TATNELL CAPTURES WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT SERIES FULTON DEBUT

Fulton, NY — July 25, 2005 — By Chris Dolack, World of Outlaws Senior Writer - With cars scattered back and forth in the top and bottom grooves Monday night in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series debut at Fulton Speedway, Brooke Tatnell had the right combination of moves to slide to the front and pick up his second victory of the season.

Through qualifying, none of the 26 cars in the pits were able to make the high side of the 3/8-mile paperclip oval work to their advantage. But once the green flag waved on the 40-lap feature, the field scattered behind Craig Dollansky, who led the first 30 laps after charging to the lead from the outside of the front row.

Dollansky immediately went to the top in the first corner and made it work while pole-sitter Paul McMahan and Jason Sides remained low, trying to keep momentum going on the bottom.

A rash of early cautions, mostly for front suspension damage, didn’t help Dollansky. Eventually, a caution with 23 laps down led to an open red flag for fuel with Dollansky continuing to lead, followed by Steve Kinser, Jason Sides, Shane Stewart, Brooke Tatnell, fast qualifier Joey Saldana and Donny Schatz, who had charged from 18th to seventh. The open red allowed teams to make adjustments to their cars, but after leading from the start Dollansky’s team had to be cautious with what it changed.

On the restart, Dollansky went back to the top, as did Kinser. Sides realized the bottom was a better fit for his car and slid past Kinser off of Turn 2 with 25 laps down. Then Tatnell also slipped past Kinser, who said later he was finding it difficult to keep heat in his tires.

Then Sides and Tatnell thrilled the pack grandstands with a series of slide jobs, going back and forth from one corner to the next for four laps before Tatnell finally stole second off the exit of Turn 2 with 11 laps to go.

The sixth caution of the race waved with 10 to go, and on the restart Tatnell closed on the Dollansky. Both went low off of Turn 4 then high in Turns 1 and 2. Kinser entered the mix by getting around Sides low in Turn 4 as Tatnell charged under Dollansky going into Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 31 just before another caution waved, this time for Chuck Hebing’s car.

With nine to go, Tatnell went back to the top on the restart as Kinser, who slid past Dollansky in Turn 2, tried to make something happen on the bottom. But the eighth caution of the race, this for Lucas Wolfe’s machine in Turn 2 halted Kinser’s momentum.

From there is was a four-car fight to the finish, with Tatnell and Dollansky going high and Kinser and Sides trying the bottom. Tatnell pushed his car hard, opening a gap to second where Kinser was able to hold off Sides at the finish with Dollansky in fourth. Saldana finished fifth, followed by Schatz, Terry McCarl, Kraig Kinser, Danny Lasoski and McMahan. McCarl’s top-10 finish was particularly impressive because front suspension damage to his car was the cause for the fifth caution of the race. After quick repairs, he restarted at the back of the field with only 17 laps to go but still managed to work back through the field.

“We were good from the get-go,” said Tatnell, the newest member of the Mean 15 who collected $10,000 for his efforts Monday night. “That was the biggest thing. We got laughed at for running around the top in the Dash, but we were happy to make it work at the start and then we could make the bottom work whenever I had to get off the top. You can’t be a follower when you’re starting mid-pack. I really thought tonight was going to be one lane, follow-the-leader but it proved me wrong. We just had an awesome car. I could maneuver the top and the bottom. The more I just stayed calm and back-peddaled the quicker we were.”

Tatnell’s run will help soften his experiences in the past few races, where he struggled in one of the preliminaries at the Williams Grove Speedway Summer Nationals and wrecked in the Kings Royal at Eldora. His recovery boosted the Rush Racing car to fourth in owners’ points.

“It’s a credit to these guys,” he said. “There are a lot of car owners who would have thrown their hands up and said stuff it after last weekend at Williams Grove or destroying the car at Eldora, but these guys never give in. That’s what is making us what we are today as a team. They have so much faith in me and I have every belief in them. I’m just proud of this whole deal. I’m just honored to be driving the Segway/Steel Dreams car.”

It was difficult to determine whether or not cautions helped or hindered the leaders. It appeared some machines were better on long green-flag runs while some others were able to take advantage of the restarts to either hold ground or gain some spots.

“I think [the cautions] hurt us more than they helped us,” said Tatnell, a native of San Souci, New South Wales, Australia. “Yeah, we passed some cars on each restart but I think we would have passed [Dollansky] without the yellows because everybody was bottled up. Whether Craig would have checked out, I don’t know. Most guys didn’t seem to be able to move around where we could. That was the biggest thing with us. We found a different line when everybody else was playing follow-the-leader.”

For Kinser, it marked the second race in a row where a red flag let his tires cool so much he struggled to get them back up to racing temperature.

“I just can’t take off after I get heat in the tires and they cool off,” said Kinser, who leads the championship standings by 393 points in his quest for a 20th championship. “I’m struggling there. Finally on one caution I got down on the bottom and caught a little moisture and made a little bit of a move, but the last couple of laps I was just blocking everybody to stay where I was at.

“Longer green runs help me, but if there wouldn’t have been any yellows at the end I doubt I would have ever got Craig. I don’t know why they seal the tires over. I guess because we get them so hot when we’re running on long runs, maybe hotter than everybody else’s. We had the same thing happen at the Grove. We had a yellow come out and then a red and couldn’t take back off again.”

While Sides credited his best finish of the season to luck, it probably had more to do with him watching what the racers around him were doing and changing his line until he found one that was fast.

“It’s a lot of luck,” said Sides, a Mean 15 racer from Bartlett, Tenn. “We just happened to have a good car tonight. Whether it was me or the car or people falling out or what, maybe the cautions fell at the right time, I don’t know. It was a good run for us and we needed it bad.

“I watched Steve when he got by me and he was on the top so I started running the top. It was good, but when he went back to the bottom I followed him and got back by Dollansky when Steve went by him. On a day like this, after the top fell off in Turn 2, I decided to go back to the bottom without watching anybody else. If they’re going to pass you, make them do it on the outside. Don’t give them the easy part on the bottom. That’s what I’ve always been taught so I just got back to the bottom. If they were going to pass me, they were going to have to do it on the bottom.”

That strategy worked as Sides held off Dollansky down the stretch to hang onto third.

“I think if we didn’t have that red flag we probably had a real good shot of winning it,” said Dollansky, a Mean 15 racer from Elk River, Minn., who has 17 top-five runs this season. “But I think some teams were able to adjust their racecars under that red flag. I began to get loose as the race wore on. We definitely could have tightend ourselves up a bit and got a little better under that red flag, but we didn’t. When you’re leading, you don’t really know what you need to do there. Some other people might as well give it a shot and adjust their cars and try to get better.

“You’re out there running and the track changes as the race wears on. It’s just a matter of trying to do the right things with it before you roll out to the racetrack. Once you have a red flag and you open it and adjust on the racecars, that can make or break you sometimes.”

Whether it was adjustments under the red flag or whether Tatnell’s car was simply dialed into what the racing surface was giving, he needed only a lap on the restart with 10 to go to grab the lead.

“I just banzaied him going into Turns 1 and 2,” Tatnell said. “I drove to the bottom and slid up in front of him. The biggest problem was you had troubles coming off of Turn 2. I made the same maneuver probably eight times on Joey before I ever pulled it off because I left Joey enough room on the outside. I’m going to race cars hard and I’m going to race them clean, but I’m not going to run into guys. These guys are starting to realize that about us. I’ll leave them room, but when I’m clearing you, I’m clearing you.

“The biggest thing is, when you’re sliding each other like that it’s the one guy who makes a hiccup twice in one lap. I slid him, he slid me. The first guy who made two hiccups in one lap was going to be the loser.”

After departing Fulton Speedway, the Outlaws make about a 700-mile trek July 27 to Hartford Speedway Park in Hartford, Mich., then go north to Princeton, Minn., for the July 29-30 Princeton National. The series kicks off August with races Aug. 3 at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and Aug. 5 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

FULTON SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
• Brooke Tatnell’s victory Monday at Fulton Speedway was his second of the season after he also won July 4 at Cedar Lake Speedway. … Fred Rahmer’s victory July 23 at Williams Grove made him the 15th different World of Outlaws A-feature winner this season, and the 19th different winner including preliminary events. … Steve Kinser earned his series-leading 14th A-feature victory by winning the Kings Royal. Kinser also has a preliminary feature win this season in the Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway. … Kraig Kinser won his fourth A-feature of the season in June at Knoxville Raceway. He also has a preliminary feature win at Las Vegas. … Jason Meyers earned his fourth win of the season July 2 at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D. … Donny Schatz also has four A-feature victories, at Parramatta, Las Vegas and Houston and Joliet, Ill. … Tim Shaffer’s victory July 19 in the Silver Cup was his third of the season, going with wins Lake Ozark Speedway and Thunderbowl Raceway. … Brian Paulus won June 28 at Huset’s Speedway for his second victory of the season, and picked up a preliminary feature win in the following race at Red River Valley Speedway. … Sammy Swindell won his second A-feature of the season June 4 at Eldora Speedway. Swindell also has a preliminary feature win April 8 at Eldora. … Craig Dollansky has won two features, most recently at Powercom Park, and he also has two preliminary feature wins. … Single-event winners include Stevie Smith July 13 at Attica Raceway Park, Tim Kaeding June 11 at Sheboygan County Fair Park, Daryn Pittman April 23 at 81 Speedway in Wichita, Chad Kemenah July 9 at I-55 Raceway, and Jeff Shepard Feb. 11 at Volusia Speedway Park. … In preliminary features, Danny Lasoski has won twice while Joey Saldana, Paul McMahan and Jason Johnson have each won once.

• Fulton Speedway is a high-banked, paper-clip 3/8-mile oval. Including last night, the series has raced nine times this season on tracks that length, at Pike County Speedway, Houston Raceway Park, Batesville Speedway, Outlaw Motor Speedway, 81 Speedway, Huset’s Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Attica Raceway Park and Fulton Speedway. Steve Kinser held off Brooke Tatnell to win at Pike County, Donny Schatz edged Steve Kinser at Houston, Kraig Kinser dominated at Batesville, Steve Kinser snuck past Jason Meyers late at Outlaw, Daryn Pittman cruised to victory at 81 Speedway, Jason Meyers outlasted the field at Sharon on a night when several top contenders ran into various trouble, Brian Paulus started on the pole and won at Huset’s, Brooke Tatnell picked up his first win of the year at Cedar Lake and his second at Fulton, and Stevie Smith won at Attica.

• With 26 sprint cars in the pits as the Outlaws visited the heart of modified country, there was no B-main at Fulton Speedway. The 12 fastest qualifiers who finished in the top six of their heat races advanced to the two Dashes.

• In the Stacker 2® Dash, Paul McMahan surged to the front and raced away from the field to win a Dash for the second time in three race nights. Jason Sides was second followed by Daryn Pittman, Steve Kinser, Kraig Kinser and Joey Saldana.

• In the second Dash, Craig Dollansky led flag-to-flag as Shane Stewart finished second and was followed by Jason Meyers, Tim Shaffer and Brooke Tatnell. Brandon Wimmer was credited with sixth after he was pinched coming off of Turn 4 with a lap down, leaving his car with front end damage.

• In the first heat, Craig Dollansky swept into the lead off of Turn 4 and held off Paul McMahan after two late cautions to take the checkered flag. Tim Shaffer, Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana and Brian Paulus rounded out the rest of the top six finishers.

