HammerDownUSA.com
Sammy
Swindell Completes Eldora Sweep With
Rossburg, OH — April 8, 2006 — By Chris Dolack, VP Public Relations
One night after Sammy Swindell had just about everything go wrong that could go
wrong and still result in a preliminary feature victory at Eldora Speedway, he
drove off Saturday to a smooth and dominating win at the intimidating
high-banked oval to complete a weekend sweep.
In an event presented by McDonald’s that featured the
It marked the second consecutive night Swindell motored to the
A three-time
Tim Kaeding gave chase in the Slick 50 Maxim to finish second while Danny
Lasoski held on for a third-place run in the Roth Motorsports Eagle. One night
after a scary flip in the preliminary feature, Jac Haudenschild motored his
Wright One Contstruction Maxim from 17th to fourth with Joey Saldana picking up
a fifth-place finish in the Kasey Kahne-owned Mopar-powered Central Merchant
Services JEI.
“You got to do whatever it takes,” said Swindell, who credited years of
experience at the track as a major factor in his weekend sweep. “A lot of guys
can run good on some of the smaller or slower tracks but running well at
high-speed tracks has always been something I’ve always been able to do. The
faster the place is, it seemed like the more of an advantage I can get at
times. I really like the speed. I think a lot of guys get intimidated by
running up close to the wall but I’ve got a lot of laps in here and I’m more
comfortable running right up next to the wall than being away from it. I figure
if something breaks then I won’t hit it very hard. I’d rather be right up next
to it rather than be down a ways. Definitely if it’s fast, I’ll be the first
one up there.”
It didn’t take long for Swindell to power his way around the half-mile to catch
the rear of the field. The easiest lane through the traffic often meant making
passes at the very top of the track.
“I was really surprised how quickly I caught the field,” Swindell said. “I
think they said it was on Lap 3 when I already caught the tail end. The track
really got to where there was one really good lane. The rest was kind of dusty,
or some stuff sitting on top of it. You really couldn’t get off that lane. On
Friday you could move around a little more and it was easier to pass people.
Tonight the track was faster, but it was narrower where you were able to run.”
Car owner Forbrook wasn’t worried about Swindell putting his machine up against
the wall because he knew Swindell is one of the few drivers comfortable racing
in that groove.
“As long as he was away from everybody else and nobody was throwing anything at
him, this place is just so fast and if the cushion has anything on it at all
and they start throwing it, it’ll rip the body right off the car,” Forbrook
said. “I could tell that the tires were starting to give up and I could tell he
was kind of getting back off of them, but I knew Kaeding couldn’t catch him. We
learned a lot this weekend. I think the motor I had in last night was better
than this one. We won Vegas with this one, though, so it’s got two races on it,
the final night at Vegas and the final night at Eldora.”
With all the hassles on Friday night, most of them the result of a chunk of mud
that knocked in the radiator and caused various engine troubles in addition to
his throttle and brake problems, Forbrook still was confident in Swindell’s
ability to put his car into the winner’s circle.
“I knew he could be good here because he’s always been good here,” Forbrook
said. “I’ve had a lot of good cars that should have swept here but never did.
Look at last night, knocking the radiator out of the car, blowing the engine up
and all that kind of stuff. Anything can happen here. I’ve led a lot of races
here and until you see the checkered flag here you never know what could
happen.”
For Kaeding, who had to deal with heavy lapped traffic — including Kevin
Swindell’s machine, which was keeping the same quick pace as his father’s car —
before he could even consider taking a shot at Sammy Swindell, a runner-up
finish was his fourth top-five at Eldora in the past two seasons.
“A lot of seconds here for me,” said Kaeding, of
“It’s a fun racetrack. I’m used to the short tracks back home and everybody
told me growing up, if you ever go to Eldora you better take six cars with you
because you’re going to tear every one of them up. I just come here every time
to prove everybody wrong and drive the wheels off this racecar. A third Friday
night and a second tonight is great for this SKR team. I think we’ve only run
six or seven races this year and we haven’t finished outside the top six yet.”
A third-place run on the Tony Stewart-owned high-banked oval was satisfying to
Lasoski. He was keeping pace, but a caution with six laps down bunched the
field and gave Kaeding a chance roll up on his tail and make a move to second
only four laps later.
“On the second day of a two-day
“Any time that we can come out of Eldora and roll this Dennis Roth Motorsports
Eagle into the trailer, it’s a pretty good weekend. To run good here, you have
to run like Sammy Swindell did. You have got to be able to attack the wall and
just run it, run it, run it. That’s what he did. They had the best car all
weekend and they did the best job. He did the best job driving so my hat’s off
to him.”
Haudenschild, who is no stranger to winning at Eldora, including a victory last
August, rebounded from a scary flip on Friday to charge on the top from 17th to
fourth in the main event on Saturday night.
“You just want to make up for a bad night so you try even harder,” said
Haudenschild, of
“Everybody is up on the top and you just have to get hooked up in the middle
and be able to move all over.”
