“The King of the Outlaws,” who lost the lead less than a lap from the
checkered flag six days earlier at Perris Auto Speedway, closed to within
seven points of World of Outlaws Sprint Series standings leader Tyler Walker
with his first Preliminary Feature victory of the season.
Kinser steered his #11 Quaker State Maxim into the low groove between the
first and second corners to pass Paulus after Shane Stewart brought out the
caution flag with a turn-three crash with 1 1/3 laps remaining. The $5,000
victory gave Kinser the pole position in Friday’s Dash Race.
“I was getting around the bottom of one and two really good,” Kinser said. “It
just started getting a little slick coming off the corner to where you kind of
had to watch it. I went in there and kind of missed the bottom and slid on up
on Brian. Actually, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to
me because I slid on up in front of him. He got a good run down the
backstretch, and from there it was just a battle to see who could get the
lowest getting into three.
“When I got here this afternoon I thought the track was maybe going to be a
little too good and be kind of one lane, but it widened out pretty good and
got slick through the middle.”
Kinser, the fourth-fastest qualifier in the 33-car field, earned the right to
start the 25-lap Preliminary Feature inside the third row by finishing third
in the First Dash Race.
Sammy Swindell, who was involved in a first-lap crash in the First Heat Race,
won the First Dash Race for the privilege of starting the Preliminary Feature
on the pole. The three-time series champion drove Roth Motorsports’ #83JR Beef
Packers J&J into the lead as the green flag fell in the evening’s main event.
Stewart, who set the single-lap record at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway last March 1st, was on the move during the first five laps,
exchanging third and fourth places with fast qualifier Craig Dollansky and
defending Las Vegas Outlaw Nationals champion Tim Shaffer three times.
Swindell, who won the 2000 World of Outlaws Sprint Series season finale in Las
Vegas, was 10 car-lengths ahead of Paulus when he entered lapped traffic six
laps into the race. Donny Schatz exchanged sixth place with Kinser during the
seventh lap before his #15 Parker Stores J&J hit the retaining wall and
flipped in turn one the next time around.
Swindell’s car started smoking midway through the race, and stopped on the
back straightaway with engine problems four laps later. Paulus, who won the
First Heat Race, restarted ahead of the 24-car field as the green flag
replaced the yellow.
Walker, whose qualifying problems caused him to start inside the 12th row,
drove Guy Forbrook’s #5 Wirtgen/MPD Hand Controls Maxim past 14 cars during
the first 15 laps. The 2002 World of Outlaws Gumout Series champion passed “B”
Feature winner Danny Lasoski and Paul McMahan during the 17th and 18th laps to
claim seventh place.
Paulus was four car-lengths ahead of Dollansky when he caught the back-markers
with five laps remaining. Kinser passed the 2000 Gumout Series champion with
an inside move between the first and second corners two laps later, and used
the same move to take the lead during the final restart.
“It (500 main event victories) is just a number to me,” Kinser said as he
looked forward to Friday’s “A” Feature. “I’d just like to get it over with so
people would leave me alone about it. (Crew chief) Scott Gerkin has been doing
a great job with these Maxim cars. If he gives me cars as good as I’ve had
lately, we should be able to win a few more races here in the next couple of
months.”
Dollansky, who drove Karavan Motorsports’ #7 VMAC Maxim past Paulus late in
lap 24, was two car-lengths behind when the 18-time series champion took the
checkered flag. Shaffer finished in fourth place, ahead of Daryn Pittman,
Lasoski, Walker, McMahan, Fourth Heat Race winner Jason Sides and
16th-starting Dean Jacobs.
Jason Solwold, whose crew replaced his engine following the warm-up session,
took one lap at the end of time trials. His new power plant picked up speed
throughout the evening, allowing him to pass nine cars on his way to a
15th-place finish in the Preliminary Feature.
