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Kevin Swindell takes 2nd straight Chili Bowl title
TULSA, Okla. (January 15, 2011) – It took 25 years for a back-to-back winner to happen at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals Presented by General Tire, and it was only fitting that it was a Swindell to do it on the event’s Silver Anniversary.
Kevin Swindell added a Silver Driller to his trophy case that will likely sit beside the Golden Driller he won in 2010, as he held off a late charge from his father and five-time Chili Bowl champ, Sammy, on the final lap to take the victory in the 50-lap main event.
Sammy Swindell notched his third straight podium finish at the QuikTrip Center, while hard-charging New Zealander Michael Pickens overcame an early incident to charge his way back into the third spot. Native Oklahoman Jonathan Beason finished fourth after starting Saturday night in the B Main, and Bryan Clauson, who led the race’s first 12 laps, finished fifth.
November 17th, 2010
JONES, STEWART CLAIM AMSOIL NATIONAL TITLES KAEDING GRABS 31ST “PACIFIC COAST NATIONALS” VICTORY
Levi Jones and the Tony Stewart Racing Team are the 2010 AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Champions. Jones also locked up the Sprint Car Dirt crown Saturday night, finishing second to Bud Kaeding in the 31st “Pacific Coast Nationals” finale at the Gropetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway at Tulare, Calif.
Kaeding, of Campbell, Calif., captured Saturday night’s Tulare 30-lapper, leading the final 23 laps after race leaders Bryan Clauson and Damion Gardner tangled and flipped. Neither driver was injured in the incident, two of seven flips which interrupted Saturday’s Sprint racing action. Following Kaeding’s Alviso Rock/High Five Pizza Maxim/Speedway Chevy were Jones, Tracy Hines, Justin Grant and Matt Mitchell. Jones finished the National campaign with a 132-point margin over runner-up Gardner and sliced Clauson’s USAC National Drivers Championship lead to five points with two races remaining (at Ventura and Irwindale, Calif.).
Mike Spencer, the AMSOIL USAC/CRA point leader, finished seventh and increased his insurmountable lead over Danny Sheridan to 356 points with just one race remaining, at Perris, Calif. Nov. 27. Clauson led the first seven laps before he and Gardner tangled. Jones’ championship is his fourth, which ties Steve Butler’s USAC National Sprint Championship record.
October 19th, 2010
STANBROUGH & DARLAND TO INVADE VENTURA'S OCTOBER 23RD ALL COAST 360 CHALLENGE FINALE
For competitors with the VRA 360 Sprint Cars Series, the season finale for the All Coast Construction 360 Challenge will be held October 23rd at Jim Naylor's Ventura Raceway. Featuring a $5,000-to-win and $300-to-start main event, an additional $5,000 will be awarded to the series champion. With a possible $10,000 payday to the winning driver, the action packed night is one of the most anticipated events of the year at "The Best Little Dirt Track In America." Founded in 2008 by All Coast Construction’s Mike Grosswendt and Ventura Raceway Promoter Jim Naylor, the popular mini-series has grown to become one of the most prestigious Traditional Sprint Car events on the West Coast. “I have a great affection for Jim Naylor and this fantastic racing program he has built,” asserts Grosswendt. “This series celebrates his organization, the fans and most of all the incredible drivers that come here and compete at such a high level. Jim and I are working hard to give everyone an unbelievable racing experience on October 23rd!” All Coast Construction will be providing free commemorative posters to the fans and all sprint car drivers will receive a free commemorative Driver’s T-Shirt.
Camarillo's Josh Ford won the March 20th event and holds a ten point advantage over June 26th winner Jimmy Crawford of Newbury Park. To win the title, both drivers will have to battle a talented roster of drivers including VRA point leader Troy Rutherford, former track champions Greg Taylor and Luis Espinoza, former USAC Western Midget champion Rick Hendrix, 2010 Wagsdash champion Brody Roa, and the other top drivers of the Ventura Racing Association.
