WOO: Swindell Wins Tri-City Race, Sets Sights on Title
10 May 1998
By Richard DayGRANITE CITY, IL- Winning Saturday's Pennzoil World of Outlaw Series "A" Feature at Tri-City Speedway in convincing fashion had Sammy Swindell brimming with confidence.
"We've made some changes here in the last couple of weeks, and I think we have the Channellock car back to where it was at the end of last season," the defending series champion said. "It seems like lately we've just been unloading and changing tires. We haven't had to do all that much to the car.
"We've been fast all year. It just seems like we've run into some problems here and there, and it's kept us from getting as many wins as we should have. We're still going to win the title. We were farther behind than this last year."
Swindell left Tri-City Speedway 79 points behind Stevie Smith, who was full of hope after his fifth straight top-three finish pushed him into first place in the point standings for the first time in his World of Outlaws career.
Sammy, the fifth-fastest qualifier in the 30-car field, won the Channellock Dash for the right to start the main event on the pole. The Second Racing Champions Heat Race was the only race he didn't win. Sarah Fisher brought the sellout crowd to its feet, beating the three-time World of Outlaws champion to the line.
Swindell burst into the lead as the green flag fell in the "A" Feature. Outside polesitter Steve Kinser, who entered the event leading the point standings, raced wheel-to-wheel with Sammy through turns one and two early in the second lap, but was unable to surge ahead.
The former World of Outlaws champions were battling for the lead the next time around when a mechanical malfunction in the #75 Mopar Schnee forced Craig Dollansky to stop in the first corner. As the race resumed, Dale Blaney allowed the #93 Amoco J&J to slide over the cushion between turns three and four. He hit the retaining wall and turned over, bringing out the red flag. Dollansky returned to the race following the red period.
Swindell controlled the ensuing restart and had a 15 car- length advantage when he entered lapped traffic during lap 10. "The King of the Outlaws" closed to within six car-lengths in dense traffic two laps later.
Smith started pressuring Kinser for second place midway through the race, allowing Swindell to increase his lead to 10 car-lengths by the 17th lap. Stevie drove his #19 Ingersoll-Rand sprinter deep into turn two to pass Kinser the next time around.
After a 19th-lap caution for debris on the racing surface, Swindell found the fast line and opened a 20-car-length advantage within three laps. Kinser surrendered third place when a mechanical problem in his #11 Quaker State Maxim caused him to stop in the fourth corner late in the 22nd lap.
Swindell raced away from the field when the green flag replaced the yellow, and opened an eight-car-length advantage within two laps. Smith closed to within three car-lengths as the leaders caught the backmarkers again with five laps remaining, but several superb moves in lapped traffic allowed Sammy to take the checkered flag with 10 car-lengths to spare.
The $7,000 victory - Swindell's second during the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' 20th Anniversary Season - was the eighth of his career at Tri-City Speedway.
"The red flag definitely helped us," Swindell explained. "The track kind of fooled us. It dried out a little and we wanted to have the car loose enough, but we were too loose. I'm not sure we would have been able to hang on had we not made that change."
Swindell's crew took a spacer out of the right rear to tighten the #1 Channellock Stealth during the early red period.
"We got some breaks in lapped traffic," Sammy said, "and during those last couple of cautions I was able to get a good look at the track and find where the groove was.
"I have to thank the Lord for letting us get this race in. The rain has been really tough on all of us this year."
Jac Haudenschild finished in third place, ahead of Johnny Herrera, 15th-starting Andy Hillenburg, Danny Smith, Tyler Walker, Danny Lasoski, Greg Hodnett and Brooke Tatnell.
Mark Kinser received his fourth Vivarin Fast-Time Award of the season after pacing the qualifying session with a 16.544- second qualifying lap.
