Shaffer Captures Wild World of Outlaws Sprint Series Victory At Thunderbowl Raceway Tulare, CA - February 25, 2005 - By Chris Dolack, World of Outlaws Senior Writer
One of the most exciting aspects of sprint car racing is that in the blink of an eye everything can change. Exciting for the fans, anyway. In a split second, Tim Shaffer went from trying to figure out how to get around leader Tim Kaeding in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series "A" Feature Friday night at Thunderbowl Raceway to wondering what he was going to say in Victory Lane after capturing the $10,000-to-win event.
Five laps from the finish, Kaeding was in command behind the wheel of the No. 83 Beef Packers car owned by Californian Dennis Roth, who also was promoting the event. Kaeding had posted the sixth fastest time in qualifying and earned the pole by winning a dash. Since taking over the top seat on Roth's team last fall, Kaeding has wanted nothing more than to give Roth his first Outlaws "A" Feature victory in his home state.
A storybook finish was nearly complete, too. Kaeding, a San Jose native, was holding off Shaffer and Donny Schatz when he hit Turn 2 on Lap 31. Traffic was ahead of him, but Kaeding had been strong throughout the race, darting high and low as needed at speeds in excess of 100 mph on the 1/3-mile high-banked oval. Then all of a sudden the lapped car of Brian Coelho bobbled in front of him, and it was over in an instant. Kaeding made contact with Coelho's car and flipped. Shaffer was on Kaeding's tail, but managed to escape with the lead and only minor damage to his front wing. Kaeding climbed out and walked away, too disappointed to talk about what might have been.
Shaffer got a big jump on the restart and held off Schatz to win by less than a second as the hard-charging Dennis Moore Jr. raced his way from a 14th-starting position to finish third. Although he was disappointed for Kaeding, Shaffer certainly was thrilled for his car owner, Lonny Parsons. Shaffer had begun the 2004 season in the Roth Motorsports seat that Kaeding occupied Friday night. After switching teams in June, Shaffer put Parsons in Victory Lane for the first time last October.
Earning a second win so early in the 2005 campaign confirms the direction he and Parsons are headed. "We had a lot of luck tonight," said Shaffer, an Aliquippa, Pa., native and a former champion at Lernerville Speedway. "I was in the right place at the right time. We'll take it. Lonny Parsons and this Casey's General Stores car have been a great deal. The boys have been working hard. We're working together and we're having fun. When you get the breaks to go your way, you can make things happen."
Shaffer got his share of breaks, too. Starting fourth, he was able to hang in the lead pack for the entire race. He lost second to Paul McMahan on Lap 10 and was about to be under attack from Jason Meyers when McMahan spun into the infield after colliding with Sean Becker's lapped car. Shaffer took advantage and pressed Kaeding as top qualifier Schatz joined the mix. The three circled the tacky and fast track nose-to-tail and pulled away from the field.
By Lap 29 the three were navigating heavy traffic as Moore charged into fourth. Then came the fateful slip by Coelho that turned Kaeding's fairy tale into a nightmare. "The car got a little out of shape and it doesn't take long at the speeds we're going," said Shaffer, the 1999 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year. "[Kaeding] got collected up in it unfortunately. He was doing a great job but that's the way it goes sometimes."
Steve Kinser surged into the fourth spot after a battle with fifth-place finisher Jason Solwold, who led early but jumped the cushion on Lap 9 and was not able to contend afterward. Solwold was followed by Craig Dollansky, Meyers and Shane Stewart. To earn the pole, Kaeding overtook Terry McCarl in the first dash while Solwold dominated the second dash to win the outside pole. In the B-Main, Moore quickly grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Danny Lasoski and drove off with the victory.
But his win was overshadowed by Brian Paulus' scary crash on Lap 3. Paulus was battling Jason Sides for third when he went into the Turn 1 and caught a bump in the track. His No. 28 Maxim flipped twice, damaging both wings. Paulus was able to walk away but he needed a provisional to start the feature. With Paulus unable to make repairs in time to rejoin the B-Main, Kevin Swindell took advantage and put Roth's second Beef Packers car into the feature event with a fourth-place finish behind Moore, Lasoski and Sides.
Heat race winners included Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award contender Brandon Wimmer, Tulare native Coelho, California star Ricci Faria and Australian Peter Murphy. Schatz set the pace for the night with a fast time of 13.337 seconds, or more than 104 mph.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Series action from Thunderbowl Raceway can be seen on The Outdoor Channel at 8 p.m. Eastern March 9. The World of Outlaws Sprint Series will race Feb. 26 at Bakersfield Speedway before heading March 4-5 to Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix for the Cactus Classic and March 10-11 to The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the J.D. Byrider World of Outlaws Nationals.
