Sammy Swindell Charges to
Tulare, CA — Oct. 15, 2005 — By Chris
Dolack, WoO Sprint Series Public Relations Director
While the action behind him was fast and furious, Sammy Swindell kept his poise
on the point and led all 35 laps Saturday night at Thunderbowl Raceway to
capture his third
In a race that included four cautions and two red flags, Swindell hit his marks
on the restarts and pulled away in the Wirtgen/Jackpot Junction Maxim, then
navigated smoothly through traffic to earn the first victory of his legendary
career at the
Behind Swindell, Steve Kinser in the Quaker State Maxim and Donny Schatz in the
ParkerStore J&J staged an epic duel, trading the lead in nearly every
corner during one five-lap run before Schatz’s right rear tire, which had been
plugged during a red flag with 20 laps complete, began to go down again.
On the final restart with nine laps to go, Swindell quickly opened a lead on
the top as Kinser dove to the inside of Schatz in Turn 1. Schatz regained
second off of Turn 4 two laps later but Kinser motored back to swipe second for
good.
As that battle waged for second, Kraig Kinser in the Remy Maxim charged from
sixth to fourth and Jonathan Allard in the GT Trends/Katie’s Country Kitchen
Maxim secured fifth.
Although the track conditions were different, Swindell used his experience in
the preliminary feature on Friday to position his machine in the right spot on
every restart, giving him unchallenged quick leads each time in Turn 1. It took
him about three to four laps to catch the rear of the field, but he had no
trouble in traffic with a car handling perfectly on top and bottom.
“It was just lining up and getting the car in the right place, and having a
motor respond right so it takes off,” said Swindell, a three-time
Swindell was unaware of the slicing and dicing between Kinser and Schatz until
an open red flag with 21 laps complete. Car owner Guy Forbrook informed
Swindell that Kinser was hooked up and had actually moved into second when the
red flag waved, moving him back to third.
“I don’t know if there were cars between us or not, but I didn’t think there
was,” Swindell said. “All the times the guys I would lap would either pull off
or move out or drop back so every time I should have had more of an advantage
than we had, somehow it disappeared. I don’t think I get those breaks. When I’m
running second, those guys just stay in the way. We really didn’t have any
trouble. I think only twice did I have to wait maybe a lap before I could pass
somebody. Usually, when I got to them, I might have had to wait off that corner
before I could get by them.
“When they had that red, they were talking about how [Kinser] passed him but he
was going back. Guy told me was coming pretty good and was probably going to
pass Schatz. I figured he was going to be there so my deal was just to run my
line, run as hard as I could and be consistent. You can overdrive the cars and
make mistakes. I was trying to keep that at a minimum. I was trying to keep the
pace as fast as I could go without making any mistakes. It’s hard to run 100
percent, but when the car is as good as it was tonight you could sit there and
run that thing 95 or 98 percent and not make any mistakes and pull away.”
He hasn’t run many times at Thunderbowl Raceway, but his first victory at the
racy oval still was satisfying.
“There are so many places I have won, and there are some places where I’ve
never been beat, but I’ve probably run here only five or six nights,” Swindell
said. “Everything has to come together. It’s too competitive out here with a
lot of these guys. It’s like all of racing. There are some good cars and there
are a few guys that are going to get it right on any night. Right now there are
at least 20 good cars, and you’re usually having to race four or five of them
most of the time.”
Like the preliminary feature, the back-and-forth action was intense, only this
time it was the battle for second between Kinser and Schatz. Once Schatz’s
right rear began going down, like it did last month at Calistoga, an open red
flag appeared to save him. Unfortunately, the tire started to lose pressure
again as the laps counted down, making it nearly impossible for him to continue
the sliding back and forth with Kinser.
“It’s always fun to run with Donny,” said Kinser, a Mean 15 racer from
Bloomington, Ind., who has a 548-point lead in the standings heading into the
final weekend of the season at Las Vegas. “He’s a good, hard racer and Donny
always runs you clean, too. That’s what fun about racing against him. You don’t
have to worry about him. We both take a lot of room but we still don’t run over
each other. It sort of hurt us both because we got a lot of heat in our tires.
We were both fighting for position there and it was a lot of fun.”
Schatz, who is gearing up for the 2006 season with the Outlaws, won the
preliminary feature on Friday and has finished outside the top-five only once
in the past 10 race nights.
“We had a good enough car to win, but I don’t know what it is with me and tires
out here in
Kraig Kinser was one of the fastest qualifiers during the weekend, and made
that horsepower pay off down the stretch by charging to a fourth-place finish.
