WoO: Jeff Swindell Wins Gold Eagle Nationals
9 November 1997
LAS VEGAS, NV - Lady Luck, who normally rules Las Vegas, was turned a deaf ear by Jeff Swindell Wednesday when the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' 20th season climaxed with the Gold Eagle Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Swindell, who showed tremendous endurance throughout the most trying year of his career, made his own luck by executing a miraculous pass en route to his second $10,000 victory of the season - both at LVMS. Swindell, who started the season finale outside the sixth row, raced into fifth place during the first 25 1/2 laps, then passed four former World of Outlaws champions - Mark Kinser in turn three and Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Dave Blaney in the fourth corner - to take the lead. Sammy caught his brother during the final lap, but was one car-length behind when Jeff took the checkered flag. "We need to race here every week," Jeff said after performing his patented wing dance atop the #7TW Gold Eagle J&J. "We had high expectations for this year. We got off to a good start winning here in February. Things didn't go as well as we'd have liked since then. I'm just glad to win this one for Gold Eagle. They stayed with us through everything this year. "My crew gave me a great car and we made the right tire choice tonight. I kept wanting to run in the low groove, but J.D. (Kramer) told me to move up to the top. We started moving forward then, and kept right on going to the front." The Two Winners crew mounted a 17-compound, the softest tire Goodyear has ever made, on the right rear of the #7TW. The results were staggering - the most cars passed by a World of Outlaws "A" Feature winner and the only driver to win after racing in the "B" Feature in 1997. Several Gold Eagle representatives carried Jeff on their shoulders up and down the front straightaway in celebration of his impressive victory. The race was taped for The Nashville Network's November 7th TNN Motor Madness show. Swindell's heroics overshadowed an incredible move by Blaney as the green flag fell in the 30-lap main event. Starting outside the second row, "The Buckeye Bullet" steered his #10 Vivarin J&J into the high groove in the fourth corner to pass Andy Hillenburg, Mark Kinser and Vivarin Dash winner Stevie Smith to take the lead. Jeff followed Blaney's example and raced into fifth place in the high groove during the opening lap, and followed him into lapped traffic three laps later. Steve Kinser and Greg Hodnett passed Swindell during the eighth lap. Mark Kinser challenged Blaney for the lead throughout the first half of the race. They were racing wheel-to-wheel late in the 18th lap when Hodnett and Smith tangled in the fourth corner. Both the #11H Selma Shell Maxim and the #19 Ingersoll-Rand Smith suffered extensive damage and were towed into the pit area. Jeff restarted the race in the fifth place. Sammy Swindell and Steve Kinser passed Mark Kinser during the 19th and 20th laps, and followed Blaney into lapped traffic four laps later. Sammy and Blaney raced wheel-to-wheel during much of lap 25 before Jeff's move into the lead brought the sellout crowd to its feet the next time around. Hillenburg finished in third place, ahead of Steve Kinser, Blaney, Mark Kinser, Channellock Fast-Time Award winner Craig Dollansky, First Heat Race winner Johnny Herrera, 24th-starting Joe Gaerte and Jac Haudenschild. The smoking engine in the #U2 United Expressline Doemelt forced Keith Kauffman into the pits and out of the race during the sixth lap. Brent Kaeding provided a fitting prelude to Jeff's "A" Feature exploits by winning the "C" Feature then racing to victory in the "B" Feature from inside the ninth row. _________________________________________________________________ 1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV Wednesday, November 5, Feature Program #71 Qualifications: 1. Craig Dollansky, Wahlie 1W, 15.919; 2. Jimmy Carr, Herrera 45x, 16.252; 3. Keith Kauffman, Johnson U2, 16.259; 4. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 16.218; 5. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47; 16.295; 6. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 16.356; 7. Daryn Pittman, Pittman 11P, 16.457; 8. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 16.488; 9. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 16.544; 10. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 16.567; 11. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 16.617; 12. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 16.623; 13. Dennis Moore, Jr., Moore 71, 16.686; 14. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 16.784; 15. Dale Blaney, Blaney/Hylton 93, 16.818; 16. Joey Saldana, Mox Motorsports 17, 16.820; 17. Jeff Shepard, Stewart 4J, 16.840; 18. Bobby Burrow, Burrow 1B, 16.853; 19. Todd Bammer, Bammer 18, 16.930; 20. Jason Meyers, Carter 14M, 16.950; 21. Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 16.980; 22. Kevin Pylant, Pylant 14P, 17.009; 23. Bud Kaeding, Macieal 29, 17.039; 24. Danny Lasoski, Black 1Z, 17.090; 25. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 17.094; 26. Paul McMahan, Stanton 75, 17.097; 27. Rick Ziehl, Ziehl 18Z, 17.121; 28. Garry Lee Maier, Rodgers 11x, 17.124; 29. Shawna Wilskey, Fauver 5, 17.157; 30. Randy Hannagan, Hannagan 1x, 17.162; 31. Dean Jacobs, Holbrook 8H, 17.171; 32. Larry Neighbors, Neighbors 29N, 17.296; 33. Sean Fenn, Fenn 36, 17.333; 34. Travis Whitney, Whitney 7S, 17.351; 35. Brent Kaeding, M&M Racing 2M, 17.418; 36. Tim Levin, Levin 10T, 17.421; 37. Tommie Estes, Jr., Threatt 29, 17.455; 38. Graydon Cross, Cross 8C, 17.478; 39. Randy Anderson, Anderson 71A, 17.544; 40. Don Droud, Jr., DOCC Racing 1BK, 17.573; 41. Kenny Jacobs, Ashworth 92, 17.680; 42. Rich Bubak, Bubak 9, 17.726; 43. Peter Murphy, Williams 14, 17.762; 44. Jeff Mitrisin, Sereg 5J, 17.815; 45. Shane Liebig, Liebig 10L, 17.878; 46. Jason Lund, Lund 8L, 17.917; 47. Randy Tiner, Tiner 83, 17.959; 48. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 18.047; 49. Cal Herdson, Herdson 16H, 18.085; 50. Steve Coelho, Coelho 6C, 18.095; 51. Jason Statler, ATM/Rios 00, 18.154; 52. Bobby Davis, Jr., Archer 1A, 18.236; 53. Jimmy Carter, Carter 26, 18.315; 54. John McDonald, McDonald 78, 18.344; 55. Brian Coelho, Coelho 5C, 18.665; 56. Bill Robertson, Robertson 16, 18.745; 57. Kevin Whitworth, Whitworth 5K, 18.913; 58. Jay Burns, Burns 2J, 18.928; 59. Randy Rosemboom, Rosenboom 14R, 19.094; 60. Shawn Sander, Sander 48, 19.185; 61. Willey Hernandez, Hernandez 1M, 19.297; 62. Bill Martin, Jr., Martin 75M, 26.896. First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Tyler Walker, 3. Jeff Shepard, 4. Craig Dollansky, 5. Kenny Jacobs, 6. Joe Gaerte, 7. Sean Fenn, 8. Dennis Moore, 9. Terry McCarl, 10. Tommie Estes, Jr., 11. Shane Liebig, 12. Shawna Wilskey. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Greg Hodnett, 4. Jimmy Carr, 5. Kevin Pylant, 6. Paul McMahan, 7. Randy Hannagan, 8. Bobby Burrow, 9. Graydon Cross, 10. Rich Bubak, 11. Jason Lund, 12. Travis Whitney. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Dale Blaney, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Keith Kauffman, 5. Rick Ziehl, 6. Randy Tiner, 7. Brent Kaeding, 8. Jason Lund, 9. Todd Bammer, 10. Bud Kaeding, 11. Peter Murphy, 12. Randy Anderson. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Joey Saldana, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Danny Lasoski, 4. Dion Hindi, 5. Jeff Swindell, 6. Jason Meyers, 7. Garry Lee Maier, 8. Larry Neighbors, 9. Don Droud, Jr., 10. Jeff Mitrisin, 11. Lance Blevins, 12. Tim Levin. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Non-Qualifiers' Race (eight laps): 1. Bobby Davis, Jr., 2. Cal Herdson, 3. Steve Coelho, 4. Brian Coelho, 5. John McDonald, 6. Randy Rosenboom, 7. Willey Hernandez, 8. Jimmy Carter, 9. Bill Robertson, 10. Shawn Sander, 11. Jay Burns, 12. Jason Statler, 13. Kevin Whitworth, 14. Bill Martin, Jr. (first two qualified for the "C" Feature) Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically qualified Stevie Smith, Mark Kinser, Dave Blaney and Andy Hillenburg for the first four starting positions in the Vivarin Dash. C Feature (eight laps): 1. Brent Kaeding, 2. Travis Whitney, 3. Kenny Jacobs ($125); 4. Randy Tiner ($100); 5. Jason Lund ($80); 6. Tommie Estes, Jr. ($70); 7. Graydon Cross ($60); 8. Don Droud, Jr. ($50); 9. Jeff Mitrisin ($40); 10. Bobby Davis, Jr. ($30); 11. Rich Bubak ($30); 12. Peter Murphy ($30); 13. Lance Blevins ($30); 14. Cal Herdson ($30); 15. Shane Liebig ($30); 16. Randy Anderson ($30); 17. Tim Levin ($30); 18. Sean Fenn ($30). (first two qualified for the "B" Feature) Vivarin Dash (five laps): 1. Stevie Smith, 2. Mark Kinser, 3. Andy Hillenburg, 4. Dave Blaney, 5. Sammy Swindell, 6. Keith Kauffman, 7. Craig Dollansky, 8. Jimmy Carr. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Brent Kaeding, 2. Jeff Swindell, 3. Kevin Pylant, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Dennis Moore, Jr. ($200); 6. Jason Meyers ($175); 7. Travis Whitney ($170); 8. Randy Hannagan ($120); 9. Dean Jacobs ($90); 10. Larry Neighbors ($80); 11. Garry Lee Maier ($60); 12. Terry McCarl ($50); 13. Shawna Wilskey ($50); 14. Bud Kaeding ($50); 15. Rick Ziehl ($50); 16. Paul McMahan ($50); 17. Bobby Burrow ($50); 18. Todd Bammer ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (30 laps): 1. Jeff Swindell ($10,020); 2. Sammy Swindell ($6,000); 3. Andy Hillenburg ($3,500); 4. Steve Kinser ($3,200); 5. Dave Blaney ($3,000); 6. Mark Kinser ($2,500); 7. Craig Dollansky ($2,300); 8. Johnny Herrera ($2,200); 9. Joe Gaerte ($2,120); 10. Jac Haudenschild ($2,000); 11. Joey Saldana ($1,500); 12. Donny Schatz ($1,400); 13. Danny Lasoski ($1,300); 14. Jeff Shepard ($1,200); 15. Dale Blaney ($1,000); 16. Brent Kaeding ($1,040); 17. Kevin Pylant ($820); 18. Tyler Walker ($600); 19. Jimmy Carr ($600); 20. Daryn Pittman ($600); 21. Dion Hindi ($600); 22. Stevie Smith ($600); 23. Greg Hodnett ($600); 24. Keith Kauffman ($600). Lap leaders: Dave Blaney 1-25, Jeff Swindell 26-30 Channellock Fast-Time Award winner: Craig Dollansky 1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Final Point Standings & Statistics Pennzoil World of Outlaws Pennzoil World of Outlaws Driver Point Standings Car Owner Point Standings 1. Sammy Swindell . 10,850 1. Karl Kinser 5M . . 10,984 2. Dave Blaney . . . 10,727 2. Sammy Swindell 1 . 10,850 3. Steve Kinser . . 10,664 3. Blaney/Hylton 10 . 10,727 4. Jac Haudenschild 10,432 4. Steve Kinser 11 . . 10,664 5. Andy Hillenburg . 10,246 5. Jack Elden 22 . . . 10,432 6. Stevie Smith . . 10,076 6. Andy Hillenburg 2 . 10,246 7. Greg Hodnett . . 10,020 7. Smith Racing 19 . . 10,076 8. Johnny Herrera . . 9,629 8. David Helm 11H . . 10,020 9. Mark Kinser . . . . 9,554 9. Gil Sonner 47 . . . . 9,629 10. Joe Gaerte . . . . 9,489 10. Joe Gaerte 3G . . . . 9,489 11. Jeff Swindell . . . 9,390 11. Jim Wahlie 1W . . . . 9,416 12. Donny Schatz . . . 9,060 12. Two Winners 7TW . . . 9,390 13. Paul McMahan . . . 8,863 13. Danny Schatz 15 . . . 9,060 14. Dion Hindi . . . . 7,410 14. Gary Stanton 75 . . . 8,393 15. Danny Lasoski . . . 6,325 15. Dion Hindi 11D . . . 7,410 16. Lance Blevins . . . 4,834 16. Joe Blevins 21 . . . 5,334 17. Craig Dollansky . . 4,534 17. Dennis Roth 83 . . . 3,255 18. Joey Saldana . . . 3,923 18. Brad Gray 51 . . . . 2,770 19. Randy Hannagan . . 3,158 19. Bob Walker 35 . . . . 2,152 20. Garry Brazier . . . 2,461 20. Dan Oswalt 1J . . . . 1,100 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Pennzoil World of Outlaws Driver Earnings "A" Feature Winners 1. Mark Kinser . . $429,920 1. Mark Kinser . . . . . . 24 2. Sammy Swindell $420,295 2. Sammy Swindell . . . . 19 3. Dave Blaney . . $381,630 3. Dave Blaney . . . . . . 10 4. Steve Kinser . $311,115 4. Steve Kinser . . . . . . 5 5. Jac Haudenschild $247,570 5. Stevie Smith . . . . . . 4 6. Stevie Smith . $229,460 6. Haudenschild, J. Swindell 2 7. Greg Hodnett . $217,665 7. Hillenburg, Hodnett, 8. Andy Hillenburg $202,530 Herrera, Kelly Kinser, Brent 9. Johnny Herrera $150,890 Kaeding. . . . . . . . . . . 1 10. Danny Lasoski . $149,770 Pennzoil World of Outlaws 11. Jeff Swindell . $140,755 Preliminary Feature Winners 12. Joe Gaerte . . $128,095 1. Sammy Swindell . . . . 11 13. Donny Schatz . $101,955 2. Mark Kinser . . . . . . . 7 14. Paul McMahan . . $95,065 Vivarin Dash Pole Leaders 15. Craig Dollansky . $66,805 1. Sammy Swindell . . . . 18 16. Dion Hindi . . . $39,465 2. Mark Kinser . . . . . . 16 17. Joey Saldana . . $38,620 Channellock Fast-Time 18. Lance Blevins . . $38,495 Award Winners 19. Randy Hannagan . $34,840 1. Mark Kinser . . . . . . 31 20. Garry Brazier . . $32,125 2. Jac Haudenschild . . . 18 Richard Day -- Racing PR
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