World of Outlaws Sprint Series Statistical Report, Thunderbowl Raceway, February 25, 2005
Qualifying 1) Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 13.377 2) Paul McMahan, helm 11H, 13.513 3) Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 13.603 4) Jason Meyers, Elite Racing Team 14, 13.643 5) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 13.669 6) Tim Kaeding, Roth 83, 13.677 7) Tim Shaffer, Parsons 6, 13.711 8) Dennis Moore, Jr., Williams 0, 13.716 9) Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 13.756 10) Jason Solwold, Carnahan R19, 13.764 11) Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 13.769 12) Joey Saldana, Woodward 2, 13.840 13) Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, 13.863 14) Mark Kinser, Wright 35, 13.914 15) Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 13.948 16) Shane Stewart, Rudeen 26, 13.950 17) Sammy Swindell, Forbrook 5, 13.977 18) Brian Coelho, Coelho 5C, 14.101 19) Ricci Faria, Faria 89, 14.174 20) Peter Murphy, Rush Racing 8, 14.183 21) Garrett Ishi, Ishi 71G, 14.351 22) Sean Becker, McMillen 10, 14.283 23) Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 14.294 24) Brandon Wimmer, Wimmer-Luck Motorsports 7TW, 14.296 25) Stan Yockey, Yockey 7Y, 14.337 26) Brian Paulus, Pender 28, 14.357 27) Kevin Swindell, Roth 83JR, 14.449 28) Mike Faria, Faria 4, 14.531 29) Tommy Tarlton, Tarlton 21T, 14.693 30) Kyle Hirst, Hirst 1K, 14.751 31) Danny Faria, Jr., Faria 17V, 14.754 32) Natalie Sather, Sather 94S, 14.902 33) Lawrence Edlund, Key 15K, 15.105 34) Tommy Fogarty, Fogarty 66TF, 15.184 35) Daryn Pittman, Titan Racing USA 21, 15.586
First Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) 1) Brandon Wimmer 2) Sammy Swindell 3) Terry McCarl 4) Donny Schatz 5) Shane Stewart 6) Dennis Moore, Jr. 7) Tommy Tarlton 8) Stan Yockey 9) Lawrence Edlund
Second Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) 1) Brian Coelho 2) Paul McMahan 3) Jason Solwold 4) Randy Hannagan 5) Tim Shaffer 6) Jason Sides 7) Brian Paulus 8) Kyle Hirst 9) Tommy Fogarty
Third Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) 1) Ricci Faria 2) Sean Becker 3) Tim Kaeding 4) Steve Kinser 5) Mark Kinser 6) Daryn Pittman 7) Kevin Swindell 8) Danny Faria, Jr. 9) Danny Lasoski
Fourth Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) 1) Peter Murphy 2) Joey Saldana 3) Kraig Kinser 4) Craig Dollansky 5) Jason Meyers 6) Mike Faria 7) Garrett Ishi 8) Natalie Sather
First Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined inside first 6 rows of A-feature) 1) Tim Kaeding 2) Donny Schatz 3) Steve Kinser 4) Terry McCarl 5) Jason Meyers 6) Kraig Kinser
Second Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined outside first 6 rows of A-feature) 1) Jason Solwold 2) Tim Shaffer 3) Craig Dollansky 4) Paul McMahan 5) Mark Kinser 6) Joey Saldana
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) 1) Dennis Moore, Jr. [$20] 2) Danny Lasoski [$20] 3) Jason Sides [$20] 4) Kevin Swindell [$20] 5) Kyle Hirst [$200] 6) Garrett Ishi [$180] 7) Tommy Tarlton [$175] 8) Mike Faria [$160] 9) Danny Faria, Jr. [$150] 10) Lawrence Edlund [$150] 11) Natalie Sather [$150] 12) Tommy Fogarty [$150] 13) Brian Paulus [$150] 14) Stan Yockey [$150] 15) Daryn Pittman (DNS) [$150]
A-main (35 laps) Finish, Driver, Money, Starting Pos. 1) Tim Shaffer [$10,000] (4) 2) Donny Schatz [$5,500] (3) 3) Dennis Moore, Jr. [$3,200] (14) 4) Steve Kinser [$2,800] (5) 5) Jason Solwold [$2,500] (2) 6) Craig Dollansky [$2,300] (6) 7) Jason Meyers [$2,200] (9) 8) Shane Stewart [$2,100] (16) 9) Mark Kinser [$2,050] (10) 10) Terry McCarl [$2,000] (7) 11) Danny Lasoski [$1,500] (13) 12) Joey Saldana [$1,200] (12) 13) Sammy Swindell [$1,100] (17) 14) Kevin Swindell [$1,050] (24) 15) Daryn Pittman [$1,000] (25) 16) Jason Sides [$900] (15) 17) Peter Murphy [$800] (20) 18) Kraig Kinser [$800] (11) 19) Paul McMahan [$800] (8) 20) Ricci Faria [$800] (19) 21) Brian Paulus [$800] (26) 22) Sean Becker [$800] (21) 23) Brandon Wimmer [$800] (23) 24) Brian Coelho [$800] (18) 25) Tim Kaeding [$800] (1) 26) Randy Hannagan [$800] (22)
Lap leaders: Jason Solwold 1-8, Tim Kaeding 9-30, Tim Shaffer 31-35
Event notes: Mike Faria got upside down in warm-ups, but was able to make repairs for qualifying. … Danny Faria Jr. also got upside down during warm-ups. … Daryn Pittman flipped in Turn 1 on his first time trial lap and used a provisional to start the feature. … Danny Lasoski and Kevin Swindell got together while racing for fourth place in the third heat race. Lasoski pitted to repair a bent left front wheel and drag link, but was unable to restart the heat.
