WOO: Elma report 96-08-23 


          Sammy Swindell Leads Every Lap in Elma Opener
                         By Richard Day
    ELMA, WA (August 23) - After missing the Skoal Outlaw Series'
trek through Montana, Washington and Oregon last year, Sammy
Swindell is making the most of the Third Annual Wild Wild
Northwest Tour.
    He followed a fifth-place finish in Wednesday's tour opener
at Magic City Speedway with a convincing victory in the World of
Outlaws' inaugural visit to Elma National Raceway Friday.
    Sammy, the second-fastest qualifier in the 42-car field,
raced into second place from the sixth starting position in both
Second Quaker State Heat Race and the Vivarin Dash.
    Starting outside the front row, Swindell steered his #1
ChannelLock Gambler around polesitter Greg Hodnett in the fourth
corner as the green flag fell and handled lapped traffic with
ease on his way to his first Preliminary Feature victory of the
season.
    "I caught the lapped cars at the right time," Swindell told
the capacity crowd from victory lane. "The track was hard to pass
on, but I was fortunate to get by the lapped cars cleanly. I was
only really held up once."
    Dave Blaney set his second one-lap record in as many Wild
Wild Northwest Tour events with a 13.904-second qualifying run
around the high-banked, 3/8-mile oval. The effort earned him his
fourth EcoWater Quick-Time Award of the year.
    "The Buckeye Bullet" passed Joe Gaerte for second place as
Swindell burst into the lead early in the opening lap. Skoal
Outlaw Series points leader Mark Kinser relegated Gaerte to fifth
place the next time around as Swindell opened a comfortable lead.
    Mark challenged Hodnett for a lap before driving the #5M
Wirtgen Maxim into third place late in lap five. Sammy was five
car-lengths ahead of Blaney when he caught the backmarkers six
laps into the race.
    Swindell extended his advantage with some daring moves
through lapped traffic while Mark battled "The Buckeye Bullet"
for the runner-up spot as the race approached its midpoint.
    Jay Cole brought out the only caution flag slowing the fast-
paced feature race early in the 12th lap when he spun to a stop
in turn two. The caution opened the track for Swindell while
allowing him to restart the race with a lapped car separating him
from Blaney.
    Sammy raced away from the field and ninth-starting Steve
Kinser drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim past Gaerte for fourth
place as the green flag replaced the yellow. The leaders entered
lapped traffic again five laps later.
    Blaney drove the #10 Vivarin J&J to within striking distance
of Swindell as the leader battled backmarkers in the second
corner with seven laps remaining. Sammy maintained the lead, only
to be slowed by more dense lapped traffic three laps later.
    Although he had already lapped half the field, Swindell was
in danger of losing the lead with three laps remaining. A quick
move between Third Quaker State Heat Race winner Travis Cram and
James Grantham, Jr., entering turn two early in the 23rd lap
allowed him to secure the $4,000 victory, however. Sammy took the
checkered flag with eight car-lengths to spare.
    Blaney's third straight second-place finish allowed him to
pick up a point on Mark Kinser in their battle for the lead in
the World of Outlaws point standings. Steve Kinser claimed the
final automatic starting position in Saturday's Vivarin Dash by
finishing fourth.
    Completing the top 10 in the Preliminary Feature were Gaerte,
Quaker State Heat Race winners Jeff Swindell and Andy Hillenburg,
Hodnett, Stevie Smith and Joey Saldana.
    Brian Paulus turned the #28 Charles Field Dentistry Gambler
completely around in an attempt to take the lead during the first
lap of the "B" Feature. He was forced to watch the evening's main
event from the pit area after handling problems forced him out
of the last-chance race. WoO
            1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                 Elma National Raceway, Elma, WA
             Friday, August 23, Preliminary Program
    Qualifications:  1. Dave Blaney, Luna 10, 13.904 (new one-lap
record); 2. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 14.132; 3. Mark Kinser,
Kinser 5M, 14.185; 4. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 14.208; 5. Stevie
Smith, Motter 71M, 14.231; 6. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 14.243; 7.
Steve Beitler, Beitler 21x, 14.341; 8. Joey Saldana, Stanton 75,
14.356; 9. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 14.359; 10. Andy Hillenburg,
Hillenburg 2, 14.470; 11. Travis Cram, Cram 92, 14.536; 12. Jeff
Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 14.587; 13. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47,
14.655; 14. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 14.670; 15. Lance
Blevins, Blevins 21, 14.990; 16. Vern Rengen, Rengen 7R, 14.998;
17. John McDonald, McDonald 78, 15.039; 18. Randy Ridge, Mann 88,
15.096; 19. Butch Gilbert, Gilbert 04, 15.141; 20. Greg Brown,
Pagel 44B, 15.170; 21. Trev Wilson, Wilson 5W, 15.242; 22. Jay
Cole, Cole 0J, 15.251; 23. James Grantham, Jr., Grantham 28G,
15.266; 24. Shawna Wilskey, Wilskey 56JR, 15.273; 25. Marc Huson,
Huson 3D, 15.274; 26. Glenn Borden, Jr., Kufahl 67, 15.284; 27.
