Swindell Still Winning at Eagle Speedway
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[/media-credit]After a three year absence from Eagle Speedway, the Outlaws return was an exciting one. The Outlaw show brought with it some big names, Danny Lasoski, Brian Brown, and the current reigning Sprint Cup Champion, Tony Stewart. The 21 car field was a stacked deck. Every car was fast and every driver determined. When the night was over the World of Outlaws did not disappoint.
The evening started with a choppy one third mile track especially on the bottom in 1 and 2. But as the night went on with a little manicure it smoothed out and became a faster race surface. Qualifying would see Kraig Kinser set quick time. He was followed by Craig Dollansky, Jason Johnson, Sammy Swindell and Cody Darrah for the top 5. The 2nd spot in qualifying would give Dollansky 2 points in the points race against Donny Schatz who qualified 8th.
The heat races would progress quickly with only one yellow flag in the final heat. The first heat race was won by 4 time champion Sammy Swindell. Bill Rose, his return to the circuit after sustaining a deep leg bruise in a scarey crash in Deer Creek on Saturday, would come home second and transfer to the dash. Also transferring to the dash was the quick time holder Kraig Kinser.
The second heat would be won by Ian Madsen with Donny Schatz coming home second to transfer to the dash. Also transferring to the dash would be Cody Darrah and Craig Dollansky. The visiting Sprint Cup Champion would, Tony Stewart would come home 6th.
The third heat was taken by Danny Lasoski who held off a hard charging Jason Johnson who pulled a nasty slide job on 20 time champion Steve Kinser to take the second spot. Kinser would finish 4th. Lasoski and Johnson transferred to the dash.
The Dash was a fast paced no holds barred 8 lap event that saw Sammy Swindell seal the pole for the 40 lap A Main by holding off team mate Craig Dollansky. World of Outlaws points leader would come home 6th to start in the 3rd row of the A Main.
With only 21 cars signed in there would be no Last Chance Showdown. Every driver would transfer to the A. It made for a heavily stacked field.
The A Main was a very quick race. Jason Johnson was unable to make the call after the Dash when the car would not re-fire. Joey Saldana also had an issue with the car suddenly cutting off at lap 12. Saldana would go to the work area and return to competition at the rear of the field. He would rally back to finish 14th a lap down. Swindell lead all 40 laps despite several challenges from former Rookie of the Year Cody Darrah but Darrah was not able to make the pass on the wily veteran who at one point had a 3 second lead. Darrah would finish second and Donny Schatz would come in 3rd for his 9th podium finish in as many races.
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The points lead tightened up yet again with Dollansky closing to within 94 points of Donny Schatz. Schatz remains the hottest driver on the circuit and with only 8 races left in the season he will be hard to catch. But he is not out of Dollansky’s reach just yet. A win by Dollansky or a slip by Schatz makes this a neck in neck race going into Charlotte for the National title. Both drivers are showing their metal. They are putting it out there. They are taking chances and they are racing hard. No points racing. No stroking to the finish. They are wheel to wheel and coming into 4, wide open with their foot to the floor. What else can you ask for? They are racers. And they are racing. They are racing as hard as they and their teams can race. Which ever one wins will have earned not only the championship but the respect that goes with it.
In 8 races we will have our champion. It seems like just yesterday we were running the first race in Volusia. It’s been a long season but it’s flown by. Maybe not for the crews some of which haven’t been home since June. Maybe not for the drivers some of which have been upside down and beat and banged and out there in motor coaches since June. But for the fans it has been all too short. But it has been filled with memories. Memories that will help to ease the sting of withdraw until February when once again the Mighty Wings of the Outlaws will take to the track in Volusia. But until then we have 8 races. And it’s a sure bet that every single driver in the field will be racing to very limits of his equipment and his skills. Take it to the bank, it will be one helluva a ride.