Avon, Indiana's Jon Stanbrough will compete for the $5,000 top prize behind the wheel a potent Steve Watt owned machine. Among the many accomplishments during his Sprint Car career, Stanbrough won this year's USAC Indiana Sprint Week title and the 2010 King of Indiana Sprint Car Series crown. During the 2010 campaign, Watt has captured feature wins at the Ventura oval with "The Kruser" Cory Kruseman, Matt Mitchell, Don Gansen, and Jesse Denome as his drivers.
Lincoln, Indiana's Dave Darland will be driving Tommy Horne's brand new entry on October 23rd. Darland is one of five drivers in USAC history to claim championships in all three national divisions. In addition, the future Hall of Fame driver has won prestigious events including the Oval Nationals, Western World Championships, Indiana Sprint Week, Belleville Midget Nationals, and the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Horne currently serves as Crew Chief for VRA Senior Sprint Car champion Bruce Douglass and Victor Davis.
October 4th, 2010
Mechanicsburg, PA — While he is not a full-time World of Outlaws driver, Sammy Swindell is certainly not a member of the Pennsylvania Posse either. Racing when he wants, where he wants, the three-time World of Outlaws champion put an end to the Pennsylvania Posse’s nine-race win streak at Williams Grove Speedway on Saturday night, taking the $50,000 top prize in the Morgan Hughes National Open at the famed half-mile in front of one of the largest crowds in track history, with the cameras from SPEED capturing all of the action for future broadcast.
The win for Swindell was his first at Williams Grove since 2000 and his second National Open triumph to go along with a victory in the prestigious event in 1997. He has four wins this season with the World of Outlaws and now has won at Williams Grove in four different decades, with the first of those coming in 1980.
“Sometimes it takes a while to get it right I guess,” said Swindell with a smile when reminded when the last time he won the National Open was. “These guys were able to give me something to work with and we put ourselves in a good position. We were fortunate that a lot of things played out for us tonight. We learned a lot and were making changes all weekend and just kept getting better. We had it right when it counted.”
Swindell took the lead from Jason Meyers on a lap-27 single file restart and never looked back on his way to the win. He opened the night by turning the fastest lap of the 56 cars that took to the track for qualifying. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the first heat race to earn a spot in the dash.
“This is a tough place,” said the native of Germantown, Tennessee. “Last night (Friday) for example we had a bad draw and were buried in the heat and got in that crash and bent some stuff up, so we just used it as a test. We tried some things and did some things we don’t normally do since we were back there and learned from that and it paid off tonight.”
Swindell lined up seventh aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim and worked his way into the Top-Five in the early going. He got under Stevie Smith for second coming off turn four on the 25th lap, then setting his sights on Meyers, who he would blast by two circuits later on a restart on the high side of turn two, following a couple of red flags.
“I knew that our car was really really good the first couple laps,” he said. “I was really hooked up and could run really hard, but with the double file restarts and some things I just couldn’t get the position. I knew when we had the single file deal that I had to get to the outside and if I could get to the outside I knew I could carry a lot more speed. It just worked out right for us. We were in the right place at the right time.” The race began with Jason Meyers taking the lead from pole sitter Brian Montieth as the field charged down the front straightaway. Montieth stuck right with the leader in the early going and looked both high and low in turns one and two as well as three four in a bid for the lead.
Meyers entered lapped traffic for the first time on the eighth lap, with the first caution of the night flying four circuits later. Meyers was out front for two double file restarts and chose the high side of the speedway each time and used strong starts to quickly jump back out to a lead. A crash on the 27th lap following a double file restart led to a single file restart.
Lance Dewease made a late race charge and closed up on Swindell on the final lap in turns three and four, coming up less than four-tenths of-a-second away from a win aboard the Advanced Development J&J. He ended up second as he made a bid to become just the third driver-ever to win the National Open four times. “We had a real good race car the whole time,” stated Dewease. “That last red (flag) the tires cooled off too much and we lost too much air. It just took me about five laps to get going again, but we had a good car. I can’t complain about it. We were just one lap too short.”