“We struggled early in the race,” said Kinser, a Mean 15 racer from
Kinser hopes he can carry the momentum from
“Going back to a place where you’ve run good always helps you out,” he said.
“I’m definitely looking forward to going back.”
For Jonathan Allard, who finished third on Friday in the preliminary feature, a
fifth-place run is his best A-feature finish this season with the Outlaws. He
posted a second-place run in the preliminary feature in August at
“This track is a very racy track and it’s fun to come here and race with the
Outlaws,” said Allard, a native of
The Outlaws conclude the 2005 season Oct. 21-22 at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway.
THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY NOTEBOOK
• Kevin Swindell paced the 42 cars that
went through time trials in the York Excavating Maxim with a record-breaking
AMB i.t.-timed lap around the 1/3-mile oval in 12.740 seconds at 93.250 mph.
Tim Shaffer was the second-quickest racer in time trials with a lap in the
Casey’s General Store Maxim in 12.797 seconds at 92.834 mph. Joey Saldana had
established the single-lap record of 12.751 seconds on Oct. 29, 2004.
Swindell, who became the youngest driver to finish in the top 10 with the
Outlaws when at 15 he ran sixth in the 2005 season opener in Australia, has
found much success in pavement races this year, and has carried that experience
to dirt.
“It’s helped a whole lot as far as the confidence and keeping me up and knowing
I can really do it when I get down with some of this stuff, even though I’m
racing with the best and this is my first year,” said Swindell, now 16, of
Germantown, Tenn. “It keeps me smooth and keeps me focused.”
Sammy Swindell, the eventual winner who was already locked into the main event,
proudly watched as Kevin turned two smooth laps for the record.
“It was pretty neat,” Sammy said. “We got him a different motor. He’s got some
pretty good stuff now where earlier he was running motors that were a
year-and-a-half or so old, but he still did good with that. We found a couple
of problems we had with the car and straightened them out. We got this motor
running really good right now, and since we did that I think 12th is the worst
that he’s qualified. It’s pretty neat to come out here and break the track
record. There aren’t too many 16-year-olds that can say they did that in a 410
sprint car, especially with this series. It’s probably a record that might be
there for a while.”
• Donny Schatz, Sammy Swindell, Jonathan Allard and Terry McCarl did not go
through time trials after finishing in the top four positions of the
preliminary feature on Friday.
• With full support from their sponsors, Art and Carol Malies will have safety
and push vehicle Work’n Woody back on the
“I think this is the place to be,” Art said. “We’re going to see some good
racing next year.”
• Sammy Swindell’s victory Saturday night was his third A-feature win of the
season. He also has two preliminary feature wins. … Steve Kinser has a
series-leading 20 A-feature victories and six preliminary feature wins this
season. … There have been 17 different A-feature winners this season. Including
preliminary features, 22 different drivers have visited
• Thunderbowl Raceway is a 1/3-mile oval. The series has raced 14 times this
season on a track that size, including preliminaries, with eight different
winners. Tim Shaffer won Feb. 25 at Thunderbowl Raceway, Craig Dollansky won
Feb. 26 at Bakersfield Speedway, Kraig Kinser won April 2 at I-55 Raceway, Tim
Shaffer won May 6 at Lake Ozark Speedway, Steve Kinser won May 24 at Grandview
Speedway, Steve Kinser swept Eagle Raceway June 17-18, Craig Dollansky won July
6 at Powercom Park, Chad Kemenah won July 9 at I-55 Raceway, Steve Kinser won
Sept. 16-17 at Eagle Raceway, Daryn Pittman won Sept. 24 at Powercom Park,
Donny Schatz won Oct. 14 at Thunderbowl, and Sammy Swindell won Oct. 15 at
Thunderbowl.
• Drivers who have raced to victory in preliminary features this season include
(in alphabetical order) Craig Dollansky three times (Manzanita/Williams
Grove/Silver Dollar), Jason Johnson once (Williams Grove), Kraig Kinser once
(Las Vegas), Steve Kinser six times (Eagle twice/Billings/Elma/Calistoga/Silver
Dollar), Danny Lasoski four times (Australia/Knoxville/Calistoga/Dodge City),
Fred Rahmer twice (Knoxville/Williams Grove), Kerry Madsen once (Australia),
Paul McMahan once (Williams Grove),
• Following a brief rain delay, Tim Shaffer and Kraig Kinser — the fastest two
qualifiers to make it through heat races — joined Donny Schatz, Sammy Swindell,
Jonathan Allard and Terry McCarl in the Stacker 2 Dash that set the top six
positions for the main event. Sammy Swindell powered to the top in the first corner
as the field raced single file behind him to the checkered flag with Schatz
earning the outside pole and McCarl, Kinser and Allard rounding out the field.
