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 ELMA,
WA (August 22-23) -- Young Jason Meyers continues to impress in the
O'Reilly World of Outlaws Series winning both Friday's preliminary
30-lap race and Saturday's 40-lap finale at Grays Harbor Raceway.
Meyers has now won four races this season--all coming after being
asked to drive the #7 VMAC car for Craig Dollansky who was injured in
early May of this year. Both wins over the weekend came at the expense
of Joey Saldana who was leading both races before Meyers took over the
lead in the closing laps en route to the wins. With the two wins,
Meyers pocketed $17,000 in winnings. It was the 65th win in the series (in
69 nights of racing) by drivers using Hoosier tires. Meyers was
followed to the finish line both nights by a pair of Hoosier-shod
drivers giving Team-Hoosier its 60th podium sweep of the year. The
two-day event in Washington was also attended by Hoosier's Open Wheel
Dirt Product Manager Neil Cowman who was joined by Hoosier Tire West's
Rick Gerhardt.
PRELIMINARY
ALMA, WA (August 22) -- Forty-six cars made the trek west to Grays
Harbor Raceway with 44 of them competing on Hoosier tires. Nineteen of
the 20 fastest times in qualifying were posted by drivers using the
Hoosier brand with Donny Schatz, Shawna Wilskey, Steve Kinser and
Danny Lasoski the fastest Hoosier-shod qualifiers. Schatz circled the
3/10th-mile track in a scant 12.423 seconds.
The D10 compound proved not only to be an effective qualifying
tire but also a stout tire for heat race competition with all four
heat races being won by drivers using a pair of D10's. Jason Sides,
Randy Hannagan, Roger Crockett and Sammy Swindell were the four heat
race winners.
In the two Dash races, Hoosier's D10 compound
continued to be unbeatable when ninth qualifying Jason Meyers and
seventh qualifying Joey Saldana won the right to start on the front
row of the feature by winning their respective Dash races using a pair
of D10's. Ironically, Shawna Wilskey also won the B feature using a
pair of D10's leading into the night's final race.
In the 30-lap feature, 22 of the 24 starters took the
green flag riding on Hoosier tires. Pole-sitter Joey Saldana took the
lead from the start using a Hoosier RD12/D12 (LR/RR) combination.
Saldana maintained the lead until lap 23, that's when Jason Meyers
took over the lead when Saldana bumped the turn-four berm. From there,
Meyers defended the position until the checkered flag fell. Meyers
used a pair of RD12's en route to the $5,000 win.
Finishing in second place was Saldana who pocketed
$3,000 for the runner-up spot. Jac Haudenschild finished in third
place giving the Hoosier brand yet another 1-2-3 finish in the series.
All told, the first 14 drivers to cross the finish line rode on
Hoosier tires. Rounding out the list of top 14 finishers were Paul
McMahan, Tim Shaffer, Danny Lasoski, Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell,
Travis Cram, Shawna Wilskey, Randy Hannagan, Daryn Pittman, Dennis
Moore, Jr., and Jason Solwold in 4th through 14th, respectively.
FEATURE
ALMA, WA (August 23) -- The final night of action had 37 cars
posting times in qualifying with four drivers already locked into the
night's Dash race as a result of their preliminary finish. Those four
drivers included Jason Meyers, Joey Saldana, Jac Haudenschild and Paul
McMahan bringing the total of Hoosier-shod drivers to 39 of the 41
cars on hand.
Roger Crockett, using a pair of D10's, set fast time
of the night. Crockett's time was 12.342 seconds. Steve Kinser and
Shawna Wilskey were second and third, respectively, in qualifying on
Hoosiers.
Three of the four heat races were won by Hoosier-shod
drivers. Mike Melwicks, Jim Carter and Daryn Pittman were the three
Team-Hoosier heat race winners. All three drivers used Hoosier's D10
compound on their right rear position.
The one Dash race contested during the evening was won
by Joey Saldana followed by Jason Meyers, Jac Haudenschild, Paul
McMahan, Roger Crockett and Steve Kinser. The B feature was won by
Travis Cram also using the D10 compound.
In the 40-lap feature, 22 of the 24 starters elected
to run on USA-made Hoosier tires. Joey Saldana again took the early
lead and looked to be on his way to his third win of the year. But on
lap 37, Saldana cut down his right rear tire letting Jason Meyers take
over at the point. Meyers led the remaining four laps to take the
$12,000 win--his second in as many nights. Meyers elected to run the
40-lap race using a 92" RD12/D12 combination.
Steve Kinser, using a D12/RD15 set up, charged from
sixth to finish second and collect $6,000, while Paul McMahan took the
final podium spot using a RD12/RD15 combination. It was the 60th 1-2-3
finish for Team-Hoosier this year in 69 nights of racing.
Other top ten finishers were Jason Sides (4th), Daryn
Pittman (5th), Shawna Wilskey (7th), Danny Lasoski (8th), Sammy
Swindell (9th), and Donny Schatz (10th). Amazingly, Swindell and
Schatz charged from 21st and 22nd place to finished in 9th and 10th, respectively.
Joey Saldana wound up finishing 14th after leading the race's first 36
laps.
Currently, Steve Kinser (7861) leads the World of
Outlaws Series driver standings by 36 points over Danny Lasoski
(7825). The pair are followed by Joey Saldana (7451), Daryn Pittman
(7353), Donny Schatz (6950), and Jason Sides (6851). All six drivers
race on Hoosier tires. Paul McMahan (5694), Mark Kinser (5048), and
Tim Shaffer (4771) are eighth, ninth, and tenth, respectively, in the
standings as Team-Hoosier drivers lay claim to nine out of ten spots
in the rankings.
The series will be back at it this Tuesday, August 26,
at Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon for a one-night show before
the three-night Harvest Grove Classic at Calistoga Speedway in
California.
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