Steve Kinser Powers World of Outlaws Championship Battle into Las Vegas

Steve Kinser Powers World of Outlaws Championship Battle into Las Vegas

Impressive start has Sides second in points followed by Saldana, Darrah and defending champ Meyers

 

CONCORD, NC. – Feb. 28, 2011 – Even though the 2011 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season is only five races old, the championship battle is already beginning to take shape as the Greatest Show on Dirt invades Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Wednesday and Thursday.

Steve Kinser is aiming for his 21^st championship in 2011 and has already won three times to put himself atop the point standings. Kinser, who last year at Las Vegas came up just short to Jason Meyers after a thrilling finish, believes he and his team have what it takes to hoist the trophy at the end of the season.

“I don’t believe I have ever had this good of a start to a season ever,” said Kinser, from the site of his latest victory on Friday night at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss. “It seems like anytime we put this Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet out on the track, it’s extremely fast.”

Kinser managed to back up his win with another strong finish the next night at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas. Kinser is the only driver to have finished all five races this season in the Top 10.

Hot on Kinser’s tail is Jason Sides and his Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Sides, who won four races last season, kept his momentum strong with a victory on the final night of the 40^th Annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH and two runner-up finishes over the weekend at Pike County Speedway and Royal Purple Raceway.

“We just have been able to make very good adjustments to the car and really keep up with the tracks we’ve been at,” Sides said. “We are thrilled to be running this great and hope it keeps up.”

Kasey Kahne Racing driver Joey Saldana has quietly made his way up to third in the standings after being crowned the Sprint Car champion of the season-opening DIRTcar Nationals. Saldana debuted a new look on his #9 Maxim at Pike County Speedway, sporting the Red Bull energy drink colors. Saldana’s teammate, 20-year-old Cody Darrah continues to impress and has his #91 Great Clips Maxim sitting in the fourth position. Rounding out the Top Five is 2010 World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers, who will take a slight side trip Tuesday on his way to Las Vegas when he flies with the United States Navy Blue Angels.

WORLD OF OUTLAWS POINTS STANDINGS

Pos.     Driver                              Total     Diff           W         T5     T10     QT

1.          Steve Kinser                  733                           3            4       5          0

2.          Jason Sides                    707        -26            1            4       4          1

3.          Joey Saldana                 683        -50            0            3       4          2

4.          Cody Darrah                  660        -73            0            2       2          0

5.          Jason Meyers               655        -78            0            1       3          0

6.          Danny Lasoski               647        -86            0            1       3          0

7.          Sammy Swindell          637        -96            1            2       2          0

8.          Donny Schatz                632        -101          0            1       1          0

9.          Paul McMahan             632        -101          0            1       2          2

10.       Sam Hafertepe Jr.       630        -103          0            0       3          0

11.       Chad Kemenah            630        -103          0            1       2          0

12.       Kraig Kinser                   618        -115          0            1       2          0

13.       Lance Dewease           616        -117          0            0       2          0

14.       Craig Dollansky             615        -118          0            1       2          0

15.       Lucas Wolfe                   604        -129          0            0       2          0

16.       Terry McCarl                 560        -173          0            0       0          0

17.       Ben Gregg                      550        -183          0            0       0          0

18.       David Gravel                 524        -209          0            1       1          0

19.       Bill Rose                          523        -210          0            0       0          0

20.       Tim Shaffer                    414        -319          0            1       3          0

21.       Brad Sweet                    384        -349          0            0       1          0

22.       Fred Rahmer                 374        -359          0            1       1          0

23.       Dale Blaney                   370        -363          0            0       1          0

24.       Daryn Pittman              364        -369          0            0       1          0

25.       Stevie Smith                  351        -382          0            0       1          0

HIGHT WINS WINTERNATIONALS FOR THIRD TIME

 HIGHT WINS WINTERNATIONALS FOR THIRD TIME

POMONA — Robert Hight had to endure a long cold winter. Beginning with his last round win in Brainerd at the Lucas Oil Nationals in August the 41-year old former crewman’s season ground to a halt when over the next seven races Hight posted a 0-6 record with an October DNQ in Las Vegas.

