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Swindell Overcomes Kinser, Schatz to Claim Victory at River Cities

He picks up his ninth Outlaws win this season in Round 2 of The Duel in the Dakotas

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Aug. 17, 2012 - It was a tale of two obstacles for Sammy Swindell on a perfect Friday evening at River Cities Speedway.

First, outduel 20-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Steve Kinser for the lead on the racy, action-packed track. Second, outlast the hottest driver of late - Donny Schatz - in challenging traffic.

Swindell successfully completed both tasks to record his series-leading ninth victory in Round 2 of The Duel at the Dakotas Presented by Gerdau and Sleep Inn & Suites.

"It seemed like the first part just took forever to get going and then we went on a pretty long run it seemed like," he said. "We were able to get the win and hold everybody else off there."

The 40-lap event began with Swindell darting to the lead before a violent crash between Kerry Madsen and Greg Nikitenko forced a red flag on lap two. Kinser, who drove from ninth to fifth place in the dash, charged to second on the restart and quickly challenged Swindell for the top spot.

After fifth-running Chad Kemenah spun in turn two on the third lap, Kinser rocketed into the lead on the restart. He then pushed his advantage to several car lengths before entering traffic on lap 10, which allowed Swindell to reel him back in.

Swindell executed a slide job in turn two on lap 13 to regain the lead amid thick traffic. The duo nearly touched wheels several times and Kinser took over the top spot on lap 16 only to end up off the track exiting turn two on the ensuing lap. Kinser spun around once and came to a stop to bring out the caution, forcing him to restart 21st.

That moved fast qualifier Schatz to the runner-up position and while Swindell pulled into the lead on the restart, Schatz stayed within striking distance. The final caution came on lap 33 when Chris Shirek sustained a blown tire in turn three, which bunched the cars together for a late-race shootout.

The restart was single file because of track conditions and Swindell powered to a sizeable advantage only to have that lead quickly erased when he reached the tail end of the field with four laps remaining.

Schatz closed to the rear bumper of Swindell with two laps remaining and pulled to the outside in turns one and two. However, Swindell was in the preferred line and maintained the lead. With Swindell struggling to get through traffic, Schatz had one last chance on the final lap when Swindell drove to the outside of a lapped car. But Swindell held off Schatz by a car length to earn his first victory since July 27.

"I had a chance at him there in lapped traffic," said Schatz, who entered the event with two straight wins and five consecutive top-five finishes. "He got himself out of a bad situation pretty quick."

World of Outlaws championship leader Craig Dollansky overcame a mechanical issue to finish third and maintain his points lead.

"(On the) first lap of the feature we developed a pretty serious fuel leak and then lost a cylinder," he said. "Definitely concerned once that started happening. From the first lap on I was down a cylinder and getting drenched and just debating whether we come to the work area and try to fix it or what we do. We chose to try to stay out there and try to hang in there and try to get a finish out of it, and fortunately we did."

Lucas Wolfe finished fourth and Cody Darrah ended fifth. Stevie Smith was sixth, Justin Henderson seventh, Joey Saldana eighth, 18th-starter Mark Dobmeier ninth and Jason Sides rounded out the top 10.

Greg Wilson earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 22nd to 11th and Kinser rebounded to place 12th.

Kemenah, Darrah, Kinser and Henderson each won a heat race, and Shirek picked up the Last Chance Showdown.

Round 2 of The Duel at the Dakotas Notebook

NOTES - Donny Schatz earned his second quick time in qualifying of the season. … Chad Kemenah claimed his 12th heat race victory, Cody Darrah his seventh, Steve Kinser his 12th and Justin Henderson his third of the season. … Darrah won his second dash of the year. … Chris Shirek became the 33rd different Last Chance Showdown winner of the season.

CONTINGENCY WINNERS - Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Sammy Swindell; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Sammy Swindell; Armor All (case of product): Justin Henderson; STP ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; UNOH ($50 cash): Cody Darrah; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Mark Dobmeier; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Jason Sides; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Bill Rose; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Bill Rose; Superflow ($50 cash): Bill Rose; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; JE Pistons (set of rings): Kerry Madsen; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Kerry Madsen; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen.

WINNERS - Sammy Swindell - 9 (River Cities Speedway on Aug. 17, Autodrome Granby on July 27, Eldora Speedway on July 14, Lakeside Speedway on June 30, Red River Valley Speedway on June 16, Eldora Speedway on May 5, Knoxville Raceway on April 28, Missouri State Fair Speedway on April 20 and Merced Speedway on March 30); Craig Dollansky - 6 (Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 22, Lernerville Speedway on July 17, I-96 Speedway on June 2, Hagerstown Speedway on May 20, Tri-State Speedway on April 21 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Donny Schatz - 6 (Junction Motor Speedway on Aug. 14, Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 11, Cornwall Motor Speedway on July 29, Farmer City Raceway on April 25, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Joey Saldana - 5 (Autodrome Drummond on July 28, Eldora Speedway on July 13, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 25, Paducah International Raceway on April 13 and Perris Auto Speedway on March 10); Kraig Kinser - 4 (Beaver Dam Raceway on July 7, Dodge City Raceway Park on June 23, River Cities Speedway on June 15 and Kokomo Speedway on June 5); Tim Kaeding - 3 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 6, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8); Steve Kinser - 3 (Dodge City Raceway Park on June 22, Orange County Fair Speedway on May 19 and Williams Grove Speedway on May 12); Kerry Madsen - 3 (Limaland Motorsports Park on July 11, Belleville High Banks on June 29 and Knoxville Raceway on June 9); Chad Kemenah - 2 (Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 28 and Eldora Speedway on May 4); Tony Stewart - 2 (Ohsweken Speedway on July 31 and Lernerville Speedway on July 17); Cody Darrah - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 21); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 10); Mark Dobmeier - 1 (Huset's Speedway on July 3); Danny Lasoski - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18); Paul McMahan - 1 (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on May 16); Fred Rahmer - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 11); Brad Sweet - 1 (Clay County Fairgrounds on June 8) and Lucas Wolfe - 1 (Bloomington Speedway on Aug. 3).

TIME TRIALS - Donny Schatz was the fastest qualifier around the 4/10-mile oval with a time of 10.257 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Stevie Smith (4 points), Sammy Swindell (3), Craig Dollansky (2) and Jac Haudenschild (1).

WE'RE ONLINE - Make sure to check out WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com .

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