Qualifying –
1. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.337; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky, 11.371; 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 11.398; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell, 11.406; 5. 4-Cody Darrah, 11.471; 6. 91-Dusty Zomer, 11.493; 7. 29-Kerry Madsen, 11.607; 8. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.632; 9. 33-Danny Lasoski, 11.636; 10. 6-Bill Rose, 11.642; 11. 7K-Ian Madsen, 11.655; 12. 11-Steve Kinser, 11.675; 13. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 11.709; 14. 14-Tony Stewart, 11.722; 15. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 11.736; 16. 24-Terry McCarl, 11.746; 17. 82-Justin Henderson, 11.752; 18. 9-Joey Saldana, 11.766; 19. 21-Brian Brown, 11.768; 20. 63-Chad Kemenah, 11.878; 21. 53-Jack Dover, 12.095
Heat 1 – (10 Laps )
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[3] ; 2. 6-Bill Rose[1] ; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier[5] ; 6. 24-Terry McCarl[6] ; 7. 21-Brian Brown[7]
Heat 2 – (10 Laps )
1. 7K-Ian Madsen[1] ; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[2] ; 3. 4-Cody Darrah[3] ; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky[4] ; 5. 82-Justin Henderson[6] ; 6. 14-Tony Stewart[5] ; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah[7]
Heat 3 – (10 Laps )
1. 33-Danny Lasoski[2] ; 2. 41-Jason Johnson[4] ; 3. 91-Dusty Zomer[3] ; 4. 11-Steve Kinser[1] ; 5. 9-Joey Saldana[6] ; 6. 53-Jack Dover[7] ; 7. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5]
Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[1] ; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky[3] ; 3. 41-Jason Johnson[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 5. 4-Cody Darrah[5] ; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[7] ; 7. 91-Dusty Zomer[6] ; 8. 33-Danny Lasoski[8] ; 9. 7K-Ian Madsen[10] ; 10. 6-Bill Rose[9]
A-Main – (40 Laps)
1. 1-Sammy Swindell[1][$10,000]; 2. 4-Cody Darrah[5][$5,500]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[6][$3,200]; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky[2][$2,800]; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen[11][$2,500]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4][$2,300]; 7. 33-Danny Lasoski[8][$2,200]; 8. 13-Mark Dobmeier[13][$2,100]; 9. 7K-Ian Madsen[9][$2,050]; 10. 11-Steve Kinser[12][$2,000]; 11. 14-Tony Stewart[14][$1,500]; 12. 82-Justin Henderson[17][$1,200]; 13. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[15][$1,100]; 14. 9-Joey Saldana[18][$1,050]; 15. 91-Dusty Zomer[7][$1,000]; 16. 6-Bill Rose[10][$900]; 17. 53-Jack Dover[21][$800]; 18. 63-Chad Kemenah[20][$800]; 19. 24-Terry McCarl[16][$800]; 20. 21-Brian Brown[19][$800]; 21. 41-Jason Johnson[3][$800]
Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-40
KSE Hard Charger AWARD: 29-Kerry Madsen[+6]
World of Outlaws Points
| Pos. | Driver | Total | Diff | Wins | Top 5’s | Top 10’s | QT |
| 1 | Donny Schatz | 8796 | 0 | 10 | 34 | 54 | 3 |
| 2 | Craig Dollansky | 8702 | -94 | 8 | 33 | 48 | 9 |
| 3 | Sammy Swindell | 8679 | -117 | 12 | 29 | 44 | 14 |
| 4 | Joey Saldana | 8644 | -152 | 5 | 23 | 49 | 9 |
| 5 | Steve Kinser | 8577 | -219 | 3 | 25 | 45 | 0 |
| 6 | Kraig Kinser | 8370 | -426 | 4 | 18 | 40 | 6 |
| 7 | Cody Darrah | 8165 | -631 | 1 | 21 | 34 | 2 |
| 8 | Kerry Madsen | 8117 | -679 | 5 | 14 | 35 | 2 |
| 9 | Chad Kemenah | 7941 | -855 | 2 | 10 | 30 | 2 |
| 10 | Lucas Wolfe | 7748 | -1048 | 1 | 9 | 24 | 1 |
| 11 | Bill Rose | 6961 | -1835 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 12 | Jason Sides | 5491 | -3305 | 0 | 16 | 27 | 1 |
| 13 | Jac Haudenschild | 3747 | -5049 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| 14 | Tim Kaeding | 3524 | -5272 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 0 |
| 15 | Danny Lasoski | 2567 | -6229 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| 16 | Daryn Pittman | 2537 | -6259 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 1 |
| 17 | Sam Hafertepe Jr. | 2454 | -6342 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | David Gravel | 2385 | -6411 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| 19 | Paul McMahan | 2296 | -6500 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | Stevie Smith | 2276 | -6520 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
Surprising and Not Surprising: Geico 400
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[/media-credit]In the opening salvo of the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Surprising: The following words from his Chase video promo proved prophetic for the driver who likened his victory to a win in the opening round of a heavyweight fight for the championship.
“I didn’t start out wanting to be a race car driver,” Brad Keselowski said in the video. “I started out wanting to be a championship race car driver.”
Also, just as he predicted in his Chase video, the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske Racing had to battle a championship veteran, none other than five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, for the race win.
“Of course at every stop up the ranks there was some veteran that wanted to test me,” Keselowski continued in the video. “Someone I had to prove myself to.”
“These days, well, not much has changed. I’m Brad Keselowski and this is my Chase.”
Yes, at least so far in the championship battle, it most certainly is Keselowski’s Chase. With his win, Keselowski now leads the point standings for the first time in his career.
Not Surprising: With the Chase competition in full gear, it was not surprising that a bit of controversy played into the race finish.
Runner up Jimmie Johnson, who has never won at Chicagoland, expressed concerns about Keselowski of blending prematurely, crossing the line a little bit too early after making his final pit stop in his opinion.
“He did cut up early,” Johnson said. “It did impede my progress.”
“But it didn’t affect the outcome, I don’t believe, “Johnson continued. “The way he made quick work in traffic and stretched it out on me, I’m not sure I would have held him off.”
Although NASCAR reviewed the situation, the sanctioning body ruled that there was no foul. Johnson finished second, his ninth top-10 finish in 11 races at Chicagoland and his 18th top-10 finish in 2012.
