Saldana Wins at Billings Motorsports Park

Billings, MT — Joey Saldana has had a couple of races slip away in lapped traffic this season, and he made sure that was not the case on Tuesday night at Billings Motorsports Park, as he used traffic to his advantage to catch and pass two-time defending series champion Donny Schatz to pick up his third Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series win of the season.

Saldana lined up seventh for the 25-lap contest and gained a couple of spots on the opening lap to move into the Top-Five. By just the seventh lap, he found himself in the second position and began to track down Schatz, the early leader, who was mired in heavy traffic. Saldana used the low of the track in turns three and four to take the lead from Schatz on the 10th lap. He would lead the rest of the way, to pick up the 37th A-Feature win of his career, which was worth $10,000.

“This is huge for our team,” shared Saldana. “We have definitely been in position to win races and have just had bad breaks and luck. Then you start to question what you are doing as a driver and as a team. For us to come out tonight and to do it on a track where there really wasn’t any passing, but we could pass was great for this team.

After Saldana took the lead in the traffic aboard the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI, Schatz charged right back at him on the very next lap to retake the lead off the high side of turns one and two. Saldana powered his way back ahead down the back straightaway, to officially be credited the leader. On the next lap, Schatz charged around Saldana on the back straightaway to take the lead, but the caution flag flew before the lap was completed, allowing Saldana to retain the lead.

“It was tough,” said Saldana of lapped traffic. “When I was racing Donny (Schatz) and got by him, I actually got into a guy and knocked my front nose win off. I knew I needed it to stay on there or I would be in trouble. At the end, I was being very patient with a few guys. I knew if I could hit my marks, it would be tough for him to get around me. I would have had to have made a big mistake. I just tried to keep my car clean once I got the lead.”

Saldana lined up for the final restart of the night with 12 laps to go, with Schatz right behind him. He used a strong start to quickly pull away to a comfortable lead in open race track. Late in the race he encountered lapped traffic again, to allow Schatz to close back up on him.

“I was thinking, don’t screw up,” Saldana said of the restarts. “It’s so easy to screw up and miss your marks and move up. I got Donny (Schatz) in traffic and I don’t think he realized those guys were right on him. To get him in traffic, where he usually gets me was a huge accomplishment. It was a good run for us and hopefully we can continue to run up front.”

After coming so close to winning a number of times over the last few weeks, Saldana was very happy with how the race unfolded. It also served as a confidence boost heading up to Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he ran strong last season.

“We passed Donny Schatz, and that is huge for me personally,” explained Saldana. “Your confidence gets shot down pretty easily racing with these guys every night. It was a good night and we know that when our car finishes, it can win. I can’t thank my team enough and everyone that stands behind this team. This was a good night for us.”

Schatz, who won the Crane Cams Dash, started on the pole and jumped out to a pretty sizeable lead during the first few laps of the 25-lap A-Feature. The field was bunched up on the fourth lap after Kerry Madsen spun, leading to the first caution of the night. On the restart, Schatz opened a healthy lead, as Joey Saldana was battling Shane Stewart to second. The spot went to Saldana on the seventh last as he used the low side of the second turn. By the eighth lap, Schatz was in traffic, with Saldana gaining ground on him. Schatz would wind up second in the Armor All J&J.

“We had a good car, and we probably just pushed a little too hard,” said Schatz. “I got to a lapped car that was just about spun out and I had no choice but to about crash myself and we were lucky that we only got passed by one car. That’s just racing and the way it goes. We have won them that way and tonight we lost it that way.”

Shane Stewart finished third on Tuesday night as he continues to battle with Terry McCarl for the 10th spot in the series championship standings. Stewart ran second for a number of laps early in the race, before Saldana got around him. In traffic, he gained a large portion of ground on the two leaders.

“We put ourselves in position to run up front and that is key to any World of Outlaws race,” said Stewart. “I have to thank the crew, they have been doing a great job for me. It’s nice to get a good finish and hopefully we can turn this team around and finish the year off on a good note.”

Jason Meyers finished fourth in the GLR Investments KPC, after starting seventh. He leads the series with 34 Top-Five finishes as he chases his first career World of Outlaws title.

Tony Bruce Jr. picked up another Top-Five finish as he was fifth in the Best Well Service Maxim. Jac Haudenschild was sixth in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim, with Jason Sides, who began the night by setting fast time in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim in seventh. Steve Kinser in the Q Oil Maxim was eighth, with Daryn Pittman in ninth aboard the Titan Garages Maxim. Terry McCarl rounded out the Top-10 in the Big Game Treestands Maxim.

While leading, Schatz had to get on the brakes extremely hard on the eighth and ninth laps, before Saldana moved to the point. At one point, he was almost completely sideways as he worked not to lose any spots or spin, as the cars ahead of him had him all bottled up.

