Donny Schatz ($510); 17. Brian Paulus ($410); 18. Stevie Smith ($410); 19. Rick Ziehl ($430); 20. Greg Hodnett ($430); 21. Joe Gaerte ($410); 22. Dion Hindi ($410); 23. Chris Ikard ($410); 24. Marlon Jones ($410). DNS - Larry Neighbors; replaced by John Carney. Lap leaders: Mark Kinser 1, Andy Hillenburg 2-30 EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner: Mark Kinser WoO