Those struggles and tribulations lasted for an extra few weeks as the NHRA started its 60^th anniversary season two weeks later than usual opening the season this weekend at the 51^st NHRA Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals.

That is all past history as Hight drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the winner’s circle for the third time to open the season today. Hight defeated a “Who’s Who” of tough competitors. In the first round he dispatched fellow Ford racer Bob Tasca III and then he out-distanced boss and 15-time funny car champion John Force. In the semi-finals Hight had to outrun Don Schumacher Racing veteran Ron Capps before besting DSR’s young star Matt Hagan in the final. In the final Hight used a reaction time advantage to beat Hagan on a hole shot. The win was reminiscent of Force’s 2010 Winternationals hole shot win over Capps.

“The biggest deal for me is how long it has been since we have won even a round.  It goes clear back to Brainerd last year,” said Hight, a 19-time NHRA national event winner.

“The only thing that made (last year) good was John winning everything and Ashley (Force Hood) winning the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. We stayed together as a team. What is really important to me is this is the fourth year in a row that my team has been together, 100% of them. That makes it so easy to get out here and do what you know how to do. You don’t have to train new people and everyone knows how to do their job. It makes it that much more special when you win because you pulled together and you stayed together. I was on John’s teams a lot of years and we had the same nucleus of guys. You become a family. They are like brothers to you and that is what makes these times so special. To win the Winternationals to start the year it has been a long winter. To win at Auto Club Raceway is just awesome.”

This was Hight’s third win at the Winternationals (2006 and 2008) and it was John Force Racing’s 8^th win in eleven events at Auto Club Raceway. Last year John Force won both events in Pomona and Mike Neff closed out the 2009 NHRA season with a win here.

Hight will leave his home track with the points lead and for the seventh year in a row Hight has had the points lead at some point in the season. No other driver has ever led the points at least once for every year of their career. He is now tied with legendary driver Don “Snake” Prudhomme for second most career times holding the Funny Car points lead. John Force is the all-time leader with eighteen seasons as points leader.

Mike Neff shook the rust off after a one year break from racing to come within a few hundredths of a second from facing Hight in the final. In the semis Neff dropped a tight race to Hagan. Neff’s Castrol GTX Ford Mustang was actually quicker on the track but a slight starting line advantage gave Hagan the win. Neff was pleased with his team’s overall performance and tough on himself.

He battled clutch gremlins throughout the day and thought he had the problem cured before the semi-final race.

“For whatever reason when we tested in Florida everything went smooth and in qualifying here everything went well. Then the first run today it wore an excess of clutch. It put a cylinder out in the first round. I thought that was kind of a fluke deal. I didn’t do a lot about it,” said the two-time funny car champion crew chief.

“It got even worse the second round. It murdered the clutch on that run. This last run I had to make some big moves to make the clutch wear I got it a lot better. It was still not anywhere close to where I wanted. It was one of those deals that it was good for a while then things change once and a while”.

“I am just kind of disappointed in myself. For whatever reason I was just dead late right there. The bummer is all through testing and qualifying I was cutting good lights. That is the worst light I have had all year. I have been out of the car for a year. Doing it in qualifying or testing is one thing but race day is what counts. I don’t have any excuses. I was just dead late.”

Team leader John Force did not accept Neff’s tough self assessment.

“(Neff) did his job for Castrol. That is what matters to me. Everyone is watching to see if we are going to fall apart this weekend,” said Force a 132-time winner. “We all stayed in the game. That is what is most important. (Neff’s) got overload as crew chief and driver but he did both your jobs well. That is all we expect. We’ll take good and then we’ll turn that into great.”

The three John Force Racing Mustangs will head to Gainesville in first, third, and fifth place in the Full Throttle points standings.

Final round results from Sunday’s 51st annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals

Final round results from Sunday’s 51^st annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, first race in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

FUNNY CAR – Robert Hight, Yorba Linda, Calif., Auto Club Ford Mustang, 4.056, 312.71 mph, def. Matt Hagan, Christiansburg, Va., DieHard Dodge Charger, 4.023, 310.20 mph.

