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World of Outlaws: Swindell Completes Sweep of National Open

7 October 1997

MECHANICSBURG, PA (October 4) - Now that Sammy Swindell has won the prestigious race that has eluded him for so long - the Williams Grove National Open - he can continue the quest for his third Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series championship.

"This is one we've never won before," Swindell said Saturday after leading all 40 laps in the 35th Annual Williams Grove National Open championship feature. "It's always good to get one at 'The Grove.' Hopefully, we can go on down the road and continue to run the way we've been running."

The way Sammy and the #1 Channellock Gambler have been running, it's doubtful anyone will erase his 157-point lead with eight events remaining on the World of Outlaws' 1997 schedule.

Swindell earned the right to start the "A" Feature on the pole by winning his 18th Vivarin Dash of the season. He was equal to Mark Kinser's late challenge and negotiated lapped traffic well enough to win his 18th main event of the year.

"The Channellock car worked really well tonight," Sammy said. "I just thank the Lord for this team. The guys do a great job.

"We made a couple of mistakes in traffic, the way we closed on some lapped cars. But once we got a clear track, we were able to pull away."

Swindell burst into the lead as the green flag fell in the "A" Feature. Stevie Smith, who announced a major sponsorship agreement with Ingersoll-Rand early in the evening, passed Kinser in the fourth corner then took the low line into turn one to pass Jac Haudenschild for second place early in the opening lap.

Swindell built a 12-car-length advantage within three laps. The field was tightened the next time around, however, when Kevin Gobrecht clipped the guard rail between the third and fourth corners and flipped.

Smith, a two-time National Open champion, took the low line into turn four as the green flag replaced the red, but was unable to take the lead. Swindell opened a 1.14-second advantage during the sixth lap as Kinser battled "The Wild Child" for third place.

Kinser, the 1995 National Open champion, steered the #5M Wirtgen Maxim into the high groove in turn three late in lap eight. He raced wheel-to-wheel with Haudenschild on the front straightaway before surging ahead in the first corner.

Swindell entered lapped traffic with a two-second advantage 10 laps into the race as Kinser reeled in Smith. Mark caught Stevie three laps later, and took over second place with a low move into the third corner.

Donny Schatz passed eight cars during the first 14 laps and lined up ninth after Steve Kinser's #11 Quaker State Maxim suffered a blown engine late in lap 15.

Swindell raced away from the field as the race resumed, and was six car-lengths ahead of Mark when Andy Hillenburg coasted into the pit area with mechanical problems late in the 21st lap.

Kinser narrowed the gap in dense lapped traffic by lap 23, and caught Swindell when Sammy slowed behind a backmarker in the second corner two laps later. Mark challenged Swindell in every turn during the next four laps as the leaders raced in traffic.

Swindell broke out of lapped traffic during the 28th lap and opened a 1.23-second advantage with nine laps remaining. Sammy increased his lead to 1.39 seconds over the next four laps and took the checkered flag with 10 car-lengths to spare.

Kinser held off Smith for the runner-up spot. Completing the top 10 in the main event were First Heat Race winner Billy Pauch, Haudenschild, Fred Rahmer, Dave Blaney, Jeff Shepard, Channellock Fast-Time Award winner Lance Dewease and Schatz.

Finishing seventh while Steve Kinser settled for 25th place pushed Blaney into second place in the World of Outlaws' driver standings.

Schatz' 10th-place run, coupled with Paul McMahan's 22nd- place finish allowed Donny to regain the lead in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Rookie of the Year race.

Joe Gaerte was the second-fastest qualifier, but his first- lap flip kept him from finishing the Second Heat Race. He ran fifth in the "C" Feature, then took a provisional to start the main event. He finished 18th in the feature, allowing Jim Wahlie to pass him in the owner rankings.

The World of Outlaws is scheduled to run a $40,000 event at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, MI, Tuesday, then head to I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO, for the Fifth Annual U.S. Dirt Nationals Friday and Saturday.

1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series
35th Annual Williams Grove National Open
Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
Saturday, October 4, Feature Program #63


Qualifications: 

