FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 6, 2011

SALDANA GETS ELDORA REDEMPTION

by Kyle Lueters
ROSSBURG, OH (May 6) -- Joey Saldana entered Outlaw Thunder Weekend presented by Goodyear Friday night at Eldora Speedway looking for revenge against the track that cost him a shot at winning his first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series title last season.

He couldn't have had a bigger night. Not only did Saldana put the Kasey Kahne Racing Red Bull Maxim in victory lane, he also increased his lead in the 2011 championship battle to 51 points. It was a complete turnaround from last fall, when Saldana was leading the title hunt before he wrecked hard at Eldora and wound up suffering a concussion that prevented him from racing the next night, thereby costing him any chance of contending. Mike Dirksen captured the companion Stock Car main event.

I've got a huge smile on my face because last year I didn't know where I was for a few days, that last show I left in a helicopter," said Saldana, a native of Brownsburg, Ind., who won his ninth World of Outlaws event at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway. "This is a lot more fun and gratifying. Definitely coming back from that and winning here, because this is such a tough track, it's a huge accomplishment for me so I'm very happy."

It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, though. Saldana's car clearly had a lot of horsepower, as he was second quick in time trials before winning a heat and the dash to start the main event on the pole. But Donny Schatz was equally hungry to win at his car owner's track and gave Saldana everything he could handle. When the two hit heavy traffic, Schatz weaved through the middle of the pack to swipe the lead as they completed the 14 th circuit in the 30-lap feature.

On a wild Lap-21 double-file restart, Saldana charged back to the lead and would hold on through one more caution as Sam Hafertepe Jr. blasted through the scramble to claim the runner-up position, leaving Schatz to finish third while Paul McMahan and Greg Wilson rounded out the Top Five.

"That's the just the quality of drivers and teams out here," said Saldana, a three-time winner this season. "That's the quality of Donny Schatz. If there's a bottom or middle he's always the guy who can find it. When we got to lapped traffic I was just being very patient and he made me pay the price. It's definitely a good run for us. It's fun racing a guy like Donny Schatz. He races you clean all the time, he gives you room. He gives you the respect so you need to give him the respect back. I think you saw a good race. I didn't realize it would turn out the way it did. I thought he was right on me the whole race so it was definitely a good finish for us."

Steve Kinser was among the leaders throughout the feature before he slowed on the backstretch, bringing out the final caution of the night with six laps to go. He remains second in points while defending series champion Jason Meyers was caught in a crash when Jac Haudenschild's right front tire went down with 10 laps to go, he is fourth in the standings.

Barney Craig took the early lead of the Stock Car finale before yielding to Earnie Woodard on lap 3. Like so many times before, bad luck struck Woodard just past the half way point when he slowed on the front stretch and limped to the pit area. That gave the lead to Dirksen, who held it to the finish. Dirksen crossed the line ahead of Craig, John Phlipot, Jr., Dean Pitts and Shawn Phillippi.