TOP FUEL – Morgan Lucas, Brownsburg, Ind., GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster3.835, 316.38 mph def. Shawn Langdon, Brownsburg, Ind., Lucas Oil dragster, 4.047, 313.73 mph 

PRO STOCK – Jason Line, Mooresville, NC, Summit Pontiac GXP, 6.529, 211.89 mph def. Greg Stanfield, Bossier city, La., Safety Sentry Inc. Pontiac GXP, 6.595, 210.70 mph

* * * *

NHRA FULL THROTTLE POINT STANDINGS

FULL THROTTLE POINT STANDINGS

FUNNY CAR – 1. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 118; 2. Matt Hagan, 93; 3. Mike Neff, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 78; 4. Ron Capps, 73; 5. Cruz Pedregon, 63; 6. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 55; 6. Jim Head, 55; 8. Jeff Arend, 51; 9. Johnny Gray, 43; 10. Gary Densham, 32; 10. Bob Bode, 32; 10. Paul Lee, 32; 10. Jack Beckman, 32

TOP FUEL – 1. Morgan Lucas, 114; 2. Shawn Langdon, 94; 3. Antron Brown, 82; 4. Del Worsham, 74; 5. Larry Dixon, 64; 6. Tony Schumacher, 58; 7. Spencer Massey, 57; 8. Doug Kalitta, 53; 9. Terry McMillen, 51; 10. Steve Torrance, 33; 10. Brandon Bernstein, 33; 10. TJ Zizzo, 33; 10. Bob Vandergriff, 33

PRO STOCK – 1. Jason Line, 112; 2. Greg Stanfield, 95; 3. Greg Anderson, 80; 4. Ronnie Humphrey, 72; 5. Erica Enders, 61; 6. Ron Krisher, 57; 7. Kurt Johnson, 53; 8. Vincent Nobile, 51; 9. Allen Johnson, 38; 10. V Gaines, 35

THE DRIVERS

JOHN FORCE, 61, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang

Final Qualifying: 5^th at 4.093 seconds, 305.84 mph

Bonus Qualifying Points: +1 (3^rd quickest of Q1)

Race Results: Beat Paul Lee. Lost to Robert Hight.

Quotable:  “We are excited but at the end of the day Auto Club, Castrol, Ford, Mac Tools, BrandSource we are doing our job today. Mike Neff got bit there but he is new in the seat. His hot rod ran. He just got beat. Robert Hight is still in. We are excited about it. Most of all I am a fan and I am tripping out here. “– JOHN FORCE

MIKE NEFF, 44, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang

Final Qualifying: 3^rd at 4.060 seconds, 312.42 mph

Bonus Qualifying Points: +2 (2^nd quickest of Q2)

Race Results: Beat Tim Wilkerson, Jim Head. Lost to Matt Hagan

Quotable: “I feel good. You are always a little disappointed whenever you lose. As a whole for the first race I feel pretty good. We ran pretty solid until today. The one thing I know is the Mustang is reacting well.”  – MIKE NEFF

ROBERT HIGHT, 41, Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang

Final Qualifying: 4^th at 4.071 seconds, 313.00 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +3 (3^rd quickest of Q2 and 2^nd quickest of Q3)

Race Results: Beat Bob Tasca III, John Force, Ron Capps< Matt Hagan

Quotable: “The NHRA announces they are going to have pewter trophies and you think man I want one of those so bad. You look at the class and it is not that easy to get them. Look at the guys I had to beat today. Bob Tasca III, John Force 15-time champ, Ron Capps and Matt Hagan. It is not that easy. If we would have slipped up just a little in the final we would have been dust.”   – ROBERT HIGHT

* * * *

JFR MUSTANGS RACE INTO TOP FIVE

JFR MUSTANGS RACE INTO TOP FIVE HEADING INTO WINTERNATIONALS ELIMS

POMONA — On a day that started with a fifteen minute hail storm and ended with a Funny Car getting a leg up on the national record, John Force Racing was consistent and quick throughout the day’s two qualifying sessions. Two-time Full Throttle Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon grabbed the No. 1 qualifying position with a 4.015 second run but Mike Neff, Robert Hight and John Force hung with him on the performance front ending the day in the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 positions, respectively.

