Kinser Cruises to Win at Lernerville
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May 16, 2007
“It feels good to win here, ” said Kinser, driver of the Q Oil Maxim. “We had a good race car all night. We went out and qualified pretty good. We had a good draw in the dash that helped as well. As good as everyone is running right now, you have to really start at the front. ”
With nine laps remaining in the A-Feature there was an open red flag, allowing the teams to come on the track and work on their cars. Kinser’s team only put fuel in the car and made a slight adjustment air pressure to the tires. A couple of late restarts gave Joey Saldana a few chances to battle for the top spot, but Kinser powered his way to a sizeable advantage each time the green flag flew.
“The key was getting good restarts and using the momentum to get a good run into turn one and turn three, ” said the 20-time series champion. “Once I got a lap under me again under green I felt pretty comfortable with the car. You never know who can get a run at you on the restarts. ”
For Saldana, the runner-up finish was his 13th Top-Five finish of the season. He started the A-Feature in the third spot and on the sixth lap shot around Shaffer for the runner-up spot. He set his sights on Kinser and closed a couple of times on the straightaways, though Kinser continually pulled away through the corners.
“It was a good night for us, ” said Saldana, driver of the Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI. “We went out fairly late in time trials and the track definitely slowed down. Timing in the Top-10 was definitely a good effort for us. We tried a few things in the dash and weren’t as good as we wanted to be, but we learned some stuff for the feature. ” Jason Meyers made one of the most impressive passes of the race, as he shot to the outside of Tim Shaffer and Craig Dollansky on the 22nd lap, as the trio went three-wide down the back straightaway and into turn three, where he made the pass on his way to a third-finish.
“The crew is kind of questioning why we didn’t win it, but we had another good race car tonight, ” said Meyers driver of the Primerica Financial Maxim. “We are still struggling a little bit on these intermediate sized race tracks. We still don’t have things exactly right. It was a good thought. We ran sixth most of the race and I was able to make one good move and get to third. It’s another run for the team. If we can run consistently in the Top- Three I will be happy. ”
After a slow start to the season, Kinser and his team appear to be hitting their stride as the weather warms up and the schedule picks up. This was evident in the A-Feature on Tuesday night, as he continually turned the fast lap of the race, with his best lap being over two miles per hour faster than anyone else on the track.
“It’s the time of year when you race the most, and this is probably the best the car has felt all year, ” explained Kinser. “The track was easy to drive and I had a lot of confidence in what I was doing. I was able to get off the gas and get the car settled down. All year I have been running wide open and never letting the engine breathe and playing catch-up. It’s nice to have this thing performing and being able to let it (the engine) breath a little when running out front. ”
Saldana worked the cushion for most of the race and his team made a few changes to his shocks during the red flag as he looked to chase down Kinser. After a strong run last Saturday night at Lake Ozark Speedway, the native of Brownsburg, Indiana carries plenty of momentum to Williams Grove Speedway later this week.
“We never really got to lapped traffic to see anything, ” lamented Saldana. “I really don’t know if that would have played into our hands or his or someone else’s. The way the race unfolded, we just have to learn from it and come back at the next race. ” After another solid run, Meyers now has 10 Top-10 finishes in a row, dating back to the end of March. After winning his second race of the season last weekend and vaulting into the Top-Five in points, he is excited for the current Eastern swing the World of Outlaws are embarked on.
“Confidence is a big part of this and our guys are doing a great job, ” beamed Meyers. “Our confidence is up and we will carry that this week. Like I have said, we are going out to where Charlie Garrett is from and he wants to win one for him at Williams Grove. ” Tim Shaffer returned to his home track and won the third heat to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash. He ran in the second spot early in the A-Feature as he closed in on Kinser a couple times before relinquishing the spot to Saldana. Later in the event, the native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania fell back to the sixth spot, but charged around Craig Dollansky on the 26th lap, on the restart after the red flag. He finished fourth to rack up his eighth Top-Five finish of the season.
“We’re happy with it, but we’re not at the same time, ” said Shaffer, driver of the Casey’s General Stores Maxim. “I thought we had a shot at winning it, but the tire sealed up a little bit. ”
Shaffer, who won the Lernerville track championship in 1993 received a warm ovation every time he took to the track. He had a steady steam of fans stop by his trailer after the checkered flag flew, many reminiscing about his win in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup in 2005 at the track.
“In the past I always tried a little too hard here and I have learned to not try as hard and settle down, ” explained Shaffer. “It shows, because we have been doing better here. ” Danny Lasoski rounded out the Top-Five in the First Commonwealth Bank Clash. The native of Dover, Missouri started 11th in the 35-lap event and methodically worked his way to the front in the Roth Motorsports Eagle. He slipped back to 10th on the sixth lap before making his charge to the front. With just three laps to go, he moved into the fifth position to earn his fifth Top-Five finish of the season.
After winning his first A-Feature of the season last Saturday, Craig Dollansky turned in another solid performance, finishing sixth in the Karavan Trailers Maxim. Steve Smith made his first World of Outlaws start of the season and was seventh in the Race Against the Abuse of Children Everywhere J&J. Jason Solwold finished eighth in the City Wide Insulation Maxim to earn his 11th Top-10 finish of the season. Donny Schatz recovered from rear end and ignition troubles early in the night to charge from the 25th starting spot to ninth in the final rundown. Tim Kaeding rounded out the Top-10 in the Volcano Joe’s Coffee Schnee, filling in for Brooke Tatnell.
The World of Outlaws head east to the storied Williams Grove Speedway on Thursday, May 17 and Friday, May 18 for two full nights of racing.
