Seeing is Believing for EcoWater Maxim Owner
                            By Richard Day
    BLOOMINGTON, IN (June 14) - Although Dan Motter has been a Skoal
Outlaw Series car owner for 3 1/2 years, he has rarely seen the #71M
EcoWater Systems Maxim in victory lane. It's not that the car hasn't
made it to the winner's circle - it has won 11 World of Outlaws
features. The reason is that Motter's business commitments keep him
from attending many races.
    It's been a long wait for Motter, who last celebrated a victory
with his team at Eldora Speedway following the Historic Big One in
1994. So victory was sweet when he saw Stevie Smith win for the first
time in the #71M Friday at Bloomington Speedway.
    "It's nice to finally win one," said Smith, a six-time winner in
1995. "I thought we had one the other night (at I-55 Raceway), but
something broke and we wrecked the car. I was glad Dan could be here
to see us win."
    Motter's timing couldn't have been better; it was Stevie's night
from the beginning. He broke the one-lap record with a 9.780-second
trip around the semi-banked, 1/4-mile oval, then earned the right to
start the 40-lap main event on the front row by following Mark Kinser
across the finish line in the Vivarin Dash.
    Kinser, who led the final 20 laps after Smith crashed at I-55,
burst into the lead as the green flag fell in the "A" Feature. He had
the #5M Wirtgen Maxim five car-lengths ahead of Stevie by lap three,
only to have Smith catch him when the leaders caught the backmarkers
two laps later.
    The seventh lap was unlucky for Kinser, who slid over the fourth-
corner bank, allowing Smith, Joey Saldana, Andy Hillenburg, Joe Gaerte
and 12th-starting Dave Blaney to pass him. The caution flag was flying
two laps later, when Lance Blevins took the #21 Citgo J&J for a spin
in turn four.
    Smith opened a five-car-length advantage within a lap after the
green flag replaced the yellow, and was approaching lapped traffic
again when Greg Hodnett spun to a stop on the front straightaway and
Mike Bowling slid over the bank in the first corner.
    Saldana, who is battling Blevins for Skoal Outlaw Series Rookie of
the Year honors, raced wheel-to-wheel with Stevie through turns three
and four as the race resumed, but was unable to take the lead. At the
same time, Gaerte and Hillenburg battled for third place while Kinser
passed Blaney for fifth.
    "The Buckeye Bullet" returned the favor during the 15th lap, then
took over fourth place when Hillenburg's #2 STP J&J bicycled in turn
four. Smith caught the backmarkers again, while Blaney joined Gaerte
and Saldana in their battle for the runner-up spot during lap 18.
    Keeping his #3G Maxim in the low groove while the majority of the
24-car field rode the rim, Gaerte passed Saldana in the fourth corner
midway through the race. Steve Kinser, a seven-time winner at his
hometown track, coasted into the infield with a blown engine during
the 23rd lap, ending a miserable night for "The King of the Outlaws."
He struggled to qualify for the main event, suffering a flat left rear
tire and colliding with Tim Engler in the "B" Feature.
    Although Todd Kelley's collision with the inside guard rail on the
front stretch brought out the caution flag the next time around, Smith
opened a five-car-length advantage within a lap after the race
resumed. Blaney challenged Gaerte for three laps before steering the
#10 Vivarin J&J into second place with a high move in turn four.
    Stevie was a full straightaway ahead of his closest pursuers with
11 laps remaining, but the defending World of Outlaws champion almost
stole the $6,000 first prize with a late charge. "The Buckeye Bullet"
narrowed the gap to a half-straightaway by lap 34, and was within five
car-lengths by the 36th lap. Blaney caught Smith in the fourth corner
two laps later, and they raced side-by-side throughout the second half
of lap 39. After taking the white flag, Smith and Blaney were even in
the first and second corners. Stevie used a daring move to pass Jac
Haudenschild deep in turn four and beat "The Buckeye Bullet" under the
checkered flag by less than a car-length.
    Jeff Swindell passed five cars to finish in third place, ahead of
Gaerte, Hillenburg, Mark Kinser, Saldana, Sammy Swindell, Danny
Lasoski and Johnny Herrera.
    Lasoski drove Chris Black's #1Z Maxim while Guy Forbrook prepared
the #5 Jackpot Junction Schnee for "The Dude" to drive in Saturday's
weekly racing program at Knoxville Raceway. WoO
              1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                Bloomington Speedway, Bloomington, IN
                 Friday, June 14, Feature Program #26
    Qualifications:  1. Stevie Smith, Motter 71M, 9.780 (new one-lap
record); 2. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 9.958; 3. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G,
9.985; 4. Joey Saldana, Roth 83, 10.007; 5. Andy Hillenburg,
Hillenburg 2, 10.026; 6. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 10.043; 7. Jim Carr,
McCarr 7M, 10.096; 8. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 10.171; 9. Greg
Hodnett, Helm 11H, 10.152; 10. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 10.153;
11. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 10.176; 12. Tim Engler, Engler 73,
10.196; 13. Randy Kinser, Kinser 14, 10.201; 14. Dave Blaney, Luna 10,
10.217; 15. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 10.225; 16. Jac Haudenschild,
Elden 22, 10.235; 17. Todd Kelley, Kelley 21K, 10.256; 18. Danny
Lasoski, Black 1Z, 10.292; 19. Rickey Hood, Herrera 45x, 10.310; 20.