The dicey weather had Robert Hight and his Auto Club Mustang team wishing for Mother Nature to just make up her mind.

“At one point I was wishing it would either just rain out or clear up. You want to start the season with a lot of runs,” said Hight, a two-time Winternationals winner. “You want to get four qualifying runs or at least three like this weekend. You don’t want to go into race day with just one qualifying run. Looking at the forecast for tomorrow, we should be good. I am ready to get going. It has been way too long of a winter. It has been a long time since I have won a round. The last round win I had was Brainerd last year and that is too long. We have a tough one first round but we are up for it.”

Hight made two solid runs today tripping the timing beams with runs of 4.107 and 4.071 seconds. He earned bonus points in each session for recording one of the three quickest runs of the session.

Hight is also hoping to grab some Ford momentum from Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne and his team owners the famed Woods Brothers. The past two years at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, the legendary Ford NASCAR team owners have spent time with Hight and the rest of the John Force Racing team. Hight will carry a piece of history in his fire suit tomorrow.

“I am going to carry a Wood Brothers commemorative coin with me tomorrow. They gave it to me last year when they were celebrating their 60^th year of racing. With the success they had at Daytona last weekend I am looking for some luck to kick off the 60^th anniversary of the NHRA tomorrow. The coin will be in my fire suit and hopefully I’ll go four rounds tomorrow and be hoisting one of those pewter Wallys. I am ready to get going. I know (crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) is looking at our data and seeing where he can tweak it here or there. If we make four runs that are 4.07s tomorrow we’ll hold that 60^th anniversary trophy.”

“I am pleased with qualifying. We are in the top four. We aren’t running the 01s and 02s but we are one of the few cars that went down the track every run. It was us and Neff I think. We made three decent runs and we were not doing that at the end of last year. You have to go down the track to win.  We race Bob Tasca III in the first round so that will be a tough race.”

On Saturday Mike Neff powered the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to a great 4.060 second pass and that time eventually wound up in the No. 3 position going into eliminations. For Neff having a consistent car has eased him mind as he transitions from crew chief to driver mode.

“All you can hope for is to run what you are trying to run and have it respond to what you are trying to do. That is a big key,” said Neff. “It has been pretty easy to switch from crew chief mode to driver mode. One thing has been my Mustang has been really consistent. Things went well for us in testing and my guys have been great. The runs here have been good and I was trying to run better than it did the last session. It has been responding so I am pretty confident. The conditions have been the same so it hasn’t been that big of an issue.”

Team leader and 15-time Funny Car champion John Force qualified No. 5, 4.093 seconds, but was No. 1 when it came to heart stopping moments on Saturday. In his final run of the day beside Bob Bode Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang started drifting left and eventually made a dramatic move across the centerline just past the finish line. The two Funny Cars narrowly missed colliding at the top end. At the end of the day Force likened the run to a NASCAR two car bump draft.

“Stuff happens. I had just cleared the cones and it made a hard left. I could feel it moving over before I got to the cones and I knew I could keep it in my lane and get past them. As soon as it got past the cones it made a hard move,” said the 2010 Winternationals winner.”

“The traction gets a little loose past the finish line and I got over in Bode’s lane but he is a veteran. He was on the brakes and my chutes were on his windshield. He shoved me right through there. We looked like Carl Edwards shoving Trevor Bayne at the Daytona 500.”

With three Mustangs in the top five Force was excited about his team’s prospects starting the 60^th anniversary NHRA season.

“I am glad to get this race out of the way. Winter was way too long. To have these three Fords out there doing what they are doing for Castrol, Auto Club, Mac Tools, and BrandSource. We are doing our job. The fans showed up today and we gave them a good show. It will be a long season but I am ready to get it started tomorrow morning,” added Force.

