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WOO: Swindell Tightens Points Race With Eldora Victory

15 June 1998

By Richard Day

ROSSBURG, OH - Sammy Swindell used the experience of a veteran along with his exceptional driving skills to win his third straight Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series "A" Feature at Eldora Speedway Saturday.

Swindell's flag-to-flag victory, coupled with Mark Kinser's 12th-place finish, enabled Sammy to gain 28 points in their battle for first place in the World of Outlaws point standings. Entering Wednesday's $44,000 Beer Town Showdown at Beaver Dam Raceway, only 47 points separate Kinser and Swindell.

Sammy's strategy of finishing second in the Channellock Dash so he could start outside the front row in the main event worked to perfection. His ability to maneuver his #1 Channellock Stealth through dense lapped traffic allowed his to maintain the lead throughout the 30-lap race.

"We wanted the outside for the start so we ran second in the dash," Swindell explained. "Tyler Walker's motor took off really well and surprised us. We had to get after it to get by him in (turn) two.

"Traffic started being a problem toward the middle of the race. It seemed like I was catching the cars at the worst possible time and it was really tough to get off two. I kept having to go down to the middle of the track, and it made us lose some of our momentum."

Walker, the Channellock Dash winner, started on the pole and drove the #35 Air Sep Eagle ahead of Swindell as the green flag fell in the "A" Feature. Sammy used an inside move between the first and second corners to take the lead seconds later.

Steve Kinser, winner of 22 World of Outlaws main events at Eldora including last year's Kings Royal, started outside the third row. He steered his #11 Quaker State Maxim deep into turn one early in the second lap to pass both Stevie Smith and cousin Mark Kinser to take over fourth place.

Swindell was 20 car-lengths ahead of Walker when he entered lapped traffic during lap four. Kinser used another low move through the first and second corners to pass Jac Haudenschild and Walker to the runner-up spot three laps later. Haudenschild, racing for the first time since injuring his left shoulder in a crash at Lebanon Valley Speedway June 1st, drove the #22 Pennzoil Maxim past Walker in turn one early in the eighth lap.

Andy Hillenburg, who has won two of the last four World of Outlaws events, started outside the sixth row and passed five cars during the first eight laps. He passed Danny Lasoski and Walker during the 10th and 11th laps to take over fourth place.

The leaders encountered dense lapped traffic during lap 20, allowing "The King of the Outlaws" to close to within six car- lengths of Swindell. Sammy burst out of lapped traffic two laps later, however, and opened a 15-car-length advantage.

Swindell lost his comfort zone early in the 24th lap when Danny Smith brought out the caution flag with a second-corner spin. Sammy controlled the ensuing restart and was 15 car-lengths ahead of Kinser when he caught the backmarkers again with four laps remaining.

Kinser steadily narrowed the gap during the race's late stages, and caught Swindell early in the final lap. He took the low line into the second corner, only to have Sammy block him to maintain the lead. Swindell was four car-lengths ahead of Steve when he took the checkered flag.

"The caution toward the end hurt us a bit," Swindell said. "Our left rear tire started going down, but we were able to build the pressure back up and put the Channellock car in victory lane.

"We have some big races coming up, and we tried a couple of things tonight that didn't work as well as we'd like them to. We'd like to come back and start up front and do it again the next time (at the Kings Royal, July 17-18)."

Haudenschild held off the hard-charging Hillenburg for third place. Lasoski finished fifth, ahead of Walker, 15th-starting Johnny Herrera, Dale Blaney, Smith and Third Racing Champions Heat Race winner Jeff Swindell.

Lance Blevins and the #21 Up-Front Phone Cards J&J returned to the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series tour after missing four events and finished 17th in the main event. Brooke Tatnell, back after nursing injuries for six races, finished in 23rd place.

Following the Beaver Dam event, the World of Outlaws is scheduled to run $40,000 events at LaSalle Speedway Friday, Tri-City Speedway Saturday and Tri-State Speedway Sunday. WoO

1998 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series

Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, OH

Saturday, June 13, Feature Program #26

Qualifications: 1. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 13.266; 2. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 13.279; 3. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 13.305; 4. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 13.318; 5. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 13.344; 6. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 13.357; 7. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83, 13.374; 8. Butch Schroeder, Gottschalk 17S, 13.383; 9. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 13.406; 10. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 13.472; 11. Dale Blaney, Hylton-Blaney 93, 13.504; 12. Joe Gaerte, Holbrook 8H, 13.548; 13. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 13.592; 14. Sarah Fisher, Fisher 9F, 13.601; 15. Brooke Tatnell, Tatnell Racing 7K, 13.716; 16. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 13.780; 17. Danny Smith, Brazier 21S, 13.797; 18. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 13.813; 19. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 104+, 13.829; 20. Randy Kinser, Kinser 14, 13.830; 21. Kevin Gobrecht, Gobrecht 92, 13.881; 22. Tim Allison, Lotz 11x, 13.914; 23. Mike Bowling, Bowling 98, 13.916; 24. Kevin Huntley, Daughtery 7, 13.922; 25. Todd Kane, Hampshire 63, 13.931; 26. Craig Dollansky, Stanton 75, 13.938; 27. Ken Burden, Borden 6C, 13.981; 28. Dwain Leiber, Leiber 62, 14.105; 29. Greg Wilson, Davis 99, 14.207; 30. Rob Chaney, Chaney 42, 14.417; 31. Fred Boso, Javalina Construction 7B, 14.583; 32. Travis Miller, Slade 1T, 14.625; 33. Donnie Jeschke, Jeschke 99H, 14.627; 34. Jeff Williams, Williams 10W, 14.826; 35. Brian Crisp, Crisp 1C, 14.842; 36. Kent Wolters, Wolters 12, 15.18; 37. Jim Burgoon, Burgoon 2B, 15.368.

First Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Danny Smith, 3. Kevin Gobrecht, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Andy Hillenburg, 7. Greg Wilson, 8. Todd Kane, 9. Jim Burgoon, 10. Donnie Jeschke. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)

Second Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Tim Allison, 2. Lance Blevins, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Tyler Walker, 5. Donny Schatz, 6. Rob Chaney, 7. Craig Dollansky, 8. Sarah Fisher, 9. Jeff Williams. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)

Third Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jeff Swindell, 2. Dale Blaney, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Danny Lasoski, 5. Brooke Tatnell, 6. Mike Bowling, 7. Fred Boso, 8. Ken Burden, 9. Brian Crisp. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)

Fourth Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Kevin Huntley, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Randy Kinser, 4. Johnny Herrera, 5. Butch Schroeder, 6. Joe Gaerte, 7. Dwain Leiber, 8. Kent Wolters, 9. Travis Miller. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)

Channellock Dash (five laps): 1. Tyler Walker, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Jac Haudenschild, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Stevie Smith, 6. Steve Kinser, 7. Butch Schroeder, 8. Danny Lasoski. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature)

B Feature (12 laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Craig Dollansky, 3. Sarah Fisher, 4. Todd Kane, 5. Joe Gaerte, 6. Rob Chaney ($200); 7. Dwain Leiber ($180); 8. Mike Bowling ($150); 9. Greg Wilson ($110); 10. Fred Boso ($90); 11. Travis Miller ($80); 12. Donnie Jeschke ($60); 13. Kent Wolters ($50); 14. Jim Burgoon ($50); 15. Ken Burden ($50); 16. Jeff Williams ($50); 17. Brian Crisp ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)

A Feature (30 laps): 1. Sammy Swindell ($7,000); 2. Steve Kinser ($4,000); 3. Jac Haudenschild ($3,000); 4. Andy Hillenburg ($2,520); 5. Danny Lasoski ($2,300); 6. Tyler Walker ($2,200); 7. Johnny Herrera ($2,100); 8. Dale Blaney ($2,000); 9. Danny Smith ($1,700); 10. Jeff Swindell ($1,600); 11. Stevie Smith ($1,200); 12. Mark Kinser ($1,150); 13. Greg Hodnett ($1,100); 14. Butch Schroeder ($1,050); 15. Donny Schatz ($1,000); 16. Randy Kinser ($700); 17. Lance Blevins ($600); 18. Brooke Tatnell ($500); 19. Joe Gaerte ($520); 20. Kevin Gobrecht ($500); 21. Sarah Fisher ($520); 22. Tim Allison ($500); 23. Kevin Huntley ($500); 24. Craig Dollansky ($520); 25. Todd Kane ($520). Provisional starter - Joe Gaerte

Lap leader: Sammy Swindell 1-30

Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Mark Kinser