Meyers, who led the first 27 laps of the 40-lap contest, ended up third aboard the GLR Investments KPC to extend his lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings. He currently leads 20-time series champion Steve Kinser, who got caught up in an accident on the 12th lap which ended his night in 28th, by 102 markers, with Donny Schatz who finished 11th, third in points-111 markers back and Joey Saldana, who was 19th on Saturday night, fourth-115 markers out of the top spot. The lead for Meyers is the largest that any driver has had this season. “We lost the battle tonight, but we are trying to win the war,” said Meyers. “It was still a good night. We had a good car and led a lot of laps. It was a good weekend for us. This is what it’s all about. We have four races to go and we have to keep digging. Good runs like tonight will help us. We want to win some more races before the year is over and we have a good race car right now. I’m looking forward to next weekend.”
Two open red flags gave the drivers and crews a couple of chances to work on their machines throughout the course of the 40-lap race. Dewease was running third both times when the red flag waved and had a very strong car on the longer green flag runs. “We never touched our race car the whole night,” shared Dewease. “From the time we unloaded it, we just made a couple of minor adjustments. I thought I had a good enough car and after that red I felt like I had a car that was capable of winning the race. We made up a lot of ground on Sammy (Swindell) the last three or four laps and definitely had a good car.”
September 28, 2010
Concord, NC — Jason Meyers and Kasey Kahne Racing’s Joey Saldana have been in a back-and-forth battle for their first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship all season, with 20-time champion Steve Kinser looking to pounce from only a few points back.
However, a scary crash on the opening lap at Friday night’s main event at Eldora Speedway has had a major impact on that battle. Saldana, who had moved back atop the standings after qualifying, started on the outside of the front row when a caution came out before the field could complete a circuit at the high-banked track in Rossburg, Ohio, owned by Tony Stewart.
Saldana made contact with pole-sitter Sammy Swindell and was sent hard into the fence, ending his night in last place. Saldana was taken to a hospital for observation and released on Saturday before the series competed at Lernerville Speedway. His lead in the standings turned into a 20-point deficit, which will grow since he won’t be competing on Saturday night in the Commonwealth Clash.
“He’s doing pretty good,” said crew chief Willie Kahne. “From talking to (his wife) Shannon he is still pretty groggy. His jaw hurts and his back hurts and his memory is not quite right. He’s not fit to race tonight, that’s for sure, but he’ll make a full recovery in the next few days I’m sure.
Kasey Kahne Racing’s Brad Sweet will fill in at Lernerville for Saldana, who will receive 75 medical exemption points in the drivers’ standings while Sweet will attempt to close the gap to Meyers’ Elite Racing Team in the owners’ standings that increased to 20 points following Eldora. Not only are Meyers and Saldana trying to capture their first World of Outlaws championships, but their teams are also looking for their first crowns.
“It’s a good benefit to our program that when we get into tough situations like this that we have drivers that can fill in and that are familiar with our program. Hopefully we won’t skip a beat.” The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars Series competes next in the National Open on Oct. 1-2 at Williams Grove Speedway
DON GANSEN SCORES FIRST VENTURA VICTORY VENTURA, CA
On another wild night at Jim Naylor's Ventura Raceway, Rialto's Don Gansen drove to his first career feature victory with the VRA Sprint Car Series. The popular win made Gansen the tenth different driver in seventeen races at "The Best Little Dirt Track In America." Pacing the twenty car feature to the green flag were Santa Paula's Jeff Fillingame and Guy Woodward of Santa Clarita. With both drivers looking for their first 30-lap main event win, Fillingame got the jump on Woodward. Roaring through the first turns, Santa Barbara's Marcus Niemela dropped Woodward to third and used the low line to chase after Fillingame. On the next lap, Niemela executed a turn two slide job to take the lead as Fillingame tired to battle back. Niemela was too strong and held the lead as Ventura's Greg Taylor charged to third from his sixth starting spot. Before the action packed lap was completed, Woodward flipped his #24 