Craig Dollansky completed a sweep of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Duel in the Dakotas in thrilling fashion on Saturday night at River Cities Speedway when he swept past Jason Sides on the high side in the final corner and charged to the checkered flag.
It was a reversal of fortune for Dollansky, who earlier this season lost a race to Sides on the final turn. This time Dollansky, of Elk River, Minn., was the hunter, and earned not only a sweep of the weekend event in Grand Forks, N.D., but also picked up his fourth overall victory of the season.
“I may be from Minnesota but I love North Dakota, I will tell you that,” said a beaming Dollansky. “We were good around the top for most of the night. I also want to give a special shout out to all the fathers out there. This is just really cool.”
Dollansky sported a different primary paint scheme as brilliant shades of blue from Aggressive Hydraulics adorned his #7 Big Game Treestands Maxim during the two-day event. The combination seemed to work all weekend as Dollansky and the rest of the pack survived a wild night. Sides led from the start of the race in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim and held off hard challenges from Dollansky, Joey Saldana and Steve Kinser. Sides led the first 17 laps before Saldana went to the point on Lap 18. Sides then recaptured the lead a lap later and held it until the final circuit.
“We got passed,” said a dejected Sides, of Bartlett, Tenn. “It was a matter of yards to the finish and we just got caught in lapped traffic. Dollansky was better on the top and he got around me.”
Kinser managed to finish in the third position after a wild night for his #11 Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Maxim. The 20-time champion had his hands full, especially on six restarts.
“One of the restarts we gave everything away and then on the next one, we gained it all back,” said Kinser, a five-time winner this season from Bloomington, Ind. “Our car hooked up pretty good in some places and we were able to use that to our advantage.”
After seriously challenging Sides for the lead with 10 laps to go, Saldana scraped the wall coming off of turn four and faded to the fourth position. Defending series champion Jason Meyers battled his way into the Top 5 as the checkers flew to maintain a solid string of finishes. Current points leader and North Dakota native Donny Schatz looked strong early in the event, setting quick time during qualifying, but settled for a seventh-place finish to go with his runner-up finish on Friday night.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series remains in the upper Midwest this week as it invades Princeton (Minn.) Speedway on Saturday, June 25, and Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., just outside of Sioux Falls on Sunday, June 26.
| 
|