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 ROSSBURG,
OH (May 31) -- With seven laps in the books, rain forced the
postponement of Friday's World of Outlaws race at Sharon Speedway
until July 30, after Team-Hoosier captured fast time, won all four
heats and both Dash races entering the night's feature race. On
Saturday, defending O'Reilly World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser
continued his march to regain the top spot in sprint racing's premier
series over the weekend winning the 30-lap feature at Eldora Speedway
after starting on the pole. The 17-time series champion has now won
four of the last eight races in the series including two wins and a
second place finish in the last three races. At Eldora, Kinser battled
it out with current points leader Danny Lasoski before capturing the
win and narrowing Lasoski's lead to 31 points in the standings.
Following Kinser to the finish line was fourth starting Tyler Walker
and Danny Lasoski in second and third place, respectively. The
all-Hoosier podium was the 25th of the season (in 32 races) and 23rd
in a row in the series.
In qualifying, 25 of the 30 entrants elected to post
times using Hoosier tires with the remaining five drivers using one of
the other two competing tire brands. Jason Meyers, subbing for the
injured Craig Dollansky, set fast time of the night in the Karavan
Motorsports #7. Meyers' time was 12.865 seconds around the track known
as "The World's Fastest Half-Mile." Danny Lasoski was second
followed by Donny Schatz and Tyler Walker as Hoosier-shod cars
captured the top four times in qualifying.
Three heat races were contested with all three winners
riding on Hoosier tires. Chad Kemenah, Kenny Jacobs and Dean Jacobs
were the three 8-lap heat race winners.
After qualifying sixth and finishing second in the
first heat race, Steve Kinser took the win in the first Dash race,
while Danny Lasoski captured the win in the final Dash for two more
victories by drivers using Hoosier tires.
In the 30-lap feature, 20 of the 24 starters rode on
Hoosiers. When the green flag dropped, Steve Kinser immediately jumped
into the race lead from the pole using a pair of Hoosier D12's as his
rear tire compound selection. Kinser's lead would last only three
circuits before giving way to Danny Lasoski. Lasoski, using a Hoosier
RD12/D12 combination, maintained the race lead until lap 17, when race
traffic erased the 10-car lead Lasoski had built up. The slower
traffic allowed the "King of the Outlaws" to catch Lasoski
and make the pass on the high side of the 2001 series champion. Kinser
led the final 14 circuits to take the win--his 9th feature win of the
season and 11th overall (including two preliminary wins).
Kinser was followed to the finish line by young Tyler
Walker who started fourth. Walker also opted to run the 30-lap feature
using a pair of D12's, while Danny Lasoski settled for third place.
Rounding out the top five were Jason Meyers fourth and Mark Kinser
fifth after starting seventh.
The final tally had Team-Hoosier claiming 11 of the
top 12 positions in the night's final race. Rounding out the list of
Hoosier-shod finishers were Joey Saldana, Tim Shaffer, Donny Schatz,
Dean Jacobs, Chad Kemenah and Rod Chaney in seventh through twelfth,
respectively.
Hoosier Open Wheel Dirt Product Manager Neil Cowman
made the three hour drive from Indiana to attend the race at Eldora
and get a first hand look at the Hoosier arsenal in action. He could
not have been more pleased with the performance of the tires. Cowman
also took the opportunity to talk to all the teams and drivers and
update them on the Hoosier product line.
Danny Lasoski leads the points standings with 3934
points followed by Steve Kinser with 3903 points. Joey Saldana is in
third place (3639) followed by Daryn Pittman (3600) and Jason Sides
(3355). Drivers using Hoosier tires currently claim the top eight
spots in the World of Outlaws Series standings.
The Outlaws Series will take an unusual mid-season
break before returning to action on June 10th at Wisconsin's Fox Ridge
Speedway.
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