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World of Outlaws (28 Cars)

Welcome Mat
The Dude, Dusty Zomer, Brian Brown, Billy Alley, Brooke Tatnell

MIA
Roth #83, Mark Dobmeier, Jake Peters, Gregg Bakker, Johnn Cressman, John Lambertz, Bronson Maeschen

VIP
Not much for a VIP tonight, but the DudeFan and his buddy made the trek down from their homestate of Minnesota. Unlike the other MN "fans" in Wertz and BT24 who chickened out on final WoO show for the year.

Time Trials (2 laps each)
Jason Meyers (23^rd out) set quick time and a new track record, breaking Jason Solwold's record from last year with a lap at 13.437 with an average speed of 100.469 MPH around the 3/8ths high banked clay "paperclip." Joey Saldana (5^th out) had established an earlier track record at 13.469 only to have it broken at the end by Meyers. The rest of the top 12 that hit the heat race inversion: The Dude, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Terry McCarl, Kerry Madsen, Chad Kemenah, Paul McMahan, Donny Schatz, Kraig Kinser, Craig Dollansky, and Brian Brown.

Time Trials Grade: A-; the track was a little tricky later on for the late drawing cars, but it was definitely a driver's track. Meyers actually threw the wing back and drove through the middle of 1 and 2. That was pretty amazing in itself and to have it payoff was even cooler.

Heats (Top 4 Inverted from TT, Top 6 to the A, Top 2 Make the Dash)
Heat 1 Starting Order: 8 Laps

Heat 1 Finish: 20 8K 14 15H 5w 21/ 5c 18 29 22

Heat 1 Notes: Meyers was able to get a jump into 2^nd on the start only to have Alley stop on the backstretch to negate it and causing a complete restart. On the 2^nd try, K. Kinser blew out front and Kemenah was able to snare the dash spot at the start ahead of Meyers. Meyers was all over the 4-time All Star Champ, but couldn't make a pass. Pittman was able to get by Hillier with a couple to go to get the final transfer.

Heat 2 Starting Order: 8 Laps

Heat 2 Finish: 6 9 2 24 11 23w/ 5z 7K R19

Heat 2 Notes: McMahan shot off with the lead with Saldana moving into 2^nd when Dollansky and Haud touched in the middle of turn 1. Haud was on the move but had problems causing him to drop out with a lap to go, which gave the final transfer to Winters. It was a single-file WoO heat race that we've all grown to know and (not) love.

Heat 3 Starting Order: 8 Laps

Heat 3 Finish: 21x 15 55 33 7s 5/ 9P 33x 4w

Heat 3 Notes: Schatz took the lead on the initial start only to have it called back for a Vogelaar stop on the backstretch. On the next try, Brownie learned from his previous mistake and took the lead into one. Schatz was all over him until the checkers flew, but there was no passing going on at all in this heat. The track configuration just wouldn't allow it. More on this later.

Heat Grades: D-; The Huset's WoO heats may have actually been better if it wasn't for Saldana being the only guy from the 2^nd row to make it into the re-draw for the dash. Otherwise it was hold your spot and use a lot of tear-offs on the heavy clay track.

Crane Cams Dash (6 Laps)
Starting Order:

Dash Finish: 20 21x 15 9 14 6 8K 24 33 15H

Dash Grade/Notes: C-; K. Kinser hopped out to yet another ginormous lead as Brownie was able to fend off the 2-Time Champ in Schatz just barely at the checkers in order to have a front row starting spot for the A. McCarl was the only guy to move up 2 spots. It was K. Kinser's 2^nd dash win of the year.

B Feature (Top 6 Tag the A, 8 Laps)
Starting Order:

B Feature Finish: R19 5c 5z 4w 18 7K/ 29 9P 22 33x

B Feature Grade/Notes: D+; Alley (magneto issues), Phillips, and Vogelaar all didn't make the call for the B; resulting in a 7 car B Feature that transferred 6 to the A. Yes, very exciting stuff, I know. Haud checked out, tried all different groves and never was challenged. This is where it gets interesting.

Anyways, Winters would scratch from the A due to a burnt piston in the heat, and Zimmerman didn't make the call for the A so 1^st and 2^nd alternates in Hall and Phillips were able to tag the 12^th row for the A. Crazy stuff.

A Feature (30 Laps)
Starting Order:

It had been sprinkling on-and-off throughout the night, but WoO officials decide to drag us through a 15 minute driver introduction. Only to have a light rain greet the drivers on the parade lap. It would taper off at the fly of the green, but it would have raised a lot of hell had the A not been completed. More on this later as well.

Initial start was dandy with K. Kinser pulling out to yet another lead on the night with Brownie in 2^nd. At the completion of the first lap, Saldana was able to dispose of Brownie to move in to 2^nd. Pretty much a hug the bottom affair as sprinkles continued to fall until the leaders were able to catch lapped traffic and that's when the crowd was finally awaken out of the nap they dozed into for the first few laps.

