Barberville, FL — The dirt was calling Thursday night and the big names answered. Joey Saldana drove his Kasey Kahne Racing Sprint Car to victory lane on the second night of the 39th Annual DIRTcar Nationals By University of Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway Park. It was the second year in a row that Kasey Kahne was able to celebrate a win with his team just down the road from Daytona Beach.
David McWilliams earned his first DIRTcar Nationals win but had his hands full all night in his DIRTcar UMP Modified as Clint Bowyer, Ken Schrader and David Reutimann gave chase along with Richard Childress’ grandkids Austin and Ty Dillon.
To win the O’Reilly All Stars Circuit of Champions final event during the DIRTcar Nationals, Saldana held off Pennsylvania’s Greg Hodnett early and Minnesota’s Craig Dollansky late. Several cautions kept the pressure on Saldana to be perfect, and his Budweiser Maxim was up to the task. A year after earning 20 World of Outlaws main-event victories, Saldana has picked up right where he left off. The win is the third of Saldana’s career at Volusia Speedway Park. He also won in 2009 and 2006.
Dollansky held off King of the Outlaws, Steve Kinser, to finish second with Pennsylvanian Lucas Wolfe and Texan Sam Hafertepe Jr. rounding out the top five. California’s Tim Kaeding started last after a fuel issue before the green flag and charged to a ninth-place run.
“We had a really good car all night,” said Saldana, of Brownsburg, Ind. “I was probably being too cautious with the lapped cars. This is only our second race of the year since I didn’t go to Australia in the off-season like I usually do. I was worried I wouldn’t know what to do.”
On Friday, Saldana begins his quest to deliver a World of Outlaws championship to Kahne. Donny Schatz, the four-time defending World of Outlaws champion from Fargo, N.D., finished 23rd on Thursday night after losing a right front wheel on a restart with nine laps complete.
McWilliams, from Union, Ky., used his front row starting spot to outduel young gun Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C., on the opening lap out of turn two and dominate the DIRTcar UMP Modified field for the first DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH win of his career.
“I’m just so excited,” McWilliams said. “I just don’t know what to say.”
McWilliams bested a hard charging Peyton Taylor and opening night winner Dave Hess Jr., who finished third. Jared Landers and Jason Hughes rounded out the top five.
The racing continues nightly at Volusia through Feb. 13. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series opens its 33rd season on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. DIRTcar UMP Modifieds compete through next Tuesday when Dirt Late Models and Big-Block keep the action intense.
For information, call the track at 386-985-4402 or go to http://www.dirtcarnationals.com, or check out http://www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com. Also follow along on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DIRTcarNats.
DIRTcar Nationals By University of Northwestern Ohio Statistical Report – Volusia Speedway Park, Feb. 4, 2010
All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series
Qualifying
1) 83JR-Tim Kaeding 14.187 2) 9-Joey Saldana 14.200 3) 7-Craig Dollansky 14.205 4) 22-Greg Hodnett 14.313 5) 15-Donny Schatz 14.331 6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.336 7) 1-Stevie Smith 14.353 8) 6-Danny Lasoski 14.356 9) 14-Jason Meyers 14.363 10) 11K-Kraig Kinser 14.376 11) 11-Steve Kinser 14.381 12) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.396 13) 13-Paul McMahan 14.398 14) 49-Brad Sweet 14.429 15) 22E-Brian Ellenberger 14.481 16) 1J-Bronson Maeshen 14.505 17) 17-Daryn Pittman 14.511 18) 3C-Cale Conley 14.519 19) 97-Dean Jacobs 14.524 20) W20-Greg Wilson 14.569 21) 24-Terry McCarl 14.576 22) R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.598 23) 7M-Mark Smith 14.609 24) 91-Cody Darrah 14.634 25) 2-Dale Blaney 14.674 26) 30C-Lance Dewease 14.706 27) 83-Tim Shaffer 14.741 28) 39-Doug Esh 14.770 29) 63-Chad Kemenah 14.793 30) 51-Fred Rahmer 14.854 31) 11E-Mike Erdley 14.991 32) 6F-Bob Felmlee 15.048 33) 6R-Bill Rose 15.075 34) 89G-David Gravel 15.118 35) 12-Jared Ridge 15.150 36) 2B-Ben Gregg 15.181 37) O-Brandon Wimmer 15.302 38) O4-Cap Henry III 15.402 39) OS-Glenn Styres 15.552 40) 6W-Brad Wickham 16.803 41) 4B-Tom Busch 17.029
