This week’s World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series schedule will see the nomadic winged warriors take to three very distinct track configurations in racing action across the northern plains. Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Paul McMahan has a unique perspective on how he and his No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle hope to come away from the experience.
“We’re hoping we end up with a happy meal out of the deal, ” McMahan said. “Or, at the very least, a very big trophy. ”
Along with the rest of the WoO competitors, the TSR team will race on what McMahan refers to as a menu of small, medium and large race tracks, beginning with River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., on Friday. The 3/10-mile facility will host the first leg of the Duel in the Dakotas mini-series battle. In McMahan’s last appearance at the facility with the National Sprint Tour (NST) Series (July 8, 2006), he earned a solid ninth place finish.
The second leg of the Duel in the Dakotas will take place Saturday at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D. McMahan will visit the high-banked half-mile track for the first time since 2005, as the No. 20 TSR team’s commitment to the NST in 2006 didn’t allow them to make the journey northward. McMahan earned a 10th-place finish in his last WoO A-main race at the track on August 8, 2005.
The northern swing will wrap up on Sunday at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. In McMahan’s last appearance at the 3/8-mile high-banked oval (July 10, 2006), he grabbed a third place finish with the NST Series.
The team enters this week’s racing action only 189 points out of the top-five in the WoO championship standings. McMahan is currently ranked eighth in the series points race with 4,604 markers.
“With consistent racing that produces top-five and top-10 finishes, we can definitely make up the points to get back into the top-five, ” McMahan said. “If we’re consistent, we could be in a top-five points position by the end of July or the Knoxville Nationals. We’ve made up 100 or more point deficits to gain several positions in the past and we’re capable of doing it again. We just need to work to get our cars back to where they were earlier in the season or towards the end of last year. I know my crew chief, Jimmy Carr and the guys are working hard to do so and I think we’ll be able to put the Bass Pro Shops car back in victory lane several times again this year. ”
| 
|