Shane Strikes Vegas WoO Jackpot!
Lonnie Wheatley, LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 4, 2015) – Shane Stewart struck for his first win of the young World of Outlaws season by leading all 30 laps of Wednesday night’s feature atop The Dirt Track at Las Vegas.
The Bixby, OK, native battled past Brian Brown for the lead in turns three and four on the opening lap and then survived several intense restarts along the way to post the $10,000 triumph aboard the Larson Marks Racing No. 2 atop a choppy ½-mile clay oval.
The most intense of the restarts came with just ten laps to go, with Stewart fighting off Brown in turns one and two to hold onto the lead and then finally slipping away after several laps of heavy pressure to secure the win by a margin of 1.947 seconds.
“Brian (Brown) is a tough competitor, he’s proven he can win these races,” Stewart said afterward.
The winner went on to say, “It was pretty rough, I think I was on two wheels as much as four at times.”
Brown fought off Joey Saldana over the closing rounds to bring the FVP No. 21 home second, commenting that, “I’m not real sure what I could have done different, maybe been just a little better on the restarts or protected my line better at the start.”
Saldana claimed the show position with Daryn Pittman and Paul McMahan rounding out the top five while reigning series champ Donny Schatz worked forward from 11th to claim sixth.
The Vitals…
Series: World of Outlaws Sprint Cars
Track: The Dirt Track at Las Vegas
Car Count: 33
Quick Time: Paul McMahan posted his first quick time of the year with a lap of 13.789 seconds, just .07 seconds off the track record. It snapped Kerry Madsen’s string of three consecutive quick times.
Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): Jason Johnson (1), Brian Brown (2), David Gravel (1), Terry McCarl (2).
“B” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses): Carson Macedo (1).
“A” Main Cautions: 4 – Lap 1 for Ian Madsen stop off turn four with damage to both rear tires after contact with Danny Lasoski. Madsen rejoined the field; Lap 4 when Austen Wheatley rolled to a stop with a collapsed top wing, Wheatley returned; Lap 19 when Kerry Madsen spun to a stop in turn one with a cut right rear, Madsen came back; Lap 20 when fourth-runner Terry McCarl stopped in turn four thinking he had a tire down, he didn’t and refired while Mark Dobmeier stopped under the caution.
“A” Main Hard Charger: Young Cali shoe Dominic Scelzi posted a ninth-place finish after starting 20th.
Notable Effort: After timing in 30th of 33, Justyn Cox raced from eighth to fifth in his heat race to make it into the main event.
The Box Score…
Qualifying: 1. 51-Paul McMahan 13.789, 2. 9-Daryn Pittman 13.981, 3. 71m-Joey Saldana 13.987, 4. 2-Shane Stewart 14.001, 5. 29-Kerry Madsen 14.065, 6. 49-Brad Sweet 14.078, 7. 15-Donny Schatz 14.093, 8. 7s-Jason Sides 14.110, 9. 1s-Logan Schuchart 14.167, 10. 21-Brian Brown 14.174, 11. 24r-Rico Abreu 14.205, 12. 24-Terry McCarl 14.223, 13. 41-Jason Johnson 14.223, 14. 18-Ian Madsen 14.229, 15. 83-David Gravel 14. 232, 16. 11k-Kraig Kinser 14.241, 17. 21x-Carson Macedo 14.275, 18. 2L-Danny Lasoski 14.305, 19. 55-Trey Starks 14.355, 20. 41x-Dominic Scelzi 14. 358, 21. 13-Mark Dobmeier 14.365, 22. 26-Tayler Malsam 14.397, 23. 44w-Austen Wheatley 14.408, 24. 82-Dusty Zomer 14.452, 25. 7-Craig Dollansky 14.482, 26. 12-Robbie Stillwaggon 14.531, 27. 1a-Jacob Allen 14.649, 28. 2LX-Logan Forler 14.693, 29. 5v-Colby Copeland 14.841, 30. 33v-Henry Van Dam 14.843, 31. 31c-Justyn Cox 14.855, 32. 7h-Jojo Helberg 15.029, 33. 88n-D.J. Netto 15.075.
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 1s-Logan Schuchart, 3. 29-Kerry Madsen, 4. 51-Paul McMahan, 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 6. 21x-Carson Macedo, 7. 7-Craig Dollansky, 8. 5v-Colby Copeland, 9. 88n-D.J. Netto.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 18-Ian Madsen, 3. 9-Daryn Pittman, 4. 49-Brad Sweet, 5. 2L-Danny Lasoski, 6. 26-Tayler Malsam, 7. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 8. 12-Robbie Stillwaggon.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 83-David Gravel, 2. 24r-Rico Abreu, 3. 71m-Joey Saldana, 4. 15-Donny Schatz, 5. 31c-Justyn Cox, 6. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 7. 55-Trey Starks, 8. 1a-Jacob Allen.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 24-Terry McCarl, 2. 11k-Kraig KInser, 3. 2-Shane Stewart, 4. 82-Dusty Zomer, 5. 7s-Jason Sides, 6. 41x-Dominic Scelzi, 7. 2LX-Logan Forler, 8. 7h-Jojo Helberg.
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 2-Shane Stewart, 3. 24-Terry McCarl, 4. 71m-Joey Saldana, 5. 51-Paul McMahan, 6. 83-David Gravel, 7. 9-Daryn Pittman, 8. 41-Jason Johnson.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 21x-Carson Macedo, 2. 55-Trey Starks, 3. 41x-Dominic Scelzi, 4. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 5. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 6. 88n-D.J. Netto, 7. 5v-Colby Copeland, 8. 26-Tayler Malsam, 9. 7h-Jojo Helberg, 10. 7-Craig Dollansky, 11. 2LX-Logan Forler, 12. 1a-Jacob Allen, 13. 12-Robbie Stillwaggon.
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 2-Shane Stewart (2), 2. 21-Brian Brown (1), 3. 71m-Joey Saldana (4), 4. 9-Daryn Pittman (7), 5. 51-Paul McMahan (5), 6. 15-Donny Schatz (11), 7. 83-David Gravel (6), 8. 49-Brad Sweet (10), 9. 41x-Dominic Scelzi (20), 10. 41-Jason Johnson (8), 11. 21x-Carson Macedo (17), 12. 7s-Jason Sides (12), 13. 29-Kerry Madsen (9), 14. 24-Terry McCarl (3), 15. 24r-Rico Abreu (14), 16. 11k-Kraig Kinser (16), 17. 55-Trey Starks (19), 18. 13-Mark Dobmeier (21), 19. 82-Dusty Zomer (23), 20. 31c-Justyn Cox (24), 21. 44w-Austen Wheatley (22), 22. 18-Ian Madsen (15), 23. 1s-Logan Schuchart (13), 24. 2L-Danny Lasoski (18).
Lap leaders: Shane Stewart 1-30.
(Photo courtesy of Chris Dolack)