“Some of those guys, you would show them a nose and they wanted to keep you behind them,” commented Schatz. “You are going to have that when the race track is like that. It was right around the tires (down low) and we did the best we could and came up one spot short.”

Schatz had another chance at Saldana on the lap 13 restart, and got a little lapped traffic over the last few laps, but it was not quite enough. Over the last five laps of the race, Schatz constantly had one lapped car between himself and the leader. The second-place finish for the North Dakota native was 43rd Top-10 finish of the season, as he remains the only driver that has Top-10 runs in every A-Feature event this seasons.

“We had to get to lapped traffic,” Schatz said. “You are not going to pass anyone in open race track. Joey (Saldana) wouldn’t have passed me and we couldn’t have been able to pass him unless we had some sort of lapped traffic or a reason to slow him down. That’s just the way it goes. A lot of times when you are running second, you are in the cat bird’s seat and I didn’t expect that to be the case tonight.”

Like the other leaders, Stewart also battled the lapped machine as he tried to work his Roth Motorsports KPC to the front of the field. His third place-performance was the 21 Top-10 finish f the season for him and his team.

“It was tough to get around some of those guys,” said Stewart. “Many of them were local guys, so they knew what to expect and knew that they had to hug the tires. There were a few lapped cars that were a little nuisance, but we were able to get around them clean.”

Stewart did not really want to see the final yellow of the night, as he was gaining ground on the leaders while they were mired in traffic.

“Before the last yellow came out, Donny (Schatz) and Joey (Saldana) got to passing each other a little bit and I was able to catch back up to them,” he noted. “I think if it would have stayed green, we would have had a chance to win the race. At that point of the race, it was all about timing the cars right. Donny (Schatz) had just gotten back by Joey (Saldana) and the yellow came out. Who knows, but it was a good run for us and hopefully we can keep this going.”

Kraig Kinser finished in the 11th position.

The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Friday, August 22 at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for the second annual Oil City Cup.

Gold Rush Tour Continues For Kraig Kinser and Tony Stewart Racing

INDIANAPOLIS (TSR) –Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) 23-year-old Sprint car racer Kraig Kinser was looking for anything positive that could provide a little confidence during his roller-coaster season. Ironically, he found it Sunday night in Minot, N.D., the hometown of his TSR teammate Donny Schatz.

Kinser, who competes in the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series driving the TSR No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/JD Byrider Maxim, put together a solid night in Sunday’s finale of the Gerdau Ameristeel Northern Tour, finishing a season-best third at Minot’s Nodak Speedway. Now, the goal is to build on that momentum this week when the WoO series returns to a familiar stop in Montana and makes it’s second-ever appearance in Edmonton.

The 2004 Kevin Gobrecht WoO Rookie of the Year Award winner was looking forward to Tuesday night’s race at Billings (Mont.) Motorsports Park. Kinser has five career starts at the high-banked 3/8-mile dirt oval and each time has finished inside the top-10, including third the last time the Outlaws competed at the track in August 2005. Kinser finished 11th in Tuesday’s A-main event.

Following yesterday’s race, Kinser and the Bass Pro Shops team will make the 720-plus mile trek into Canada for Friday and Saturday’s second annual Oil City Cup at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton. It will be Kinser’s debut at the high-banked, 3/8-mile oval, which gives him reason to be optimistic since last weekend’s third-place finish at Nodak also came in a track debut.

Kinser enters this week’s racing action ranked 14th in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings. He has made 39 series starts thus far in 2008, having earned three top-five finishes and 12 top-10s.

Race fans unable to attend this week’s events can catch all of the action from Billings Motorsports Park and Castrol Raceway on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen live as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO Sprint Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the site features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other race fans.

For both Friday and Saturday’s events at Castrol Raceway, pit gates will open at 2 p.m. MDT and the grandstands will open at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The official track Web site is www.castrolraceway.com. For ticket information, call (815) 344-2023, or visit www.slspromotions.com.

Quotes from Kraig Kinser, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Maxim:

Sunday’s third-place run was a much-needed boost for the team. How do you keep that going?

“Sunday night was a great race for us. We learned quite a bit about our car. Now we just have to take the right steps to get this team rolling forward, to get me rolling forward to get confidence, so everybody rolls forward.

“It’s about the basics. Qualifying good enough to start up front in the heats and then taking advantage of the situations. We have a lot of great guys here and great support from all of our sponsors backing us. It’s just about building on each step. Sunday, we qualified decent, had a good heat race and dash, and then made some progress in the feature. Last night, we were able to build on that progress.”

This week you return to Billings, where you’ve run before, and Castrol, where you’ve never been. How do you approach each track?

“The good thing about Billings is that we’ve raced there before and had some success. I raced from the last starting spot to eighth one night there after racing an ARCA car. I felt like I should have won the night (TSR teammate) Donny (Schatz) broke while he was leading, but we ended up third that night (August 20, 2005).  My guys (Steve Swenson, Mike Cool and Bob Curtis) have been doing a good job, so I’m sure they’ll have the Bass Pro Shops Chevy fast again this week. As far as Castrol goes, I’m pretty sure the 20 car was fast there last year, so hopefully we can continue getting better and have another good week.”