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 24-Terry McCarl 2) 15-Donny Schatz 3) 13-Paul McMahan 4) 2-Dale Blaney 5) 83JR-Tim Kaeding 6) 14-Jason Meyers 7) 63-Chad Kemenah 8) 17-Daryn Pittman 9) O-Brandon Wimmer 10) 6R-Bill Rose 11) 4B-Tom Busch
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana 2) 3C-Cale Conley 3) R19-Jac Haudenschild 4) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 5) 49-Brad Sweet 6) 30C-Lance Dewease 7) 11K-Kraig Kinser 8) 51-Fred Rahmer 9) 89G-David Gravel 10) O4-Cap Henry III
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7M-Mark Smith 2) 1-Stevie Smith 3) 11-Steve Kinser 4) 7-Craig Dollansky 5) 97-Dean Jacobs 6) 22E-Brian Ellenberger 7) 83-Tim Shaffer 8) 11E-Mike Erdley 9) 12-Jared Ridge 10) OS-Glenn Styres
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 2) 22-Greg Hodnett 3) W20-Greg Wilson 4) 6-Danny Lasoski 5) 39-Doug Esh 6) 6F-Bob Felmlee 7) 91-Cody Darrah 8) 1J-Bronson Maeshen 9) 2B-Ben Gregg 10) 6W-Brad Wickham
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 7-Craig Dollansky 2) 22-Greg Hodnett 3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 4) 83JR-Tim Kaeding 5) 9-Joey Saldana 6) 15-Donny Schatz 7) 1-Stevie Smith 8) 6-Danny Lasoski 9) 11-Steve Kinser 10) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers 2) 22E-Brian Ellenberger 3) 30C-Lance Dewease 4) 11K-Kraig Kinser 5) 17-Daryn Pittman 6) 83-Tim Shaffer 7) 51-Fred Rahmer 8) 89G-David Gravel 9) 1J-Bronson Maeshen 10) 91-Cody Darrah 11) 6R-Bill Rose 12) 6F-Bob Felmlee 13) OS-Glenn Styres 14) 6W-Brad Wickham 15) 4B-Tom Busch 16) O-Brandon Wimmer 17) 11E-Mike Erdley 18) O4-Cap Henry III 19) 63-Chad Kemenah 20) 12-Jared Ridge 21) 2B-Ben Gregg
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[5] 2) 7-Craig Dollansky[1] 3) 11-Steve Kinser[9] 4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[10] 5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3] 6) 1-Stevie Smith[7] 7) 6-Danny Lasoski[8] 8) 14-Jason Meyers[11] 9) 83JR-Tim Kaeding[4] 10) 2-Dale Blaney[22] 11) 13-Paul McMahan[13] 12) 49-Brad Sweet[14] 13) W20-Greg Wilson[18] 14) 11K-Kraig Kinser[12] 15) 3C-Cale Conley[16] 16) 24-Terry McCarl[19] 17) 22E-Brian Ellenberger[15] 18) R19-Jac Haudenschild[20] 19) 30C-Lance Dewease[23] 20) 7M-Mark Smith[21] 21) 39-Doug Esh[24] 22) 22-Greg Hodnett[2] 23) 15-Donny Schatz[6] 24) 97-Dean Jacobs[17]
Lap Leaders: Greg Hodnett 1, Joey Saldana 2-30
DIRTcar Racing UMP Modifieds
Qualifying : 1. Jared Landers 2. Jared Hawkins 3. Dave Hess Jr 4. Mike Spatola 5. Stormy Scott 6. Clint Bowyer 7. Todd Neiheiser 8. Jason Hughes 9. Ben Adkins 10. Tommy Seets 11. Austin Dillon 12. Jamie Lomax 13. Stephen Schnapf 14. Wayne Hammond 15. Kyle Bronson 16. Jammie Wilson 17. David McWilliams 18. David Reutimann 19. Jon Henry 20. Justin Houston 21. Rick Cannata 22. Denny Schwartz 23. Scotty Kincaid 24. Billy Smith 25. Steven Pfeifer 26. Terry Hull 27. Dave Wietholder 28. Curt Myers 29. Ty Dillon 30. Ron Barker 31. Scott Green 32. Shane Sabraski 33. Jeff Babcock 34. J.E. Stalder 35. Jeremy Kerzman 36. Michael Davis 37. Matt Goulden 38. Devin Gilpin 39. Schuyler Nahre 40. Justin Matson 41. Tony Anderson 42. Peyton Taylor 43. Todd Sherman 44. Bob Broking 45. Rob Underwood 46. Paul Miles 47. Jason Gross 48. Ben Ledgerwood 49. Dale Mathison 50. Jason Wheatley 51. Randle Sweeney 52. Duane Dale 53. Tom Hagberg 54. Jim Ransom 55. Bob Gierke 56. Jeremy Newberry 57. Scotty Owens 58. Jacob Hawkins 59. Zach Patterson 60. Rob Penny 61. Kent Corbin 62. Roger Moser 63. Darrell George 64. Jeff Thomas 65. Joe Carr 66. Scott Martin 67. Chad Evans 68. Garrett Stewart 69. Nick Hoffman 70. Shawn Holliday .