Donny Fry, Fry 3, 15.285; 28. Todd Von Stroberg, Von Stroberg 9,
15.287; 29. Chad Hiller, Hiller 24 15.293; 30. Steve Tupper, D&S
Enterprises 48, 15.394; 31. John Tharp, Tharp/Dunlap 69, 15.415;
32. Glenn Borden, Sr., Borden 72, 15.431; 33. Kirk Fellers,
Fellers 77, 15.497; 34. Brian Coy, Coy 6, 15.576; 35. Ron Reed,
Reed 97C, 15.768; 36. Clint Houston, Houston 25, 15.771; 37.
Terry Bower, Bower 11T, 15.870; 38. Stormy Glick, Glick 20,
15.894; 39. Mike Zvono, Zvono 85, 15.941; 40. Kenny Cope,
Pederson 5, 15.952; 41. Michael Thompson, Thompson 32, 15.581;
42. Dan Dunlap, Dunlap 15D, 16.598.
    First Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Steve Kinser, 2.
Johnny Herrera, 3. Dave Blaney, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Marc Huson,
6. Trev Wilson, 7. Chad Hiller, 8. John McDonald, 9. Kirk
Fellers, 10. Michael Thompson, 11. Terry Bower. (first five
qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
    Second Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Andy Hillenburg,
2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Greg Hodnett, 4. Steve Tupper, 5. Stormy
Glick, 6. Brian Paulus, 7. Randy Ridge, 8. Glenn Borden, Jr., 9.
Jay Cole, 10. Brian Coy, 11. Dan Dunlap. (first five qualified
for the Preliminary Feature)
    Third Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Travis Cram, 2.
Mark Kinser, 3. Lance Blevins, 4. Steve Beitler, 5. James
Grantham, Jr., 6. John Tharp, 7. Donny Fry, 8. Butch Gilbert, 9.
Mike Zvono, 10. Ron Reed. (first five qualified for the
Preliminary Feature)
    Fourth Quaker State Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Jeff Swindell,
2. Shawna Wilskey, 3. Joe Gaerte, 4. Joey Saldana, 5. Greg Brown,
6. Kenny Cope, 7. Clint Houston, 8. Glenn Borden, Sr., 9. Vern
Rengen, 10. Todd Von Stroberg. (first five qualified for the
Preliminary Feature)
    Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Sammy
Swindell, 3. Joe Gaerte, 4. Dave Blaney, 5. Stevie Smith, 6. Mark
Kinser, 7. Steve Beitler, 8. Joey Saldana. (finish determined the
first eight starting positions in the Preliminary Feature)
    B Feature (12 laps):  1. Vern Rengen, 2. Jay Cole, 3. Donny
Fry, 4. Trev Wilson, 5. Chad Hiller ($160); 6. John McDonald
($135); 7. Mike Zvono ($110); 8. Clint Houston ($85); 9. John
Tharp ($70); 10. Kenny Cope ($60); 11. Ron Reed ($50); 12.
Michael Thompson ($50); 13. Todd Von Stroberg ($50); 14. Butch
Gilbert ($50); 15. Glenn Borden, Jr. ($50); 16. Brian Paulus
($50); 17. Brian Coy ($50); 18. Glenn Borden, Sr. ($50); 19. Kirk
Fellers ($50); 20. Terry Bower ($50); 21. Dan Dunlap ($50); 22.
Randy Ridge ($50). (first four qualified for the Preliminary
Feature)
    Preliminary Feature (25 laps):  1. Sammy Swindell ($4,010);
2. Dave Blaney ($2,310); 3. Mark Kinser ($1,610); 4. Steve Kinser
($1,410); 5. Joe Gaerte ($1,260); 6. Jeff Swindell ($1,160); 7.
Andy Hillenburg ($1,110); 8. Greg Hodnett ($1,060); 9. Stevie
Smith ($1,035); 10. Joey Saldana ($1,010); 11. Johnny Herrera
($910); 12. Travis Cram ($710); 13. Lance Blevins ($610); 14.
Greg Brown ($510); 15. Trev Wilson ($330); 16. Donny Fry ($330);
17. Shawna Wilskey ($260); 18. Steve Beitler ($260); 19. Steve
Tupper ($260); 20. Vern Rengen ($280); 21. James Grantham, Jr.
($260); 22. Jay Cole ($280); 23. Marc Huson ($260); 24. Stormy
Glick ($260).
                Lap leader:  Sammy Swindell 1-25
         EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner:  Dave Blaney
                               WoO
All information courtesy of MNI - Motorsport News International
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