Southern New Mexico Speedway 99-03-09

'King' Tightens Points Race With Southern NM Victory By Richard Day LAS CRUCES, NM (March 9) - "I think Steve Kinser is a little greedy for winning 11 Amoco Knoxville Nationals championships," Danny Lasoski quipped during the off-season. "The Dude" may be saying the same of Kinser's 15 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series championships soon as they battle for the lead in the point standings.

"The King of the Outlaws" closed to within five points of Lasoski Tuesday when he won the "A" Feature at Southern New Mexico Speedway. The $8,000 victory was Kinser's first of the season and the 425th of his brilliant Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series career.

"We had a pretty strong car tonight," Kinser said, "especially after we made some changes after time trials. We were pretty good in traffic, but I guess the open track was even better. The Quaker State car's been fast all year. We've been right up there every night. We just want to be consistently fast, win some races and maybe win another championship."

Kinser, the 15th-fastest qualifier in the 37-car field, won the Second NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race. He earned the right to start the 30- lap "A" Feature on the pole by winning the Channellock Dash from inside the front row.

The 24-car field lost three cars, and three others had to restart at the back of the pack when two crashes occurred before the main event reached its second lap. Frankie Kerr, Tyler Walker and Mark Kinser collided on the front stretch as the green flag fell. Neither Mark nor Tyler was able to restart the race. Sammy Swindell and Terry McCarl pitted during the red period and restarted at the rear of the field. Tim Shaffer joined Mark and Tyler in the pit area after his turn-four collision with Andy Hillenburg sent the #11H Vivarin Maxim flipping during the next restart.

Kinser burst into the lead as the green flag replaced the red and entered lapped traffic within six laps. Stevie Smith, who drove his #19 Ingersoll-Rand Black Bandit past Johnny Herrera early, used an inside move between the first and second corners to pass Jeff Swindell for the runner-up spot late in lap six.

Thirteenth-starting Donny Schatz steered his family's #15 Parker Store Maxim into the high groove in turns three and four to pass Daryn Pittman for fifth place the next time around. Lasoski passed Schatz with an inside move in the second corner early in the ninth lap.

Paul McMahan spun in turn three to avoid a collision involving Pittman and Jim Carr 1 1/2 laps later. Kinser controlled the ensuing restart and was a full straightaway ahead of Smith when he caught the backmarkers again midway through the race. Smith narrowed the gap to six car-lengths in dense traffic within four laps before a series of cautions tightened the field.

McCarl and Craig Dollansky spun in turn two during the 23rd and 24th laps, respectively, before Dale Blaney lost sixth place in a second-corner crash with Travis Whitney with two laps remaining.

Smith was unable to keep pace with Kinser's #11 Quaker State Maxim on the final restart and was racing through turn four when "The King of the Outlaws" took the checkered flag.

Jeff Swindell finished in third place, ahead of Herrera, Lasoski, Hillenburg, Carr, Schatz, Pittman and Brooke Tatnell.

Smith's and Hillenburg's best finishes of the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' first five events of the season pushed them into eighth- and ninth-place in the point standings.

Tatnell drove his #7K Kele & Associates J&J to victory in the "B" Feature, then raced into 10th place from outside the 12th row in the main event.

Sammy Swindell drove his #1 Channellock Stealth through the field to finish 12th after pitting during the opening-lap red period.

Lasoski received his third Vivarin Fast-Time Award of the season after pacing the qualifying session. His 11.682-second, 96.388-m.p.h., lap around the semi-banked, 5/16-mile oval, was only .009 seconds off the single-lap record Mark Kinser set at Southern New Mexico Speedway on October 22, 1996.

The $42,100 event was originally scheduled for October 21, 1998.