1. Lance Dewease, Dyer 461, 17.427
2. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 17.553
3. Dave Blaney, Blaney/Hylton 10, 17.605
4. Jeff Shepard, Stewart 4J, 17.637
5. Billy Pauch, Zemaitis 1Z, 17.667
6. Ed Lynch, Jr., Lynch 2L, 17.671
7. Don Kreitz Jr., Kreitz 69K, 17.706
8. Cris Eash, E&G Classics 17E, 17.728
9. Fred Rahmer, Hamilton 77, 17.776
10. Tim Shaffer, Apple Motorsports 12, 17.794
11. Todd Shaffer, Beam 88, 17.806
12. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 17.812
13. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 17.832
14. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 17.842
15. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 17.945
16. Steve Siegel, Scarpitta 59, 17.973
17. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 17.976
18. Craig Dollansky, Wahlie 1W, 17.986
19. Mike Wagner, Wagner 55, 18.085
20. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 18.107
21. Paul McMahan, Stanton 75, 18.124
22. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 18.131
23. Tim Kuhn, Kuhn 2$, 18.160
24. Alan Cole, Cole 17, 18.183
25. Len Thompson, Thompson 10T, 18.191
26. Dave Ely, Ely/Gilbert 77E, 18.228
27. Kevin Gobrecht, Gobrecht 92x, 18.248
28. Rod George, Bomberger 5G, 18.257
29. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 18.312
30. Jesse Wentz, Wentz 2W, 18.342
31. Becca Anderson, Anderson A18, 18.349
32. Jess Thomas, Thomas 77T, 18.412
33. Randy Wolfe, Williams 5W, 18.468
34. Barry Camp, Camp 7, 18.469
35. Dave Haight, Tanger 07, 18.506
36. Cliff Brian, Brian 16, 18.517
37. Shawn Keen, Keen 53, 18.976
38. Bill Kiley, Kiley 4K, 19.469
39. Scott Karl, Karl 17K, 19.995
40. Bobby Allen, Allen 1a, no time
41. Christine Karns, Karns 65.5, no time. 

First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Billy Pauch, 2. Fred Rahmer, 3. Greg
Hodnett, 4. Andy Hillenburg, 5. Lance Dewease, 6. Randy Wolfe, 7. Paul
McMahan, 8.  Lance Blevins, 9. Shawn Keen, 10. Len Thompson. DNS -
Bobby Allen. 2:24.15 (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) 

Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Tim Shaffer, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. Ed
Lynch, Jr., 4. Craig Dollansky, 5. Jesse Wentz, 6. Dave Ely, 7. Dion
Hindi, 8. Barry Camp, 9. Bill Kiley, 10. Joe Gaerte. 2:25.91 (first
four qualified for the "A" Feature) 

Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Dave Blaney,
3. Don Kreitz, Jr., 4. Todd Shaffer, 5. Mike Wagner, 6. Kevin
Gobrecht, 7. Becca Anderson, 8.  Tim Kuhn, 9. Scott Karl, 10. Dave
Haight. 2:28.22 (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)

Fourth Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Cris Eash, 3. Jeff
Shepard, 4. Steve Siegel, 5. Jeff Swindell, 6. Rod George, 7. Alan
Cole, 8. Cliff Brian, 9. Jess Thomas. DNS - Christine Karns. 2:29.40
(first four qualified for the "A" Feature) 

Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically qualified
Sammy Swindell, Jac Haudenschild, Mark Kinser and Stevie Smith for the
first four starting positions in the Vivarin Dash. 

Vivarin Dash (five laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Jac Haudenschild,
3. Mark Kinser, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Dave Blaney, 6. Jeff
Shepard. (finish determined the first six starting positions in the
"A" Feature) 

C Feature (eight laps): 
1. Cliff Brian($200)
2. Barry Camp ($200)
3. Shawn Keen ($200)
4. Scott Karl ($150)
5. Joe Gaerte ($125)
6. Bill Kiley ($125)
DNS- Bobby Allen, Christine Karns, Dave Haight. 
2:36.37 (first two qualified for the "B" Feature)

B Feature (12 laps): 
1. Jeff Swindell ($200)
2. Lance Dewease ($200)
3. Paul McMahan ($200)
4. Kevin Gobrecht ($200)
5. Mike Wagner ($200)
6. Rod George ($175)
7. Lance Blevins ($175)
8. Alan Cole ($150)
9. Dave Ely ($150)
10. Jesse Wentz ($125)
11. Dion Hindi ($100)
12. Randy Wolfe ($90)
13. Becca Anderson ($80)
14. Barry Camp ($105)
15. Jess Thomas ($70)
16. Cliff Brian ($85)
17. Len Thompson ($50)
18. Tim Kuhn ($50)
(first four qualified for the "A" Feature) 


A Feature (40 laps): 

1. Sammy Swindell ($25,000)
2. Mark Kinser ($10,000)
3. Stevie Smith ($6,000)
4. Billy Pauch ($3,500)
5. Jac Haudenschild ($3,200)
6. Fred Rahmer ($3,000)
7. Dave Blaney ($2,500)
8. Jeff Shepard ($2,300)
9. Lance Dewease ($2,220)
10. Donny Schatz ($2,100)
11. Greg Hodnett ($2,000)
12. Craig Dollansky ($1,500)
13. Don Kreitz, Jr. ($1,400)
14. Johnny Herrera ($1,300)
15. Tim Shaffer ($1,200)
16. Steve Siegel ($1,000)
17. Jeff Swindell ($1,020)
18. Joe Gaerte ($820)
19. Todd Shaffer ($600)
20. Cris Eash ($600)
21. Rod George ($620)
22. Paul McMahan ($620)
23. Ed Lynch, Jr.  ($600)
24. Andy Hillenburg ($600)
25. Steve Kinser ($600)
26. Alan Cole ($620)
27. Kevin Gobrecht ($620)

Provisional starters - Joe Gaerte, Rod George, Alan Cole.

Lap leader: Sammy Swindell 1-40 

Richard Day -- Racing PR