Tulare results 2007-02-24

Kaeding Scores Emotional Win at Thunderbowl Raceway

Tulare, CA--Feb. 24, 2007 -- What a difference a day makes. On Friday night, Tim Kaeding had one of the fastest cars at Thunderbowl Raceway and easily passed the most cars on the night, but had little to show for it when the final checkered flag flew. On Saturday night, he made up for that, as he picked up his first World of Outlaws A-Feature win of the season, leading wire-to-wire in the 40-lap event, pocketing $10,000.

Kaeding capped off a very emotional week by dedicating the win to his grandmother who passed away earlier in the week. He began the night along with his brother Bud by turning a tribute lap for their grandma. He capped the night off by pulling a wheelie down the front straight-a-way after the checkered flag and then turning donuts for the enthusiastic crowd that was on hand.

"I went out there and had some fun tonight," said Kaeding, driver of the Steve Kinser Racing Maxim. "My grandma was looking down on me all night. I want to dedicate it to her. It's an unbelievable feeling. I hope we keep doing this, and keep having fun all year."

Kaeding took the lead on the opening lap when polesitter Jason Meyers jumped the cushion exiting the first turn. From there, the native of San Jose opened up some very sizeable advantages, while enduring a couple of cautions and a red flag period with nine laps remaining.

"I think we had a car that was capable of running in the Top-Five on Friday night," said Kaeding, who became the fifth driver to win a race this season. "Tonight I just went out there and ran my own race, and didn't care about anything else. If I got passed, I would drive right back by a guy if I needed to. I just tried to keep my cool and not get in any bad predicaments."

With the laps winding down, Terry McCarl in the Big Game Treestands Eagle made a valiant charge at Kaeding. He closed to within a couple car lengths in heavy traffic with less than 10 laps remaining. After starting in the 11th spot, the native of Altoona, Iowa burst into the Top-Five within the first 12 laps of the event. For the six-time Knoxville Raceway Champion, it was his second third straight Top-Five finish.

"We had a great car in the feature," said McCarl. "We were the fastest car on the track. I hated to see that yellow, because we were really running them down in traffic. These kinds of tracks are not really my forte and I have to give my crew chief Steve Fitzpatrick and Greg McCormack props for giving me such a good car tonight. It would drive anywhere on the track. I had a blast out there."

Always a fan favorite in his home state, Kaeding was ecstatic to win in front of a crowd that has seen him race for a number of years. After the checkered flag flew, he had a throng of people waiting to congratulate him in the winner's circle, with his grandfather first in that line, which was provided a very emotional moment.

"It feels good to win at a home track," he commented. "We have been good at Tulare every time we have come here, and had a lot of bad luck. We finally got the monkey off of our back and won one with the Outlaws. It's a great race track and it puts on a great show for the fans. It's just one of those tracks that I like and its fun to race at."

Donny Schatz, the reigning World of Outlaws Champion and current point leader finished a very solid third to pick up his fourth Top-Five finish in five events. He had to back out of the throttle on the opening lap when Meyers slipped up the track, allowing Kaeding to power by them both.

"We were ok at the start," said Schatz, driver of the Parker Store J&J. "We gained some spots back there and Tim (Kaeding) set a real good pace. As the race went on we got too tight on entry and I could not get off the corner. I kept trying to fix it with the wing and couldn't. All those yellows kind of hurt us too. We run harder tires and I couldn't get them to stick at the end. We were glad to be up there."

Justin Henderson turned in his best career finish with the World of Outlaws. The native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota was fourth in the Dan Dan the Sonic Man Rocket. He had a very close call with nine laps remaining as McCarl and Joey Saldana made contact right in front of him. He kept his nose clean and turned consistent laps through the 40-lap event.

"It was pretty a phenomenal night for us," said Henderson. "We had a front row seat for some action there. Terry (McCarl) had a heck of a race. He slid me pretty hard and we raced pretty close and that made it pretty hairy. That's just part of racing."

Jason Meyers started on the pole and charged to a very solid finish of fifth after falling all the way back to 12th. For the native of nearby Clovis, it was his second straight Top-Five finish in the Primerica Financial Maxim.

The rest of the Top-10 was Jac Haudenschild in sixth in the Wright One Construction Maxim The native of Wooster, Ohio charged from the 19th starting spot for his second straight Top-10 finish. Jason Solwold was seventh in the City Wide Insulation Maxim. Brooke Tatnell was eighth in the Volcano Joe's Coffee Schnee, with Steve Kinser in the Quaker State Maxim in ninth, and Daryn Pittman in the Titan Garages Maxim in 10th.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday March 2 at USA Race Park in Tucson, Arizona, and at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix the following day.

* FAST QUALIFIER: Paul McMahan paced the 41 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the 1/3-mile high-banked ova at 12.947 seconds at 92.593 mph. For his qualifying effort, McMahan earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Joey Saldana (4), Tim Kaeding (3), Jason Meyers (2), and Terry McCarl (1). Thunderbowl Raceway is a high-banked 1/3-mile oval. The track record of 12.740 seconds was set by Kevin Swindell on October 15, 2005.

* QUALIFYING WINNERS: Kerry Madsen, Joey Saldana, Justin Henderson, and Steve Kinser won heat races... Dion Hindi won the C-Main... Brooke Tatnell won the B-Main... Jason Meyers won the dash.

* UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws invade the Arizona desert for a pair of races on March 2 and March 3. On Friday March 2, the series returns to USA Race Park in Tucson. The following night, they will travel to the storied Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.