Saldana is another racer with a career of experience at Eldora, proving that
drivers with the most seat time at Eldora will eventually work their way to the
front pack. He came from ninth to post another top-five and remain a strong
contender to capture his first
“The race was going to be a really good race until it laid a little bit of
rubber,” Saldana said. “If it would have stayed like normal, and as cold as it
is, I never dreamed it would lay rubber off the top like that. It was a good
race, but the last five laps it just got so tight. We’re consistently running
good, but when you start ninth and expect to beat Sammy Swindell or whoever,
it’s tough.”
Following the two-night show at historic Eldora Speedway, the
The
ELDORA SPEEDWAY NIGHT TWO NOTEBOOK
• FAST QUALIFIER: Paul McMahan paced the 41-car field in the Bass Pro Shops
Eagle with an AMB i.t.-timed lap around the 1/2-mile oval in 13.072 seconds at
137.699 mph. Because it was a multi-day event with four drivers locked into the
dash, no time trial points were awarded. Craig Dollansky established the track
record on
• LOCKED IN: After finishing in the top four in Friday night’s
preliminary feature, Sammy Swindell, Danny Lasoski, Donny Schatz and Tim
Kaeding were locked into the dash on Saturday that determined the top six
starting positions for the main event. Swindell raced to victory in the dash to
start on the pole in the feature.
• SIGNING DAY: Several racers spent Saturday meeting with fans, signing
autographs and posing for pictures. At the Midwest Auto Racing Charities
Injured Driver’s Benefit in the afternoon, Chad Kemenah, Daryn Pittman, Jason
Martin and Paul McMahan met with fans at the Eldora Ballroom. Later in the afternoon
Terry McCarl,
• MAIN-EVENT WINNERS: Sammy Swindell’s victory Saturday night at Eldora
Speedway was his second
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Eldora Speedway is a high-speed, half-mile oval.
The
• PRELIM WIN: Sammy Swindell on Friday night at Eldora Speedway captured
the
• QUALIFYING EVENTS: Sammy Swindell motored to victory in the dash. …
Terry McCarl captured the B-main for the second consecutive night as Rob Chaney
raced from 12th to the fourth and final transfer spot to the A-main. … Heat
race winners included Shane Stewart, Chad Kemenah, Daryn Pittman and Butch
Schroeder.
• ON TELEVISION: The Outdoor Channel will air at
• ON THE WEB: The Official
• UP NEXT: Following the two-night show at historic Eldora Speedway, the
• LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they
can experience the excitement of the
• SPONSOR SUPPORT: The
Qualifying
1) Paul McMahan,
Stewart 20, 13.072
2) Chad Kemenah, Kemenah 15K, 13.127
3)
4) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 13.149
5) Joey Saldana, Kahne 9, 13.188
6) Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 13.185
7) Brooke Tatnell, Rush Racing 8, 13.297
8) Kevin Swindell, Swindell 1, 13.301
9) Shane Stewart, Rudeen Racing 26, 13.323
10) Brock Mayes, Mayes 11B, 13.332
11) Ed Lynch, Jr., Lynch 2L, 13, 336
12) Butch Schroeder, Jessup 7K, 13.340
13) Jac Haudenschild, Wright 35, 13.343
14) Daryn Pittman, Titan Racing USA 21, 13.350
15) Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 13.376
16) Justin Henderson, Oswalt D1, 13.413
17) Jason Solwold, Carnahan R19, 13.328 (scored 17th after missing his position
in the qualifying order)
18) Tim Hunter, Morrison 0, 13.417
19)
20) Stevie Smith, Smith 19S, 13.434
21) Tim Shaffer, Parsons 6P, 13.435
22) Greg Wilson, Warnimont 20W, 13.450
23) Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11, 13.454
24) Kaley Gharst, Gharst 44G, 13.463
25) Bill Rose, Rose 6, 13.471
26) Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 13.508
27) Jeremy Campbell, Campbell 10C, 13.510
28) Rob Chaney, Martin 36, 13.537
29) Ryan Coniam, Miller 2X, 13.541
30)
31) Nick Smith, MPHG 81, 13.547
32) Paul May, May 71M, 13.586
33) Chad Blonde, Blonde 5B, 13.642
34)
35) Barry Ruble, Ruble 63, 13.816
36) Brandon Martin, Martin 11M, 13.852
37) Becca Anderson, Woodring 19, 13.865
Top 4 finishers in preliminary A-feature (locked into first 4 starting
positions in Dash): Sammy Swindell, Forbrook 5; Danny Lasoski, Roth 83;
Donny Schatz, Schatz 15; Tim Kaeding, Kinser 11K
First Heat Race (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Shane Stewart
2) Paul McMahan
3) Justin Henderson
4) Kevin Swindell
5) Ryan Coniam
6) Jason Solwold
7) Tim Shaffer
8) Bill Rose
9) Chad Blonde
10) Becca Anderson
Second Heat Race (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Chad Kemenah
2) Brock Mayes
3) Randy Hannagan
4) Brooke Tatnell
5) Greg Wilson
6) Tim Hunter
7) Dion Hindi
8)
9)
Third Heat Race (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Daryn Pittman
2)
3) Ed Lynch, Jr.