Source: WoO

1999 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Southern New Mexico Speedway, Las Cruces, NM Tuesday, March 9, Feature Program #5 Qualifications: 1. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83, 11.682; 2. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 11.770; 3. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 11.783; 4. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 11.860; 5. Joe Gaerte, Holbrook 8H, 11.913; 6. Daryn Pittman, Sonner 47, 11.937; 7. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 11.985; 8. Johnny Herrera, DOCC Motorsports 1BK, 12.006; 9. Jimmy Carr, Blevins 21, 12.086; 10. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 12.092; 11. Tim Shaffer, Helm 11H, 12.120; 12. Paul McMahan, Johnson U2, 12.126; 13. Frankie Kerr, Shoff 23S, 12.127; 14. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 104+, 12.131; 15. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 12.148; 16. Dale Blaney, Hylton/ Blaney 93, 12.206; 17. Craig Dollansky, Dollansky 7, 12.211; 18. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 12.226; 19. Joey Saldana, Mox 17, 12.228; 20. Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 12.246; 21. Calvin Landis, Landis 70, 12.254; 22. James Chesson, Chesson 22C, 12.276; 23. Travis Whitney, Whitney 7S, 12.356; 24. Billy Wilburn, Wilburn 0W, 12.371; 25. Rick Ziehl, Ziehl 18, 12.410; 26. Brooke Tatnell, Tatnell 7K, 12.627; 27. Shawn Sander, Sander 48, 12.628; 28. Dan Oswalt, Oswalt D1, 12.675; 29. Bill Robertson, Eckley 16, 12.709; 30. Scott Young, Young 1Y, 12.747; 31. Danny Smith, Senior 44, 12.956; 32. Richard Wilbee, Clark 3, 13.070; 33. Jesse Baker, Baker 22B, 13.127; 34. Joe Bustillos, Bustillos 37, 13.261; 35. Ronnie Yeatman, Yeatman 75, 14.151; 36. Bobby Davis, Davis 98, no time; 37. J.R. Patton, Patton 86, no time. First NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Danny Lasoski, 3. Jimmy Carr, 4. Dale Blaney, 5. Craig Dollansky, 6. Rick Ziehl, 7. Bill Robertson, 8. Jesse Baker, 9. Calvin Landis. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Second NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Andy Hillenburg, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Sammy Swindell, 5. Stevie Smith, 6. Brooke Tatnell, 7. James Chesson, 8. Joe Bustillos, 9. Scott Young. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Third NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jeff Swindell, 2. Tim Shaffer, 3. Mark Kinser, 4. Daryn Pittman, 5. Joey Saldana, 6. Travis Whitney, 7. Shawn Sander, 8. Ronnie Yeatman, 9. Danny Smith. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth NAPA Auto Parts Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Frankie Kerr, 2. Paul McMahan, 3. Joe Gaerte, 4. Tyler Walker, 5. Terry McCarl, 6. Richard Wilbee, 7. J.R. Patton, 8. Billy Wilburn, 9. Dan Oswalt. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Channellock Dash (five laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Jeff Swindell, 3. Johnny Herrera, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Frankie Kerr, 6. Tyler Walker, 7. Danny Lasoski, 8. Mark Kinser. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Brooke Tatnell, 2. Travis Whitney, 3. Billy Wilburn, 4. Rick Ziehl, 5. Bill Robertson ($200); 6. Shawn Sander ($180); 7. Scott Young ($150); 8. Richard Wilbee ($110); 9. Dan Oswalt ($90); 10. Ronnie Yeatman ($80); 11. J.R. Patton ($60); 12. Jesse Baker ($50); 13. Joe Bustillos ($50); 14. Calvin Landis ($50); 15. James Chesson ($50); 16. Danny Smith ($50); 17. Bobby Davis ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (30 laps): 1. Steve Kinser ($8,000); 2. Stevie Smith ($4,000); 3. Jeff Swindell ($3,000); 4. Johnny Herrera ($2,500); 5. Danny Lasoski ($2,300); 6. Andy Hillenburg ($2,200); 7. Jimmy Carr ($2,100); 8. Donny Schatz ($2,000); 9. Daryn Pittman ($1,800); 10. Brooke Tatnell ($1,720); 11. Frankie Kerr ($1,400); 12. Sammy Swindell ($1,200); 13. Joey Saldana ($1,100); 14. Paul McMahan ($1,050); 15. Terry McCarl ($1,000); 16. Travis Whitney ($920); 17. Rick Ziehl ($720); 18. Dale Blaney ($550); 19. Craig Dollansky ($550); 20. Joe Gaerte ($550); 21. Billy Wilburn ($570); 22. Tim Shaffer ($550); 23. Tyler Walker ($550); 24. Mark Kinser ($550). Lap leader: Steve Kinser 1-30 Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Danny Lasoski WoO