Kraig Kinser Carries Momentum into Billings Motorsports Park

Billings, MT — Kraig Kinser knew it would be no easy task returning full-time to the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series this season, after spending a couple of seasons in the NASCAR Truck Series, but he was certainly up to the challenge. After bad luck plagued him early in the season, the 2004 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award winner and his Tony Stewart Racing team have been running very strong the last couple of weeks and continue to put in endless hours at the track and on the road, as they close in on their first win of the season.

In his first visit to Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota on Sunday night, the third generation driver earned a season-best third-place finish.

Next up for Kinser will be a return tonight to Billings Motorsports Park in Billings, Montana, where he last competed in 2005, which was the last time the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competed at the high-banked 3/8-mile. He finished third in that event, which was his second career Top-Five finish in four starts at the track. In the A-Feature event, the night before he had to start at the back of the field by way of rules for missing time trials, due to running at ARCA series event at Michigan International Speedway, where he earned a Top-10 finish. In that World of Outlaws event, Kinser finished seventh. In his career at Billings Motorsport Park, the third generation driver has finished ninth or better in all four of his starts.

“We enjoy going there and we always seem to do well,” he said. “I remember that night where I had to start at the back because I was running an ARCA race and worked my way to the front. We turned some good laps that night.”

Kinser is excited to head back to Billings, as the Gold Rush Tour continues for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. He will then visit a couple of tracks for the first time at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Skagit Speedway in Washington, before returning to Grays Harbor Raceway, which is also in Washington and Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon, where he won his first World of Outlaws A-Feature event in 2004, holding his father, 20-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser.

“I’ve been away for a while and it seems like all of the tracks I had good luck at have been tough for me this year,” noted the native of Bloomington, Indiana. “Hopefully we can get up to speed quick and have a good showing at Billings and the rest of the West Coast races.”

Though he was out of a sprint car for a couple of seasons, the younger Kinser has gotten back up to speed pretty quick at a number of the tracks on the always demanding World of Outlaws schedule. He has raced his way into the Crane Cams Dash 10 times this season to earn Top-10 starting spots in A-Feature events, and has had several Top-10 qualifying efforts aboard the Bass Pro Shops Maxim.

“It usually doesn’t take too long with all the races I have driven in a sprint car,” shared the 2005 Knoxville Nationals winner. “I feel comfortable in the cars again and now our main goal is to get our cars up front every night.”

While he is going back to tracks for the first time in a couple of seasons, Kinser does not see that as much of hindrance, especially with the solid team he has behind him at Tony Stewart Racing, along with his teammate, two-time defending series champion and current series point leader Donny Schatz.

“The experience of the team definitely helps,” he commented. “When I was young, I got used to running on so many different tracks so much. The tracks are different sometimes when you go back to them, and the main thing is to check the track out when you get there and adjust to it from there.”

Kinser has nine Top-10 finishes on the season, with three of those being Top-Five performances as he chases his first A-Feature win of the season. He currently has seven career A-Feature wins with the World of Outlaws, including three at tracks that are on the 2008 schedule. While his team is within striking distance of the Top-10 in the standings, the 23-year old driver is not worried about points, but rather running consistently at the front of the field.

Entering the event at Billings Motorsports Park, Kinser is 13th in the World of Outlaws championship standings, just five markers behind Jason Sides who is in 12th.

“When it gets late in the season, you start to look at where you can get to in points,” he explained. “We are still back a bit in points, so that is not a concern for us this year. The pressure that is there at the beginning of the year is going to be there at the end of the year is how I look at it. Hopefully we can have a good swing out west and get some good finishes. If we get this car turned around and pick up a win or two that would make it a good end of the season. Our goal is to get this car ready and headed in the right direction for next season.”

After finishing third at Billings Motorsports Park in his last visit to the track in 2005, Kinser would like nothing more than to pick up his first win of the 2008 campaign at the high-banked 3/8-mile. He has plenty of momentum entering the race, after earning a season-best third-place finish at Nodak Speedway in North Dakota on Sunday night, which is also a high-banked 3/8-mile.

“You have to have a good strong night,” explained Kinser, when asked what it would take to win at Billings Motorsports Park. “You have to start the night strong in time trials and run well in the heat to get in the dash. That is the key. You have to put yourself in a position to win the race.”

On Tuesday, August 19 at Billings Motorsports Park, adult general admission tickets will be $35 if purchased in advance and $40 the day of the race. Adult reserved seating will be $40 in advance and $45 the day of the race. Seating for juniors, ages 10-under will be $20. For tickets call: 866-581-6892 or visit http://www.fatboyzpromotions.com.