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Terre Haute report 98-05-16

Smith Wins Winged Thunder Event When Kinser Breaks By Richard Day TERRE HAUTE, IN (May 16) - Life on the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series tour can change drastically in a split-second. In one of the most bizarre ...

Smith Wins Winged Thunder Event When Kinser Breaks By Richard Day TERRE HAUTE, IN (May 16) - Life on the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series tour can change drastically in a split-second. In one of the most bizarre races of the series' 20th Anniversary Season, Mark Kinser appeared to be on his way to an easy victory in the A.J. Foyt Featherlite Winged Thunder "A" Feature that would give him the lead in the point standings. With six laps remaining, however, the rear end in the #5M Wirtgen Maxim malfunctioned and put him in the pits. Points leader Stevie Smith, who was more than half a lap behind Kinser when the incident occurred, inherited the lead and raced to his fourth victory of the year. "Mark was really fast," Smith said. "I'm not sure if we would have had anything for him. "We slid around a lot tonight. Our tires started to go away at the end. But we were able to put the Ingersoll-Rand car up front and win another one. "Nobody works harder than my dad (Steve Smith) and Devon (Deluzio). They've given me a great race car. It's nice to go back to Pennsylvania with the points lead." Smith, who lives in New Oxford, PA, heads into Tuesday's Pennsylvania Tour opener at Lernerville Speedway with the largest lead anyone has held this year - 38 points. Only two points separate the Kinser cousins - Mark and Steve - who exchanged the lead before Smith moved into first place May 9th. Kinser, Friday's Preliminary Feature winner, beat Jac Haudenschild, Danny Lasoski and Smith across the finish line in the Channellock Dash for the right start the main event on the pole. He burst into the lead as the green flag fell in the 30-lap "A" Feature, and was a half-straightaway ahead of Vivarin Fast- Time Award winner Sammy Swindell and Lasoski when he entered lapped traffic during the fifth lap. Smith and Steve Kinser passed Haudenschild during laps six and eight, then started battling for fourth place. "The King of the Outlaws" took the low line through turn three to pass Smith, but his #11 Quaker State Maxim spun as he tried to complete the pass and collided with Greg Hodnett. Steve and Hodnett restarted at the rear of the field, but race back into the top 10. Smith steered his #19 Ingersoll-Rand sprinter into the high groove in the first corner to pass Lasoski for second place early in the 11th lap, but was unable to keep pace with Mark. Kinser was half a lap ahead of Smith midway through the race, and caught the backmarkers again during lap 16. Mark was in dense lapped traffic with nine laps remaining when he threaded the #5M between Hodnett and Daryn Pittman to maintain his huge advantage. Disaster struck the Wirtgen team two laps later, however, when Mark stopped in the second corner with a broken rear end. Smith restarted in first place with three lapped cars separating him from Swindell. Lasoski challenged the defending Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series champion as the green flag replaced the yellow, allowing Stevie to build a comfortable lead. Haudenschild lost sixth place with five laps remaining when he allowed the #22 Pennzoil Maxim to hit the outside retaining wall in turn four. He restarted and raced back into 12th place. Swindell battled Stevie for the lead as the race resumed, but the #19 was too strong. Smith raced away from Sammy during the final four laps and claimed the $12,000 first prize with half a straightaway to spare. Johnny Herrera was the second-fastest qualifier, but rear-end problems caused him to finish seventh in his heat race. He won the "B" Feature, then drove the #47 Casey's General Stores Maxim into third place in the "A" Feature. Completing the top 10 in the World of Outlaws' 16th event of the year were Lasoski, 17th-starting Jeff Swindell, Joe Gaerte, Andy Hillenburg, Steve Kinser, Hodnett and Danny Smith. Following Tuesday's Purvis Brothers/Pennzoil Night event at Lernerville Speedway, the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series will sanction the Channellock Spring Classic at Williams Grove Speedway Thursday and Friday. Friday's action will be televised live on TNN: The Nashville Network between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern time. From Williams Grove, the fire-breathing, mudslinging sprint car racing teams will head for Hagerstown Speedway for a Saturday-Sunday event. WoO 1998 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series A.J. Foyt Featherlite Winged Thunder Terre Haute Action Track, Terre Haute, IN Saturday, May 16, Feature Program #16 Qualifications: 1. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 17.556; 2. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 17.611; 3. Joe Gaerte, Holbrook 8H, 17.652; 4. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 17.724; 5. Randy Kinser, Kinser 14, 17.740; 6. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 17.745; 7. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 17.818; 8. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 17.880; 9. Dale Blaney, Hylton-Blaney 93, 17.965; 10. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 17.970; 11. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 18.073; 12. Larry Neighbors, Neighbors 29N, 18.118; 13. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 104+, 18.157; 14. Brooke Tatnell, Tatnell 7K, 18.158; 15. Danny Smith, Brazier 21S, 18.172; 16. Craig Dollansky, Stanton 75, 18.286; 17. Dion Hindi, Hindi 18, 18.357; 18. Jason Johnson, Pembleton 42, 18.490; 19. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 18.522; 20. Kelly Kinser, Kinser 4K, 18.677; 21. Bob Burkle, Burkle 21B, 19.292; 22. Donnie Jeschke, Jeschke 99H, 19.677; 23. Daryn Pittman, Pittman 11P, 19.686; 24. Shane Stewart, Stewart 9S, no time. First Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Andy Hillenburg, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Sammy Swindell, 5. Jeff Swindell, 6. Craig Dollansky, 7. Lance Blevins, 8. Donnie Jeschke. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Second Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Tyler Walker, 2. Kelly Kinser, 3. Brian Paulus, 4. Daryn Pittman, 5. Dion Hindi, 6. Brooke Tatnell, 7. Johnny Herrera, 8. Randy Kinser. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Third Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Dale Blaney, 2. Greg Hodnett, 3. Larry Neighbors, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Danny Smith, 6. Jason Johnson, 7. Bob Burkle, 8. Shane Stewart. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature qualified Mark Kinser, Jac Haudenschild, Danny Lasoski and Stevie Smith for the first four starting positions in the Channellock Dash. Channellock Dash (five laps): 1. Mark Kinser, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Danny Lasoski, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Sammy Swindell, 6. Joe Gaerte. (finish determined the first six starting positions in the "A" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Craig Dollansky, 3. Randy Kinser, 4. Brooke Tatnell, 5. Lance Blevins, 6. Donnie Jeschke ($200); 7. Jason Johnson ($175); 8. Bob Burkle ($150); 9. Shane Stewart ($100). (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (30 laps): 1. Stevie Smith ($12,000); 2. Sammy Swindell ($6,000); 3. Johnny Herrera ($3,520); 4. Danny Lasoski ($3,200); 5. Jeff Swindell ($3,000); 6. Joe Gaerte ($2,500); 7. Andy Hillenburg ($2,300); 8. Steve Kinser ($2,200); 9. Greg Hodnett ($2,100); 10. Danny Smith ($2,000); 11. Dale Blaney ($1,500); 12. Jac Haudenschild ($1,400); 13. Donny Schatz ($1,300); 14. Craig Dollansky ($1,220); 15. Daryn Pittman ($1,000); 16. Dion Hindi ($1,000); 17. Larry Neighbors ($800); 18. Brooke Tatnell ($620); 19. Tyler Walker ($600); 20. Mark Kinser ($600); 21. Lance Blevins ($620); 22. Brian Paulus ($600); 23. Kelly Kinser ($600); 24. Randy Kinser ($620). Lap leaders: Mark Kinser 1-24, Stevie Smith 25-30 Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Sammy Swindell WoO

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