Woodward Kitchen & Bath entry. Guy walked away uninjured, but was done for the night. As action resumed, Fillingame paced the field in his #49X Ron Bach Construction machine with Niemela, Taylor, Brian Camarillo, and John Nock close behind. Fillingame led the next circuit on the low groove as Marcus took to the high line of the Ventura clay oval. Gaining momentum, Niemela powered by Fillingame for the lead and Taylor used the same tactic to race into second. Niemela led the next seven circuits in his #3 Polly Gallimore entry until Taylor took command with a turn one slide job. Looking for his fifth win of the year, Taylor favored the high line in his #7 Taylor Trucking & Crane car. Setting a fast pace, Taylor was driving past slower traffic and Brian Camarillo reeled in the leader. Powering into turn four, Camarillo and Taylor made contact, launching Taylor into the catch fence. Both drivers were out of the race and walked away uninjured. Don Gansen inherited the lead with point leader Troy Rutherford, Marcus Niemela, Josh Ford, and John Nock in single file. Rutherford motored by Gansen heading into turn one as Niemela gave chase. In a quick instant, Marcus turned his car over after contact with Gansen. Niemela's night was over and he was credited with a sixteenth place finish. Once again with the lead, Gansen made the best of the opportunity in his #81 Christian Stover Foundation machine. Don managed to hold off the field by leading the last eleven laps to the checkered flag. Following Gansen across the finish line were Troy Rutherford, Josh Ford, Brody Roa, and John Nock. Taking the victory from the eight starting spot, Don Gansen sits eighth in the point chase. Earlier in the program, the former California Lightning Sprint Car champion finished second in his heat race to Brian Camarillo. To date, Gansen has three heat race wins and seven top-10 finishes on the season.
-September 10th, 2010
Swindell Sails to Win in Opener of Gold Cup
CHICO, CA (9-9-10) - Sammy Swindell won the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway for the first time in 1981 and has been trying to win the famed event ever since. The three-time World of Outlaws champion moved one step closer to that goal on Thursday night returning to Victory Lane in the opener of the three-day event to score his first triumph at the ¼-mile bullring since a preliminary feature win in 1996. Swindell battled fellow Hall of Famer Jac Haudenschild for a majority of the 30-lap contest, trading the lead three times, and slicing in and out of traffic, running side-by-side. Swindell took the lead from Haudenschild for the first time on the fourth lap on the low side of turns one and two. Haudenschild retook the top spot on the 18th circuit coming off turn four in heavy traffic. Swindell moved back into the lead with three laps remaining when Haudenschild hooked a rut and got upside coming off turn four while out front. "It's great to get a win here and hopefully we can get two more," said Swindell. "The whole crew did a great job tonight. We had a few issues early on in our heat that we had to work on and didn't get a chance to do some of the things I wanted to do for the dash. We were able to make the adjustments I wanted to make for the main event. I could really hustle it (the car) in there and make it cut and get right back on the throttle. We had to work for it there a little bit." The race began with Evan Suggs, who started on the outside of the front row jumping to the lead. He spun coming off turn four on the second lap, handing the lead to Haudenschild, who chose the high side on the ensuing double file restart. Steve Kinser got the jump on the start and charged into turns one and two as the leader when the right rear hub on his machine broke, sending him into a flip and ending his night in the 24th spot. A total of eight cars were caught up in the incident, including Joey Saldana, who entered the night as the World of Outlaws point leader. Saldana would return to the race after repairs were made to his machine and finish 15th. Jason Meyers came home fourth, coupled with setting fast time to earn five bonus points, to move to the top of the World of Outlaws standings by a mere two markers over Saldana, with Kinser third, only 25 points back. Sammy Swindell wins opening night.Swindell endured two cautions and three red flag periods over the course of the 30-lap contest en route to the $8,000 win, which was his third of the season with the World of Outlaws aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim. "I got in the traffic and got hung up on one of the back markers and nearly got up over his wheel and that let Haud (Jac