World of Outlaws Sprint Series Statistical Report; Thunderbowl Raceway; Feb. 24, 2007

Qualifying
1) 20-Paul McMahan 12.947
2) 9-Joey Saldana 12.976
3) 11K-Tim Kaeding 13.013
4) 14-Jason Meyers 13.032
5) 24-Terry McCarl 13.049
6) R19-Jason Solwold 13.072
7) 6T-Tim Shaffer 13.087
8) 7-Craig Dollansky 13.094
9) 11H-Kerry Madsen 13.097
10) 70-Chad Kemenah 13.108
11) 1-Ronnie Day 13.176
12) 1x-Randy Hannagan 13.178
13) 15-Donny Schatz 13.186
14) O-Jonathan Allard 13.215
15) D1-Justin Henderson 13.236
16) 11-Steve Kinser 13.270
17) 2-Brooke Tatnell 13.336
18) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr. 13.339
19) 4-Mike Faria 13.363
20) 35-Jac Haudenschild 13.415
21) 21-Daryn Pittman 13.436
22) 19-Becca Anderson 13.439
23) 81-Robert Ballou 13.498
24) 10C-Jeremy Campbell 13.499
25) 83-Danny Lasoski 13.510
26) 36-Jason Martin 13.516
27) 7S-Jason Sides 13.586
28) 5C-Chad Hillier 13.608
29) 17V-Danny Faria Jr 13.609
30) 75H-Danny Horner 13.612
31) 8K-Zach Chappell 13.617
32) 18-Brian Carlson 13.631
33) 11D-Dion Hindi 13.680
34) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr 13.749
35) 21T-Tommy Tarlton 13.982
36) 33E-Evan Suggs 13.987
37) 6W-Mark Workentine 14.059
38) 44-Matt Shelton 14.133
39) 12M-James Mosher 14.255
40) 9K-Brent Kronfuss 14.408
41) 29A-Jason Botsford 14.788

Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11H-Kerry Madsen
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 24-Terry McCarl
4) 21-Daryn Pittman
5) 20-Paul McMahan
6) 2-Brooke Tatnell
7) 11D-Dion Hindi
8) 29A-Jason Botsford
9) 17V-Danny Faria Jr
10) 6W-Mark Workentine
11) 83-Danny Lasoski

Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) O-Jonathan Allard
3) R19-Jason Solwold
4) 70-Chad Kemenah
5) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.
6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
7) 19-Becca Anderson
8) 75H-Danny Horner
9) 36-Jason Martin
10) 44-Matt Shelton

Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) D1-Justin Henderson
2) 1-Ronnie Day
3) 11K-Tim Kaeding
4) 6T-Tim Shaffer
5) 7S-Jason Sides
6) 81-Robert Ballou
7) 8K-Zach Chappell
8) 21T-Tommy Tarlton
9) 4-Mike Faria
10) 12M-James Mosher

Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) 14-Jason Meyers
3) 35-Jac Haudenschild
4) 7-Craig Dollansky
5) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
6) 1x-Randy Hannagan
7) 9K-Brent Kronfuss
8) 18-Brian Carlson
9) 5C-Chad Hillier
10) 33E-Evan Suggs

Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 11H-Kerry Madsen
4) 11K-Tim Kaeding
5) D1-Justin Henderson
6) 20-Paul McMahan
7) 9-Joey Saldana
8) 11-Steve Kinser
9) O-Jonathan Allard
10) 1-Ronnie Day

C-main (8 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 11D-Dion Hindi
2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr
3) 21T-Tommy Tarlton [$125]
4) 12M-James Mosher [$125]
5) 33E-Evan Suggs [$125]
6) 29A-Jason Botsford [$100]
7) 9K-Brent Kronfuss [$100]
8) 44-Matt Shelton [$100]
9) 6W-Mark Workentine [$100]

B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 2-Brooke Tatnell
2) 5C-Chad Hillier
3) 1x-Randy Hannagan
4) 19-Becca Anderson
5) 11D-Dion Hindi [$200]
6) 81-Robert Ballou [$180]
7) 36-Jason Martin [$175]
8) 4-Mike Faria [$160]
9) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [$150]
10) 75H-Danny Horner [$150]
11) 18-Brian Carlson [$150]
12) 83-Danny Lasoski [$150]
13) 8K-Zach Chappell [$150]
14) 17V-Danny Faria Jr [$150]

A-main (35 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 11K-Tim Kaeding[4] [$10,000]
2) 24-Terry McCarl[11] [$5,000]
3) 15-Donny Schatz[2] [$3,000]
4) D1-Justin Henderson[5] [$2,700]
5) 14-Jason Meyers[1] [$2,500]
6) 35-Jac Haudenschild[19] [$2,200]
7) R19-Jason Solwold[12] [$2,000]
8) 2-Brooke Tatnell[17] [$1,800]
9) 11-Steve Kinser[8] [$1,600]
10) 21-Daryn Pittman[20] [$1,450]
11) 1x-Randy Hannagan[16] [$1,300]
12) 20-Paul McMahan[6] [$1,200]
13) 10C-Jeremy Campbell[22] [$1,100]
14) 7-Craig Dollansky[14] [$1,000]
15) 11H-Kerry Madsen[3] [$950]
16) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.[18] [$900]
17) 9-Joey Saldana[7] [$850]
18) 6T-Tim Shaffer[13] [$750]
19) 83-Danny Lasoski[25] [$25]
20) 7S-Jason Sides[23] [$700]
21) 70-Chad Kemenah[15] [$700]
22) 11D-Dion Hindi[26] [$0]
23) 5C-Chad Hillier[24] [$700]
24) 19-Becca Anderson[21] [$700]
25) O-Jonathan Allard[9] [$700]
26) 1-Ronnie Day[10] [$700]

Lap Leader: Tim Kaeding 1-40

Note: Dion Hindi and Danny Lasoski used provisionals to start the A-Feature.

-credit: woo