• In the second heat, Danny Lasoski and Ryan Coniam raced side-by-side for a lap before Lasoski pulled ahead and drove to victory. Daryn Pittman slid into second with three laps down, with Shane Stewart, Coniam, Kraig Kinser and Jason Meyers rounding out the top six finishers.

• In the third heat, Craig Keel started on the pole and drove to the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 as Jac Haudenschild went high. Jason Sides darted to the inside of Haudenschild to grab second. Steve Kinser, Brandon Wimmer, Haudenschild and Brooke Tatnell rounded out the top six finishers.

• Joey Saldana turned a lap around the 3/8-mile, high-banked oval in 14.627 seconds at 92.295 mph to establish the single-lap record as the World of Outlaws Sprint Series made its debut Monday night at Fulton Speedway. It was the third time this season Saldana was the fastest qualifier.

• After departing Fulton Speedway, the Outlaws make a long trek July 27 to Hartford Speedway Park in Hartford, Mich., then go north to Princeton, Minn., for the July 29-30 Princeton National. The series kicks off August with races Aug. 3 at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and Aug. 5 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

• The Outdoor Channel will air at 8 p.m. (ET) July 27 and Aug. 3 all of last weekend’s action from Eldora Speedway. The Outdoor Channel will then broadcast the Silver Cup at 8 p.m. (ET) on Aug. 10. The Outdoor Channel will air the Cleveland Brothers Summer Nationals from Williams Grove at 8 p.m. (ET) on Aug. 17.

• The Official World of Outlaws Sprint Series Web site is at http://www.dirtmotorsports.com/sprint. Among the features are updated driver biographies with individual statistics and pictures, race-by-race statistics, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases. Also, links to the press kit and official rulebook can also be found at the bottom of the home page.

• If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Sprint Series live on Dirtvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network. To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo. Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail webmaster@dirtvision.com.

• The World of Outlaws Sprint Series is brought to the fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Hoosier Racing Tire, Stacker 2®, and The Outdoor Channel. Promotional Partners include AMB i.t., RACEceiver, HUMMERSGONEWILD.COM, Zippo Lighters, The University of Northwestern Ohio, Timberwolf, and Race Punk apparel. Slick 50 is an Associate Program Sponsor and Contingency sponsors include DART Machinery, MSD Ignitions, and Wrisco Industries.

World of Outlaws Statistical Report; Fulton Speedway; July 25, 2005
Qualifying
1) Joey Saldana, Woodward 2, 14.627
2) Jason Meyers, Elite Racing Team 14, 14.687
3) Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 14.752
4) Brooke Tatnell, Rush Racing 8, 14.906
5) Daryn Pittman, Titan Racing USA 21, 14.916
6) Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 14.949
7) Tim Shaffer, Parsons 6, 14.960
8) Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, 14.983
9) Brandon Wimmer, Two Winners Racing 7TW, 15.055
10) Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 15.092
11) Shane Stewart, Rudeen Racing 26, 15.101
12) Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 15.140
13) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 15.260
14) Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 15.312
15) Jac Haudenschild, Roth 83, 15.630
16) Craig Keel, Pottorff 9, 15.697
17) Ryan Coniam, BANCON 46, 15.751
18) Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 15.803
19) Brian Paulus, Pender 28, 15.854
20) Chuck Hebing, Deming 21C, 15.903
21) Lucas Wolfe, Allebach 5W, 15.961
22) Mike Stelter, Stelter 36, 15.993
23) Jason Solwold, Carnahan R19, 16.002
24) Jared Zimbardi, Zimbardi 35, 16.469
25) Jeremy Barnard, Barnard 86, 16.508
26) Dick Spadaro, Spadaro 29, 17.610

First Heat Race (8 laps)
1) Craig Dollansky
2) Paul McMahan
3) Tim Shaffer
4) Donny Schatz
5) Joey Saldana
6) Brian Paulus
7) Terry McCarl
8) Mike Stelter
9) Jeremy Barnard