4) Kraig Kinser
5) Terry McCarl
6) Nick Smith
7) Jeremy Campbell
8)
9) Barry Ruble
Fourth Heat Race (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Butch Schroeder
2) Jac Haudenschild
3) Joey Saldana
4) Craig Dollansky
5) Kaley Gharst
6) Stevie Smith
7) Rob Chaney
8) Paul May
9) Brandon Martin
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of
A-feature)
1) Sammy Swindell
2) Danny Lasoski
3) Tim Kaeding
4) Donny Schatz
5) Chad Kemenah
6) Paul McMahan
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Terry McCarl
2) Jason Solwold
3) Stevie Smith
4) Rob Chaney
5)
6) Greg Wilson [$180]
7) Kaley Gharst [$175]
8) Dion Hindi [$160]
9) Bill Rose [$150]
10)
11) Chad Blonde [$150]
12) Paul May [$150]
13) Barry Ruble [$150]
14) Tim Shaffer [$150]
15)
16) Becca Anderson [$150]
17) Tim Hunter [$150]
18) Jeremy Campbell [$150]
19) Nick Smith [$150]
20) Brandon Martin [$150]
21) Ryan Coniam [$150]
A-main (30 laps)
1) Sammy Swindell [$12,000]
2) Tim Kaeding [$6,000]
3) Danny Lasoski [$4,000]
4) Jac Haudenschild [$3,500]
5) Joey Saldana [$3,300]
6) Donny Schatz [$3,100]
7) Paul McMahan [$3,000]
8) Shane Stewart [$2,500]
9) Craig Dollansky [$2,100]
10) Brooke Tatnell [$2,050]
11) Chad Kemenah [$2,000]
12)
13) Daryn Pittman [$1,500]
14) Jason Solwold [$1,200]
15) Stevie Smith [$1,100]
16) Kevin Swindell [$1,000]
17) Kraig Kinser [$900]
18) Randy Hannagan [$800]
19) Butch Schroeder [$800]
20) Justin Henderson [$800]
21) Terry McCarl [$800]
22) Ed Lynch, Jr. [$800]
23) Rob Chaney [$800]
24) Brock Mayes [$800]
Lap leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-30
Rk. / Driver / Driver Points / Team Points / $ / Back / Wins / Top 5 / Top 10
1 / Donny Schatz /
1338 / 1338 / $54,250 / 0 / 3 / 6 / 7
2 / Joey Saldana / 1289 / 1289 / $34,400 / -49 / 1 / 5 / 8
3 / Daryn Pittman / 1238 / 1238 / $19,750 / -100 / 0 / 4 / 7
4 / Terry McCarl / 1237 / 1237 / $23,100 / -101 / 0 / 5 / 6
5 / Craig Dollansky / 1231 / 1231 / $20,900 / -107 / 0 / 2 / 7
6 / Brooke Tatnell / 1231 / 1231 / $22,150 / -107 / 0 / 2 / 6
7 / Jac Haudenschild / 1230 / 1230 / $22,250 / -108 / 0 / 4 / 6
8 / Chad Kemenah / 1176 / 1176 / $25,200 / -162 / 1 / 2 / 5
9 / Randy Hannagan / 1112 / 1112 / $13,860 / -226 / 0 / 3 / 3
10 / Justin Henderson / 1109 / 1109 / $12,000 / -229 / 0 / 0 / 2
11 / Greg Wilson / 1105 / 1105 / $11,980 / -233 / 0 / 0 / 3
12 / Jeremy Campbell / 1104 / 1104 / $15,050 / -234 / 0 / 1 / 3
13 / Sammy Swindell / 1034 / 1034 / $38,350 / -304 / 2 / 3 / 7
14 / Kaley Gharst / 938 / 938 / $6,825 / -400 / 0 / 0 / 0
15 / Bill Rose / 901 / 901 / $5,910 / -437 / 0 / 0 / 0
16 / Kevin Swindell / 870 / 870 / $10,000 / -468 / 0 / 0 / 2
17 /
18 / Dion Hindi / 798 / 798 / $3,490 / -540 / 0 / 0 / 0
19 / Rob Chaney / 789 / 1059 / $10,560 / -279 / 0 / 1 / 2
20 / Becca Anderson / 747 / 747 / $2,835 / -591 / 0 / 0 / 0
STANDINGS NOTE: The Martin Motorsports No. 36 NOS Energy
Drink/Mafia Motorsports Maxim is 13th in owner’s points. Rob Chaney is
currently replacing injured Mean 15 racer Jason Martin.