Around lap 8 (had no official count as the scoreboard was giving positions and lap times, and not actual laps) Schatz almost took his Armor-All 15 off the embankment completely over in turn 1 when he tried to get around Brownie on the high side. That allowed Meyers to go by on the bottom to collect 4^th from him temporarily.

A couple laps later, Meyers, Brownie, and Schatz would go 3-wide in the middle of turn 1, also resulting in Schatz getting of the edge a little bit again. Meyers would move into 3^rd, Brown back to 4^th, with Schatz still in 5^th when he gathered it back up. Schatz would get by Brown 2 laps later and would set his sight on Meyers. The Report was thinking about another possible "chop off" coming from the 14 on the 15, but that never happened as Schatz blew by Meyers at the midway point when Zomer held up the #14.

The track was finally starting to slick off for, well, the first time ever, resulting in a better low groove, but a high side in which the leaders could get through traffic by using. Saldana and Schatz were able to creep up on K. Kinser who had struggled a bit in traffic. Saldana was able to peak high a few times around the Bass Pro Shops #20, but could never get a good enough run to take the top spot.

Then with 4 to go that's when Schatz decided to pounce. K. Kinser had been having issues with Pittman for a few laps, Saldana got crossed up and went high with K. Kinser, resulting in Schatz going low in 1 and 2, blowing by Saldana and pulling even with K. Kinser off of 2. Schatz was able to grab the lead for good in turns 3 and 4. He would go on to win the non-stop feature, grabbing his 14^th WoO feature of the year, 2^nd straight win at Clay County, and his 84^th career WoO A Main victory. K. Kinser held on for 2^nd ahead of Saldana in 3^rd. Meyers was 4^th while Brown held on for 5^th. Lap leaders were K. Kinser 1-26, Schatz 27-30. The KSE Hard Charger was Haudenschild coming from 17^th to 9^th.

Finish: 15 20 9 14 21x 6 15H 24 R19 55/ 33 8K 7s 5w 11 2 21 5 5c 5z/ 9P 29 18 4w

A Feature Grade: B+; in all honesty you can't as for much more from a WoO feature. The feature went non-stop, tons of action in lapped traffic, and there was a pass for the lead with under 5 laps to go. It just happened to be the not-so fan favorite in Schatz, but it was a pretty damn good race. Its just too bad the track is misshaped, because that place would be a gem if it was wider.

FOAW: Well, the man the has won the award the most this year didn't show up even though it was on his schedule. And the other person (Winters) that has won it outside of Dobmeier, blew a piston in the heat and wasn't even able to push off for the A. Tough night to be a former award winner.

Crowd Pleasing Moment #1: During the driver introductions, it was great to hear a few fans actually boo Jason Meyers. Just about the first time I've heard it, but found it quite amusing as they have too seen the chop blocks he likes to perform.

Crowd Pleasing Moment #2: Even though I'm not a fan of Schatz, that move to go from 3^rd to 1^st in a turn was quite amazing on that track. Don't get to see that kind of stuff everyday, and was glad my $30 was finally worth something on the night.

WTF: The track configuration at Spencer is just messed up. The cars are just going way too fast down the straights and have to go into the turns following each other instead of side-by-side. Another possible problem could be that the turns are too tight resulting in them coming in following one another. Something's just wrong and it sucks because that track could be amazing.

WoO Moment of the Night: With sprinkles happening on-and-off all night the WoO decide to have driver introductions on the front stretch that lasted a good 15 minutes. Don't worry, it was those same WoO officials who didn't have the dash draw on the frontstretch due to "possible weather in the area" about an hour earlier. Gotta love the greatest circus on dirt!

Mulligan Moment: The Big J jinx upon the 23w continues yet again. The Report doesn't travel to Cedar Lake last Saturday where he ran 5^th at the Richer Memorial. Its time to go through the stats to check on just how bad the Big J Jinx actually is.

Head Scratcher: The Report was thinking it was going to be able to see Dollansky go for the hat-trick (3 for 3) in races it attends this year for the WoO. It was looking good with a front row starting spot in the heat, but a bad start ruined the rest of the night as he finished 16^th, ouch.

Thumbs Up: To no other support classes throughout the night. One class of taxi cabs may have helped pack the track in, but its always good to know your going to see just sprints on a early fall evening.

Thumbs Down: Most of the locals from the SD area deciding not to show up. I know it was a Wednesday night and some had to work and work again tomorrow, but I'm believing some, if not most, of them were able to make it out for last year's Wednesday show.

Prime Mover: Haudenschild from 17^th to 9^th.

Trophy Queen Grade: N/A. Don't know if there were any.

Closing Stat of the Night: I don't know what it is, but once Schatz gets done with the West Coast swing he flicks the switch and gets going again. He struggles after the Nationals during that whole swing, then he comes back to the Midwest/East and just dominates to finish out the year. This has to be the 3^rd year in a row he's done that!

