‘Crowd Pleaser’ Completes Princeton National Sweep

By Richard Day

PRINCETON, MN (May 22) – Craig Dollansky passed Kraig Kinser following a 37th-lap restart and led the final 3 1/3 laps to complete his sweep of the Inaugural Polydome Princeton National Saturday at Princeton Speedway.

“The Crowd Pleaser,” who also won Friday’s Preliminary Feature, collided with the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year points leader while executing the winning pass, drawing the ire of the Kinser family.

“It’s been a great week,” Dollansky yelled to the sellout crowd. “‘The King’ (Steve Kinser) is a little upset, and so is his kid (Kraig). I’ve braked for him a lot of times in the past and I had the run on Kraig, and that’s the way it goes. He’s got a brake on that car; I guess he just needs to learn to use it. I know I got into Kraig’s left front a little bit and Steve’s upset, but he’d better get used to it because I’m getting ready to go dethrone him.

“I just want to thank all the fans for coming out and braving the cold weather to make this happen. I have to thank my guys D.J. Lindsey and Rod Fauver for doing a great job all year long. There was a lot of stuff going on out there on the track. This is a tight little place, and I hope the fans saw some good racing.”

The $12,000 victory completed the first double-feature sweep of Dollansky’s career. “The Crowd Pleaser” also drove Karavan Racing’s #7 VMAC Maxim to victory in the April 17th “A” Feature at I-55 Raceway.

Dollansky earned the privilege of starting the 40-lap main event on the pole by winning his third Dash Race of the season. “The Crowd Pleaser” burst into the lead as the green flag fell in the “A” Feature, and was 15 car-lengths ahead of Jason Meyers when he entered lapped traffic four laps into the race.

Kraig Kinser drove father Steve’s #11K Delco-Remy Maxim into the low groove between the first and second corners to pass Meyers for second place early in lap five, and took the lead with an identical move past Dollansky three laps later.

Fast qualifier Donny Schatz steered his family’s #15 Parker Store J&J to the lowest point in the second corner to pass Australian Brooke Tatnell for third place early in lap 11.

“The Crowd Pleaser” rode the rim into the lead in turn two early in the 14th lap, but Kraig regained first place deep in the third corner several seconds later. Kraig opened a 10-car-length advantage during the next four laps.

Steve Kinser, the World of Outlaws Sprint Series points leader, started inside the fifth row. “The King of the Outlaws” drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim past Meyers deep in the first corner to take over fifth place midway through the race.

Kraig Kinser held a straightaway advantage with 10 laps remaining, but Dollansky narrowed the gap to four car-lengths in dense lapped traffic within three laps. Kraig’s lead diminished altogether early in the 36th lap when the only caution flag of the fast-paced main event flew after Brian Carlson stopped in the second corner.

Dollansky chased Kraig around the high-banked, ¼-mile oval for half a lap before catching him on the back straightaway. The leaders raced through turn three wheel-to-wheel and collided as “The Crowd Pleaser” regained first place.

Schatz, who passed Kraig for the runner-up spot deep in the fourth corner late in the final lap, was 10 car-lengths behind when Dollansky took the checkered flag.

“I’m really happy for everybody on this Parker Store team,” Schatz said. “To qualify first and come home second is an all-around good night for us. We’re getting better and better. If we didn’t have that late yellow, I might have been able to get both of those guys in front of me. The crew has continued working to keep us up front. We’re still chasing that first victory, but we’ve been more consistent this year and that was our first goal. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll be fine.”

Kraig Kinser finished in third place, ahead of Tatnell, Steve Kinser, Meyers, Daryn Pittman, 13th-starting Paul McMahan, Second Heat Race winner Tyler Walker and Tim Shaffer.

Pittman, whose crew replaced the engine in his #21 Hop & Sack CMC following the Third Heat Race, moved past Shaffer into eighth place in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series point standings. Joey Saldana’s 14th-place finish, coupled with mechanical problems keeping Jason Sides from starting the “A” Feature, pushed the 1996 Rookie of the Year into 10th place in the standings.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Series will sanction the Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway Tuesday, race at Williams Grove Speedway Thursday and Friday and run single-program events at Hagerstown Speedway, Grandview Speedway and Lebanon Valley Speedway Saturday, Sunday and Monday. WoO

