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 LAWRENCEBURG,
IN (May 6) -- Veteran Danny Smith added his name to the winners list
in the World of Outlaws Series after capturing the 40-lap feature at
Lawrenceburg Speedway Thursday night. Smith, the 1977 Lawrenceburg
Speedway track champion, swapped the lead with Donny Schatz twice
while leading the final 20 circuits to take the win using a Hoosier
RD12/D12 (LR/RR) combination. Smith was one of the original drivers to
compete in the World of Outlaws Series during its 1978 inaugural season. The win was Smith's first Outlaws win since 1985. It was
also the
Hoosier brand's 15th consecutive win in the series. Smith becomes the
7th different feature winner in the 12 World of Outlaws main events this
season. All 12 of those event winners have ridden to victory on Hoosier
racing tires. Team Hoosier's record now stands at 15-1 in points races
and 18-1 overall this season in World of Outlaws sanctioned
events.
Forty-three cars were entered in qualifying on the
Lawrenceburg 1/4-mile track with 41 of them riding on Hoosier tires.
Danny Lasoski, using Hoosiers softest compound option (D10), set a new
single lap record with a time of 10.136 seconds. He was followed by
Kraig Kinser and Jason Meyers. The 16 fastest times in qualifying
were posted by members of Team Hoosier.
All four preliminary heat races were also won by
drivers riding on the D10 compound. Wayne Johnson won the first heat,
while Danny Smith, Tim Shaffer and Chad Kemenah collected wins in
heat's two through four, respectively.
In Dash competition, all eight drivers in both Dash
races rode on Hoosiers. Donny Schatz won the first Dash, while Danny
Smith won the last Dash. The wins earned the pair the right to start
the feature on the front row.
In the 40-lap feature, 25 of the 26 starters were on
Hoosier tires. When the green flag waved, Donny Schatz burst into the
race lead from the pole. On the second lap, Danny Smith moved into the
lead using a Hoosier RD12/D12 combination. Smith led until lap 20 when
Schatz took back the race lead. One lap later, Smith moved
back into the lead--this time for good leading the final 20 laps en
route to his first win since 1985 in the series. Joey Saldana, after starting
eighth, finished in second place--three car lengths behind Smith at the
line. Saldana made his charge to the front using a D12/RD15
combination. Finishing in third place was Donny Schatz, while Paul
McMahan and Jason Meyers rounded out the list of top five finishers.
All three opted to run the 40-lap marathon using a pair of D12's.
Prior to the Outlaws race, a non-winged race was
contested in which 17 drivers were in competition. Dickie Gaines won
the 25-lap feature ironically using the same compound combination
(RD12/D12) as Danny Smith did in capturing the Outlaws race. Thirteen
of the 17 non-winged race starters rode on Hoosier tires.
Hoosier Racing Tire compounder Jon Huffman was in attendance at
the event and reported the details for this report. Huffman commented
after the event, "It was a great race. I was happy to see Danny
capture the win." Huffman added, "Danny has been a
long-time Hoosier supporter and was one of the first to give Hoosier
an opportunity back in 1995. If not for guys like him, we (Hoosier)
would not be where we are today."
World of Outlaws owners Boundless Motor Sports only
Tuesday announced the creation of the "Mean 15"--a group of
drivers who have signed on to compete at all World of Outlaws events
for the remainder of the 2004 season. All 15 drivers currently compete
on Hoosiers.
The World of Outlaws are back in action Saturday night
at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway.
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