Meyers Wins Thrilling Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park
Lima, OH — Jason Meyers never had the pleasure to see Brad Doty race, but had heard countless stories about him and also had gotten to know the Hall of Famer very well over the last number of years. Heading into the 20th edition of the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic on Wednesday night at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio, Meyers wanted nothing more than to pick up a win to honor the living legend of the sport.
He did just that, in thrilling fashion aboard the GLR Investments KPC, before a very large and enthusiastic crowd at the always racy ¼-mile, which is owned and operated by the University or Northwestern Ohio, as he used a slide job on Steve Kinser in the third and fourth turns and a powerful charge down the front straightaway to win by 0.247 seconds, adding his name to a very prestigious list of winners of the event that includes: Kinser, Jac Haudenschild and Joey Saldana among others.
With the victory in the 20th edition of the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic, Meyers has now won six times in Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competition in 2008. He has 24 career A-Feature wins with the series, and is one win shy of moving into a tie for 15th on the all-time win list.
“We needed this one,” said an ecstatic Meyers in Victory Lane. “The guys have been working really really hard here lately and we just haven’t been getting the job done at the end of the night. Everyone has stood behind us 100 percent and hasn’t wavered one bit. I really have to thank everyone for sticking behind me and kind of picking us up when we were down a little bit. That’s what has brought us back to this point. The “Month of Money” is coming up and we are ready.”
As the leaders took the white flag, Kinser had a few car length lead over Meyers and looked to have the race in-check, until he was caught up by some lapped cars. This gave Meyers the opening he needed which he took full advantage of, to lead the last few feet of the 40-lap contest.
“I knew I had to be close to have an opportunity,” he noted when asked what he was thinking on the last lap trailing Kinser. “I saw the white flag wave and I knew I had to be good in (turns) one and two to have something for him in (turn) three. If there was a hole there, I had a shot at it. I didn’t if there would be or not, but it just opened up enough and I was able to get across. The car stuck right through the middle there and I was able to hold him off coming off of turn four.”
Meyers was presented the $10,000 winner’s check by Doty, along with officials from the University of Northwestern Ohio who own and operate the track. Receiving the trophy from Doty is something that Meyers will remember for the rest of his career.
“It means a lot to me,” Meyers said. “I have gotten to know Brad over the years and he is a great individual. He is a great all around person, not just for the sport, but as a guy to know. To put our name on that list is very special and something I will always cherish.”
Meyers started second in the event and took the lead exiting the second turn on the opening lap. Kinser moved from sixth to fourth on the opening lap. Meyers opened a healthy lead early in the race, getting into lapped traffic just five laps into the 40-lap event. This allowed Saldana to slightly close in. Kinser moved to third on the 11th lap as the leader negotiated heavy lapped traffic, at time getting two and three-wide with the slower machines.
Toward the halfway point of the race, Donny Schatz moved into fourth and began to pressure Kinser. At the same time, Saldana closed back in on Meyers.
Meyers would pace the field for the first 18 laps, before Saldana got around on the 19th lap, using a slide job in the third and fourth turns. Meyers quickly powered his way back to the lead on the front straightaway, but the caution flag flew before a full lap was completed, with the restart order set by the last completed lap, thus keeping Saldana in the lead
“I was just kind of caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and that’s just how it goes,” explained Meyers, who is a native of Clovis, California. “Sometimes the flags fall your way and some times they don’t.”
The lone caution of the race flew on the 20th lap for Chad Hillier who had a flat tire. Saldana used a strong restart to open a few car length lead. Schatz and Kerry Madsen, who were running fourth and fifth, began to close in on Kinser at this point as well. In heavy traffic, Saldana had to get on the brakes on the back straightaway allowing Meyers to close in.
Kinser got around Meyers with nine laps to go and began to chase down Saldana. He took the lead from him on the 36th lap, exiting the fourth turn as the pair nearly made contact. Meyers dove under Saldana to snag the second spot, as the latter drifted high up the track.
Kinser continued to slice through traffic as the laps wounds down and looked to be on the way to his third victory of the season and the 546th of his career.
On the white flag lap, Meyers trailed Kinser by a few car lengths as the pair entered the first and second turns in heavy lapped traffic. As they entered the third turn there was a slight opening and Meyers took advantage of it to slide in front of Kinser as they came off the fourth turn. They raced down the frontstraightaway with Meyers holding off the 20-time Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion.
Kinser wound up second in the Q Oil Maxim to earn his 12th Top-Five finish of the season. The 20-time World of Outlaws champion won the inaugural Brad Doty Classic in 1989, when it was held at Attica Raceway Park. In six career starts at Limaland Motorsports Park, Kinser has finished first or second in each and every one of them.
Saldana started on the pole for the A-Feature after winning the Crane Cams Dash. The native of Brownsburg, Indiana wound up third for the seventh time this season in the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI.
“It was a good run,” shared Saldana. “Our car was really good. At the start, I think you wanted to be on the outside. We were second when we got to lapped traffic and were able to move around and got by Jason (Meyers). The same thing that opened the door for me, opened the door for those guys. We just got beat on the race track by the cars you have to pass. You have to pass them to win the race.”
Shane Stewart began the night by setting a new track record in qualifying aboard the Roth Motorsports KPC. He had trouble in the Crane Cams Dash, getting upside down which relegated him to the 10th starting spot in the A-Feature. He got around Tony Bruce Jr. on the opening lap before working on Kraig Kinser. He then battled Chad Kemenah and local driver Byron Reed. He worked his way into the Top-Five by the 27th lap.
“A fourth is a good run,” Stewart said. “I wish we would have had a yellow late, because I think I could have gotten a few more spots. I’ll take it, after what we have been going through the last few weeks. I can’t say enough about my guys. They have been working really hard. We’ve had some bad luck and hopefully we have that out of our system. We have some big races coming up and I would like to win one of those for my guys and for Dennis and Teresa (Roth).”
Donny Schatz, the two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion finished fifth in the Armor All J&J. He remains the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in every event this season.
Kerry Madsen picked up his 18Th Top-10 finish of the season as he sixth in the TK Concrete Maxim. Jac Haudenschild, who won the Brad Doty Classic last season, came home seventh in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. Craig Dollansky started 21st and finished eighth in the Snap-on Tools Maxim to earn the KSR Racing Products Hard Charger Award. Paul McMahan was ninth in the Casey’s General Stores Maxim, to earn his fourth Top-10 finish in five starts in the car. Chad Kemenah rounded out the Top-10 in the Kantor Oil Company Maxim.
The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action with the Knight Before the Kings Royal on Friday, July 11 and the 25th Annual Kings Royal at the famed Eldora Speedway, on Saturday, July 12.
If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws live on DIRTVision.com through the DIRT Radio Network. To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.DIRTVision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo. Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail webmaster@DIRTVision.com.
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