Craig Dollansky tracked down Bill Rose midway through the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Duel in the Dakotas opener on Friday night at River Cities Speedway and charged through traffic, got a strong jump on a late restart then powered to victory for the third time this season.
Dollansky, of Elk River, Minn., chased pole-sitter Rose from the drop of the green flag, eventually catching and passing him on Lap 19 at the 3/10-mile bullring. Rose, trying to earn the first World of Outlaws win of his career, raced with Dollansky through traffic, looking for any kind of opening to pull off a huge upset. Rose’s final shot at Dollansky came on a double-file restart with five laps left in the 40-lap main event, but Dollansky proved to be too strong in his specially outfitted Aggressive Hydraulics/Big Game Treestands Maxim.
Dollansky chose the bottom groove, with Rose lined up to the outside and current points leader Donny Schatz right behind Dollansky on the inside of the second row. As Dollansky sped away, Rose tried to fight off Schatz’s STP/Armor All/Cheverolet J&J, but Schatz was able to move into the runner-up position with one to go. Rose wound up holding onto a career-best third in the KJM Trucking Maxim with Steve Kinser in the Tony Stewart Racing Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Maxim and Joey Saldana in the Kasey Kahne Racing Red Bull Maxim rounding out the Top Five.
“What a team effort tonight by DJ (Lindsey), Troy (Dollansky) and Luke (Dollansky) tonight,” said a smiling Dollansky in victory lane. “They put such a car under me tonight that it was unreal. It truly was fun to wheel this Aggressive Hydraulics-backed car and pick up a win for them as they are our primary sponsor this weekend. The track was also great too. Tons of grip and I could run anywhere.”
Dollansky was near the front all night long but had to contend with Rose and four-time series champion and North Dakota native Schatz. After getting passed for the lead, Rose did his best to fend off Schatz as the laps wound down before Schatz pulled in front of Rose coming off Turn 4 with the checkers in sight.
“I wish I could be happy to tell you that we are excited because of a second place finish but we’re not,” said Schatz, who with 106 victories in his career remains one win away from tying his childhood hero Doug Wolfgang. “We’ve been consistent all year but we want to win races. You want to see those trophies add up. It’s going to take about 15 of them to win this championship.”
Despite being third across the finish line, Rose received a standing ovation from the huge crowd when he emerged from his car for post-race festivities.
“Just to be standing amongst these guys is cool, I don’t care what anyone says,” said Rose, an owner and driver who raced a chassis built in 2006. “We were pretty good on both the top and low line and the car ran really fast all night long. Lapped traffic held me up a bit and Craig really found something coming off the corners and that allowed him to get by. We’re getting closer though.”
Defending series champion Jason Meyers was the night’s fastest qualifier and finished sixth, maintaining his third-place position in the championship standings.
The Outlaws are back in action Saturday night to wrap up the Duel in the Dakotas at River Cities Speedway before invading Princeton (Minn.) Speedway next Saturday (June 25) and Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., next Sunday (June 26).
| 
|