“Any time you can put three Fords in the top five that is good. That is where you need to be. You want lane choice and you want those qualifying points. The Fords are hot right now. At the end of the day we want to come out of here with a win like we did last year.”  

* * * *

Swindell Charges to World of Outlaws Victory in Texas

Swindell Charges to World of Outlaws Victory in Texas

Veteran racer in control at Royal Purple Raceway; Sides finishes second

 

BAYTOWN, Texas – Feb. 26, 2011 – Sammy Swindell used several long green-flag runs and a three-lap sprint to the checkered flag on Saturday night at Royal Purple Raceway to earn his first World of Outlaws victory of the season.

Swindell started fourth and charged to the front after Chad Kemenah led the first eight laps in the 40-lap feature event at the quarter-mile speedway just outside of Houston. Swindell then managed the lead while furious battles for position – including a four-wide fight for third at one point – were taking place behind him. A couple of long runs spaced out by scary flips involving Joey Saldana on Lap 20 and Donny Schatz on a restart with three to go gave Swindell all the momentum he needed to secure the win in the Big Game Treestands Maxim.

“Those green flag runs really made a big difference for us tonight,” said a smiling Swindell, of Germantown, Tenn. “My car certainly was better on the long runs and I hated to see those reds and yellows but I’m glad everyone was OK.”

Following Schatz’s end-over-end flip, the field restarted with Jason Meyers trying to hold off Jason Sides for second. The intense battle went down to the final lap. Sides slid under Meyers in the first corner, the two made contact, leaving Meyers in a spin while Sides was able to finish in the runner-up position for the second night in a row.

“I don’t like to race like that,” said Sides, a native of Bartlett, Tenn., who has finished first or second in the past three consecutive World of Outlaws events in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. “We had been going back and forth there and we just made contact. I hate that it happened.”

Craig Dollansky raced to the checkered flag in third, earning the KSE Hard Charger Award after he started in 15^th in his Big Game Treestand Maxim.

“We could really run wherever we wanted too,” said Dollansky, who led the most laps of any driver during the World of Outlaws three-night season-opening DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. “The track was really smooth tonight and it really worked out to our benefit.”

Danny Lasoski and early leader Kemenah rounded out the top five. Meyers, the defending champion, wound up 15^th after the contact with Sides on the final lap. Steve Kinser, a three-time winner already this season, finished seventh.

WORLD OF OUTLAWS STATISTICAL RESULTS

Texas; Feb. 26, 2011

A-main (40 laps) – Starting Position [#] – 1) 1-Sammy Swindell[4] [$10,000]; 2) 7S-Jason Sides[7] [$5,500]; 3) 7-Craig Dollansky[15] [$3,200]; 4) 33-Danny Lasoski[9] [$2,800]; 5) 63-Chad Kemenah[2] [$2,500]; 6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[10] [$2,300]; 7) 11-Steve Kinser[12] [$2,200]; 8) 83-Paul McMahan[3] [$2,100]; 9) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[14] [$2,050]; 10) 6-Kraig Kinser[11] [$2,000]; 11) 91-Cody Darrah[16] [$1,500]; 12) 30C-Lance Dewease[8] [$1,200]; 13) 6R-Bill Rose[6] [$1,100]; 14) 15-Donny Schatz[13] [$1,050]; 15) 14-Jason Meyers[1] [$1,000]; 16) 89G-David Gravel[20] [$900]; 17) W20-Greg Wilson[17] [$800]; 18) 24-Terry McCarl[19] [$800]; 19) 2-Wes Miller[21] [$800]; 20) 2B-Ben Gregg[18] [$800]; 21) 9-Joey Saldana[5] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Chad Kemenah 1-8, Sammy Swindell 9-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: Craig Dollansky