Johnson was also the lap leader of the race, leading a whopping 172 laps of the Geico 400. He kept Chase leader Keselowski in his sights, however, and is now just three points back.
Surprising: Both Roush Fenway drivers in the Chase had surprisingly bad days. Matt Kenseth, behind the wheel of the No. 17 Best Buy Ford, had the shock of his life and Greg Biffle, in the No. 16 3M Ford was shocked by how bad his final pit stop was.
“A shock fell off, I guess,” Kenseth said. “I guess it didn’t get tight.”
“We had a brake line get loose at Bristol and a shock fall off in this race, so obviously we have to get to the bottom of that.”
“We were really good there at the end and we did our last stop and the car just went bad,” Biffle said. “It never fails, the last stop of the day we put our tires on and it went bad.”
Kenseth finished 18th and fell three positions to 11th in the Chase standings, 26 back of the leader. Biffle finished a bit better in 13th but lost three positions to 8th in the Chase standings and is now 19 points behind the leader.
Not Surprising: The grunt of pain when this driver hit the wall hard said it all for his race, as well as being symbolic for much of his 2012 season.
Even bringing back his old school mustache could not help Jeff Gordon as his throttle stuck, hurtling him into the safer barrier and relegating him to a 35th place finish. Gordon did not budge from the 12th position, however, is now a daunting 47 points away from the Chase points leader.
“We were having a good day,” Gordon said. “We had a top-5 car and who knows what we could have done.”
“We had a throttle stick,” Gordon said. “I left off and it didn’t come all the way back.
“In this deal, you can’t afford issues like that.”
Surprising: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a surprising destination in mind as his goal for the rest of the Chase, especially having to start from the rear due to an engine issue and finishing eighth.
“I was disappointed in myself for making that mistake with the engine and getting us that far back at the start of the race,” the driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/7-Eleven/National Guard Chevrolet said. “We really couldn’t overcome the track position.”
“We need to be in the media center after all these races as much as possible,” Junior said, noting his new destination goal. “Eighth is all right, but I know Brad is going to run well and Jimmie is obviously going to be tough.”
“You can’t run eighth every week and win the championship.”
Junior maintained his seventh position in the Chase standings and is 17 points back from leader Keselowski.
Not Surprising: Earnhardt Junior’s teammate Kasey Kahne was the Chase’s official biggest mover, gaining six positions to fifth in the standings with his third place finish.
“The Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was good all day,” Kahne said. “The pit stops were awesome and I felt good about it.”
While Kahne was happy about his finish, he also expressed some concerns about what he and his crew chief Kenny Francis will face in the next mile and a half track on the schedule.
“We made a lot of adjustments and Kenny did a nice job, but we just couldn’t figure anything out to make the car better,” Kahne said. “So, I just feel like I was lacking today and hopefully we can talk about it this week and get it better for some of these other 1.5 mile tracks.”
Surprising: Michael Waltrip Racing, after blazing into the Chase with its two primary drivers Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex, Jr., were surprising non-factors for the win in the first race of the championship ten.
Truex, Jr., driving the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, finished ninth and Bowyer, piloting the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, finished right behind him in tenth. They are sixth and ninth respectively in the point standings after the Chicagoland race.
“It just wasn’t a good day,” Bowyer said simply. “I don’t know whether it was strategy or pit stops or what, but it seemed like we lost spots on pit road all day and it just cost us.”
“You ain’t going to win a championship with decent days.”
“We were horrible at the start,” Truex Jr. said. “We made lots and lots and lots and lots of changes – big changes and it just worked at the end.”
“It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the Chase.”
Not Surprising: The driver that lost his spot in the twelve eligible to run for the Chase at Richmond could only wonder what could have been, especially after having a top-5 run at Chicagoland.
“The day started off really good,” Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota, said. “We were following Jeff Gordon up to the front.”
“We had a strong Doublemint Camry,” Busch continued. “Just didn’t quite have enough for the top-three today, but we got a fourth-place effort out of it.”
Surprising: In an unusual move, NASCAR actually reversed a penalty, however, it was still a very big setback for one young driver.
Aric Almirola, in his No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, who was penalized by NASCAR for a loose tire, was later told by NASCAR that the call was a mistake, giving him his pass through penalty lap back. Almirola, who was having a good run, just could not recover and finished 17th.
“That was very bizarre,” Almirola said. “To be running fourth and get a pass through penalty and lose a lap and then have them tell you that they are sorry and give you your lap back, but you are on the tail end of the lead lap so you go from running fourth to 23rd or 24th, that was pretty pathetic.”
“They fixed it and gave us our lap back, but it was disappointing.”
Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin, after running out of fuel to finish 16th in his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, made the challenge of the post race.
“This was just us making a big mistake with our fuel again,” Hamlin said. “It’s tough but we’re strong enough and fast enough this Chase that we can make up 15 points easily.”
In fact, Hamlin expressed such confidence heading into the second Chase race at Loudon that he posted the following tweet @dennyhamlin.
“This is 1 week of 10. We will win next week.”