Byron Reed, B&S Racing 5R, 10.382; 21. Kelly Kinser, Kinser 4K,
10.383; 22. Mike Bowling, Bowling 98, 10.417; 23. Lee Dunn, Dunn 81,
10.430; 24. Kenny Jacobs, Ashworth 92, 10.433; 25. Brian Paulus, P&P
Motorsports 28, 10.469; 26. Derek Davidson, Bayless 17B, 10.481; 27.
Billy Peterbaugh, Peterbaugh 15, 10.485; 28. Eric Davis, Davis 96,
10.518; 29. Kevin Briscoe, Briscoe 5K, 10.516; 30. Larry Bland, Bland
2B, 10.539; 31. Bobby Allen, Allen 1a, 10.573; 32. Joe Miller, Miller
4M, 10.607; 33. Fred Rose, Javalena Construction 7, 10.644; 34. Nick
Naber, G&N Racing 10.766; 35. Jeff Pritchard, Pritchard 72, 10.849;
36. Jeff O'Banion, Davis 21A, 10.976; 37. Robbie Stannard, Stannard
64, 10.987; 38. Eric Burns, Burns 10x, 11.501; 39. Brenda Buster,
Buster 31, 11.694; 40. Pete Abel, Holt 04, no time.
    First Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Kelly Kinser, 2. Randy
Kinser, 3. Andy Hillenburg, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Kevin
Briscoe, 7. Todd Kelley, 8. Brian Paulus, 9. Robbie Stannard, 10. Fred
Rose. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Second Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Danny Lasoski, 2.
Dave Blaney, 3. Mark Kinser, 4. Mike Bowling, 5. Jeff Swindell, 6.
Steve Kinser, 7. Derek Davidson, 8. Larry Bland, 9. Nick Naber, 10.
Eric Burns. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Third Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Joe Gaerte, 2. Rickey
Hood, 3. Lee Dunn, 4. Lance Blevins, 5. Johnny Herrera, 6. Bobby
Allen, 7. Billy Peterbaugh, 8. Jim Carr, 9. Jeff Pritchard, 10. Brenda
Buster. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Fourth Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Kenny Jacobs, 2. Jac
Haudenschild, 3. Joey Saldana, 4. Byron Reed, 5. Sammy Swindell, 6.
Tim Engler, 7. Eric Davis, 8. Joe Miller, 9. Jeff O'Banion, 10. Pete
Abel. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Vivarin Dash (seven laps):  1. Mark Kinser, 2. Stevie Smith, 3.
Andy Hillenburg, 4. Joey Saldana, 5. Sammy Swindell, 6. Joe Gaerte, 7.
Greg Hodnett, 8. Jeff Swindell. (finish determined the first eight
starting positions in the "A" Feature)
    B Feature (12 laps):  1. Kevin Briscoe, 2. Steve Kinser, 3. Bobby
Allen, 4. Todd Kelley, 5. Joe Miller ($210); 6. Billy Peterbaugh
($185); 7. Derek Davidson ($160); 8. Jeff O'Banion ($110); 9. Eric
Burns ($100); 10. Robbie Stannard ($90); 11. Brenda Buster ($70); 12.
Eric Davis ($60); 13. Brian Paulus ($60); 14. Jeff Pritchard ($60);
15. Tim Engler ($60); 16. Fred Rose ($60); 17. Jim Carr ($60); 18.
Larry Bland ($60); 19. Nick Naber ($60); 20. Pete Abel ($60). (first
four qualified for the "A" Feature)
    A Feature (40 laps):  1. Stevie Smith ($6,010); 2. Dave Blaney
($3,510); 3. Jeff Swindell ($2,510); 4. Joe Gaerte ($2,210); 5. Andy
Hillenburg ($2,110); 6. Mark Kinser ($2,010); 7. Joey Saldana
($1,610); 8. Sammy Swindell ($1,510); 9. Danny Lasoski ($1,410); 10.
Johnny Herrera ($1,310); 11. Jac Haudenschild ($1,160); 12. Randy
Kinser ($1,110); 13. Rickey Hood ($1,060); 14. Kelly Kinser ($1,010);
15. Kenny Jacobs ($710); 16. Lee Dunn ($510); 17. Lance Blevins
($410); 18. Bobby Allen ($430); 19. Todd Kelley ($430); 20. Steve
Kinser ($430); 21. Kevin Briscoe ($430); 22. Mike Bowling ($410); 23.
Greg Hodnett ($410); 24. Byron Reed ($410).
           Lap leaders:  Mark Kinser 1-7, Stevie Smith 8-40
           EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner:  Stevie Smith
                                 WoO