WOO: Red River Valley report 96-07-07

• Richard Day
• MNI - Motorsport News International
• Mon Jul 8 23:35:50 EDT 1996

Sammy Snaps Winless String at Red River Valley
                         By Richard Day
    WEST FARGO, ND (July 7) - Sammy Swindell was the Skoal Outlaw
Series' hottest driver last summer, winning five straight races,
including a sweep of the double feature event at Red River Valley
Speedway.
    Swindell admitted he made a mistake when it came to choosing
which Goodyear Eagle tire to put on the right rear of his #1
ChannelLock Gambler in Saturday's preliminary program. His tire
selection - not to mention his racing - was flawless Sunday as he
ran his winning streak to two at West Fargo's high-banked, 1/2-
mile oval.
    "We didn't make any mistakes today," Sammy said. "We put the
wrong tire on yesterday, but not today."
    The $9,000 victory snapped Swindell's 12-feature winless
streak and pushed him past Andy Hillenburg into sixth place in
the World of Outlaws point standings.
    Sammy earned the right to start Sunday's "A" Feature on the
pole by passing Skoal Outlaw Series points leader Mark Kinser and
brother Jeff Swindell on his way to winning the Vivarin Dash.
Then he burst into the lead as the green flag fell in the main
event.
    Steve Kinser, the evening's fastest qualifier and winner of
the First Heat Race, relegated Jeff to fourth place with a high
move into turn two early in the second lap.
    Gerald Cressman and Terry Reilly brought out the red flag
when they crashed in turn three the next time around. Then, as
the race resumed, Mark Kinser steered the #5M Wirtgen Maxim deep
into the third corner to pass Swindell for the lead. He held the
lead only momentarily, however, as Swindell took the low line
under him in turn one and Steve Kinser passed both with a high
move in the second corner. Jeff raced into third place when Mark
slid out of the low groove.
    Sammy battled Steve for four laps before regaining the lead
with a low move in the first corner early in lap eight. Two laps
later, Steve drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim by Swindell in the
second corner, only to have Sammy return the favor with a low
move in turn three.
    Kinser, winner of seven World of Outlaws "A" Features at Red
River Valley, followed Swindell into lapped traffic during the
12th lap and, although he threaded the #11 between the leader and
inside berm in the fourth corner, was unable to make the pass.
    Swindell raced away from the field during the next five laps,
and opened a half-straightaway lead by lap 18. "The King of the
Outlaws" narrowed the gap to 10 car-lengths during the 23rd lap,
and caught Sammy in dense lapped traffic the next time around.
    Swindell must have had flashbacks of his Pike County Speedway
crash which took him and three pursuers out of the March 15th
race early in the 27th lap. He was leading Kinser through lapped
traffic when Steve collided with Donny Schatz in the first
corner. The collision sent Schatz into the fence and damaged the
right side panel on Kinser's top wing.
    Sammy noticed a cut which allowed air to leak from his bald
right rear tire during the red period. Trying to conserve what
little rubber remained on the tire, he restarted the race at a
deliberate pace. It was all Kinser's engine could do to catch
Swindell in the first corner, however, and he coasted off the
racing surface with a blown power plant seconds later.
    Jeff Swindell narrowed the gap as Sammy conserved his tires
during the final three laps, but was still 10 car-lengths behind
when they took the checkered flag.
    Mark Kinser finished third, ahead of Hillenburg, Second Heat
Race winner Jac Haudenschild, Joey Saldana, Johnny Herrera,
Stevie Smith, Joe Gaerte and Jim Carr.
    Jeff's second runner-up run in as many nights pushed him past
Steve Kinser and Stevie Smith and into third place in the Skoal
Outlaw Series point standings. WoO
            1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
            Red River Valley Speedway, West Fargo, ND
               Sunday, July 7, Feature Program #33
    Qualifications:  1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 16.376; 6. Dave
Blaney, Luna 10, 16.513; 3. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 16.589; 4.
Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 16.659; 5. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15,
16.768; 6. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 16.775; 7. Andy
Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 16.778; 8. Stevie Smith, Motter 71M,
16.879; 9. Jim Carr, McCarr 7M, 16.887; 10. Brian Paulus, P&P
Motorsports 28, 17.033; 11. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 17.103;
12. Terry Reilly, Julius 69R, 17.395; 13. Chuck Swenson, Swenson
X, 17.591; 14. Gerald Cressman, Cressman 56, 18.013; 15. Dan
Pape, Pape 91, 18.328; 16. Jamie McWalter, McWalter 55, no time;
17. Mike Balcaen, Balcaen 10B, no time; 18. Kevin Jopp, Jopp 1J,
no time; 19. Bob Martin, Martin 10T, no time; 20. Loren Langerud,
Langerud 95x, no time.
    First Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Steve Kinser, 2. Johnny
Herrera, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Andy Hillenburg, 5. Lance Blevins,
6. Jim Carr, 7. Chuck Swenson, 8. Dan Pape ($10).  DNS - Mike
Balcaen, Bob Martin. (first eight qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Second Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Jac Haudenschild, 2.
Stevie Smith, 3. Dave Blaney, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Brian Paulus, 6.
Terry Reilly, 7. Gerald Cressman, 8. Jamie  McWalter. DNS - Kevin
Jopp, Loren Langerud. (first eight qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically
qualified Mark Kinser, Jeff Swindell, Sammy Swindell and Joey
Saldana for the first four starting positions in the Vivarin
Dash.
    Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Mark Kinser,
3. Steve Kinser, 4. Jeff Swindell, 5. Dave Blaney, 6. Joey
Saldana. (finish determined the first six starting positions in
the "A" Feature)
    A Feature (30 laps):  1. Sammy Swindell ($9,000); 2. Jeff
Swindell ($5,000); 3. Mark Kinser ($3,300); 4. Andy Hillenburg
($3,010); 5. Jac Haudenschild ($2,260); 6. Joey Saldana ($2,075);
7. Johnny Herrera ($1,810); 8. Stevie Smith ($1,710); 9. Joe
Gaerte ($1,510); 10. Jim Carr ($1,410); 11. Dave Blaney ($1,210);
12. Brian Paulus ($1,110); 13. Chuck Swenson ($1,060); 14. Lance
Blevins ($1,010); 15. Steve Kinser ($710); 16. Donny Schatz
($610); 17. Jamie McWalter ($510); 18. Mike Balcaen ($500); 19.
Kevin Jopp ($500); 20. Bob Martin ($500); 21. Loren Langerud
($500); 22. Terry Reilly ($510); 23. Gerald Cressman ($510). DNS
- Dan Pape.
    Lap leaders:  Sammy Swindell 1-2, 7-30; Steve Kinser 3-6
                               WoO