Many people told him it was too soon. His family and friends cautioned him against it. Joey Saldana, though, knew Wednesday night at Hartford Motor Speedway he was ready to return to World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.
With support from car owner Kasey Kahne, Saldana climbed back into #9 Red Bull Maxim for the first time in nine weeks, since suffering a shattered right forearm, a punctured lung and broken ribs in scary crash during the Kings Royal in July at Eldora Speedway. He never looked back. Saldana earned the pole position at the half-mile dirt oval and dominated the 25-lap feature for his fifth victory of the season and the most uplifting win of his career.
“This was way more than I expected tonight,” said Saldana, of Brownsburg, Ind. “My family thought it was too soon but I kept telling them I was ready. I was working out very hard at Pit Fit in Indianapolis to get myself ready to come back. I wanted to come back and be competitive and build something for next year. That’s why I came back for these races. I know and respect racing. Several drivers have been in accidents like mine and will never crawl back into a car. I’m very lucky and blessed to be here tonight and to come away with a win is huge.”
An eight in the dash inversion draw put Saldana on the outside row for the 6-lap sprint that determines the first 10 starting spots of the main event. Saldana wrestled the lead away from four-time champion Donny Schatz to earn the right to start on the pole for the 25-lap feature.
Saldana raced away from the field at the drop of the green flag and held Schatz and the rest of the field at bay through three restarts. As he pulled away from the pack in the closing laps, the battle was on for second as two title contenders battled back and forth. Current points leader and defending series champion Jason Meyers bobbled on a restart, but was another yellow flag waved before the entire field had completed a lap to give him back his spot. Making the best of his second chance, Meyers got a good jump and used his momentum to get around Schatz.
“That second chance tonight really helped us out,” said Meyers, of Clovis, Calif. ”First off, congratulations to Joey. That was a heck of a come back and proves just how tough of a competitor he is. We had a good car tonight and I was able to make my way up through the field. We started a little deep but made up the ground. It was just a good night for out DDNi/Media-Tile/GLR Investments car. Some of our friends from Allstar Performance were here tonight and hopefully they had a great time. They are big supporters of what we do.”
After losing second to Meyers, Schatz fell into the clutches of Craig Dollansky and his Big Game Treestands Maxim. On the final lap, Dollansky set up a diving pass going into Turn 1 and slid up in front of Schatz coming off of Turn 2. With the #15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet behind him, Dollansky powered to the finish to wrap up the last podium spot.
“That was some good, fun racing,” said Dollansky, a 10-time winner this season from Elk River, Minn. “We’re glad that we came up through the field there and had some good battles. It’s another great night for our Big Game Treestands car. Aggressive Hyrdaulics and Karavan Trailers also continue to help us out a lot along with Aeroquip.”
Silver Cup champion Tim Shaffer closed fast, too, and edged Schatz in a thrilling drag race to the checkered flag for a fourth-place finish with Schatz rounding out the top five. Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws champion who is second in points behind Meyers, experienced mechanical woes and finished 17th.
Saldana will get another shot to conquer Eldora Speedway when the World of Outlaws returns to Tony Stewart’s track on Friday night (Sept. 23) before heading Saturday to the Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway.
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