After having a flat tire while running second on Tuesday night while battling for the lead and a win, Jason Sides had one thing on his mind on Wednesday and that was to pick up another victory at Ohsweken Speedway, where he has been blazing fast in all three of his starts. He did pick up that win in convincing fashion in the finale of the Six Nations Showdown, leading the final 24 laps of the 30-lap contest to score his first win of the 2009 campaign and the third of his World of Outlaws career.
It was his second career win at Ohsweken Speedway, as he was also victorious in 2007 when the World of Outlaws made their debut at the 3/8-mile located in Ontario, Canada. In three career starts at the track, he has led laps in each and every one and been in contention for the victory each time. He has now led 50 laps of A-Feature competition at the track which is the most of any driver.
“This has been a good place for us,” said Sides in Victory Lane on Wednesday night. “We got our win here in ‘07 and to come back here and get another win is great for us. I have to say hi to my mom and dad and my wife Farrah at home and (daughter) Skylar at home. They have all been listening on the internet and it’s great for all of us.”
Sides led the first nine laps on Tuesday night after starting on the pole and was running second when he had a flat tire on the 12th lap. While winning on Wednesday does not completely make up for the near miss on Tuesday, it was a very special win for Sides aboard the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s really tough. Those things happen. This does make it pretty sweet that we can come back and get a win.”
The race began on Wednesday night with Craig Dollansky jumping to the lead after starting on the outside of the front row. Sides, who started third, quickly got around Jason Meyers who had started on the pole to take the second spot. He closed in on Dollansky on the third lap, with Dollansky pulling away a slight bit on the following circuit. The leaders entered lapped traffic on the sixth lap, when the first caution flag of the night flew.
On the restart, Sides looked low in turns one and two nearly taking the lead from Dollansky and did take the top spot from him as the pair powered their way through turns three and four. He quickly pulled away once in the lead. He was in lapped traffic on the eighth go-around, though the second caution of the night came on the 10th lap giving him clear track to work with.
Another strong restart propelled Sides to about a six-car length lead and just three laps after the restart he was back in traffic. An open red flag on the 16th lap gave all the crews a chance to work on their machines and Sides again used a strong restart to jump out to a sizeable advantage.
Sides began to pull away with 10 laps remaining as Craig Dollansky and Donny Schatz battled for the second spot. The leader found himself in lapped traffic the last couple of laps, but weaved his way through the slower machines en route to the victory.
“I don’t know about a rail, but it was up and down and all over the place,” shared Sides when asked about how good his car was. “The track turned out pretty good for us with the amount of rain they got here overnight and earlier today. I just want to thank all the spectators for coming out. If it wasn’t for you guys we couldn’t be out here racing.”
Schatz lined up fifth in the Armor All J&J and got around Jac Haudenschild on the opening lap before working on Jason Meyers for third. The three-time and defending series champion had a spirited battle with Craig Dollansky for second for a majority of the second half of the race. Schatz moved into the second position with five laps remaining and wound up finish in the runner-up spot.
“We were pretty decent,” noted Schatz. “I decided on that last red that I was going to drive it like it wasn’t going back to the United States. It helped a little bit and I just had to sit up in the seat a little more. We got a couple of spots there. Jason (Sides) has always been good here and we’ve run second to him twice and we normally don’t like to run second, but he did a great all night and I’m glad to get what we did.”
The open red flag helped Schatz and his Tony Stewart Racing team as they made a number of adjustments during that time. The runner-up finish was his series leading 27th Top-Five finish of the season as he chases his fourth consecutive title.
“We changed everything but the driver,” quipped the North Dakota native. “They did a great job and made good changes and got me where I needed to be a little better. It always helps to do that. Nobody likes to see red flags, but tonight was a pretty demanding race track. It was a big guessing game and we just got a chance to adjust on it and get a little better.”
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