Shaffer was unable to complete the Dash because of mechanical failure and
started the main event in sixth.
• Daryn Pittman jumped out quickly in the B-main and led flag-to-flag as
fast-qualifier Kevin Swindell,
• After two red flags in the first heat, Ronnie Day charged to the checkered
flag to win by 5.865 seconds. Brooke Tatnell held onto second with Steve Kinser
and Craig Dollansky earning the remaining transfer spots to the main event.
• Jac Haudenshild motored to the front in the first corner of the second heat
and smoothly pulled away to win by 1.598 seconds. Paul McMahan rolled along the
top and held off Shane Stewart at the flag stand to finish second with Tim
Shaffer cruising to the final transfer position.
• Tim Kaeding set a quick pace from the drop of the green flag in the third
heat and rolled to a 2.993-second victory. Peter Murphy raced to a second-place
finish with Kraig Kinser and Danny Lasoski picking up the other transfer spots.
• Jason Johnson had a smooth jump on a restart with six laps down and pulled
away to a 0.957-second victory. Sean Becker held off
The Outlaws conclude the 2005 season Oct. 21-22 at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway.
• The Outdoor Channel will air at 8 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 19 the Dodge City
Raceway Park event, followed on Oct. 26 by the Thunderbowl Raceway event and Nov.
2 by the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• The Official
• If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the
excitement of the
• The
WoO Sprint Series Statistical Report; Thunderbowl Raceway finale;
Tulare, Calif.; Oct. 15, 2005
Qualifying
1)
Kevin Swindell, Swindell 1, 12.740 (New Single Lap Record)
2) Tim Shaffer, Parsons 6, 12.797
3) Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, 12.876
4) Daryn Pittman, Titan Racing USA 21, 12.911
5)
6) Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 12.941
7) Shane Stewart, Rudeen Racing 26, 12.983
8) Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 12.989
9) Ronnie Day, Elite Racing Team 1D, 13.023
10) Jac Haudenschild, Roth 83JR, 13.025
11) Tim Kaeding, Wright 35, 13.041
12) Jason Johnson, Roth 83, 13.102
13) Sean Becker, McMillen 10, 13.109
14) Peter Murphy, Tarlton 21M, 13.116
15) Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 13.127
16) Brooke Tatnell, Rush Racing 8, 13.155
17)
18) Brent Kaeding, Kaeding 69, 13.181
19) Dennis Moore, Jr., Williams 0K, 13.185
20) Jason Solwold, Carnahan R19, 13.190
21) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 13.200
22)
23) Brandon Wimmer, Two Winners Racing 7TW, 13.243
24) Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 13.246
25) Steve Kent, Henderson 7N, 13.287
26) Mike Faria, Faria 4, 13.300
27) Joey Saldana, Woodward 2, 13.309
28) Brad Sweet, Vertullo 83V, 13.324
29)
30) Kyle Hirst, Wright 99, 13.356
31) Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 13.391
32) Ricci Faria, Faria 89, 13.425
33) Danny Faria, Jr., Faria 17V, 13.428
34) Toni Lutar, Lutar 4X, 13.464
35) Jim Skinner, Skinner 73, 13.484
36) Garrett Ishi, Ishi 71G, 13.386
37) Jason Statler, Statler 00, 13.584
38)
39) Jeremy Campbell, Campbell 10C, 13.671
40) Andy Ferris, Ferris 4J, 14.155
41)
42) Mike Stallings, Stallings 83M, 14.580
43) Stan Yockey, Yockey 7Y, No time
Top 4 finishers in preliminary A-feature (locked into first 4 starting
positions in Stacker 2 Dash): Donny Schatz, Schatz 15; Sammy Swindell,
Forbrook 5; Jonathan Allard, Williams 0; Terry McCarl, McCarl 24
First Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Ronnie Day
2) Brooke Tatnell
3) Steve Kinser
4) Craig Dollansky
5)
6) Kevin Swindell
7) Jason Statler
8) Steve Kent
9) Danny Faria, Jr.
10)
11)
Second Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Jac Haudenschild
2) Paul McMahan
3) Shane Stewart
4) Tim Shaffer
5) Mike Faria
6) Brent Kaeding
7) Kyle Hirst
8)
9) Toni Lutar
10)
11) Mike Stallings
Third Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Tim Kaeding
2) Peter Murphy
3) Kraig Kinser
4) Danny Lasoski
5) Brandon Wimmer
6) Dennis Moore, Jr.