2004 World of Outlaws Sprint Series
Las Vegas Outlaw Nationals Presented by J.D. Byrider
The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
Thursday, March 4, Preliminary Program
Qualifying: 1. Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 13.943; 2. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15,
13.976; 3. Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 13.976; 4. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11,
14.017; 5. Jeremy Campbell, Campbell 10C, 14.161; 6. Paul McMahan, Helm 11H,
14.181; 7. Shane Stewart, Chilcutt 4M, 14.191; 8. Sammy Swindell, Roth 83JR,
14.209; 9. Erin Crocker, Woodring 16, 14.211; 10. Brian Paulus, Pender 28,
14.211; 11. Tim Shaffer, Roth 83, 14.231; 12. Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports
7S, 14.243; 13. Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 14.258; 14. Daryn Pittman, Woodburn
21, 14.265; 15. Sean Becker, GP Motorsports 23, 14.273; 16. Brian Brown,
Parsons 6, 14.302; 17. Toni Lutar, Lutar 4X, 14.306; 18. Kraig Kinser, Kinser
11K, 14.401; 19. Joey Saldana, Saldana 17, 14.418; 20. Jonathan Allard, Wright
35, 14.429; 21. Dean Jacobs, Woodward 2, 14.466; 22. Randy Hannagan, TH Racing
1X, 14.488; 23. Dennis Moore, Jr., Williams 0, 14.500; 24. Andy Forsberg,
Forsberg 92, 14.534; 25. Steve Kent, Henderson 7N, 14.566; 26. Jeff Hodgson,
Hodgson V8, 14.579; 27. Jason Meyers, Elite 14, 14.606; 28. Tyler Walker,
Forbrook 5, 14.671; 29. Jason Solwold, K&M Motorsports 18, 14.677; 30. Roger
Crockett, Doyle 111, 14.904; 31. Mike Faria, Faria 4, 14.972; 32. Davey Key,
Key 15K, 15.156; 33. Brian Jamison, Jamison 00, 15.447.
First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Brian Paulus, 2. Craig Dollansky, 3. Sammy
Swindell, 4. Jason Solwold, 5. Andy Forsberg, 6. Brian Jamison, 7. Brian
Brown, 8. Steve Kent, 9. Toni Lutar. (first five qualified for the Preliminary
Feature)
Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Kraig Kinser, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. Dennis
Moore, Jr., 4. Shane Stewart, 5. Erin Crocker, 6. Roger Crockett, 7. Jeff
Hodgson, 8. Sean Becker. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Randy Hannagan, 2. Tim Shaffer, 3. Daryn
Pittman, 4. Joey Saldana, 5. Jason Meyers, 6. Paul McMahan, 7. Danny Lasoski,
8. Mike Faria. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
Fourth Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jason Sides, 2. Dean Jacobs, 3. Steve
Kinser, 4. Tyler Walker, 5. Jonathan Allard, 6. Davey Key, 7. Jeremy Campbell,
8. Terry McCarl. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
First Dash Race (five laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Craig Dollansky, 3. Steve
Kinser, 4. Jason Sides, 5. Kraig Kinser, 6. Randy Hannagan, 7. Erin Crocker,
8. Jonathan Allard. (finish determined the inside starting positions in the
first eight rows in the Preliminary Feature lineup)
Second Dash Race (five laps): 1. Brian Paulus, 2. Tim Shaffer, 3. Shane
Stewart, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. Daryn Pittman, 6. Joey Saldana, 7. Dennis Moore,
Jr., 8. Dean Jacobs. (finish determined the outside starting positions in the
first eight rows in the Preliminary Feature lineup)
B Feature (12 laps): 1. Danny Lasoski, 2. Paul McMahan, 3. Terry McCarl, 4.
Jeff Hodgson, 5. Mike Faria ($150); 6. Steve Kent ($125); 7. Brian Brown
($100); 8. Sean Becker ($75); 9. Davey Key ($60); 10. Brian Jamison ($50); 11.
Roger Crockett ($40). (first four qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
Preliminary Feature (25 laps): 1. Steve Kinser [5] ($5,000); 2. Craig
Dollansky [3] ($3,000); 3. Brian Paulus [2] ($2,500); 4. Tim Shaffer [4]
($2,200); 5. Daryn Pittman [10] ($2,100); 6. Danny Lasoski [17] ($2,020); 7.
Tyler Walker [23] ($1,800); 8. Paul McMahan [18] ($1,620); 9. Jason Sides [7]
($1,500); 10. Dean Jacobs [16] ($1,300): 11. Kraig Kinser [9] ($1,200); 12.
Jonathan Allard [15] ($1,100); 13. Dennis Moore, Jr. [14] ($1,000); 14. Terry
McCarl [19] ($720); 15. Jason Solwold [24] ($600); 16. Randy Hannagan [11]
($600); 17. Joey Saldana [12] ($600); 18. Erin Crocker [13] ($600); 19. Jeff
Hodgson [21] ($620); 20. Shane Stewart [6] ($600); 21. Sammy Swindell [1]
($500); 22. Donny Schatz [8] ($500); 23. Andy Forsberg [20] ($500); 24. Jason
Meyers [22] ($500).
Lap leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-16, Brian Paulus 17-23, Steve Kinser 24-25
