McMahan Hopes to Supersize WoO Sprint Series Success

by Misha Geisert, Tony Stewart Racing

INDIANAPOLIS — 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.”

On Friday, gates will open to the public at River Cities Speedway at 4 p.m. CDT. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Gates will open at 4 p.m. CDT on Saturday at Red River Valley with hot laps set to begin at 6 p.m. Cedar Lake will open its gates to the public at 4:30 p.m. CDT, with racing slated to start at 7 p.m.

This week’s Duel in the Dakotas events at River Cities and Red River Valley Speedway are being promoted by SLS Promotions. For tickets or information regarding both events, log on to www.slspromotions.com or call 815-344-2023. The official web sites of River Cities and Red River Valley are www.rivercitiesspeedway.com and www.redrivervalleyfair.com. For ticket or more information regarding the WoO Sprint Series event at Cedar Lake, call 612-363-0479 or visit www.cedarlakespeedway.com.

Race fans can listen to all the action from this weekend on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Visit www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other fans listening to the action.

The WoO Sprint Series also returns to television this Sunday with the broadcast of the June 30 event at Red River Valley Speedway on ESPN2 set for 12:30 p.m. EDT. A total of 20 races will be televised either on SPEED or ESPN2, including the World of Outlaws SuperClean Summer of Money Series. ESPN2 is broadcasting eight races from last Sunday through August 5. All shows on ESPN2 begin at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

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