Final Thought: I hope most of you have enjoyed the Report throughout the year. Its been fun getting to write it late at night, and then wake up the next day saying what everyone has to say about it. There still might be one Report left on the year in a couple week for Cheater's Day at Huset's. If it doesn't come, then we will see you next year with a bigger and better Report from a track near you!

BIG J

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

I was busy getting ready for this weekends BEARS vs Panthers game. NFL vs WoO... Well the NFL wins every time. Even on a Wednesday. GO BEARS!

"Final Thought: I hope most of you have enjoyed the Report throughout the year. Its been fun getting to write it late at night, and then wake up the next day saying what everyone has to say about it. There still might be one Report left on the year in a couple week for Cheater's Day at Huset's. If it doesn't come, then we will see you next year with a bigger and better Report from a track near you!"

Big J-

As much as you like action-packed sprint car racing, you need to consider checking out these three post-season races (and bring your Report with you):

www.cowtownspeedway.com/nationals.html

www.darinshort.com/STN.html

www.cowtownspeedway.com/NSS.html

And 23w was at 2 of the 3 of these events last year, and would have probably been to the third, but this is the first year for the event...and they've already emailed me requesting more information. Hopefully they can make it down again for the big 4-race swing.

Micah Schliemann (is he not racing this year?) also came down for the NSS and put on a nice show. Other Northern invaders included Jack Dover and Don Droud Jr.

We've increased the purse for the NSS by around $13,000 this year; so I'd expect even more 'invaders' to come down.

The Cowtown Sprint Nationals kicks it all off in exactly 4 weeks from now, Oct. 10-11. 4 races, total sprint purse of around $220,000 and a possible winners share of around $40,000...and 3 of the 4 races are in D/FW, the other is the STN in Little Rock 4 1/2 hours up I-30.

With a bit of planning, there's some great flight/hotel options as well. And for last-minute planning I often find scorching deals on Travelocity.com under 'last minute deals.' They're great for 2-4 people traveling.

Keep me posted, as you know I can hook a brotha' up.

Just a couple of observations from last night and reading "The Report".........this event could use a support class or two, if for nothing else, to help the track dry up and slicken up. Not watering the track as much would help, too. I have seen that track really dry before as, for the WDRL Late Model/Jackson Touring Sprint Car race on the 4th of July, the dust was in prime form already in hot laps. By the end of the night, the corners were pure black from top to bottom. As for the cars having to follow each other into the turns, it's primarily because the track is too sticky yet and it's a one-laner as a result. Once again, this is where a support class would help as well as not so much water on it.

I don't see why they were able to have the driver introductions but called off the four wide pace lap......

Wertz, turn in your race fan card. Shame............

what was the crowd like? was it as packed as it was 1 year ago?

I turned it back in back in March.

Dollansky was running seventh and had a tire going down on the final few laps due to a crew member not loosening up the bleeder. It cost him.. as he finished 16th.

No notion BIG J for Madsen not coming thru the B?? He may have finished farther up.

  No welcome mat  for the 4W, or Doc even making the A Main ?

Also, Russ Hall for coming from D.M. with a 360 to make the A and pass a couple cars, including the 18? Worthy of welcome mat mention.

Savage

dmantx- Since I'm still in school its going to be impossible to hit any after season shows, even back home an hour away at Huset's. Don't think I'll be doing any traveling until I finally complete my degree. Gimme a couple years and we'll see though.

DudeFan- Madsen didn't come out of the B as he was the last car to miss the dash on time and started 11th. C'mon you were sitting next to me, you should know this!

The Doc gets no praise in the Report, ever. He's lucky he's not on Henderson's level of hatred. And Savage, if we're gonna mention people traveling up from Des Moines in the Welcome Mat, then we'd have to mention you. The list would get long in a hurry.

BIG J

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

WFOB, thanks for the report! Another great detailed summary of the races for us that can't make it... as far as your WTF... I have never been to Spencer to see their tight corners, but did you ever see the temporary track at Heartland Park in Topeka, KS when the Outlaws ran there? Those corners were TIGHT, to say the least... I thought that track ended up making some great racing ... wheelies all night!!! Keep up the good reports!

Fenders are like vacuums... they both suck.

Just as I suspected, puppet. Wouldnt expect anything less you know.

Thanks to all the cars that showed up!

I know! But I'm saying he would have been better coming thru the B like he always seems to have to do this year cuz he charges up farther in the feature. Probably would have finished farther up than 10th if he had to run thru the B. You catch my drift now??

Now that place was bad. I thought it was a drag strip that they put dirt down over and ran over the drag strip. Bouncing off those concrete walls, pulling slide jobs for the win, great stuff. And those wheelies!

The corners were so tight there, they used the same straightaway to go both ways!!

Savage