Two for Two: Dollansky Wraps Up Weekend Sweep with a Win in the Eagle Nationals

From the World of Outlaws

Craig Dollansky felt like he let a win slip away on Wednesday night at
Sedalia's State Fair Speedway while leading in traffic, and he made sure
history did not repeat itself as he held off Steve Kinser in heavy traffic
to win the Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska on Saturday night.

Dollansky started on the pole and dropped back to second behind Kinser at
the start, but dove under Kinser exiting the fourth turn on the fifth lap to
make the pass for the lead and ultimately the win. It was Dollansky's second
consecutive A-Feature win and his fourth on the season. It was also his
second straight win driving a specially painted Snap-on Tool Maxim.

"It was a great night," said the winner, who earned $10,000 for the 25th
A-Feature win of his World of Outlaws career. "I am very happy for Larry
Woodward and everyone that stands behind this race team. The crew worked
hard as always and I am very proud of them. We had a great Maxim race car
tonight with Charlie Garrett power."

Lapped traffic was the story on Saturday night, as the event went 40 laps
non-stop in nine minutes and 23 seconds on the high-banked 1/3-mile. A
number of times over the course of the race, Dollansky pulled away from
Kinser, as he was able to slice his way through the slower machines,
eventually lapping all but the Top-Eight finishers.

"Typically you don't see that happen very often, but that puts on a good
show for the fans when you can keep going," said the native of Elk River,
Minnesota. "We didn't get the lead at the start of the race and we had to
work our way past Steve (Kinser) and the Snap-on car was working well
tonight. We kept working on it all night and tried to keep up with the race
track."

At the drop of the green, Kinser got the jump and charged into the first
turn. He would lead the first three laps, before Dollansky took the lead
just before the pair first encountered traffic. Dollansky was held up a
couple of times in heavy traffic, but each time was able to clear the slower
machines before Kinser was able to close in on him.

"Lapped traffic definitely made some things happen tonight," he reiterated.
"Going 40-laps non-stop stirs some things up. The car felt real good in
traffic. I felt like I had the car I needed in traffic to drive it a little
harder. Lapped traffic can make or break and tonight we were operating
through it pretty well."

In addition to battling traffic for the duration of the event, the drivers
also had their hands full with the racing surface at Eagle Raceway which
continued to change throughout the 40-lap contest. Dollansky was able to
negotiate the track early in the race, as he turned the fastest lap of any
of the competitors on the second circuit and then set a blistering pace once
in the lead.

"The cushion was inconsistent and that's a good thing," explained Dollansky.
"That makes you have to navigate it and everyone can't just follow the same
line around the race track. Each corner has different characteristics. My
hat is off to SLS (Promotions) and Eagle Raceway for the job they did
preparing this track for all the fans that came out."

After a busy stretch that saw the World of Outlaws compete six times over
the last nine days, Dollansky is pleased with the direction of his team, as
they will receive a much deserved break this week. He is currently third in
points on the strength of 19 Top-10 finishes in 20 starts this season.

"We were plagued a little bit with some issues with our motor program, and
we are definitely working toward getting that sorted out," he noted. "You
have to be strong every night and work hard all year long. We just keep
focus on winning races and keep ourselves in this hunt in the championship
chase."

Kinser led the A-Feature early on Saturday night and wound up second in the
Q Oil Maxim, after his team changed engines after a runner-up finish in the
Crane Cams Dash. On the opening lap of the A-Feature he dove under Dollansky
entering the first turn to lead.

"I got the gear a little bit high, but we had some motor problems in the
dash and I went ahead and stuck a higher gear it in," said the 20-time World
of Outlaws champion. "I don't know if it would have helped me or not. I got
the rolling around a little bit better, but it was flopping around some.
We're learning a little bit and just have to keep running and hopefully
we'll get these cars working a little better."

Kinser was able to close on Dollansky in open race track a number of times,
but got bottled in traffic nearly every time he got close to him. He used a
couple of different lines during the race as he tried to track down
Dollansky.

"I would catch him a little bit and then he would get away from me," shared
the native of Bloomington, Indiana. "It depended on how we caught lapped
traffic. It was back and forth. I was down on the bottom of one and two and
he slid up high early in the race and I let him get a run on me. I shouldn't
have done that. He was running pretty good and may have gotten by me
anyway."

Kinser, who has won 24 times at Eagle Raceway in his career, was not
surprised to see the race go green-to-checker non-stop. It was the seventh
consecutive race that has featured a large amount of traffic which
ultimately had played into the outcome of those events.

"With the caliber of cars we had in the race, it was not surprising," he
added. "You have strong cars out here right now and there were 24 good cars
tonight. Most of them are capable of winning a race."

Jason Meyers picked up his second consecutive third-place finish as he
earned the final podium position on Saturday night. The native of Clovis,
California leads the series with 17 Top-Five finishes in 20 starts driving
the GLR Investments KPC. He closed on Kinser a couple of times in traffic,
but could never get even with him to attempt a pass.

"It's another Top-Five finish and we have to keep putting those up on the
board," said Meyers. "It was a technical race track tonight. A good race
track, but just really tough to get a run on people. We just couldn't quite
get enough to get a run on the guys. We would close up on them in traffic
and it was tough to get a run on anyone tonight."

Donny Schatz finished fourth aboard the Armor All J&J for Tony Stewart
Racing, as he continues to chase his third consecutive series title. He
remains the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in every event this
season. He holds a 43-point advantage over Meyers in the championship
standings. He began the night by turning the fastest lap in time trials,
which earned him five bonus points.

"We qualified well and got ourselves up there in the heat to get in the
dash," said Schatz. "I totally misjudged the race track in what it was going
to do. I didn't expect it to stay fast on the top like that and it did. We
banked on our race car being able to move off it and I just couldn't get it
to turn for 40 laps. It was a handful. When you have nights like that, and
we don't have them very often, you just have to look at it as being done and
move on."

Shane Stewart finished fifth in the Roth Motorsports KPC to earn his eighth
Top-Five finish of the season.

Joey Saldana was sixth in the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI, with
Jac Haudenschild in seventh aboard the Owens Corning Fiberglass Maxim. Terry
McCarl was eighth driving the Big Game Treestands Eagle, with Sam Hafertepe
Jr. in ninth in the G.H. Plumbing J&J. Kerry Madsen rounded out the Top-10
driving the TK Concrete Maxim.

The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action
on Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21 in the Boot Hill Showdown at Dodge
City Raceway Park in Kansas.

EAGLE NATIONALS NOTEBOOK

. FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 26 cars that took time with an AMB
i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval at 11.235 seconds at
106.702 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The
next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jac
Haudenschild (4), Jason Meyers (3), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2), and Terry McCarl
(1).

. QUALIFYING WINNERS: Donny Schatz, Jac Haudenschild and Craig Dollansky won
heat races. Craig Dollansky won the Crane Cams Dash. Tony Bruce Jr. won the
B-Main.