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 ROSSBURG,
OH (April 18-19) -- Team-Hoosier captured its eighth consecutive 1-2-3
finish in O'Reilly World of Outlaws competition over the weekend. This
time, the sweep of the podium came at famous Eldora Speedway in Ohio
where Donny Schatz and Sammy Swindell emerged winners. Schatz won the
25-lap preliminary on Friday, while Sammy Swindell was declared the
winner in the 35-lap finale on Saturday after Steve Kinser, who
crossed the finish line first after a last-lap pass, was disqualified
after failing to meet the minimum weight rule of 1,375
pounds.
ELDORA PRELIMINARY
ROSSBURG, OH (April 18) -- Thirty-two cars took times in qualifying on
the 1/2-mile Eldora Speedway oval with 28 drivers choosing to run on
USA-made Hoosier tires and the remaining four drivers opting to run
one of the other two competing brands. The nine fastest times in
qualifying were posted by drivers on the Hoosier brand. Danny Lasoski
set fast time using a pair of D10's in circling the track in 13.208
seconds for an average speed of 136.281 mph. Donny Schatz was second
followed by Craig Dollansky, Joey Saldana, Randy Hannagan, Ricky
Logan, Chad Kemenah, Tim Shaffer and Kasey Kahne in third through
ninth, respectively. All four heat races were won by
drivers on Hoosiers. Paul McMahan, Jeremy Campbell, P.J. Chesson and
Steve Kinser were the four winners. Tim Shaffer won the
first Dash, while Team-Hoosier finished second through eighth in the
second Dash with Chad Kemenah leading the way for the purple team. In
the 25-lap feature, Donny Schatz took the lead on the 14th circuit
using a Hoosier RD12/D12 combination. Schatz led the remainder of the
way en route to the $5,000 win. Chad Kemenah (D12/D12) finished in
second place followed by Sammy Swindell (RD12/D12), Danny Lasoski
(D10/D12) and Joey Saldana (RD12/D12) rounding out the all-Hoosier top
five. Other top ten finishers on Hoosier tires were
Randy Hannagan in seventh, Mark Kinser in eighth and Craig Dollansky
in tenth. ELDORA FINALE
ROSSBURG, OH (April 19) -- With the top four finishers (all on Hoosier
tires) in the preliminary locked into the night's feature, 28 cars
took times in qualifying--23 of them on Hoosiers. All told, the
Hoosier brand accounted for 14 of the 15 fastest times with Rob Chaney
the fastest Hoosier-shod qualifier at 13.548 seconds. Daryn
Pittman, Tim Shaffer and Paul McMahan were the three heat race
winners. All three compete on the Hoosier brand. In the
5-lap Dash race, Chad Kemenah took the win followed by Danny Lasoski
and Donny Schatz. In the 35-lap feature, Danny Lasoski
took the early lead from his outside pole position. On lap 14, Sammy
Swindell took over the race lead using a D12/D15 combination. Swindell
led until the final circuit when Steve Kinser and Swindell had yet
another of their classic battles to the finish line. Kinser, also
using a D12/D15 set-up, made the last lap past of the cagey veteran to
apparently take the exciting win. That was, until the 17-time series
champion hit the scales and was declared under the series minimum
weight requirement of 1,375 lbs. The victory was then awarded to
Swindell as were the points and the $12,000 winner's payout. Also,
being disqualified for being under the minimum weight was the fourth
and fifth place cars crossing the line. Craig Dollansky and Chad
Kemenah were credited with finishing 25th and 26th place respectively,
while Steve Kinser was relegated to a 24th place finish. Despite
having three top five Hoosier-shod finishers sent to the back of the
line so to speak, Team-Hoosier still managed to sweep the first eleven
positions in the night's feature race. Following Swindell to the
finish line were Tim Shaffer (D12/D15), Mark Kinser (D12/D15), Jason
Sides (D12/D15), Jeff Shepard (Rd15/D15), Danny Lasoski, Daryn
Pittman, Jason Johnson, Randy Hannagan, Paul McMahan, and Joey Saldana
in second through eleventh. The finish jumbled up the
standings in the World of Outlaws with Danny Lasoski taking back the
lead from Steve Kinser. Lasoski leads the standings with 2000 points
followed by Kinser with 1958 points. Craig Dollansky retains his third
place standing with 1906 points. All told, the top nine drivers in the
standings race on Hoosier tires. Hoosier Open Wheel
Dirt Product Manager Neil Cowman attended the two-day event at Eldora
and accepted the Builder/Manufacturer of the Year Award given to Bob
Newton by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Museum. Ironically,
Steve Kinser was awarded the 410 Sprint Driver of the Year Award from
the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Museum before the feature
race. Also attending the two-day show was
Hoosier engineer John Reynolds. Cowman and Reynolds were on hand to
answer any questions the teams may have on the tires and monitor how
the Hoosier arsenal performed on the high-speed Eldora track.
Todd Seitz, Hoosier's World of Outlaws Track Service
Manager returned to Hoosier Headquarters to restock before joining the
Outlaws' trail as they head to Wisconsin for a one-night show in
Beaver Dam.
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