Dollansky and Alcorn Big Winners of Eagle Nationals

By Greg Soukup

The Eagle Nationals featuring the "Greatest Show on Dirt", The Advanced Auto
Parts World of Outlaws and the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds was held
Saturday under sunny skies and warm temperatures. A crowd estimated at 5000
witnessed fast and furious action throughout the event.

Donny Schatz managed to put up the quick time of the evening in the Parker
Stores #15, posting a lap of 11.235 seconds. Joining Schatz in the top 5 of
qualifying efforts were Jac Haudenschild's #R19 with a 11.254 second effort,
Jason Meyers' 14 with a 11.262 run, the #15H of Sam Hafertape Jr. with a
11.293 and Terry McCarl in the #24 who's best lap was a 11.300.

The heats in both classes were run in quick order with no incidents.

The Crane Cams Dash, which sets the lineup for the front rows of the
Advanced Auto Parts World of Outlaws feature saw Craig Dollansky first, with
Steve Kinser in second, Jason Meyers in third and Donny Schatz in fourth.

The first feature event was for the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds.
Dave Jewitt's #4M crossed the start/finish line with the lead at the end of
the first lap. Close behind him were the 0 of Jim Krupicka, the 3W of Stacey
Wilhelm and Bob Ruisinger's #7. Chad Anderson moved his #8C into the fourth
spot on lap 6, passing Ruisinger on the outside. On the very next lap
Anderson got around both Wilhelm and Krupicka to garner 2nd with Dylan Smith
following him into third in his #95. Shortly thereafter, Krupicka ran
through the infield coming out of turn #1 and began to drop back in the
pack. It took only 13 laps for two-time defending track champion Chris
Alcorn to advance from his starting spot outside of the 9th row to fourth,
passing Rik Gropp who had taken the spot earlier. A yellow flag came out
that same lap however, allowing Gropp to move back up. On the restart, Smith
snared the second spot from Anderson and then moved around Jewitt for the
lead. On the next circuit, Gropp moved into the third position, followed by
Alcorn who advanced once again to fourth. With 6 laps left in the event,
Gropp took over the lead and Alcorn advanced to third. 2 laps later Smith
retook the point and Gropp was also passed by Alcorn. From there it was a
fierce battle between Alcorn and Smith to see who would come out on top.
Alcorn made numerous attempts to get around Smith on the low side, but
couldn't quite make the pass stick. Finally, coming out of the last turn of
the last lap Alcorn succeeded in taking the lead on the high side.

"The track was pretty darned good tonight. And it was great racing with
Dylan. I knew he wouldn't do anything like take my line away. It's always
good to know that you're battling with a good, clean racer like Dylan"
Alcorn said.

Alcorn's sponsors include Independent Equipment, ATH Motorsports, Midwest
Unlimited, Heavy Company, Spanel Engines and Onyx Digital Group.

Finally the main event of the evening's festivities arrived. After the
Outlaws' signature 4-wide salute to the fans it was time for the Advanced
Auto Parts World of Outlaws A Main event.

Steve Kinser's #11 got to the point first followed by the #2 of Dollansky,
Jason Meyers in the 14, and Donny Shatz's 15. The lead remained unchanged
until lap 5 when Dollansky pulled a slide job to take the lead away from
Kinser as they began to encounter lapped traffic. From there until the
checkered flag Dollansky was challenged several times by Kinser, but
maintained his lead. Although the entire feature was run in just over 8
minutes, the crowd got more than their money's worth with fast-paced action
the whole race. At the checkered flag, the top four were a repeat of the
Crane Cams Dash. Dollansky took the win with Kinser, Meyers and Schatz
behind him.

"This was a really well-prepared track tonight, and that's the way we like
it. I love coming to Eagle, especially when we can win back-to-back like
this" Dollansky stated. "When you have a great track like this, you can do
lots of things, try different lines, pass all over the track" Dollansky
stated. "This was a great win for the Larry Woodward Racing team. We've been
putting out a great team effort lately, and it shows in the results" he
finished.

Dollansky's sponsors include Snap-On, Karavan Trailers and Auto Value Parts
Stores,

Be sure to come out next Saturday when Isles Pub and Pizza and the Kat
present Givin' Back Night, featuring the Budweiser 360 Championship Sprints,
the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds, the Valentino's IMCA Hobby Stocks
and the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts.