Pennzoil Racing Report: Haudenschild wins; Raines Places Top Ten
8 July 1997
PENNZOIL WORLD OF OUTLAWS - Pennzoil-sponsored driver Jac "The Wild Child" Haudenschild drove his Pennzoil-yellow sprint car to a Saturday night victory at the Knoxville Ethanol Classic in Iowa. Finishing 2nd in the trophy dash, Haudenschild earned an outside front row start for the main event. After leading 12 laps, Mark Kinser and Sammy Swindel caught up to the "Wild Child," but didn't have a chance as Haudenschild left them behind on the last turn of the race. Haudenschild made the most of his weekend with not only a win on Saturday, but also a 2nd- and 3rd-place showing on Thursday and Friday. He took 3rd at Huset's Speedway in Sioux Falls, S.D., Thursday after moving up from 4th to 3rd in the trophy dash. Starting 4th he managed 3rd in the main event. Friday night brought a 2nd-place finish to the Pennzoil team as Haudenschild qualified 4th and finished the main event in 2nd place. Haudenschild finished up the weekend at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., Sunday night, qualifying 3rd of 25 drivers. He moved up from 6th to 3rd in his heat race, started 3rd and finished 4th in the trophy dash and moved up from 4th to 3rd in the main event. The result of his consistency in four races was that Haudenschild closed the point gap among the top four drivers in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws series. He is now 7 points out of 3rd and 29 out of 1st place in the standings, which show Sammy Swindell leading with 6,009, Dave Blaney with 5,988, Steven Kinser with 5,987 and Haudenschild with 5,980. Next weekend, Jac Haudenschild and the Pennzoil World Of Outlaws head to Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D., where Haudenschild will continue his quest for No. 1. NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK - Pennzoil Dodge driver Tony Raines recorded his second straight top-10 finish Saturday, claiming 7th in the finishing order and the top spot among all rookies during the Sears DieHard 200 at The Milwaukee Mile. Starting from the 11th spot, Raines rode just outside the top 10 through much of the first half of the race. But with about 70 laps in the books, Raines began to move toward the front, eventually running as high as 6th just prior to the half-time break. During the second half of the 200-mile event, Raines not only gained ground on the race track, but also in the pits, as the Roehrig Motorsports team completed a three-second pit stop with 19 laps remaining. Raines outran 10 other first-year drivers in the 34-truck field to grab rookie honors and gain ground in the chase for the Cintas Rookie of the Year crown. Next up for the team is a trip to Louisville Motor Speedway on July 12. NASCAR WINSTON CUP- Pennzoil Pontiac driver Johnny Benson survived a final-lap, six-car accident to take 16th in Daytona at the Pepsi 400 Saturday. A crash involving Ricky Rudd occurred with only 5 laps left in the race, and the Pepsi 400 seemed to have ended. At this point, Benson appeared headed for a 22nd-place finish. Just before the final lap, however, NASCAR gave the leaders the green and white flag. That meant the 32 cars on the lead lap each had one lap to get to the front. The one lap shoot-out resulted in a massive wreck that took out Mark Martin, Dick Trickle, Bobby Hamilton, Derrike Cope, Ward Burton and others. The crash demolished several cars, but fortunately no drivers suffered serious injuries. Benson and his Bahari' teammates return to the track this weekend in Loudon, N. H., in the Jiffy Lube 300. NHRA DRAG RACING - Pennzoil's double NHRA sportsman champ, Mike Ferderer, lost in the first round of super gas but was able to reach the second round of super competition in the divisional championship race at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., this weekend. It was Ferderer's first of five straight weekends of racing. He heads this week to Douglas, Wyo., where Bill and Terri Kent will also be racing. After that, Ferderer will continue on to Denver, Sears Point and Seattle for the NHRA Nationals.