Steve Kinser Wins Race, Saldana Wins War

[NC Ghost Hunter]

Steve Kinser survived a double-file restart with Joey Saldana on his outside to earn the 553rd victory of his storied career on Sunday night in the DIRTcar Nationals By University of Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway Park.

On a restart with eight laps to go, Saldana lined up to the outside of Kinser in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series new double-file restart formation. Kinser locked his new Tony Stewart Racing Bass Pro Shops Maxim to the bottom while Saldana tried everything he could in his Kasey Kahne Racing Budweiser Maxim to run down the 20-time series champion. Kinser would not be denied, earning his first victory at Volusia since 1981.

“I knew Saldana was there,” said Kinser, of Bloomington, Ind. “He’s going to be there every night. They’re doing a good job with that race team. He and Donny Schatz are the hottest drivers out there right now.”


Kinser scores his first win for Tony Stewart Racing-Courtesy of DIRTcar

Saldana’s runner-up finish was enough to capture the DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH overall championship. In four nights of racing at Volusia, Saldana won once and finished second three times. “I’m pleased,” said Saldana, who had a series-high 20 main-event wins in 2009. “We had the best car for four nights. At least we’re passing cars. I have the car to win, I just didn’t do it. It was a great effort. My guys have worked really hard this winter. Steve Kinser just put a great show on for the fans.”

Danny Lasoski charged from his 14th starting position to finish third, with Schatz and pole-sitter Tim Kaeding rounding out the top-five. Kaeding led the first 11 laps plus laps 16-17 before Kinser took charge.

DIRTcar Nationals By University of Northwestern Ohio World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Volusia Speedway Park; Feb. 7, 2010
Qualifying
1) 7S-Jason Sides 13.303 2) 15-Donny Schatz 13.361 3) 7-Craig Dollansky 13.365 4) 22H-Greg Hodnett 13.466 5) 3C-Cale Conley 13.479 6) 14-Jason Meyers 13.480 7) 6-Danny Lasoski 13.489 8) 24-Terry McCarl 13.504 9) 13-Paul McMahan 13.505 10) 11-Steve Kinser 13.584 11) 63-Chad Kemenah 13.601 12) 83-Tim Kaeding 13.607 13) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.630 14) 1J-Bronson Maeshen 13.667 15) 7M-Mark Smith 13.674 16) 9-Joey Saldana 13.676 17) 83X-Tim Shaffer 13.704 18) 1-Stevie Smith 13.764 19) 91-Brad Sweet 13.766 20) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 13.779 21) OS-Glenn Styres 13.817 22) R19-Jac Haudenschild 13.825 23) 11E-Mike Erdley 13.828 24) 4X-Toni Lutar 13.834 25) 17-Daryn Pittman 13.858 26) 22-Brian Ellenberger 13.927 27) 11K-Kraig Kinser 13.931 28) 30C-Lance Dewease 13.943 29) 39-Doug Esh 14.026 30) 4B-Tom Busch 14.238 31) 11T-T J Winegardner 15.702 32) 2B-Ben Gregg -.--- 33) 51-Fred Rahmer -.---.

Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 2) 13-Paul McMahan 3) 7S-Jason Sides 4) 39-Doug Esh 5) 83X-Tim Shaffer 6) 3C-Cale Conley 7) 17-Daryn Pittman 8) OS-Glenn Styres

Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 1J-Bronson Maeshen 2) 11-Steve Kinser 3) 15-Donny Schatz 4) 14-Jason Meyers 5) R19-Jac Haudenschild 6) 1-Stevie Smith 7) 22-Brian Ellenberger 8) 4B-Tom Busch

Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7M-Mark Smith 2) 7-Craig Dollansky 3) 6-Danny Lasoski 4) 63-Chad Kemenah 5) 11K-Kraig Kinser 6) 91-Brad Sweet 7) 11E-Mike Erdley 8) 11T-T J Winegardner

Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana 2) 83-Tim Kaeding 3) 24-Terry McCarl 4) 22H-Greg Hodnett 5) 30C-Lance Dewease 6) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 7) 2B-Ben Gregg 8) 4X-Toni Lutar

Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 83-Tim Kaeding 2) 11-Steve Kinser 3) 7-Craig Dollansky 4) 13-Paul McMahan 5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 6) 15-Donny Schatz 7) 7M-Mark Smith 8) 9-Joey Saldana 9) 7S-Jason Sides 10) 1J-Bronson Maeshen

B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 3C-Cale Conley [] 2) 1-Stevie Smith [] 3) 91-Brad Sweet [] 4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe [] 5) 11E-Mike Erdley [$200] 6) 17-Daryn Pittman [$180] 7) 4X-Toni Lutar [$175] 8) OS-Glenn Styres [$160] 9) 11T-T J Winegardner [$150] 10) 2B-Ben Gregg [$150] 11) 22-Brian Ellenberger [$150] 12) 4B-Tom Busch [$150]

A-main (30 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 11-Steve Kinser[2] [$8,000]
2) 9-Joey Saldana[8] [$4,500]
3) 6-Danny Lasoski[14] [$3,000]
4) 15-Donny Schatz[6] [$2,700]
5) 83-Tim Kaeding[1] [$2,400]
6) 14-Jason Meyers[13] [$2,200]
7) 7-Craig Dollansky[3] [$2,100]
8) 24-Terry McCarl[15] [$2,000]
9) 7S-Jason Sides[9] [$1,800]
10) 13-Paul McMahan[4] [$1,600]
11) 91-Brad Sweet[19] [$1,400]
12) 30C-Lance Dewease[23] [$1,100]
13) 11K-Kraig Kinser[22] [$1,000]
14) R19-Jac Haudenschild[21] [$950]
15) 83X-Tim Shaffer[17] [$900]
16) 22H-Greg Hodnett[11] [$800]
17) 7M-Mark Smith[7] [$700]
18) 1-Stevie Smith[18] [$700]
19) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[20] [$700]
20) 3C-Cale Conley[12] [$700]
21) 63-Chad Kemenah[16] [$700]
22) 22-Brian Ellenberger[25] [$]
23) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5] [$700]
24) 1J-Bronson Maeshen[10] [$700]
25) 39-Doug Esh[24] [$700]

Lap Leaders: Tim Kaeding 1-11, 16-17; Steve Kinser 12-15, 18-30
KSE Hard Charger Award: Danny Lasoski
Penske Power Position Award: Mark Smith

Source:
DIRTcar Nationals
1 Speedway Drive
Weedsport, NY 13166
Phone: 315-834-6606