Lance Blevins recorded his best finish of the season, driving the #21 Up-Front Phone Cards J&J past 10 cars to finish 12th. WoO
1998 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series
Tri-City Speedway, Granite City, IL
Saturday, May 9th, Feature Program #14
Qualifications: 1. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 16.544; 2. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 16.576; 3. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83, 16.615; 4. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 16.639; 5. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 16.679; 6. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 16.760; 7. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 16.791; 8. Joe Gaerte, Holbrook 8H, 16.833; 9. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 16.861; 10. Randy Kinser, Kinser 14, 16.910; 11. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 16.928; 12. Dale Blaney, Hylton-Blaney 93, 16.972; 13. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 17.015; 14. Sarah Fisher, Fisher 9F, 17.102; 15. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 17.116; 16. Danny Smith, Brazier 21S, 17.157; 17. Dion Hindi, Hindi 18, 17.223; 18. Brooke Tatnell, RE Technologies 7K, 17.319; 19. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 104+, 17.498; 20. Craig Dollansky, Stanton 75, 17.529; 21. Larry Neighbors, Neighbors 29N, 17.760; 22. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 17.858; 23. Bob Burkle, Burkle 21B, 17.869; 24. Tommy Scott, Scott 4S, 17.923; 25. Paul Hart, Hart 32H, 17.986; 26. Terry Babb, Babb 88, 18.079; 27. Wayne Sternbergh, Sternbergh 14S, 18.647; 28. Eddie Lynch, Lynch 29L, 19.835; 29. Wayne Barnes, Barnes 86, 20.270; 30. Tommy Shephard, Shephard 18S, no time.
First Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Stevie Smith, 3. Danny Smith, 4. Greg Hodnett, 5. Randy Kinser, 6. Mark Kinser, 7. Lance Blevins, 8. Jeff Swindell, 9. Paul Hart, 10. Eddie Lynch. (first six qualified for the "A" Feature)
Second Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Sarah Fisher, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Dion Hindi, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. Joe Gaerte, 6. Jac Haudenschild, 7. Craig Dollansky, 8. Terry Babb, 9. Bob Burkle, 10. Wayne Barnes. (first six qualified for the "A" Feature)
Third Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Tyler Walker, 3. Brooke Tatnell, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Danny Lasoski, 6. Dale Blaney, 7. Larry Neighbors, 8. Tommy Scott, 9. Wayne Sternbergh, 10. Tommy Shephard. (first six qualified for the "A" Feature)
Channellock Dash (five laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Steve Kinser, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Danny Lasoski, 5. Jac Haudenschild, 6. Mark Kinser, 7. Johnny Herrera, 8. Joe Gaerte. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature)
B Feature (12 laps): 1. Lance Blevins, 2. Larry Neighbors, 3. Craig Dollansky, 4. Jeff Swindell, 5. Tommy Scott, 6. Terry Babb, 7. Paul Hart ($200); 8. Wayne Sternbergh ($180); 9. Wayne Barnes ($150); 10. Eddie Lynch ($110); 11. Bob Burkle ($90); 12. Tommy Shephard ($80). (first six qualified for the "A" Feature)
A Feature (30 laps): 1. Sammy Swindell ($7,000); 2. Stevie Smith ($4,000); 3. Jac Haudenschild ($3,000); 4. Johnny Herrera ($2,500); 5. Andy Hillenburg ($2,300); 6. Danny Smith ($2,200); 7. Tyler Walker ($2,100); 8. Danny Lasoski ($2,000); 9. Greg Hodnett ($1,700); 10. Brooke Tatnell ($1,600); 11. Donny Schatz ($1,200); 12. Lance Blevins ($1,170); 13. Mark Kinser ($1,100); 14. Joe Gaerte ($1,050); 15. Craig Dollansky ($1,020); 16. Jeff Swindell ($720); 17. Dion Hindi ($600); 18. Larry Neighbors ($520); 19. Sarah Fisher ($500); 20. Steve Kinser ($500); 21. Randy Kinser ($500); 22. Tommy Scott ($520); 23. Dale Blaney ($500); 24. Terry Babb ($520).
Lap leader: Sammy Swindell 1-30
Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Mark Kinser
