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 BEAVER
DAM, WI (April 22) -- Joey Saldana finished fourth last season in the
World of Outlaws Series but had yet to taste victory lane in the
series this season. That is, until Tuesday night at Wisconsin's
Powercom Park. Saldana took the lead from fellow Hoosier loyalist
Shane Stewart on lap 22 of the 40-lap race en route to capturing his
first feature win of the season in the Outlaws Series. Saldana had
hoped to improve on last year's career effort in sprint racing's
premier series only to enter Tuesday's contest seventh in the
standings. The feature finish had Shane Stewart taking second and
Craig Dollansky settling for third. It was the ninth consecutive 1-2-3
finish for the Hoosier brand which has gone undefeated in the series
during the entire month of April. The hope for another undefeated
month in the series rests on whether Team-Hoosier can capture wins at
the last two races of April at Knoxville Raceway this Friday and
Saturday night. Last season, the Hoosier brand was undefeated in seven
nights of racing at the famed 1/2-mile oval.
It was good planning on the part of Outlaws Track
Service Manager Todd Seitz to return to Hoosier headquarters to fully
restock the Hoosier Outlaw service trailer because a huge 45-car field
was on hand for qualifying Tuesday night at Powercom Park. Thirty of
the 45 qualifiers rode on Hoosier tires with the remaining 15 choosing
to run one of the other two competing brands. Danny Lasoski set fast
time of the night with his lap of 12.240 seconds around the 1/3-mile
oval.
In heat race action, Team-Hoosier claimed three wins
in the four heats that were contested. Jonathan Allard, Donny Schatz
and Mark Kinser were the three Hoosier-shod winners.
Kraig Kinser won the first Dash race and the right to
start the night's 40-lap feature on the pole.
In the night's feature race, Shane Stewart, on a
D12/D15 combination, led seven laps and had a huge 15 car-length lead
when he came upon lapped traffic and was passed by the hard charging
Joey Saldana. Saldana, using a Hoosier RD15/D15 set-up, led the
remainder of the way winning by approximately five car lengths over
Stewart who settle for runner-up honors. Craig Dollansky finished
third for the ninth straight Team-Hoosier podium sweep. Dollansky ran
the same compound combination as Stewart.
Other top ten finishers who use the Hoosier brand were
Daryn Pittman in fifth, Jeff Shepard sixth, Danny Lasoski eighth,
Donny Schatz ninth and Jason Sides in tenth.
The next race in the series is this Friday at
Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, IA where the Hoosier brand will seek
to complete an undefeated month of April in the O'Reilly World of
Outlaws Series.
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