Craig Dollansky had been stuck on six Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series wins since a victory on July 3 at Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota. He nearly picked up his seventh win last Friday night at I-96 Speedway in Michigan, though after taking the lead a lapped car spun in front of him collecting him and sending him to the work area with a flat tire. He made up for that near miss on Monday night at Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky, leading all 35 laps to earn the win.
For Dollansky, it was his third win on a high-banked 3/8-mile this season, as he swept both races this season at Huset’s Speedway. He endured four cautions in the event, including one with just eight laps remaining, to pick up the win.
“I’m very happy for this Larry Woodward team,” said Dollansky. “It’s been a long month here in July with the heat, and these crew guys of mine Mike (Woodring), Rob (Beattie) and Lester (Groves) just keep working hard. It was a great team effort tonight, and I am very happy for everyone that is behind this team.”
Dollansky aboard the Snap-on Tools Maxim lined up on the pole and used a strong start to charge into the first turn, with Steve Kinser chasing him. Running the high side of the track, he was able to quickly open a lead before a lap-five caution bunched the field back up.
“I was running a pretty conservative race, unless someone showed me something,” Dollansky explained. “I really felt good on top so I felt like we had to push it a little harder up there and that’s what we did. It feels good to get another win. We just have to keep working hard and going after wins.”
On the restart after the first caution, Dollansky again charged to a sizeable lead, with Jac Haudenschild battling Steve Kinser for the second spot. Haudenschild took the spot on the fifth lap, with Kinser powering his way back into second on the 12th lap. While in second, Haudenschild gained ground a couple of times on Dollansky, but never was close enough to make a bid for the lead.
“We were good in open track and the car was pretty good in lapped traffic as well,” noted the native of Elk River, Minnesota. “I was really trying to save the tires, and we actually had a hole in our right rear for about the last 10 or so laps. That was giving us a little trouble, but this Maxim race car with a Rider engine ran great.”
As the halfway point of the 35-lap contest neared, Jason Meyers made up a lot of ground, first getting under Chad Hillier, after battling the sophomore driver for several laps, diving under him on the 15th lap. Just one lap later, he got around Jac Haudenschild to move into third and then battled Steve Kinser for a few laps before snagging the runner-up spot.
He quickly closed in on Dollansky on the 26th lap and took the lead on the 27th lap on the back straightaway as he dove under Dollansky, who battled back in turns three and four. Before the lap was completed though, the caution flew for Jason Sides, who was penalized for advancing his position off of the intended racing surface, as he went underneath the track tires that were used to designate the racing surface.
By way of World of Outlaws rules, the restart line-up reverted to the last completed lap, with Dollansky retaining the lead.
“It was an unfair call by the officials,” said Meyers. “I’m not sure why they called it. I have never seen a call like that before. We had the car to win the race tonight.”
Dollansky used a strong restart to pull away in the waning laps to pick up his first career win at Paducah International Raceway and the 28th of his World of Outlaws career. The event, which was a make-up for an event which was postponed by rain back in May, was worth $10,000 to Dollansky.
“It’s good to have some momentum going,” he shared. “We have a strong race team here and have had a good month of July. We are going to a few race tracks that I enjoy and look to run strong at them.”
Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws Champion finished a very solid third, while driving with an injured right elbow sustained in an accident last Saturday night at K-C Raceway in Ohio. The native of Bloomington, Indiana aboard the Q Oil Maxim lined up second and kept pace with Dollansky in the early going, before battling with Jac Haudenschild and then Meyers for the runner-up spot.
Haudenschild wound up fourth, driving the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. He moved into the second spot on the fifth lap, getting around Kinser, before Meyers in-turn got around him. Late in the race, he challenged Kinser for the third spot.
Chad Kemenah finished fifth on Monday night after lining up 16th in the Kantor Oil Company Maxim, to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award. It was the second consecutive Top-Five finish for the native of Findlay, Ohio at Paducah International Raceway.
Jason Sides finished sixth aboard the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, after winning the second heat race.
Two-time defending series champion Donny Schatz finished seventh in the Armor All J&J. Schatz drove most of the 35-lap A-Feature without power steering. The North Dakota native began the night by setting a new track record in time trials to pace the field and remains the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in every event this season.
Terry McCarl was eighth in the Big Game Treestands Eagle. Chad Hillier finished ninth to earn his third Top-10 finish of the season in the DIRT Inc. Maxim, after winning the first heat race. Kraig Kinser rounded out the Top-10 in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim.
Meyers lined up sixth for the 35-lap event aboard the GLR Investments KPC and got around Kraig Kinser on the opening lap. He then patiently worked on Hillier, trying the low side of the track several times in an attempt to get around the second-year driver. With four cautions on the night, there were not too many long green flag runs, which Meyers was hoping for, as it was difficult to pass cars in clear race track.
“We were good in open track, but so was Craig (Dollansky),” Meyers said. “We needed to get into a long run with a little bit of traffic and our car was good on the long run.”
On the final restart, Meyers kept pace with Dollansky into turns one and two, with the former opening a slight lead down the back straightaway. For Meyers, the runner-up finish was his 28th Top-Five finish of the season as he remains second in the championship standings. He began the night by turning the third-fastest lap in time trials, which made him one of eight drivers that broke the existing track record.
“The plan was to try and pass him, but it’s hard in open air,” noted Meyers of the final restart with eight laps to go. “It’s just disappointing. This entire team did a great job tonight and we had a great race car. I am disappointed that we didn’t get the win tonight.”
The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Wednesday, July 30 as they make their inaugural visit to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa.
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