Haudenschild) get by," explained Swindell. "His car was a little too tight and kept standing up on him. I was just kind of waiting for my chance. A couple of times I was around him there in (turns) one and two and there wasn't a lot to work with in three and four so I didn't try that. The car was good enough that I could get down in there and I was just hoping to get another chance at him." Swindell chose the low line on the final double file restart of the night with three laps remaining and quickly shot out to a lead over Jonathan Allard to pull away for the win. The native of Germantown, Tennessee chose the low line both times he was out front on double file restarts. "I knew when we took off that the car was very good and just kind of had to be patient and not get in trouble and not tear it up," shared the winner. "That was the key and it was the same when I was behind Haud. I didn't want to tear it up. I wanted to win and we had a pretty good race a couple of times. I was under him a couple of times and beside him a couple of times and he was able to shut the door enough that it wasn't worth the gamble to go for it and take us both out." Jonathan Allard, who hails from Chico, ended up second after starting in the seventh row. He was up to the seventh spot just two laps into the 30-lapper and was in the Top-Five by lap-6 in the Red Line Oil A.R.T. "It was a great start considering we lined up 13th," stated Allard. "I didn't think we would go through the pack like that. I thought it was going to be pretty narrow. We got a couple of lucky breaks and a couple good restarts and that definitely helped. That last red (flag) killed us. Sammy (Swindell) got pinned on the bottom and I started to get a good run through the middle and we had that restart and I just stumbled on the restart and couldn't get after him. I'm really happy for my crew and it's always great to do well in the hometown." Brad Sweet matched the best finish of his career with the World of Outlaws coming home third on Thursday night in the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Maxim. He lined up 10th and steadily worked his way to the front. "It's a big event for us and my home track, so to come out and run in the Top-Three with these guys is good," Sweet said. "That's the first step to winning the thing, is having a good first night and setting yourself up. We have to come out tomorrow and have a solid night and put ourselves up front for Saturday night." Jason Meyers finished fourth in the GLR Investments KPC, and earned the most event points of the 52 competitors in attendance, as he set fast time and won a heat. Event points earned on Thursday and Friday will set the feature lineups for Saturday night. Sam Hafertepe Jr. earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award coming all the way from 22nd to fifth in the Lone Star Speedway Maxim. Jason Sides was sixth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, with Paul McMahan seventh piloting the Great Clips Maxim. Donny Schatz came from 19 th to finish eighth in the Armor All/STP J&J, with Kerry Madsen ninth in the Halls Haulage KPC after lining up 18th. Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-10 in the Stadlehoffer Construction Maxim after starting 23rd. The 57th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California continues on Friday, September 10.
-September 7th, 2010
Fantastic Weekend Ends with 3rd Place Finish at Speedarama LUFKIN, Texas (September 5, 2010)
Coming off two impressive wins in ASCS Gulf South competition, Jason Johnson and the JJR #41 team pulled into Speedarama Raceway looking to make it three wins in a row. Returning to the 3/8th Mile oval where he captured an early season victory back on April 24th, the team was brimming with confidence. After a strong run in the feature, in which the team overcame some challenges, Jason pulled the #41 Maxim into the hauler with a well earned third place finish. With 32 cars in the pits, Jason and the team watched the first three heat events to get an idea how to set up the ISC Racers Tape #41 for heat race action. The Cajun Sensation pulled his #41 Maxim out on the Lufkin, Texas oval trying to continue his heat action success over the Labor Day weekend. Seizing every opportunity and driving hard in every turn, Jason distanced the field for the heat race victory over Channin Tankersley’s #71, Gary Wright’s #9x, Skip Wilson’s #65, and the Travis Elliott’s #15T. With every competitor shooting to block Johnson from sweeping all three ASCS Gulf South events during the Labor Day weekend, Jason and the JJR #41 team were eager to capture their third straight victory. Lining up