Goodyear Outlaw Thunder Weekend
May 6, 2011

World of Outlaws Sprints - 40 cars
Quick Qualifier: Chad Kemenah - 13.138
Heat 1 - (8 Laps)
1. 27-Daryn Pittman [1];2. 91-Cody Darrah [2];3. 63-Chad Kemenah [4];4. 6m-Jac Haudenschild [5];5. 2-Dale Blaney [3];6. 49-Brad Sweet [6];7. 2m-Dustin Daggett [8];8. 7l-Darren Long [7];9. 35n-Wes Mcglumphy [10];10. 45-Rob Chaney [9]
Heat 2 - (8 Laps)
1. 9-Joey Saldana [4];2. 92-Kerry Madsen [2];3. 71w-Brandon Wimmer [1];4. 7-Craig Dollansky [3];5. 83x-Tim Shaffer [6];6. 5w-Lucas Wolfe [5];7. 9x-Brandon Martin [8];8. 12-Jared Ridge [9];9. 34-Luke Hall [10];10. 6r-Bill Rose [7]
Heat 3 - (8 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz [1];2. 11-Steve Kinser [3];3. 14-Jason Meyers [4];4. 2b-Ben Gregg [2];5. 7s-Jason Sides [5];6. 10-Brad Haudenschild [6];7. 71m-Paul May [7];8. 22-Cole Duncan [8];9. 35-Ron Blair [9];10. 32-Chase Stockon [10]
Heat 4 - (8 Laps)
1. 1-Sammy Swindell [2];2. 83-Paul McMahan [3];3. 6-Kraig Kinser [1];4. w20-Greg Wilson [6];5. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4];6. 89g-David Gravel [5];7. 97-Dean Jacobs [7];8. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [8];9. 60-Kory Crabtree [9]
Dash - (6 Laps)
1. 9-Joey Saldana [3];2. 11-Steve Kinser [1];3. 14-Jason Meyers [2];4. 63-Chad Kemenah [4];5. 83-Paul McMahan [5];6. 92-Kerry Madsen [7];7. 91-Cody Darrah [6];8. 15-Donny Schatz [10];9. 1-Sammy Swindell [8];10. 27-Daryn Pittman [9]
B Main - (12 Laps)
1. 89g-David Gravel [2];2. 2m-Dustin Daggett [9];3. 49-Brad Sweet [3];4. 5w-Lucas Wolfe [1];5. 71m-Paul May [7];6. 45-Rob Chaney [13];7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [12];8. 22-Cole Duncan [11];9. 60-Kory Crabtree [16];10. 35-Ron Blair [15];11. 12-Jared Ridge [14];12. 32-Chase Stockon [19];13. 35n-Wes Mcglumphy [17];14. 7l-Darren Long [5];15. 9x-Brandon Martin [10];16. 10-Brad Haudenschild [4];17. 34-Luke Hall [18];18. 97-Dean Jacobs [8];19. 6r-Bill Rose [6]
A Main - (30 Laps)
1. 9-Joey Saldana [1];2. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [11];3. 15-Donny Schatz [8];4. 83-Paul McMahan [5];5. w20-Greg Wilson [23];6. 83x-Tim Shaffer [22];7. 7s-Jason Sides [19];8. 6-Kraig Kinser [16];9. 7-Craig Dollansky [13];10. 91-Cody Darrah [7];11. 2-Dale Blaney [12];12. 71w-Brandon Wimmer [15];13. 27-Daryn Pittman [10];14. 63-Chad Kemenah [4];15. 2m-Dustin Daggett [24];16. 5w-Lucas Wolfe [18];17. 49-Brad Sweet [21];18. 89g-David Gravel [20];19. 11-Steve Kinser [2];20. 14-Jason Meyers [3];21. 6m-Jac Haudenschild [17];22. 2b-Ben Gregg [14];23. 6r-Bill Rose [25];24. 92-Kerry Madsen [6];25. 1-Sammy Swindell [9]

Eldora Stocks -19 cars
Heat - (7 Laps)
1. 01-Earnie Woodard [1];2. 5g-Anthony Goode [3];3. 26-Mike Dirksen [5];4. 20-Shawn Phillippi [2];5. 55-Bradley Caudill [4];6. 65-Rodney Lacey [6];7. 19-Wayne Williams [7]
Heat 2 - (7 Laps)
1. 71c-Barney Craig [2];2. 49-Eric Sandlin [1];3. 71r-Keith Ralston [3];4. 36-Adam Schaeff [5];5. j2-Amanda Smith [6];6. 23-Casey Barr [4]
Heat 3 - (7 Laps)
1. 62-Kevin Gossard [2];2. 88-John Phlipot Jr. [1];3. 00-Dean Pitts [3];4. t14-Doug Tiemann [6];5. 99-Andy King [4];6. 3b-Rob Trent [5]
A Main - (15 Laps)
1. 26-Mike Dirksen [7];2. 71c-Barney Craig [1];3. 88-John Phlipot Jr. [6];4. 00-Dean Pitts [9];5. 20-Shawn Phillippi [10];6. 3b-Rob Trent [18];7. t14-Doug Tiemann [12];8. j2-Amanda Smith [14];9. 71r-Keith Ralston [8];10. 55-Bradley Caudill [13];11. 01-Earnie Woodard [N/A];12. 36-Adam Schaeff [11];13. 49-Eric Sandlin [5];14. 5g-Anthony Goode [4];15. 62-Kevin Gossard [3];16. 65-Rodney Lacey [16];17. 99-Andy King [15];18. 23-Casey Barr [17]