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 LAS
VEGAS, NV (November 8-9) -- The Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series
closed its 2002 season in Las Vegas over the weekend. Mark Kinser won
the 25-lap preliminary on Friday, while Steve Kinser won the season
finale and wrapped up an unprecedented 17th series championship.
Kinser's title was also the third consecutive championship by the
Hoosier tire brand. Kinser gave the Hoosier brand its
first-ever Pennzoil World of Outlaws title in 2000 in his first year
running the brand, while last year, Danny Lasoski captured his first championship
in the series and was locked in a points battle with Kinser for a
second consecutive title this year when he was sidelined late in the season for
two weeks due to an injury virtually ending his repeat title hopes.
Amazingly, Lasoski still finished second in the standings. Team-Hoosier dominated in sprint
racing's premier series winning a staggering 90 of 96 races and were
the brand of choice for the top eight drivers in the final standings.
PRELIMINARY
LAS VEGAS, NV (November 8) -- A huge 50-car field descended upon
Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 1/2-mile oval with 46 drivers placing their
bet on the Hoosier brand in the final event of the 2002 season. Their
trust in the Hoosier brand paid off early and often as the eight
fastest times in qualifying were posted by drivers riding atop Hoosier
tires.
Randy Hannagan set a new track record in establishing fast time
on opening night using Hoosier's softest compound (D10).
Hannagan's time was a blistering 13.915 seconds. Joey Saldana was
second quick followed by Daryn Pittman, Danny Lasoski, Craig
Dollansky, Steve Kinser, Jason Meyers and Tyler Walker.
There were four heat races contested with Team-Hoosier
capturing two wins and four runner-up spots. Brad Furr and Mark Kinser
were the two Hoosier-shod heat race winners.
Both dash races were won by drivers using Hoosier
tires. Mark Kinser won the first dash with Tim Shaffer winning the
final dash race. As a result, the two would start the 25-lap feature
from the front row.
In the feature, Mark Kinser led flag-to-flag in
capturing the $5,000 preliminary win. Kinser opted to run the 25-lap
sprint on a pair of
Hoosier RD12's. Steve Kinser, using a Hoosier
RD12/D12 combination, took second after starting fourth. The King of
the Outlaws pocketed $3,000 for his runner-up finish. Craig Dollansky
wound up third and collected $2,500. Dollansky ran the feature using a
pair of Hoosier D12's.
All told, Hoosier tires were on the first six drivers,
and 12 of the first 13, to cross the finish line. Tim Shaffer, Sammy
Swindell and Danny Lasoski finished fourth through sixth,
respectively.
Jason Meyers, Joey Saldana, Daryn Pittman, Donny
Schatz, Randy Hannagan and Tyler Walker finished eighth through
thirteenth, respectively, on the Hoosier brand.
SEASON FINALE
LAS VEGAS, NV (November 9) -- With the four top finishers (all
Hoosier-shod cars) in the preliminary feature locked into A-feature,
that left 46 cars to post times in qualifying. Surprisingly,
Team-Hoosier did even better than in opening night qualifying as the
nine fastest cars in qualifying all rode on the Hoosier brand. Ricky
Logan set fast time with his lap of 14.854 seconds around the 1/2-mile
oval. Logan was followed by P.J. Chesson, Tyler Walker, Roger
Crockett, Jeff Hodgson, Joey Saldana, Randy Hannagan, Tim Kaeding and
Donny Schatz.
Three of the four heat races were won by members of
Team-Hoosier. Daryn Pittman won the first heat, while Sammy Swindell
and Shane Stewart won the third and fourth heats.
In the single dash race that was contested, all the
entrants were members of Team-Hoosier so a Hoosier-shod winner was a
sure-thing. Steve Kinser came away the winner followed by Mark Kinser,
P.J. Chesson, Tim Shaffer, Tyler Walker, Ricky Logan, Craig Dollansky
and Roger Crockett. The finish set the starting order for the first
four rows in the season's 30-lap finale.
In the final feature race of the 2002 season, Steve
Kinser, using a pair of Hoosier D12's, led every lap of the race from
the pole en route to capturing the win. Tim Shaffer took second on a
Hoosier RD12/D12 combination followed by P.J. Chesson on a pair of
D12's. Craig Dollansky, Sammy Swindell, Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana and
Randy Hannagan finished fourth through eighth, respectively, as the
first eight drivers to cross the finish line all rode on Hoosier
tires. Shane Stewart was the final Hoosier-shod driver in the top ten.
He finished tenth.
The podium sweep by the Team-Hoosier was the 71st time
in 96 races this season the Hoosier brand finished 1-2-3 in Pennzoil
World of Outlaws competition. Team-Hoosier also closes the book on the
Outlaws season having won 90 of the 96 races contested in 2002.
The 2002 Pennzoil World of Outlaws season comes to a
close with Steve Kinser claiming his 17th series crown with 10263
points. Danny Lasoski, despite missing nearly two weeks due to an
injury, still captured second place with 9929 points. Craig Dollansky
(9925), Joey Saldana (9841), Tim Shaffer (9777), Mark Kinser (9693),
Donny Schatz (9529) and Brad Furr (9513) finished fourth through
eighth, respectively. In addition to the top eight positions, Randy
Hannagan finished in tenth giving Team-Hoosier nine of the top ten
positions in the final point standings.
Hoosier Open Wheel Dirt Product Manager Neil Cowman
was in Las Vegas enjoying the final event of the season and Sunday's
awards banquet. Cowman commented on the weekend and the season in
general, "What an amazing season. We accomplished a lot more than
we set out to do. Our goal was to win a third consecutive series
championship and we achieved that and then some." Cowman added,
"Last year was our best season in the Outlaws winning 63 of
99 races. But to follow that record year up with a 90-6 mark is a
tribute to the efforts of many people."
Cowman continued, "There are a lot of people to
thank for all this coming together, from all the drivers, teams and
sponsors who gave Hoosier an opportunity, to the engineers and
compounders for developing race winning tires, to the manufacturing and warehouse personnel for producing
the product and getting the tires to the teams as they traveled across the country, to Todd
Seitz for his tireless efforts attending all the events on the
grueling World of Outlaws schedule. This was truly a team
effort."
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