2004 World of Outlaws Sprint Series

Inaugural Polydome Princeton National

Saturday, May 22, Feature Program #16

Qualifying: 1. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 10.419; 2. Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 10.480; 3. Daryn Pittman, Woodburn 21, 10.511; 4. Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 10.528; 5. Travis Whitney, Whitney 9, 10.544; 6. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 10.618; 7. Erin Crocker, Woodring 16, 10.618; 8. Tyler Walker, Forbrook 5, 10.628; 9. Tim Shaffer, Roth 83, 10.685; 10. Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 10.695; 11. Jonathan Allard, Wright 35, 10.727; 12. Brian Paulus, Pender 28, 10.732; 13. Brandon Wimmer, Two Winners 7TW, 10.758; 14. Bob Bennett, Acme 3, 10.780; 15. Joey Saldana, Woodward 2, 10.844; 16. Dave Enders, Enders 51E, 10.862; 17. Brian Brown, Parsons 6, 10.872; 18. Roger Rager, Donahue 6R, 10.933; 19. Mike Stefka, Dworek 83D, 11.115; 20. Brian Carlson, SC Motorsports 18, 11.162; 21. Scott Neitzel, Neitzel 2W, 11.192; 22. Brett Geldner, Geldner 1B, 11.193; 23. Wayne Modjeski, MMZ Motorsports 77, 11.304; 24. Matt Wasmund, Wasmund 4W, 11.338; 25. Leigh Thomas, Thomas 29, 11.623; 26. Joe Kouba, Kouba 55, 11.852; 27. Andy Hunt, Hunt 9A, 11,959; 28. Tony Kaus, Kaus 3K, 12.264; 29. Jerry Richert, Jr., Sibs Racing 45, no time.

Finishing 1-4 in Friday’s Preliminary Feature qualified Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7; Jason Meyers, Elite Racing 14; Brooke Tatnell, Grandstaff 66; and Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, for the first four starting positions in the Dash Race.

First Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Brandon Wimmer, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Erin Crocker, 5. Brian Brown, 6. Bob Bennett, 7. Brian Carlson, 8. Wayne Modjeski, 9. Joe Kouba. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

Second Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Tyler Walker, 2. Brian Paulus, 3. Danny Lasoski, 4. Joey Saldana, 5. Scott Neitzel, 6. Travis Whitney, 7. Matt Wasmund, 8. Andy Hunt, 9. Roger Rager. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

Third Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Paul McMahan, 2. Tim Shaffer, 3. Jason Sides ($200); 4. Jonathan Allard, 5. Daryn Pittman, 6. Dave Enders, 7. Brett Geldner, 8. Leigh Thomas, 9. Mike Stefka, 10. Tony Kaus. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

Dash Race (seven laps): 1. Craig Dollansky, 2. Jason Meyers, 3. Kraig Kinser, 4. Brooke Tatnell, 5. Donny Schatz, 6. Jason Sides, 7. Danny Lasoski, 8. Daryn Pittman. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the “A” Feature)

B Feature (12 laps): 1. Bob Bennett, 2. Travis Whitney, 3. Roger Rager, 4. Dave Enders, 5. Brian Carlson, 6. Wayne Modjeski, 7. Brett Geldner ($175); 8. Matt Wasmund ($150): 9. Mike Stefka ($100); 10. Leigh Thomas ($90); 11. Joe Kouba ($80); 12. Andy Hunt ($60); 13. Tony Kaus ($50). (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

A Feature (40 laps): 1. Craig Dollansky [1] ($12,000); 2. Donny Schatz [5] ($6,000); 3. Kraig Kinser [3] ($4,000); 4. Brooke Tatnell [4] ($3,500); 5. Steve Kinser [9] ($3,300); 6. Jason Meyers [2] ($3,100); 7. Daryn Pittman [7] ($3,000); 8. Paul McMahan [13] ($2,500); 9. Tyler Walker [11] ($2,100); 10. Tim Shaffer [12] ($2,050); 11. Danny Lasoski [6] ($2,000); 12. Erin Crocker [10] ($1,600); 13. Jonathan Allard [23] ($1,500); 14. Joey Saldana [17] ($1,200); 15. Brandon Wimmer [15] ($1,100); 16. Travis Whitney [8] ($1,020); 17. Brian Brown [19] ($900); 18. Bob Bennett [16] ($820); 19. Wayne Modjeski [24] ($820); 20. Scott Neitzel [22] ($800); 21. Brian Carlson [21] ($820); 22. Roger Rager [20] ($820); 23. Brian Paulus [14] ($800); 24. Dave Enders [18] ($820). DNS: Jason Sides; replaced by Wayne Modjeski

Lap leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-7, 37-40; Kraig Kinser 8-36