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Photo's by Paul Trevino
www.paultrevinoracingphotos.com
Joey Saldana dominates Saturday night main event at Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway and takes World of Outlaws point lead in process
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – March 8, 2010…A night after saying he didn't quite drive hard enough after finishing in the runner-up spot Brownsburg, Indiana's Joey Saldana came back on Saturday and left nothing on the table to dominate much of the main event in convincing fashion and score his fourth career victory at Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway.
It marked the third time that the "Brownsburg Bullet" has captured a WOO feature at the 1/3 mile clay oval and the second straight season he has won the finale of the March double-header weekend. "I really have to thank my team tonight because this one was a total team effort," said Saldana, who now sits atop the series standings. "We blew the motor in the dash and these guys worked hard to get it fixed in time for the feature and the car was still really fast so I'm pretty happy to be standing here right now."
The 35-lap affair began with Saldana getting the jump over pole sitter Tim Kaeding, but things were slowed down right off the bat when Craig Dollansky and Kaeding got together in turn one, which resulted in Dollansky getting upside down and collecting Jac Haudenschild. When the green lights came back on Saldana once again rocketed into the lead aboard his Kasey Kahne Racing, Budweiser No. 9 machine as he attempted to put some distance between he and the rest of the field.
Early in the going that didn't happen though as Kaeding stayed within striking distance of Saldana every step of the way and the pair put on a show battling for the lead on the extremely hooked-up Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway clay. While trying to chase down the leader Kaeding also had to deal with the night's fastest qualifier Lucas Wolfe, who continued a very strong and impressive weekend attempting to move his way into the fight for the lead.
The complexion of the race would change on lap 11 however, as Kaeding's DTR Transport, Roth Motorsports No. 83 broke loose in the second corner and spun around collecting four-time WOO champ Donny Schatz to bring out the red flag. Kaeding had too much damage to continue and although Schatz returned, he would also soon be out of the race after pitting during an ensuing caution and ultimately getting trapped in the work area. With Kaeding out of the race nobody was even close to Saldana up front, even despite Friday night's winner Jason Meyers moving up to the second spot on the restart after passing Wolfe a couple of circuits prior to the lap 11 accident.
The final caution of the race spelled disaster for Wolfe as a reported broken driveshaft ended his night on the 14th lap while sitting in the third position aboard his Allebach Racing No. 5w. It was the second night in a row the Pennsylvania driver had issues take away solid top-five runs, but despite the tough luck Wolfe was very impressive over the weekend and showed what he's certainly capable of doing after getting more and more laps on the different tracks across the country.
The final 21-laps of the race was all about Saldana up front as he charged through lapped traffic with no hesitation and maintained a comfortable margin over second place Meyers throughout the rest of the feature to take the checkered flag and earn his first World of Outlaws victory of the season. "It's so tough to win these things because there are so many great drivers out here and no matter how many you win they always feel special," Saldana commented following the main event. "The first one during the season is always the hardest so now we can just focus on racing and hopefully more wins will come."
After winning his first career World of Outlaws main event at Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway on Friday Clovis, CA racer Jason Meyers backed it up with a second place effort on Saturday at the helm of his GLR Investments, Elite Racing No. 14. "The team worked real hard all weekend and to be able to win last night and run second tonight is pretty awesome with all my sponsors, family and friends in attendance," said Meyers, who now sits just seven digits behind Saldana for the series point lead. "I want to congratulate Joey and his team because they were checked out tonight and he got through traffic really good so the rest of us were pretty much racing for second."
Coming home in third and having a very impressive run after starting from 14th was Pennsylvania legend Fred Rahmer, who made a successful Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway debut that also included a dash win and sixth place finish on Friday in his C&S Lawn Landscape, Material Handling Systems No. 51 machine. One stretch of Saturday's feature saw "Fast Freddy" pass a number of cars as he ripped around the 1/3 mile clay like a Thunderbowl veteran. "It was really nice coming out here and meeting some new people and I had a lot of fun," Rahmer said. "I've never seen a place like this because we don't have anything like it back home. I appreciate everyone for having me out here and have to thank Brent Kaeding and his guys for helping out with the set-up."
The remainder of the top-10 in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series main event was comprised of Bloomington, Indiana's Kraig Kinser, Bartlett, Tennessee's Jason Sides, Bloomington, Indiana's Steve Kinser, Sunnyvale, Texas' Sam Hafertepe Jr, Nashville, Tennessee's Paul McMahan, Easton, CA's Tommy Tarlton and Owasso, Oklahoma's Daryn Pittman.
The companion USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series main event was picked off by Dean "Kiwi" Alexander, who inherited the lead after contact between Danny Sheridan and Peter Murphy took them out of contention for the win. The scheduled 30-lapper began with Alexander grabbing the lead, but that didn't last long as Murphy shot around him on lap three to put his Tarlton & Son Inc, Tachi Palace No. 21 into the top-spot. Sheridan soon followed suit and began to apply heavy-intense pressure to the rear of Murphy with the driver known as "Showtime" looking high and low to do something with the leader.
Sheridan would finally make the move on lap 11 to claim the lead aboard his Kittle Motorsports No. 18 mount, but soon after taking the lead contact would ensue between him and Murphy, which resulted in Sheridan's sprinter getting upside down in turn three and putting him out of the race. With front end damage to his car Murphy also stopped and the Clovis driver was forced to pit and make repairs. When the green flag came out again Alexander led the field into turn one, but soon felt pressure from Fresno's Craig Stidham.
The former Trophy Cup champ methodically closed in on Alexander as he tried to find a way by the McCowan Motorsports No. 11, but he would run out of laps when a caution on lap 25 also brought out the checkered flag due to curfew considerations. Alexander would score the win with Stidham, Danny Faria Jr, Jace VanderWeerd, Garrett Ishii, Richard VanderWeerd, Peter Murphy, Chris Ennis, Jimmy Thompson and Andy Ferris rounding out the top-10.
Racing action will return to the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday night April 3 with an event featuring the USAC West Coast 360 Sprinters and dirt modifieds. For results and more info log onto www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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After winning his first career World of Outlaws main event at his home track of Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway on Friday Jason Meyers of nearby Clovis backed it up on Saturday with a second place finish aboard his GLR Investments, Elite Racing, DDNi No. 14. Meyers now sits only seven points behind Saldana for the series point lead as he looks to become the first California driver to win the World of Outlaws title.
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