Joey Saldana Takes
Barberville, FL — Feb. 10, 2006 — By
Chris Dolack, VP Public Relations
Joey Saldana charged off of Turn 4 on the final lap to catch leader Jac
Haudenschild and win a drag race to the checkered flag by 0.10 seconds Friday
night during the 35th Annual Winternationals in front of packed grandstands at
Volusia Speedway Park.
Haudenschild, Saldana and Fred Rahmer waged a race-long three-car battle before
Saldana, the
Haudenschild and Saldana ran through the low groove before Saldana shifted up
the half-mile oval in his Dodge/Curb Records JEI and caught Haudenschild’s
Wright One Construction Maxim in the final corner.
Rahmer held on to finish third in the Miller Bros. Chevrolet J&J followed
by Daryn Pittman in the Titan Garages & Carports Maxim and Terry McCarl in
the
Jeff Shepard was sixth in the IPC Packaging Eagle, followed by Jeremy Campbell
in the American Driver’s Alliance/G-Force Racing Gear Maxim, Craig Dollansky in
the Karavan Trailers J&J, Chad Kemenah in the Underground Utilities Inc.
Eagle and Greg Wilson in the All Star Plumbing and Heating Maxim. After winning
the season opener on Thursday, Kemenah leads the championship standings by one
point.
On a very racy track, the leaders powered their way through the first corner
before a pack of cars tried to go four wide into the first corner, creating a
seven-car crash that brought out a red flag. On the restart, pole-sitter
Haudenschild motored down the front stretch and kept Rahmer on the top. Pittman
and Saldana worked up and down looking for a chance to make a move as McCarl
quickly charged toward the lead pack.
On a restart with seven laps down, Haudenschild again locked his car to the
bottom as Rahmer tried a charge on the top. Saldana looked around for space as
the top three started edging away. With 14 laps down, Saldana finally saw an
opening and motored his way past Rahmer and started to reel in Haudenschild.
“We got to lapped traffic before that yellow and I moved to the top and I ran
Rahmer down pretty good,” said Saldana, a native of
The top five caught traffic with five to go, scattering the leaders up and down
the track. Haudenschild and Saldana cleared the traffic. Saldana pushed his car
to the limit, nearly going sideways off of Turn 4 as they dashed to the
checkered flag, with Saldana’s momentum carrying him to victory by the slimmest
of margins.
“We knew Joey was right there but our car felt good,” said Haudenschild, of
“It was a pretty good race. Me and Rahmer raced pretty hard at the start. He
got me on the first start and I got him on the second start. We were real good
but there’s a lot of tough guys. The
After initially grabbing the lead before the red flag on the first lap, Rahmer,
a legendary racer from
“It was an intense race in the car,” said Rahmer, who won three
But the night belonged to Saldana, who still is settling into his new ride with
Kahne.
“This whole deal is all new,” Saldana said. “I have to go back and thank people
like Jeff Shepard, Kerry Madsen, Erin Crocker, Kraig Kinser … everybody who has
driven for Kasey Kahne got this team to this level. I talked to him in the past
about driving for him, but if it wasn’t for Larry Woodward I’d be done racing.
Larry gave me a ride for two years and if it wasn’t for the exposure I got with
Larry I probably wouldn’t have this opportunity with Kasey. This what you
strive to get.”
The
The
VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK NOTEBOOK
• FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 36 cars that went through
time trials in the ParkerStore J&J with an AMB i.t.-timed lap around the
half-mile oval in 13.387 seconds at 134.459 mph. Chad Kemenah shattered the
track record Tuesday night in an All Star Circuit of Champions event when he
turned a lap in 13.164 seconds. In a new rule for 2006, the top five fastest
qualifiers on a single-day event are awarded points, with five points going to
the quickest car and driver in time trials sliding to one point for the
fifth-fastest qualifier. Kemenah was second quick, with Craig Dollansky, Brooke
Tatnell and Terry McCarl rounding out the top five in time trials.
• KART CLASH: Many of the Mean 15 racers warmed up for Friday night’s
race by competing in the inaugural Mean 15 Kart Clash. Former
• VICTORY PARADE: Joey Saldana’s victory Friday night was his first
• HALF-MILE WINNERS:
• ON TELEVISION: Following the action on Thursday night, several
• QUALIFYING EVENTS: Bill Rose, Greg Hodnett,
• UP NEXT: The
• ON THE WEB: The Official
World of
Qualifying
1)
Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 13.387
2) Chad Kemenah, CK Racing 15K, 13.412
3) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 13.497
4) Brooke Tatnell, Rush Racing 8, 13.516
5) Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 13.530
6) Jeremy Campbell, Campbell 10C, 13.534
7) Joey Saldana, Kahne 9, 13.535
8) Kaley Gharst, Gharst 44G, 13.594
9) Lance Dewease, Postupack 25, 13.596
10) Jeff Shepard, Ashworth 92, 13.627
11) Tony Bruce, Jr., Bruce 18B, 13.635
12) Daryn Pittman, Titan Racing USA 21, 13.636
13) Jac Haudenschild, Wright 35, 13.662
14) Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 13.691
15) Brock Mayes, Mayes 11B, 13.694
16) Fred Rahmer, Kline 22, 13.712
17) Greg Wilson, Warnimont 20W, 13.733
18) Greg Hodnett, Hamilton 77, 13.742
19) Ron Blair, Blair 35B, 13.743
20) Chad Layton, Apple 12, 13.749
21) Danny Martin, Martin 00, 13.753
22)
23) Justin Henderson, Oswalt D1, 13.811
24) Bill Rose, Rose 6, 13.893
25) Becca Anderson, Woodring 19, 13.937
26) Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 14.032
27) Paul May, May 71M, 14.043
28) Bob Felmlee, Felmlee 6F, 14.065
29) Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Hafertepe 15H, 14.102
30) Spud Gustin, Gustin 4G, 14.120
31) Natalie Sather, Sather 94S, 14.170
32)
33) Jeff Busby, Busby 47J, 14.313
34) Kenny Adams, Adams 4A, 14.959
35) Chad Blonde, Blonde 5B, 13.767 (Scored at the back due to failing
post-qualifying inspection—left rear tire too wide)
36) Barry Ruble, Ruble 63, No time
First Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Bill Rose
2) Greg Wilson
3) Lance Dewease
4) Donny Schatz
5) Fred Rahmer
6) Kaley Gharst
7) Becca Anderson
8) Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
9) Jeff Busby
Second Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Greg Hodnett
2) Justin Henderson
3) Jeff Shepard
4) Brock Mayes
5) Joey Saldana
6) Chad Kemenah
7) Dion Hindi
8) Spud Gustin
9) Kenny Adams (DNS)
Third Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1)
2) Randy Hannagan
3) Ron Blair
4) Craig Dollansky
5) Jeremy Campbell
6) Tony Bruce, Jr.
