World of Outlaws Wrap-Up: Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway
Contact: World Racing Group - Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director, 704-467-7803 • tveneziano@dirtcar.com
Concord, NC—July 5, 2009—
A little luck never hurts: Danny Lasoski used a very fast race car on Saturday night and a little luck in picking up his third career win at Eagle Raceway. He began the night by turning the second fastest lap in time trials and finished third in the second heat race to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash. He started on the pole in the dash and won that to earn the top starting spot for the 40-lap A-Feature which he led all 40 laps of to earn his third victory of the season. He also moved to within six points of Jason Sides who is fifth in the standings.
“It was really key the little boy that drew my number in the dash,” said Lasoski after his victory on Saturday night. “Tonight with all the rain they had here, to be able to start on front row was definitely a key to winning.”
Gaining a few points: Joey Saldana used a third-place finish on Saturday night to gain 32 points on Donny Schatz, who has engine trouble and finished 19th. Saldana now trails the three-time and defending series champion by 44 points as he chases his first career series title. Saldana leads the series with 11 A-Feature wins this season and has 18 Top-Five finishes, which is second only to Schatz who has 20.
“It's very seldom that you see Donny Schatz have a bad night, especially having a motor problem,” noted Saldana. “He has a great motor program and has for quite a few years and that shows why they are so good. For him to have an engine failure tonight was very unexpected. Like I've said before, the only way you are going to do anything with Donny with how good he is, is for him to have bad luck like we're having. Tonight he had some bad luck and we'll see what happens.”
A new track record: Sammy Swindell began the Eagle Nationals by setting a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 11.076 seconds at 108.234 mph to eclipse the previous mark of 11.124 seconds set by Joey Saldana in 2002. It was the fourth time this season that Swindell has been quickest in time trials with the World of Outlaws, tying him for second in that category with Danny Lasoski and Jason Sides.
Getting closer and closer: Craig Dollansky finished fourth on Saturday night to earn his ninth Top-Five finish of the season as he continues his first season behind the wheel for Kasey Kahne Racing as a teammate to Joey Saldana. Dollansky is currently seventh in the series standings, just 18 points behind Danny Lasoski who is sixth and 24 markers behind Jason Sides who is fifth.
“We sure are working on it,” stated Dollansky of building momentum. “It's been a bit of a struggle this season for us and we continue to work hard with this Kasey Kahne Racing team. We'll just keep battling.”
Gearing up for the Month of Money: Sammy Swindell finished second in the Eagle Nationals, which was his 15th Top-10 of the season with the World of Outlaws, with seven of those being Top-Fives. He plans to compete in a number of events with the World of Outlaws over the next month, including the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway, the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway and the Ironman 55 at I-55 Raceway. He and his Tom Rolfe Racing team have been consistently fast each time they have competed with the series this season and have been close to winning a couple of times.
“We've been trying some different things and trying to be ready for the bigger races,” explained Swindell, the three-time World of Outlaws champion. “We have made some changes and have been fine tuning some things. I think we have something to work with and tonight we unloaded it and never touched it. I think we are close with what we are doing. We just have to get the breaks.”
Photo Gallery: The Media Gallery section of www.WorldofOutlaws.com continues to be updated after each event. Visit http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/
Up next: A trip to 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa on Wednesday, July 8, followed by a stop a Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin on Saturday, July 11 and Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin on Sunday, July 12.
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