for the feature, Beau Smith and Tommy Bryant paced the field to the green flag. Andy Shouse would quickly take over the second spot with the Cajun stalking the leaders. Locked into a torrid battle with Gary Wright, Johnson and Wright got together exiting turn two while battling for the sixth spot on lap five. Both cars rolled to a stop on the backstretch, but were able to restart from the rear of the field. With the adrenaline pumping, Jason knew he had the Don Ott horsepower needed to make his way back to the front during the remaining laps. Both Johnson and Wright took off on the restart, working their way forward with each passing lap. When the yellow flag was displayed on lap 13 for Tommy Bryant’s stalled mount in turn three, the Cajun was already up to the seventh position. Never one to give up, when the green was waved over the field, Johnson continue his trek to the front of the field. On lap 21, Beau Smith’s #51s spun to a stop on the backstretch after apparent contact with Johnson’s #41 Maxim while racing for the fourth position. Staring at Skip Wilson’s tail tank while awaiting the restart, Johnson was able to get by Wilson on the restart, but ran out of laps crossing the start finish line behind race winner Andy Shouse and runner up Channin Tankersley. Skip Wilson brought his mount home in fourth and Aaron Reutzel rounded out the top five. After the race, Johnson lamented, “Our Don Ott powered Maxim was fast tonight. We needed a few more laps, but we had a great weekend of racing for JJR and our sponsorship partners.” He continued, “These ASCS Gulf South races are tough. They are good racers! We had fun racing with them this weekend.” With his two wins, one at Golden Triangle Raceway Park (Friday) and one at Gator Motorplex (Saturday), and a third place finish at Speedarama Raceway, Johnson and the JJR team were able to collect a $500 extra incentive from Griffith Trucking for winning two of three on the weekend.
-September 6th, 2010
Cajun Drives to ASCS Win at Golden Triangle Raceway Park
BEAUMONT, Texas (September 3, 2010) – Kicking off the Labor Day weekend, Jason Johnson pulled his JJR #41 into victory lane in ASCS Regional competition at Golden Triangle Raceway Park (GTRP). The win at GTRP was his second is as many races at the fast and racy 1⁄4-mile high banked gumbo clay oval in Beaumont, Texas.
After arriving, the team went to work setting the car up for the evening of racing against a 27 car field of competitors. Jason was slotted for the second eight lap heat event with a stout field of competitors. Jason seized control of the event and raced across the finish line first ahead of Chris Sweeney, Wes Miller, Andy Shouse, and Brandon Berryman.
In the 25 lap feature event, Jason lined the K&N Filters #41 Maxim on the outside of row three in the sixth starting position. At the drop of the green, Jason stomped on the loud pedal chasing the leaders into turn number one. Using the top side of the track, Johnson made his way into the third position, behind Skip Wilson and Aaron Reutzel, as the first lap was completed. Keeping the accelerator down, he used his Don Ott powerplant to track the leader down and made the pass on Wilson entering turn three on the low side for the lead on the fourth circuit. With Reutzel and Wilson in tow, the Cajun set a torrid pace
around the 1⁄4-mile oval. The yellow flag was displayed on the 13th lap, Reutzel pulled up on his rear nerf bar to get a closer look at the #41 on the tail tank, but that would be the closest he would get. When the green flag was waved to restart the event, Johnson checked out on the field. Another yellow was displayed, but Jason did not waver. Over the last six laps, Johnson did not give the hard charging Reutzel an opportunity to take over the lead. He raced the #41 hard on the high side of turns one and two and stuck to the bottom in turns three and four and crossed the line first ahead of the #87 of Aaron Reutzel, #85 of Tommy Bryant, #65 of Skip Wilson, and the #15T of Travis Elliott rounding out the top five.
ASCS Gulf South Results – Golden Triangle Raceway Park, Beaumont, TX (25 Laps): “A” Feature: 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 3. 85-Tommy Bryant, 4. 65-Skip Wilson, 5. 15T-Travis Elliott, 6. 93-Chris Sweeney, 7. 51w-Wes Miller, 8. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 9. 27-Andy Shouse, 10. 35-Greg Rilat, 11. 16-Koty Adams, 12. 3-Gary Watson, 13. 30x-Bean Elliott, 14. 7-Michael McNeil, 15. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 16. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 17. 51s-Beau Smith, 18. 31-Brandon Berryman, 19. 71-Channin Tankersley, 20. 69-Larry Howery.