The World of Outlaws will make their long awaited debut on ESPN2 in just three days on Sunday, June 17 with the first event of the “SuperClean Summer of Money” from the famed Knoxville Raceway at 11 a. m. Eastern, 10 a. m. Central.
In anticipation of the series first of eight events on ESPN2, we’ll continue to take a look back at the last five seasons of World of Outlaws action culminating on Saturday with the 2006 season. Today will be a look at the 2004 campaign.
Steve Kinser claimed his 19th World of Outlaws title in 2004 on the strength of 17 AFeature wins, including his 500th career A-Feature win at Houston Raceway Park on March 27. The native of Bloomington, Indiana racked up 56 Top-10 finishes in AFeature events along with 11 pole position to wrap up the title.
Danny Lasoski finished second in points with nine A-Feature wins, including his fourth Knoxville Nationals title. The native of Dover, Missouri also set fast time on eight occasions.
Donny Schatz finished a career-best third in points in 2004. He earned six A-Feature victories including the Gold Cup Race of Champions in California, the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania and the Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska. He racked up 50 Top-10 finishes, with 36 of those being in the Top-Five.
Craig Dollansky finished fourth in points with five A-Feature wins. He won the Princeton Nationals in his home state of Minnesota, in addition to winning at Knoxville Raceway, I-55 Raceway, Cedar Lake Speedway and Rocky Mountain Speedway. He amassed 40 Top-10 finishes, with 22 of those being in the Top-Five.
Jason Meyers won four A-Feature events for the second year in-a-row and was fifth in points. The native of Clovis, California set fast time six times.
Joey Saldana, the 1996 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year won three times and was sixth in points. The native of Brownsburg, Indiana set fast time 10 times.
Kraig Kinser, Steve’s son was seventh in points and claimed the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award. He won his first World of Outlaws A-Feature event on August 31 at Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon, with his father finishing second.
Daryn Pittman was eighth in points. The native of Owasso, Oklahoma has 34 Top-10 finishes, with 11 of those being in the Top-Five, including six runner-up finishes. Tim Shaffer was ninth in points with one A-Feature win. The native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania picked up 35 Top-10 finishes with 13 of those being in the Top-Five. He also was fastest in time trials at five events.
Jason Sides finished 10th in points and won the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway to earn his first career World of Outlaws A-Feature victory.
Also visiting Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws was: Brian Paulus, Paul McMahan, two-time series champion Mark Kinser and three-time series champion Sammy Swindell. Erin Crocker became the first female to reach the winner’s circle with the World of Outlaws when she won a preliminary feature at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California.