7) Paul May
8) Chad Blonde
9) Natalie Sather
Fourth Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Chad Layton
2) Danny Martin
3) Daryn Pittman
4) Jac Haudenschild
5) Brooke Tatnell
6) Terry McCarl
7)
8) Barry Ruble
9) Bob Felmlee (DNS)
First Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined inside first 6 rows of
A-feature)
1) Jac Haudenschild
2) Joey Saldana
3) Jeff Shepard
4) Brooke Tatnell
5) Brock Mayes
6) Donny Schatz
Second Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined outside first 6 rows of
A-feature)
1) Fred Rahmer
2) Randy Hannagan
3) Daryn Pittman
4) Lance Dewease
5) Craig Dollansky
6) Jeremy Campbell
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Chad Kemenah
2) Terry McCarl
3) Kaley Gharst
4) Tony Bruce, Jr.
5) Paul May [$200]
6) Spud Gustin [$180]
7) Dion Hindi [$175]
8) Becca Anderson [$160]
9) Natalie Sather [$150]
10) Jeff Busby [$150]
11) Sam Hafertepe, Jr. [$150]
12)
13) Barry Ruble [$150]
14) Bob Felmlee (DNS) [$150]
15) Chad Blonde (DNS) [$150]
16) Kenny Adams (DNS) [$150]
A-main (25 laps)
1) Joey Saldana [$10,000]
2) Jac Haudenschild [$5,500]
3) Fred Rahmer [$3,200]
4) Daryn Pittman [$2,800]
5) Terry McCarl [$2,500]
6) Jeff Shepard [$2,300]
7) Jeremy Campbell [$2,200]
8) Craig Dollansky [$2,100]
9) Chad Kemenah [$2,050]
10) Greg Wilson [$2,000]
11) Kaley Gharst [$1,500]
12)
13) Brock Mayes [$1,100]
14) Donny Schatz [$1,050]
15) Chad Layton [$1,000]
16) Justin Henderson [$900]
17) Bill Rose [$800]
18) Ron Blair [$800]
19) Greg Hodnett [$800]
20) Randy Hannagan [$800]
21) Brooke Tatnell [$800]
22) Lance Dewease [$800]
23) Tony Bruce, Jr. [$800]
24) Danny Martin [$800]
Lap leaders: Jac Haudenschild 1-24, Joey Saldana 25
Rank Driver Driver Points Team points Earnings Diff.
W Top 5 Top 10
1
Chad Kemenah 295 295 $12,050 0 1 1 2
2 Joey Saldana 294 294 $13,200 -1 1 2 2
3 Donny Schatz 273 273 $6,550 -22 0 1 1
4 Daryn Pittman 272 272 $4,800 -23 0 1 2
5
6 Greg Wilson 269 269 $4,200 -26 0 0 2
7 Jac Haudenschild 266 266 $6,300 -29 0 1 1
8 Fred Rahmer 266 266 $4,250 -29 0 1 1
9 Chad Layton 264 264 $3,800 -31 0 1 1
10 Jeremy Campbell 262 262 $3,400 -33 0 0 1
11 Terry McCarl 259 259 $3,400 -36 0 1 1
12 Jeff Shepard 258 258 $3,300 -37 0 0 1
13 Brooke Tatnell 248 248 $3,100 -47 0 0 1
14 Brock Mayes 248 248 $2,200 -47 0 0 0
15 Craig Dollansky 247 247 $2,900 -48 0 0 1
16 Greg Hodnett 246 246 $2,900 -49 0 0 1
17 Justin Henderson 246 246 $2,400 -49 0 0 0
18 Lance Dewease 238 238 $2,850 -57 0 0 1
19 Kaley Gharst 231 231 $2,300 -64 0 0 0
20 Bill Rose 228 228 $1,600 -67 0 0 0
STANDINGS NOTE: This season, the top five cars
and drivers in time trials are awarded points, with the fastest team earning
five points descending to one point for the fifth-fastest team. ... The driver
who leads the most laps in the feature earns a four-point bonus.