Qualifying – 1) 83-Paul McMahan 12.538; 2) 6R-Bill Rose 12.550; 3) 14-Jason Meyers 12.552; 4) 63-Chad Kemenah 12.566; 5) 1-Sammy Swindell 12.599; 6) 6-Kraig Kinser 12.605; 7) 7S-Jason Sides 12.629; 8) 30C-Lance Dewease 12.734; 9) 9-Joey Saldana 12.734; 10) 33-Danny Lasoski 12.737; 11) 11-Steve Kinser 12.741; 12) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 12.752; 13) 15-Donny Schatz 12.776; 14) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 12.777; 15) 7-Craig Dollansky 12.799; 16) 24-Terry McCarl 12.883; 17) 91-Cody Darrah 13.048; 18) W20-Greg Wilson 13.075; 19) 2B-Ben Gregg 13.157; 20) 89G-David Gravel 13.301; 21) 2-Wes Miller 14.553.

Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) – 1) 33-Danny Lasoski[1]; 2) 7S-Jason Sides[2]; 3) 63-Chad Kemenah[3]; 4) 83-Paul McMahan[4]; 5) 15-Donny Schatz[5]; 6) 2B-Ben Gregg[7]; 7) 24-Terry McCarl[6].

Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) – 1) 30C-Lance Dewease[2]; 2) 1-Sammy Swindell[3]; 3) 11-Steve Kinser[1]; 4) 6R-Bill Rose[4]; 5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5]; 6) 91-Cody Darrah[6]; 7) 89G-David Gravel[7].

Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) – 1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[1]; 2) 9-Joey Saldana[2]; 3) 6-Kraig Kinser[3]; 4) 14-Jason Meyers[4]; 5) 7-Craig Dollansky[5]; 6) W20-Greg Wilson[6]; 7) 2-Wes Miller[7].

Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1) 14-Jason Meyers[2]; 2) 63-Chad Kemenah[1]; 3) 83-Paul McMahan[4]; 4) 1-Sammy Swindell[5]; 5) 9-Joey Saldana[8]; 6) 6R-Bill Rose[3]; 7) 7S-Jason Sides[6]; 8) 30C-Lance Dewease[7]; 9) 33-Danny Lasoski[9]; 10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[10].

Kinser Captures World of Outlaws Pike County Thriller

Kinser Captures World of Outlaws Pike County Thriller

King of the Outlaws holds off Sides, Darrah for third victory in four starts

 

MAGNOLIA, Miss. – Feb. 25, 2011 – Steve Kinser held off Jason Sides and Cody Darrah in an edge-of-your-seat World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series thriller on Friday night at Pike County Speedway.

Kinser took the lead on lap 12 of the 35-lap feature in his Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet/Maxim, but Sides and Darrah took shots at the 20-time King of the Outlaws in every corner, racing three-wide at times down the backstretch at the 3/8-mile speedway. Kinser finally pulled away to the checkered flag after a late-race caution cleared traffic, giving him his third victory in four races to start this season.

“It was a heck of a race,” said Kinser, of Bloomington, Ind., who won for the third time in his career at Pike County Speedway. “It’s just good to see all of the hard work this winter has paid off.”

Sides, of Bartlett, Tenn., was racing for his second consecutive World of Outlaws victory in the Wetherington Tractor Services ride. He went wheel-to-wheel with Kinser during much of the A-main.

“I couldn’t tell you which lap was which,” said Sides, who had a large contingent of family and friends in attendance. “I guess the old dog still has a few tricks up his sleeve.”

Darrah, a Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year contender from Red Lion, Pa., led the first 11 laps in the Kasey Kahne Racing Great Clips Maxim before Kinser and Sides swarmed him and turned the rest of the night into a fierce three-car heavyweight bout.

“These guys are my heroes, it was exciting,” Darrah said. “I just overdrove it.”

Joey Saldana in his new Kasey Kahne Racing Red Bull Maxim wound up fourth after restarting at the tail of the field after he brought out a caution early in the race. David Gravel rounded out the top five after starting on the pole.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series rolls down the highway to Royal Purple Raceway (formerly Houston Raceway Park) on Saturday night. Make sure to tune into DIRTVision.com to listen to all of the action if you can’t be at the state-of-the-art facility in Baytown, Texas.