Second Heat Race (8 laps)
1) Danny Lasoski
2) Daryn Pittman
3) Shane Stewart
4) Ryan Coniam
5) Kraig Kinser
6) Kraig Kinser
7) Chuck Hebing
8) Jason Solwold
9) Dick Spadaro

Third Heat Race (8 laps)
1) Craig Keel
2) Jason Sides
3) Steve Kinser
4) Brandon Wimmer
5) Jac Haudenschild
6) Brooke Tatnell
7) Lucas Wolfe
8) Jared Zimbardi


Stacker 2® Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined inside first 6 rows of A-feature)
1) Paul McMahan
2) Jason Sides
3) Daryn Pittman
4) Steve Kinser
5) Kraig Kinser
6) Joey Saldana

Second Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined outside first 6 rows of A-feature)
1) Craig Dollansky
2) Shane Stewart
3) Jason Meyers
4) Tim Shaffer
5) Brooke Tatnell
6) Brandon Wimmer

A-main (40 laps)
1) Brooke Tatnell [$10,000]
2) Steve Kinser [$5,500]
3) Jason Sides [$3,200]
4) Craig Dollansky [$2,800]
5) Joey Saldana [$2,500]
6) Donny Schatz [$2,300]
7) Terry McCarl [$2,200]
8) Kraig Kinser [$2,100]
9) Danny Lasoski [$2,050]
10) Paul McMahan [$2,000]
11) Brian Paulus [$1,500]
12) Shane Stewart [$1,200]
13) Jac Haudenschild [$1,100]
14) Jason Solwold [$1,050]
15) Brandon Wimmer [$1,000]
16) Mike Stelter [$900]
17) Jared Zimbardi [$800]
18) Lucas Wolfe [$800]
19) Jeremy Barnard [$800]
20) Chuck Hebing [$800]
21) Ryan Coniam [$800]
22) Daryn Pittman [$800]
23) Jason Meyers [$800]
24) Dick Spadaro [$800]
25) Tim Shaffer [$800]
26) Craig Keel [$800]
Lap leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-30, Brooke Tatnell 31-40
Notes: Jason Solwold changed engines after warm-ups.

World of Outlaws Sprint Series Standings, through Fulton Speedway, 7-25-2005
Driver Team Team Team A-feat.
Rank Driver Points Points Earnings Diff. Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Steve Kinser 6402 6402 $315,330 0 14 33 41
2 Jason Meyers 6009 6009 $153,630 -393 4 15 33
3 Craig Dollansky 5994 5994 $138,170 -408 2 17 29
4 Kraig Kinser 5810 5810 $138,150 -592 4 16 26
5 Donny Schatz 5729 5729 $121,080 -673 4 11 24
6 Danny Lasoski 5665 5665 $101,285 -737 0 7 23
7 Paul McMahan 5620 5620 $91,100 -782 0 7 18
8 Brooke Tatnell* 5548 5824 $126,345 -578 2 14 26
9 Tim Shaffer 5488 5488 $121,215 -914 3 8 18
10 Terry McCarl 5439 5439 $85,880 -963 0 8 18
11 Daryn Pittman 5417 5417 $87,445 -985 1 6 17
12 Shane Stewart 5412 5412 $80,690 -990 0 4 18
13 Brian Paulus 5283 5283 $85,570 -1119 2 6 13
14 Joey Saldana 5248 5248 $98,705 -1154 0 9 16
15 Jason Sides 5120 5120 $54,410 -1282 0 2 6
16 Tim Kaeding 4975 0 $0 -6402 0 0 0
17 Jason Solwold 4900 4900 $60,750 -1502 0 4 9
18 Brandon Wimmer 4523 4523 $32,900 -1879 0 0 2
19 Sammy Swindell 3843 3693 $102,480 -2709 2 13 16
20 Kevin Swindell 2787 2787 $23,305 -3615 0 1 3
*Rush Racing’s No. 8 car driven by Brooke Tatnell is fourth in owners’ points; Dennis Roth’s No. 83 car driven by Jac Haudenschild is 13th in owners’ points.