7) Joey Saldana
8) Jason Sides
9) Jeremy Campbell
10) Jim Skinner
Fourth Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Jason Johnson
2) Sean Becker
3)
4) Jason Solwold
5) Daryn Pittman
6) Brad Sweet
7) Ricci Faria
8) Garrett Ishi
9) Randy Hannagan
10) Andy Ferris
C-Main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) Jason Sides [$20]
2) Ricci Faria [$20]
3) Danny Faria, Jr. [$125]
4) Toni Lutar [$100]
5) Jim Skinner [$100]
6)
7) Jeremy Campbell [$100]
8) Andy Ferris [$100]
9)
10) Mike Stallings [$100]
11) Garrett Ishi [$100]
12) Jason Statler [$100]
13) Stan Yockey (DNS) [$100]
Stacker 2 Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting
positions of A-feature)
1) Sammy Swindell
2) Donny Schatz
3) Terry McCarl
4) Kraig Kinser
5) Jonathan Allard
6) Tim Shaffer (DNS)
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Daryn Pittman [$20]
2) Kevin Swindell [$20]
3)
4) Brent Kaeding [$20]
5) Brandon Wimmer [$200]
6) Dennis Moore, Jr. [$180]
7) Joey Saldana [$175]
8) Randy Hannagan [$160]
9) Danny Faria, Jr. [$150]
10) Ricci Faria [$150]
11) Jason Sides [$150]
12) Kyle Hirst [$150]
13) Mike Faria [$150]
14)
15) Brad Sweet [$150]
16) Steve Kent (DNS) [$150]
A-main (35 laps)
1) Sammy Swindell [$12,000]
2) Steve Kinser [$6,000]
3) Donny Schatz [$4,000]
4) Kraig Kinser [$3,500]
5) Jonathan Allard [$3,300]
6)
7) Daryn Pittman [$3,000]
8) Shane Stewart [$2,500]
9) Jac Haudenschild [$2,100]
10) Danny Lasoski [$2,050]
11) Tim Kaeding [$2,000]
12) Kevin Swindell [$1,600]
13) Brent Kaeding [$1,500]
14) Paul McMahan [$1,200]
15) Joey Saldana [$1,100]
16) Ronnie Day [$1,000]
17)
18) Terry McCarl [$800]
19) Sean Becker [$800]
20) Peter Murphy [$800]
21) Jason Sides [$800]
22) Jason Solwold [$800]
23) Tim Shaffer [$800]
24) Jason Johnson [$800]
25) Craig Dollansky [$800]
26) Brooke Tatnell [$800]
Lap leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-35
Note: Joey Saldana and Jason Sides used provisionals to start the
A-main. For Saldana, it was his fifth provisional of the season, a 20-point
deduction in the championship standings. Sides used his third provisional, with
no deduction. Teams that completed a full 2004 season with the Outlaws were
awarded six provisionals for 2005, with the first three free of point
deductions and the next three costing 10, 20 and 30 points, respectively.
Driver Team Team Team Team A-feature
Rank Driver Points Points Earnings Diff. Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Steve Kinser 9461 9461 $494,700 0 20 47 60
2
3 Craig Dollansky 8722 8722 $200,670 -739 2 22 41
4 Donny Schatz 8636 8636 $327,310 -825 8 23 40
5 Kraig Kinser 8536 8536 $332,270 -925 6 21 36
6 Danny Lasoski 8483 8483 $212,655 -978 2 14 37
7 Daryn Pittman 8330 8330 $202,975 -1131 5 16 32
8 Tim Shaffer 8243 8243 $192,205 -1218 3 15 28
9 Terry McCarl 8239 8239 $149,520 -1222 0 12 28
10 Paul McMahan 8214 8214 $128,630 -1247 0 7 24
11 Brooke Tatnell 8209 8485 $189,905 -976 2 19 33
12 Joey Saldana 7994 7994 $160,005 -1467 0 15 28
13 Shane Stewart 7984 7984 $144,650 -1477 0 7 25
14
15 Jason Sides 7688 7688 $93,510 -1773 0 2 12
16 Jason Solwold 7483 7483 $108,230 -1978 0 4 14
17 Brandon Wimmer 6961 6961 $64,270 -2500 0 1 6
18 Tim Kaeding 6625 4306 $47,430 -5155 0 1 6
19 Sammy Swindell 4904 4754 $132,380 -4707 3 15 19
20 Kevin Swindell 3779 3779 $32,790 -5682 0 1 3
STANDINGS NOTES:
Joey Saldana used his fifth provisional of the season to start the A-main on
Saturday night, which is a 20-point deduction. … Dennis Roth’s No. 83 car
driven Saturday night by Jason Johnson is 14th in owners’ points. The car also
has been driven this season by Tim Kaeding, Jac Haudenschild,
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