6/13/2014
Sprint Source
Saldana Holds Off Schatz to Take Win at Jackson Speedway
Saldana’s fifth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars win of the season ties him for sixth on the all-time wins list
JACKSON, Minn. — June 13, 2014 — Joey Saldana added to his recent string of World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series wins after battling Donny Schatz at Jackson Speedway Friday night. Saldana scored his third win in as many weeks and his fifth of the season.
The win propelled Saldana and his Motter Equipment car to second place in the race for the championship, 19 points back. It also gave him the 89th win of his career, tying him for sixth with 2001 Outlaws champion Danny Lasoski. Saldana said one his goals during his racing career was to hit the century mark in wins.
“It’s my 89th win. I just tied Danny Lasoski – this is like crazy,” Saldana said. “My goal for a long time was to win 100 races... it’s just a great night.”
“My dad was my hero, but Doug Wolfgang was my hero. [Wolfgang] won 107 Outlaws shows and never won an Outlaw championship – so it’s not all about winning championships, it’s about winning races. I just want to continue winning races and be competitive, and get a shot to race with the Outlaws.”
Wolfgang is fifth on the all-time wins list.
Saldana said that winning the Dash earlier in the night played a pivotal role in giving him the position he needed during the A main. With Schatz fighting him all night for position, Saldana said he just tried to make the right moves.
“Oh yeah, I knew [Schatz] was right on my back bumper but I knew, just stay on the bottom, don’t do anything stupid,” Saldana said. “If he’s going to beat me, he’s going to drive around me and if he does that, he deserves to win.”
Saldana’s last win came one week ago at the NAPA Auto Parts Outlaw Showdown at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. In that event, as with tonight, Saldana battled Schatz throughout the race and came out on top.
After winning his heat and the dash, Saldana started on the front row of the A main with five-time champion Schatz, last year’s winner at Jackson Speedway. Brad Sweet, driving his SureTest Supplies car and Lasoski started in row two.
Saldana dominated the 30-lap event, as the one-half mile track tested each team’s charge to the front.
As the green flag flew, Saldana jumped out front and led the first lap. Further back, the battle for third heated up in the opening laps between Sweet, Lasoski and Paul McMahan, with the three challenging for position. After jockeying through the first five laps, they all settled into position.
Schatz looked for opportunities in his STP/Armor All car to get around Saldana and closed the gap as the two started catching lapped traffic on lap 10. Schatz challenged Saldana on lap 17 and again on lap 20, but was not able to get around. As the white flag flew, Schatz took one last shot at the lead but it was Saldana who took the checkered flag in first.
“You just have to be smart, I guess, some nights,” Schatz said. “Good thing we got the spots we did in the dash... we didn’t get the win so that’s the way it goes. We’ll regroup and go tomorrow to Knoxville and see if we can’t make that a little better.”
Like Saldana and Schatz, third place Sweet credited his Dash performance for his ultimate position in the A main.
“We were up front in the dash and Donny got by us at the end of the dash and Joey just was in the right spot, so we’ll take a third,” Sweet said. “[Kasey Kahne Racing] and all the guys have been working hard and [thanks to] all of our sponsors that make this happen... We just need to be consistent. We’ll take top threes on nights like this and move on to Knoxville.”
The race for the Outlaws championship remains close, with just 60 points separating the top four. Schatz leads Saldana by 19. Daryn Pittman is in third, 20 points back and McMahan is in fourth, 60 points back.
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint cars return to the track Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway for the Mediacom Outlaw Shootout. River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. and I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn. host the Outlaws next weekend, June 20 and 21.
JACKSON SPEEDWAY NOTES: This was Joey Saldana’s third pole position of the year... Saldana’s 89th win ties him for sixth all-time with Danny Lasoski. Doug Wolfgang is in fifth on the all-time wins list with 107 wins... Paul McMahan, Daryn Pittman and Joey Saldana all won their heat races tonight... Craig Dollansky won tonight’s ASE Hard Charger Award. He is the 20th different winner of the award this season.
SEASON WINNERS: Daryn Pittman – 7 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Calistoga Speedway on April 6, Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19, Williams Grove Speedway on May 16 and May 17, Orange County Fair Speedway, May 18 and New Egypt Speedway, May 20); Joey Saldana – 5 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 12, Salina Highbanks on April 25, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 23, I-80 Speedway on June 6 and Jackson Speedway on June 13); Donny Schatz – 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 6, Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 27 and I-96 Speedway on May 31); David Gravel – 3 (Merced Speedway on March 28, Eldora Speedway on May 3, and Wilmot Raceway on May 9);Kerry Madsen – 3 (Stockton Dirt track on March 22, El Paso Speedway Park on April 15 and Lakeside Speedway on June 7); Paul McMahan – 2 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 5, Tri-State Speedway on May 10); Brad Sweet – 3 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Tucson International Raceway on March 8 and Calistoga Speedway on April 5); Rico Abreu – 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 15); Dale Blaney – 1 (Attica Raceway Park on May 30); Christopher Bell – 1 (Jacksonville Speedway on May 7); Cody Darrah – 1 (Kings Speedway on April 11); Steve Kinser – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 16);Stevie Smith – 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 14); Shane Stewart – 1 (Eldora Speedway on May 2) ; Sammy Swindell – 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on April 26).
Submitted By: Admin Account
