|
 FORT
WORTH, TX (April 3) -- Brian Paulus captured his first World of
Outlaws victory of the season Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt
Track in front of a packed house. The win was also special in that it
was his first for Paulus since switching to the Hoosier brand this
season. Last season on another tire brand, Paulus finished eighth in
the driver standings--the only non Hoosier-shod driver in the final
top ten rankings. He managed to capture one of the four races during
the 92-race season that were not won by drivers on Hoosier tires. That
win did not come until August, so Paulus is already far ahead of his
pace last year. In fact, he now stands in fifth place in the driver
standings. The race was also another 'first' of sorts. It was the
first event Hoosier's new World of Outlaws Track Service Manager Dave
Campbell attended. Dave is being trained by Todd Seitz who served as
Hoosier's Outlaws Manager for the past four seasons. During that time,
the Hoosier brand won four consecutive series championships.
Thirty cars were on hand at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt
Track's 4/10-mile oval where 25 drivers rode atop the Hoosier brand.
The remaining five drivers were split (4-1) among the other two
competing tire brands. Kerry Madsen, on Hoosiers, set fast time of the
event with a lap of 14.000 seconds. Jason Meyers was second followed
by Jason Sides and Shane Stewart--all on Hoosier tires.
All three heat races were won by members of Team
Hoosier. Daryn Pittman, Brian Paulus and Toni Lutar were the heat race
winners.
Both Dash races were also won by Hoosier-shod drivers
with Brian Paulus capturing the first Dash and Brooke Tatnell
capturing the final Dash.
In the 30-lap feature, only two tire brands were
represented with Team Hoosier claiming 21 of the 24 starting spots.
The race began with third starting Kraig Kinser taking the early lead
at the drop of the green flag over front row starters Brian Paulus and
Brooke Tatnell. Kinser, using a pair of Hoosier D12's, looked to be on
his way to capturing his first World of Outlaws A Feature. But with
three laps to go, Brian Paulus (also on a pair of D12's) passed young
Kinser on the low side and held on to capture his first A Feature of
the season. Paulus earned $10,000 for the win.
Finishing in second place was Kraig Kinser who
pocketed $5,500. Jason Meyers, using a D12/RD15 combination, took the
final podium spot after starting seventh. Shane Stewart was fourth
followed by Steve Kinser, Jason Sides and Daryn Pittman in fifth
through seventh, respectively. The first seven drivers to cross the
line all rode on Hoosier tires as did 16 of the top 17 finishers. Tim
Shaffer and Joey Saldana rounded out ninth and tenth giving Team
Hoosier claim to nine of the top ten positions in the night's feature
race.
Steve Kinser is in first place in the driver standings
with 985 points followed by Tim Shaffer and Donny Schatz. Currently,
nine of the top ten drivers in the standing compete on Hoosier tires.
The next stop on the World of Outlaws schedule is this
Friday and Saturday at famous Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH.
Our thanks go out to Todd Seitz who reported the
details for this report. Todd will be on the Outlaws trail for several
more events training Dave Campbell to take over as Hoosier's World of
Outlaws Track Service Manager. Once Dave is trained, Todd will be able
to devote 100% of his time to his new role as Hoosier's Kart and
Quarter Midget Product Manager.
|
