WOO: Davenport report 96-07-10

• Richard Day
• World of Outlaws Racing
• Fri Jul 12 22:44:18 EDT 1996

Smith Edges Kinser in Big Muddy Classic
                         By Richard Day
    DAVENPORT, IA (July 10) - Stevie Smith won a last-lap battle
with Steve Kinser to claim the $6,000 first prize in the Skoal
Outlaw Series' Second Annual Big Muddy Classic, run before a
capacity crowd at Davenport Speedway Wednesday.
    Kinser, who burst into the lead on the original start, faded
into sixth place when the race resumed. But he caught Smith late
in the 29th lap and was less than a car-length behind when the
#71M EcoWater Systems Maxim took the checkered flag.
    "I was just trying to keep the car as straight as I could in
turn four," Smith said in victory lane. "I got some traction and
we just barely beat him (Kinser) across the finish line."
    The victory, Stevie's second of the year, completed a
flawless performance in which he won every race he entered. He
also won the First Quaker State Heat Race and the Vivarin Dash.
    Mark Kinser opened the festivities by earning his 21st
EcoWater Quick-Time Award of the year. The World of Outlaws
points leader came within .169 seconds of breaking the one-lap
record he set last July, circling the semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval
in 17.590 seconds. Mark gave Smith the luxury of starting the
Vivarin Dash on the pole when he picked the #4 inversion pill.
    Steve Kinser raced past Joe Gaerte as the green flag fell in
the "A" Feature, then passed Smith for the lead with a low move
into the second corner. The start was called back, however, when
Gaerte stopped with a blown engine and Johnny Herrera took the
#47 Casey's General Stores Maxim for a spin in turn four.
    In Gaerte's absence, Mark Kinser moved up to the front row in
the restart lineup. Smith beat Mark out of turn four as Steve
Kinser moved up to challenge his cousin for the runner-up spot.
After racing wheel-to-wheel with Mark in the first corner,
Steve's #11 Quaker State Maxim turned sideways in turn two, which
allowed Andy Hillenburg, defending Big Muddy Classic champion
Jeff Swindell and Terry McCarl to race past.
    Mark caught Smith in the first corner the next time around,
and steered the #5M Wirtgen Maxim deep into turn two for the
lead. Sammy Swindell and Dave Blaney were on the move as well.
Swindell passed six cars to take over fourth place and "The
Buckeye Bullet" raced into seventh place from outside the sixth
row during the first two laps.
    Mark was 10 car-lengths ahead of Smith when Sammy caught
Jeff, and Steve passed Hillenburg for fifth place late in lap
five.
    Smith took the lead with a high move around Mark in turn four
within seconds after the leaders entered lapped traffic late in
the seventh lap. Mark was challenging Stevie for the lead the
next time around when the #5 Jackpot Junction Casino Schnee
suffered a broken power steering hose, forcing Danny Lasoski to
stop on the front straightaway.
    Smith caught the backmarkers again within three laps after
the green flag replaced the yellow. "The King of the Outlaws"
continued his run toward the front, passing Jeff Swindell for
fourth place midway through the race.
    Hillenburg surrendered sixth place when he stopped his #2 STP
J&J in turn two with a flat left front tire with 10 laps
remaining. During the caution period, World of Outlaws officials
discovered that Sammy's #1 ChannelLock Gambler and Steve
Beitler's #21B sprinter had lost parts of their mufflers. Both
were disqualified and scored 23rd and 24th, respectively.
    Two lapped cars restarting between the leaders allowed Smith
to open a 15-car-length advantage within three laps after the
race resumed. Steve passed Mark for the runner-up spot as the
leaders caught the backmarkers again with five laps remaining,
and immediately started reeling in the leader in traffic.
    "The King of the Outlaws" caught Smith in turn four as they
headed for the white flag, and they raced side-by-side for much
of the final lap. Stevie found a moist area high in the fourth
corner and got just enough traction to beat Steve under the
checkered flag by inches.
    Mark Kinser finished in third place, ahead of Blaney, Jeff
Swindell, Herrera, McCarl, Jac Haudenschild, 15th-starting Lance
Blevins and Hillenburg.
    The #75 Mopar Maxim suffered a blown engine during its second
qualifying lap, leaving Joey Saldana the 24th-fastest qualifier
in the 30-car field. He started the main event at the rear of the
field and raced past 13 cars to finish in 11th place. WoO
            1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                 Second Annual Big Muddy Classic
                Davenport Speedway, Davenport, IA
             Wednesday, July 10, Feature Program #35
    Qualifications:  1. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 17.590; 2. Steve
Kinser, Kinser 11, 18.060; 3. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 18.090; 4.
