The World of Outlaws event at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday was a good show. The A-Main was good as Brian Brown lead the first 14 laps until Sammy Swindell used some lapped traffic to take the point and pull away. Sammy looked really good in the feature, it was like he was lurking for the first half of the race and then turned it up a notch.
To begin the night I was a little disappointed the track wasn’t faster in time trials as only three cars timed in under 15 seconds, and the luck of the draw was critical as Joey Saldana was quick time after coming out ninth. Kerry Madsen was second quick (3rd) and Craig Dollansky was third quick (1st). Sammy went out 12th and qualified 16th which was the last spot in the heat inverts. If Ryan Bunton would have been 0.028 seconds quicker, Sammy would have been 17th and buried in the feature. Bout time Sammy had some luck come his way at Knoxville, and that ultimately is what won the feature for him. Sammy won his heat, went from tenth to seventh in the dash, and was in the top three in the feature in no time before he went on to win.
Qualifying is everything in the World of Outlaws format. The heat races only saw one car outside the top two rows advance to the feature as Dusty Zomer raced his way into the show as he passed Dollansky to get into a top four transfer, but since Dollansky timed in the top two he was locked into the Dash regardless. Zomer was rewarded with not having to run the B main and with the 21st starting position in the A main. Good thing he raced his way in from the heat or he would have started… oh yeah in 21st anyway. Zomer went from 21st to seventh in the A main. Jason Sides advanced from 23rd to eighth to take the hard charger award. See how lucky you were Sammy?
Random thoughts:
I was surprised that Saldana went from third to fourth in the feature, and Schatz went from 15th to sixth. Schatz made it to the front at the Nationals last year from that far back.
I think Craig Dollansky is a good pick to win the Nationals. (Sammy is the favorite.)
Brian Brown was impressive but I think he just over drove the car trying to chase down Sammy and fell back to fourth. Still a good run for the Casey’s/FVP team.
Danny Lasoski quietly went from eleventh to fifth. He’s still good.
The King has lost his edge at Knoxville the past few years, Steve Kinser started 12th and finished 11th. He raced a lot with Terry McCarl who started tenth and finished 10th.
Davey Heskin continues to impress me more and more. I think he has a legit shot to win the 410 track championship.
Trey Starks is a 16 year old kid from Washington who had a great showing in his first trip to Knoxville. He was one of the last cars to time trial and qualified ninth, won his heat, third in the dash, and dropped to 16th in the feature. But a helluva showing, especially timing so well late in the order.
What's the deal with the WoO not weighing cars after heat races? If it smells like BS....
I felt for Josh Higday on Saturday night as he won the 360 feature and was disqualified for a unapproved tire that was legal a few years ago but isn’t any longer. Had to hurt for him as he worked hard to put his own team together this year. Nate VanHaafton inherited the win, and he is looking smoother all the time. Carson McCarl drove from 11th to fourth in his first 360 race. Hopefully these guys can give Clint Garner a run this year for the 360 track championship who was second on Saturday behind VanHaafton.
Off the track there was a lot of talk about Cody Darrah. Apparently there is a fan out there with a twitter account mocking Darrah and well, he turned up at the same hotel in Knoxville that the KKR crew was staying and Darrah ended up in cuffs for assault. The track was able to arrange bail so Darrah could race. I feel sad for Cody Darrah, not sorry, but sad. Be professional and don’t stoop to the level of people who have nothing better to do than to talk trash like that. I’m sure it’s aggravating, but assaulting someone isn’t the way to solve things. Darrah is under unrealistic expectations from fans and the media because he drives for Kasey Kahne. For guys like Saldana, Schatz, and Meyers, it took them five years to be a competitive and winning races consistently. Why is Darrah expected to be any different? It’s a lot of pressure to be in Cody Darrah’s shoes I’m sure. Hopefully Cody learns from this and it all works out. And hopefully this race fan learned something too. Don’t tweet words your mouth can’t cash.
Can’t wait for this weekend, it should be warmer!
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