QUICKTIME – Jason Sides was the nights fastest qualifier at a 14.056, earning five more championship points.

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Pike County

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Pike County Speedway; Feb. 25, 2011

A-main (35 laps) – Starting Position [#] 1) 11-Steve Kinser[4] [$10,000]; 2) 7S-Jason Sides[6] [$5,500]; 3) 91-Cody Darrah[2] [$3,200]; 4) 9-Joey Saldana[5] [$2,800]; 5) 89G-David Gravel[1] [$2,500]; 6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[8] [$2,300]; 7) 14-Jason Meyers[11] [$2,200]; 8) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[9] [$2,100]; 9) 30C-Lance Dewease[14] [$2,050]; 10) 7-Craig Dollansky[13] [$2,000]; 11) 15-Donny Schatz[12] [$1,500]; 12) W20-Greg Wilson[17] [$1,200]; 13) 33-Danny Lasoski[10] [$1,100]; 14) 1-Sammy Swindell[7] [$1,050]; 15) 2B-Ben Gregg[18] [$1,000]; 16) 63-Chad Kemenah[19] [$900]; 17) 6-Kraig Kinser[15] [$800]; 18) 6R-Bill Rose[16] [$800]; 19) 83-Paul McMahan[3] [$800]; 20) 24-Terry McCarl[20] [$800]; 21) 10-Terry Gray[21] [$800]; 22) 80-Morgan Turpen[23] [$800]; 23) O9-Timmy Thrash[22] [$800]; 24) OO-Ed Lee[24] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Cody Darrah 1-11, Steve Kinser 12-35. KSE Hard Charger Award: Lance Dewease

Qualifying – 1) 7S-Jason Sides 14.056; 2) 89G-David Gravel 14.063; 3) 83-Paul McMahan 14.063; 4) 91-Cody Darrah 14.100; 5) 11-Steve Kinser 14.138; 6) 1-Sammy Swindell 14.165; 7) 9-Joey Saldana 14.219; 8) 33-Danny Lasoski 14.237; 9) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.284; 10) 14-Jason Meyers 14.291; 11) 15-Donny Schatz 14.300; 12) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.331; 13) 7-Craig Dollansky 14.354; 14) 30C-Lance Dewease 14.438; 15) 6-Kraig Kinser 14.607; 16) 63-Chad Kemenah 14.669; 17) 6R-Bill Rose 14.776; 18) W20-Greg Wilson 15.041; 19) 2B-Ben Gregg 15.060; 20) 24-Terry McCarl 15.228; 21) 10-Terry Gray 15.424; 22) O9-Timmy Thrash 15.191; 23) 80-Morgan Turpen 15.732; 24) OO-Ed Lee 17.262.

Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - 1) 9-Joey Saldana[2]; 2) 7S-Jason Sides[4]; 3) 91-Cody Darrah[3]; 4) 14-Jason Meyers[1]; 5) 7-Craig Dollansky[5]; 6) 2B-Ben Gregg[7]; 7) 63-Chad Kemenah[6]; 8) O9-Timmy Thrash[8].

Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) – 1) 33-Danny Lasoski[2]; 2) 89G-David Gravel[4]; 3) 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 4) 11-Steve Kinser[3]; 5) 6R-Bill Rose[6]; 6) 30C-Lance Dewease[5]; 7) 24-Terry McCarl[7]; 8) 80-Morgan Turpen[8].

Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) – 1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2]; 2) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1]; 3) 1-Sammy Swindell[3]; 4) 83-Paul McMahan[4]; 5) 6-Kraig Kinser[5]; 6) W20-Greg Wilson[6]; 7) 10-Terry Gray[7]; 8) OO-Ed Lee[8].

Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) -

1) 89G-David Gravel[3]; 2) 91-Cody Darrah[1]; 3) 83-Paul McMahan[2]; 4) 11-Steve Kinser[5]; 5) 9-Joey Saldana[7]; 6) 7S-Jason Sides[4]; 7) 1-Sammy Swindell[6]; 8) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[9]; 9) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[10]; 10) 33-Danny Lasoski[8].