Joey Saldana has had a couple of races slip away in lapped traffic this season, and he made sure that was not the case on Tuesday night at Billings Motorsports Park, as he used traffic to his advantage to catch and pass two-time defending series champion Donny Schatz to pick up his third Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series win of the season.
Saldana lined up seventh for the 25-lap contest and gained a couple of spots on the opening lap to move into the Top-Five. By just the seventh lap, he found himself in the second position and began to track down Schatz, the early leader, who was mired in heavy traffic. Saldana used the low of the track in turns three and four to take the lead from Schatz on the 10th lap. He would lead the rest of the way, to pick up the 37th A-Feature win of his career, which was worth $10,000.
“This is huge for our team,” shared Saldana. “We have definitely been in position to win races and have just had bad breaks and luck. Then you start to question what you are doing as a driver and as a team. For us to come out tonight and to do it on a track where there really wasn’t any passing, but we could pass was great for this team.
After Saldana took the lead in the traffic aboard the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI, Schatz charged right back at him on the very next lap to retake the lead off the high side of turns one and two. Saldana powered his way back ahead down the back straightaway, to officially be credited the leader. On the next lap, Schatz charged around Saldana on the back straightaway to take the lead, but the caution flag flew before the lap was completed, allowing Saldana to retain the lead.
“It was tough,” said Saldana of lapped traffic. “When I was racing Donny (Schatz) and got by him, I actually got into a guy and knocked my front nose win off. I knew I needed it to stay on there or I would be in trouble. At the end, I was being very patient with a few guys. I knew if I could hit my marks, it would be tough for him to get around me. I would have had to have made a big mistake. I just tried to keep my car clean once I got the lead.”
Saldana lined up for the final restart of the night with 12 laps to go, with Schatz right behind him. He used a strong start to quickly pull away to a comfortable lead in open race track. Late in the race he encountered lapped traffic again, to allow Schatz to close back up on him.
“I was thinking, don’t screw up,” Saldana said of the restarts. “It’s so easy to screw up and miss your marks and move up. I got Donny (Schatz) in traffic and I don’t think he realized those guys were right on him. To get him in traffic, where he usually gets me was a huge accomplishment. It was a good run for us and hopefully we can continue to run up front.”
After coming so close to winning a number of times over the last few weeks, Saldana was very happy with how the race unfolded. It also served as a confidence boost heading up to Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he ran strong last season.
“We passed Donny Schatz, and that is huge for me personally,” explained Saldana. “Your confidence gets shot down pretty easily racing with these guys every night. It was a good night and we know that when our car finishes, it can win. I can’t thank my team enough and everyone that stands behind this team. This was a good night for us.”
Schatz, who won the Crane Cams Dash, started on the pole and jumped out to a pretty sizeable lead during the first few laps of the 25-lap A-Feature. The field was bunched up on the fourth lap after Kerry Madsen spun, leading to the first caution of the night. On the restart, Schatz opened a healthy lead, as Joey Saldana was battling Shane Stewart to second. The spot went to Saldana on the seventh last as he used the low side of the second turn. By the eighth lap, Schatz was in traffic, with Saldana gaining ground on him. Schatz would wind up second in the Armor All J&J.
“We had a good car, and we probably just pushed a little too hard,” said Schatz. “I got to a lapped car that was just about spun out and I had no choice but to about crash myself and we were lucky that we only got passed by one car. That’s just racing and the way it goes. We have won them that way and tonight we lost it that way.”
Shane Stewart finished third on Tuesday night as he continues to battle with Terry McCarl for the 10th spot in the series championship standings. Stewart ran second for a number of laps early in the race, before Saldana got around him. In traffic, he gained a large portion of ground on the two leaders.
“We put ourselves in position to run up front and that is key to any World of Outlaws race,” said Stewart. “I have to thank the crew, they have been doing a great job for me. It’s nice to get a good finish and hopefully we can turn this team around and finish the year off on a good note.”
Jason Meyers finished fourth in the GLR Investments KPC, after starting seventh. He leads the series with 34 Top-Five finishes as he chases his first career World of Outlaws title.
Tony Bruce Jr. picked up another Top-Five finish as he was fifth in the Best Well Service Maxim. Jac Haudenschild was sixth in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim, with Jason Sides, who began the night by setting fast time in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim in seventh. Steve Kinser in the Q Oil Maxim was eighth, with Daryn Pittman in ninth aboard the Titan Garages Maxim. Terry McCarl rounded out the Top-10 in the Big Game Treestands Maxim.
While leading, Schatz had to get on the brakes extremely hard on the eighth and ninth laps, before Saldana moved to the point. At one point, he was almost completely sideways as he worked not to lose any spots or spin, as the cars ahead of him had him all bottled up.
“Some of those guys, you would show them a nose and they wanted to keep you behind them,” commented Schatz. “You are going to have that when the race track is like that. It was right around the tires (down low) and we did the best we could and came up one spot short.”
Schatz had another chance at Saldana on the lap 13 restart, and got a little lapped traffic over the last few laps, but it was not quite enough. Over the last five laps of the race, Schatz constantly had one lapped car between himself and the leader. The second-place finish for the North Dakota native was 43rd Top-10 finish of the season, as he remains the only driver that has Top-10 runs in every A-Feature event this seasons.
“We had to get to lapped traffic,” Schatz said. “You are not going to pass anyone in open race track. Joey (Saldana) wouldn’t have passed me and we couldn’t have been able to pass him unless we had some sort of lapped traffic or a reason to slow him down. That’s just the way it goes. A lot of times when you are running second, you are in the cat bird’s seat and I didn’t expect that to be the case tonight.”
Like the other leaders, Stewart also battled the lapped machine as he tried to work his Roth Motorsports KPC to the front of the field. His third place-performance was the 21 Top-10 finish f the season for him and his team.
“It was tough to get around some of those guys,” said Stewart. “Many of them were local guys, so they knew what to expect and knew that they had to hug the tires. There were a few lapped cars that were a little nuisance, but we were able to get around them clean.”
Stewart did not really want to see the final yellow of the night, as he was gaining ground on the leaders while they were mired in traffic.
“Before the last yellow came out, Donny (Schatz) and Joey (Saldana) got to passing each other a little bit and I was able to catch back up to them,” he noted. “I think if it would have stayed green, we would have had a chance to win the race. At that point of the race, it was all about timing the cars right. Donny (Schatz) had just gotten back by Joey (Saldana) and the yellow came out. Who knows, but it was a good run for us and hopefully we can keep this going.”
The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Friday, August 22 at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for the second annual Oil City Cup.
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