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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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OUTLAWS RETURN TO BAKERSFIELD AFTER LONG RESPITE by Norm Bogan |
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The World of Outlaws has not raced at Bakersfield for nearly a
decade. WOO regular,
Jason Meyers and his partners, secured the track and a date on the
early Outlaw swing through the western states.
Joining the thirty-six Outlaw competitors was a downsized
version known as California Lightning Sprints staging twenty-one
racecars.
The promoters tried an idea that may
have been inspired by Emmett Hahn and Lanny Edwards at the Chili
Bowl. Fans arriving,
who had purchased advanced tickets and those buying tickets early in
the day for that night’s show were given the opportunity to pick
up a pit pass to stroll the pit area from 3 to 5 PM.
They were able to purchase T-shirts from their favorite
drivers, take photos and most of all, let the youngsters experience
the behind the scenes activities in the early afternoon.
After clearing the pits of fans, the action got underway with
track packing, hot laps and qualifying.
It was evident that track preparation
was excellent as eight cars broke into the ten-second-time barrier,
with Darryn Pittman setting a new track record at 10.572.
The WOO cars ran four heats with the top five transferring to
the feature. Two dashes
were held for the top twelve qualifiers with the finishing order
determining the starting order for the Main Event.
Dash winners were Joey Saldana and Brian Paulus, putting them
on the front row. Four
more cars would advance from the Semi to complete the field. The Lightning cars split the field
into two heats and ran all cars that were able to answer the call
for the feature. While
the heats were exciting, the feature saw eventual winner, Taylor
Franklin tangle early after racing side by side with Brad Russell.
Russell was driven into the front stretch wall and flipped,
naturally folding the wings down over the car. The World of Outlaws thirty-five-lap
feature saw Saldana jump into the lead and maintain it for
twenty-three laps, before Craig Dollansky, who started right behind
Joey, got around Paulus and then dogged Saldana before making the
pass to assume the lead and hold off challenges by Joey for the
victory. Following the
front two was a number eleven car, some guy named Steve Kinser or
King, then the host promoter, Jason Meyers and completing the top
five, another eleven car (11K), Steve’s son, Kraig. Another father and son combo in the
field was Sammy Swindell and his son, Kevin.
Sammy was at the controls of the Guy Forbrook #5 car, while
sixteen-year-old Kevin substituted for an ill Jac Haudenschild in
the Beef Packers #83jr machine. Sammy claimed a fourteenth in the feature and Kevin finished
fourteenth in the “B” Feature after a flip. Jason Meyers and his partners did a
good job of coordinating and organizing the program.
This event appeared to be a successful venture and most
likely the Outlaws will return much sooner than a decade.
Question of the week:
Now that WOO icon, Steve Kinser is over fifty, does he
receive an AARP discount at the pit window? |
