Two Starts, Two Second Place Finishes
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Barberville, FL — Jason Meyers came close to winning on the first night of the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park and again on the third night, battling with Donny Schatz in both of those contests. The pair found themselves dueling yet again on Saturday night, and this time Meyers was not about to be outdone, as held off Schatz to earn his first A-Feature win of the 2008 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season.
The $10,000-win marked the first for the team in their brand new self-designed and self-built chassis. Countless hours were spent developing the mount during the off-season and Meyers had been fast all week during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals leading into the second of three events for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.
“We had a goal to come down here and start off well,” said Meyers, driver of the GLR Investments KPC. “We have been working hard for this all winter. To come out and win on the second night is definitely achieving that goal. Everybody has been working hard. We’re looking forward to a great season.”
The 30-lap event began with Tim Kaeding who started on the pole leading the first seven laps. After a caution, Meyers used a strong restart on the eighth circuit to take the lead from Kaeding on the low side of the second turn. Kaeding fought back on the next lap as two-time defending series champion Donny Schatz also began to close in.
While Meyers led, Schatz continued to shadow him, looking for the right opportunity to take a shot at the lead. That chance came on the13th lap, as he dove low exiting the second turn to take the lead from Meyers. After a couple of laps in traffic, Meyers tracked Schatz back down and made the pass for the lead and ultimately the win on the 16th circuit in turn one. Schatz closed in a couple of time late in the race in traffic, but Meyers worked the lapped cars to perfection in earning his 19th career A-Feature win.
Meyers has finished in the Top-Five in four out of five starts this week during the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals. While there is well over 80 races still remaining on the 2008 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series schedule, Meyers has been focused on starting off strong this week to build a solid foundation for the rest of the season.
Schatz earned his fifth Top-Five of the season in as many starts for Tony Stewart Racing, as he was the runner-up on Saturday night. After lining up fourth for the 30-lap event, he powered his way past Craig Dollansky on the first lap, before staging a very entertaining battle with Saldana for the third position. After passing Saldana, it took him just one lap to get around Kaeding, as he set his sights on Meyers.
“We’re probably playing a little bit too much and getting away from home base,” said Schatz, driver of the Chevrolet powered Armor All J&J “We’ll just keep working on this thing and get better for tomorrow. We know a few things we can do to make it better and we’ll do them.”
Schatz began Saturday night by turning the seventh fastest lap in time trials and followed that up with a second-place finish in the third heat to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash. For most of the evening, the half-mile was blazing fast, especially in the early going.
“They prepared the track a little different than they did the last couple of days and it did not lay rubber tonight,” explained Schatz. “That’s a good thing. You have to make it to where it is slick and everyone is spinning their tires. It was fast around the top and we have to figure out how we can get around up there and make the car stick a little better.”
-WoO-
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