McMahan Masters Cedar Lake Speedway, Earns Second Win of 2007
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by Tony Veneziano
NEW RICHMOND, Wis. — Paul McMahan spent more time on the track Sunday night in hot laps, time trials and the third heat race, than he did in the A-Feature at Cedar Lake Speedway. In the World of Outlaws return to the high-banked 3/8-mile, the checkered flag flew on a non-stop 30-lap A-Feature in just over six and a half minutes.
McMahan found himself at the head of the field, as he claimed his second A-Feature win of the season and collected the $10,000 top prize. While celebrating in Victory Lane, he shared the credit for the triumph with his team, who has been putting in countless hours working on the car the last few weeks.
“I can’t say enough for Jimmy Carr and Mike Kuemper, busting their butt’s and believing in me,” said McMahan, driver of the Bass Pro Shops Eagle. “They give me a race car that is capable of winning every night. We haven’t been able to prove that every night, but we know we can do it.”
The race began with Justin Henderson using a strong start to take the initial lead as he charged into the first turn with pole sitter Kerry Madsen in-toe. McMahan started fourth and pass Joey Saldana at the drop of the green and by the end of the opening circuit he charged around Madsen using the high side of the track, and set his sights on Henderson.
McMahan patiently ran second with Henderson leading and opening up a couple of sizeable leads in open race track. As traffic began to become more prevalent, McMahan began to reel Henderson in. On the 20th lap he dove to the inside of Henderson and took the lead exiting the second turn. Henderson fought back on the high side as the pair entered the third and fourth turns.
With heavy lapped traffic encompassing the field for the last eight laps of the event, McMahan was able to put a distance between himself and Henderson and later Jason Meyers.
“You are always in a better spot when you are in lapped traffic and in second,” noted the winner. “I’ve been here enough to know that once they rework the race track that the bottom is usually the fastest way around. Justin (Henderson) had a good lead on me and I was able to get the wing back and start gaining on him. I kept the car on the bottom and came away with the victory.”
Jason Meyers was able to slip around Henderson with just three laps remaining to finish second. He was pleased with his finish, but wondered what may have been if he would have had a few more laps to chase McMahan.
“We definitely had a great race car tonight,” said Meyers, driver of the Primerica Financial Maxim. “We set up for the end of the race. Normally it’s a 40-lap race here and we set up for a 30 lap one, but if it would have been 40 laps, I think the car would have been even better.”
Henderson earned his best career World of Outlaws finish with his third-place effort on Sunday night. While he was disappointed he did not win after leading the first 19 laps of the event, he was pleased with how hard his team worked and how fast of a car they gave him for the A-Feature.
“It was a strong night, but a little disappointing,” said Henderson, driver of the Jolt Energy Gum Rocket. “Third is our best result, so we just have to capitalize on that and keep the momentum going. We’re a proud team right now, but it still hurts to lead a lot of laps and wind up third.”
Joey Saldana was battling with McMahan early in the race when the latter was running in the second position. The native of Brownsburg, Indiana was running fifth late in the race when he slipped around Madsen on the 21st lap for the fourth spot to earn his 23rd Top-Five finish of the season.
“We had a pretty good run,” said Saldana, driver of the Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI. “We got going pretty good and the car got way too free. When the track got slick it was like someone turned on a light switch and it got slick. It was solid run and hopefully we can build on that.”
McMahan and his Tony Stewart Racing team had debuted a new car during the Duel in the Dakotas over the weekend, and used that car again on Sunday night at Cedar Lake Speedway. After finishing in the Top-10 in the first two races out in the machine and winning on Sunday, he feels like the team has the car sorted out pretty well.
“We’ve been struggling the last month or so trying to figure out our race cars, and getting the balance on them right,” explained McMahan. “We made some changes the last few nights and the crew put a new car together for the race on Friday night at Grand Forks (River Cities Speedway). It seemed to help. I think we found something tonight.”
While many of the drivers were surprised that the event went non-stop, McMahan was not, as the lightning fast pace tested each driver both physically and mentally on what was a pleasant night after a very hot afternoon.
“When you have the best in the world racing, we should do that day in and day out,” explained the native of Nashville. “Certain circumstances happen where we can’t do that. Thirty laps non-stop, it sure was a fast race.”
McMahan who won at Eldora Speedway last month has run very strong on high-banked tracks this season. The next stop of the schedule is Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota, which is another high-banked 3/8-mile, and he is looking forward to that one.
“Whenever you have a race car that is handling well you want to jump right back in it,” smiled McMahan. “I wish we could go out now and run another 30 laps. We’ll come back on Tuesday at Sioux Falls (Huset’s Speedway), where I have been good before and see if we can come up with another victory.”
Meyers had one of the fastest cars on the track during the last five laps of the event. He used the high side of the track to gain ground on McMahan after he charged past Henderson. Considering all that his team has endured since a hard flip on Saturday night at Red River Valley Speedway, a runner-up finish was just as good as a win.
“We had a mishap last night and the crew got up at 6:30 this morning after two hours of sleep and built me a brand new car,” Meyers proudly stated. “They are still going right now, and who knows what time it is. My hats off to them for building me such a great car. That is the sign of a good team.”
Henderson who won in his last visit to Cedar Lake Speedway in 2005 began the night by setting quick time in time trials, to garner that honor for the first time this season. With a large contingent of fans cheering him on, Henderson ran a very smooth and consistent race.
“I really like this race track and always have,” he shared. “My family lives just down the road in Stillwater. We are so happy to get to come here and finish well.”
Like McMahan, Henderson was glad to see the race go 30 laps non-stop. Even more remarkable was the fact that all 25 cars that took the green flag were still running at the end. He believed that having no cautions was to his advantage.
“I like to go that many laps under green,” he said. “A young buck like me doesn’t mind going 30 laps in-a-row. That way it doesn’t give the old guys a chance to rest and sit back up in the seat and pass us. We are excited to run 30 laps green.”
Kerry Madsen earned his first Crane Cams Dash win of the season to earn the pole position for the A-Feature. He finished fifth in the Selma Shell Maxim to record his second Top-Five finish in the last four races.
Terry McCarl was sixth in the Big Game Treestands Eagle, with Steve Kinser seventh in the Q Oil Maxim. Jac Haudenschild who won on Saturday night at Red River Valley Speedway finished eighth in the Wright One Construction Maxim. Daryn Pittman was ninth in the Titan Garages Maxim, with Jason Sides rounding out the Top-10 in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim.
Donny Schatz the current World of Outlaws championship point leader earned the KSE Race Product Hard Charger Award after starting 18th and finishing 13th in the Snap-on Tools J&J.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Tuesday, July 3 at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota.
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