Paul McMahan had no idea what his 2011 racing plans were when he took off for a vacation in Cancun, Mexico last fall. McMahan spent 2010 subbing for the injured Cody Darrah in the #91 Great Clips Maxim for NASCAR star Kasey Kahne. The Elk Grove, Calif. native picked up a victory at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio en route to an 8th place finish in the final standings. Even with his solid season, McMahan was still unsure of what the future held.
“I called Kasey and asked him what the plan was for 2011 and he told me to give him a few weeks,” said a smiling and relieved McMahan. “Dennis (Roth) called me when I was down in Cancun and told me to call Kasey. When I did, he told me that he had found a ride for me. Kasey had put it all together himself and I was extremely happy that I was going to be driving for him for another season.”
With Kahne looking on, McMahan wheeled his #83 HR Cattle Maxim into victory lane in the Circle K NOS Energy Drink Outlaw Showdown at the Dirt Track at Charlotte. Heavy rains had delayed the event 24 hours but as the ‘Greatest Show on Dirt,’ took to the speedway, McMahan was at the top nearly all night long. McMahan set quick time for the fifth time on the season and kept his nose clean throughout his heat and the dash.
Germantown, Tenn. native Sammy Swindell started the A-main on the pole and led the first 14 laps until a restart bunched up the field and gave McMahan his shot. The two drivers raced feverishly and at one point made contact down the front stretch as the green flag flew.
“Sammy slid up into me a little bit and tried to block me but I was going to hold my ground,” said McMahan. “I wasn’t going to give an inch.”
While Kasey Kahne Racing got to victory lane with McMahan, two of the four KKR machines entered in to the nights events experienced trouble. Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year candidate Cody Darrah experienced motor issues and the #49 of Brad Sweet experienced an overheating motor after losing a left rear tire.
“We had an up and down night with the Great Clips Maxim,” said Darrah, a native of Red Lion, Penn. “We learned quite a bit that we can use for later on but unfortunately we lost a motor and that ended our night early. We’re disappointed. We won a heat race and had high hopes.”
Swindell was running second to McMahan until a flat left rear tire sent him into the pit area. When the Big Game Treestands crew arrived to change the tire, they discovered the front brake lines were broken which left Swindell with no brakes, effectively ending his night.
The Tony Stewart Racing tandem of Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz came home second and third respectively. According to Schatz, the race track lent itself to some great racing and tested the drivers stamina.
“We raced pretty hard tonight, there’s no doubt about that,” said the four time champion from Fargo, N.D. “The track widened out really well and we were just flat out the entire time. It was an extremely fast race track tonight and very demanding on us as drivers.”
2010 Champion Jason Meyers came home fourth with Mechanicsburg Penn. native Lucas Wolfe rounding out the top-5. NASCAR star Tony Stewart made it around Joey Saldana to finish 10th on the night. With his 11th place run, Saldana relinquished the points lead to Kinser and now trails the 20-time champion by 9 points.
The Outlaws now head back to I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., on Monday, May 30, to make up the “Rumble in Michigan,” which was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 21.
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