Stevie Smith, Motter 71M, 18.189; 5. Mike Reinke, Cowman 02,
18.275; 6. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 18.278; 7. Terry
McCarl, Gray 51, 18.321; 8. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2,
18.342; 9. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 18.431; 10. Sammy
Swindell, Swindell 1, 18.445; 11. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15,
18.504; 12. Dave Blaney, Luna 10, 18.530; 13. Bob Weuve,
McCroskey 19, 18.621; 14. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 18.633; 15.
Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 18.641; 16. Danny Lasoski, Forbrook 5,
18.647; 17. Jim Carr McCarr 7M, 18.671; 18. Dennis Moore, Jr.,
Cahill 7, 18.724; 19. Skip Jackson, VanderEcken 10V, 18.785; 20.
Peter Murphy, RCSN Racing 12, 18.849; 21. Shawn Moore, Moore 2x,
18.897; 22. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 18.973; 23. Steve
Beitler, Beitler 21B, 18.973; 24. Joey Saldana, Stanton 75,
18.990; 25. Rich Bubak, Bubak 9, 19.119; 26. Travis Cram, Cram
92, 19.291; 27. Todd Taeger, Taeger 7A, 19.295; 28. Dion Hindi,
Hindi 11A, 19.393; 29. Ryan Jamison, Jamison 51J, 19.769; 30. Tim
Moore, Moore 10T, 21.224.
    First Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Stevie Smith,
2.  Mark Kinser, 3. Sammy Swindell, 4. Danny Lasoski, 5. Terry
McCarl, 6.  Bob Weuve, 7. Skip Jackson, 8. Rich Bubak, 9. Brian
Paulus, 10. Dion Hindi. 2:27.31 (first six qualified for the "A"
Feature)
    Second Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Andy
Hillenburg, 2. Johnny Herrera, 3. Jim Carr, 4. Steve Kinser, 5.
Donny Schatz, 6.  Mike Reinke, 7. Steve Beitler, 8. Peter Murphy,
9. Travis Cram, 10.  Ryan Jamison. 2:31.94 (first six qualified
for the "A" Feature)
    Third Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Dave Blaney,
2.  Lance Blevins, 3. Jac Haudenschild, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Jeff
Swindell, 6. Joey Saldana, 7. Dennis Moore, Jr., 8. Shawn Moore,
9. Todd Taeger, 10. Tim Moore. 2:34.13 (first six qualified for
the "A" Feature)
    Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Stevie Smith, 2. Joe Gaerte, 3.
Steve Kinser, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Andy Hillenburg, 6. Jeff
Swindell, 7.  Terry McCarl, 8. Mike Reinke. 1:33.32 (finish
determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature)
    B Feature (12 laps):  1. Shawn Moore, 2. Brian Paulus, 3.
Peter Murphy, 4. Dennis Moore, Jr., 5. Steve Beitler, 6. Skip
Jackson, 7.  Dion Hindi ($210); 8. Todd Taeger ($185); 9. Ryan
Jackson ($160); 10.  Tim Moore ($110); 11. Rich Bubak ($100); 12.
Travis Cram ($90). (first six qualified for the "A" Feature)
    A Feature (30 laps):  1. Stevie Smith ($6,010); 2. Steve
Kinser ($3,510); 3. Mark Kinser ($2,510); 4. Dave Blaney
($2,210); 5. Jeff Swindell ($2,110); 6. Johnny Herrera ($2,010);
7. Terry McCarl ($1,610); 8. Jac Haudenschild ($1,510); 9. Lance
Blevins ($1,410); 10.  Andy Hillenburg ($1,310); 11. Joey Saldana
($1,160); 12. Donny Schatz ($1,110); 13. Skip Jackson ($1,080);
14. Jim Carr ($1,010); 15. Mike Reinke ($710); 16. Bob Weuve
($510); 17. Brian Paulus ($430); 18. Peter Murphy ($430); 19.
Dennis Moore, Jr. ($430); 20. Shawn Moore ($430); 21. Danny
Lasoski ($410); 22. Joe Gaerte ($410); 23. Sammy Swindell ($410);
24. Steve Beitler ($430).
       Lap leaders:  Stevie Smith 1, 7-30; Mark Kinser 2-6
         EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner:  Mark Kinser
                               WoO