Heat 1: 1. Austin Dillon 2. Stormy Scott 3. Devin Gilpin 4. Peyton Taylor 5. Curt Myers 6. Jason Wheatley 7. Dale Mathison 8. Justin Matson 9. Jeff Babcock 10. Jason Gross 11. Paul Miles 12. Jammie Wilson .
Heat 2: 1. Scotty Kincaid 2. Ben Adkins 3. Billy Smith 4. Shane Sabraski 5. Scott Green 6. Dave Wietholder 7. Justin Houston 8. Matt Goulden 9. Shawn Holliday 10. Schuyler Nahre 11. Zach Patterson DNS. Rob Underwood .
Heat 3: 1. David McWilliams 2. Jon Henry 3. Wayne Hammond 4. Terry Hull 5. Mike Spatola 6. Nick Hoffman 7. Rick Cannata 8. Darrell George 9. Roger Moser 10. Kyle Bronson 11. Jeff Thomas DNS. Joe Carr .
Heat 4: 1. Jason Hughes 2. Dave Hess Jr 3. Todd Neiheiser 4. Jared Hawkins 5. Ben Ledgerwood 6. Ron Barker 7. Jim Ransom 8. Tom Hagberg 9. Jamie Lomax 10. Scotty Owens DNS. Jeremy Kerzman .
Heat 5: 1. Stephen Schnapf 2. David Reutimann 3. Clint Bowyer 4. Steven Pfeifer 5. Jacob Hawkins 6. J.E. Stalder 7. Bob Gierke 8. Garrett Stewart 9. Kent Corbin 10. Jeremy Newberry 11. Rob Penny DNS. Denny Schwartz .
Heat 6: 1. Jared Landers 2. Tommy Seets 3. Ty Dillon 4. Randle Sweeney 5. Todd Sherman 6. Michael Davis 7. Scott Martin 8. Bob Broking 9. Duane Dale 10. Tony Anderson 11. Chad Evans .
B-Main 1: 1. Peyton Taylor 2. Jason Wheatley 3. Shane Sabraski 4. Scott Green 5. Rob Underwood 6. Jason Gross 7. Dave Wietholder 8. Justin Houston 9. Curt Myers 10. Paul Miles 11. Shawn Holliday 12. Schuyler Nahre 13. Zach Patterson 14. Matt Goulden 15. Justin Matson 16. Jeff Babcock 17. Dale Mathison DNS. Jammie Wilson .
B-Main 2: 1. Jared Hawkins 2. Ron Barker 3. Mike Spatola 4. Terry Hull 5. Rick Cannata 6. Jim Ransom 7. Roger Moser 8. Tom Hagberg 9. Jamie Lomax 10. Joe Carr 11. Nick Hoffman 12. Jeff Thomas 13. Scotty Owens 14. Darrell George 15. Kyle Bronson 16. Ben Ledgerwood DNS. Jeremy Kerzman.
B-Main 3: 1. Jacob Hawkins 2. Kent Corbin 3. Kenny Schrader 4. J.E. Stalder 5. Todd Sherman 6. Steven Pfeifer 7. Duane Dale 8. Jeremy Newberry 9. Michael Davis 10. Tony Anderson 11. Garrett Stewart 12. Bob Gierke 13. Scott Martin 14. Bob Broking 15. Randle Sweeney 16. Chad Evans DNS. Rob Penny DNS. Denny Schwartz .
A-Main: 1. David McWilliams 2. Peyton Taylor 3. Dave Hess Jr 4. Jared Landers 5. Jason Hughes 6. Clint Bowyer 7. Austin Dillon 8. Jon Henry 9. Stormy Scott 10. Jacob Hawkins 11. Kenny Schrader 12. Ty Dillon 13. Jared Hawkins 14. Tommy Seets 15. Shane Sabraski 16. Scotty Kincaid 17. Stephen Schnapf 18. Mike Spatola 19. David Reutimann 20. Todd Neiheiser 21. Wayne Hammond 22. Kent Corbin 23. Dale Mathison 24. Billy Smith 25. Ron Barker 26. Jamie Lomax 27. Ben Adkins 28. Devin Gilpin 29. Jason Wheatley.
The 39th Annual DIRTcar Nationals is brought to fans by the University of Northwestern Ohio. The University of Northwestern Ohio is the Official Education Provider of DIRTcar Racing. UNOH can deliver strong progressive academics, with flexible scheduling at an affordable price. The choice of a university at which to study is a major decision. Your future as a productive professional and a responsible citizen can be greatly enhanced by that decision. Students at UHOH will become critical thinkers, will become communicators, will have the most current technology and will experience small class sizes taught by knowledgeable faculty with real working experience. For more information visit UNOH at www.unoh.edu.
