WOO: Elma report 96-08-24 


           'Bullet' Stops Winless Streak in Elma Event
                         By Richard Day
    ELMA, WA (August 24) - When Dave Blaney stepped out of the
#10 Vivarin J&J in victory lane at Elma National Raceway Saturday
night, he acted as though he never thought he would get there.
    "I don't get here very often anymore," the defending Skoal
Outlaw Series champion told the record crowd. "I didn't know if
this one was ever going to get over with."
    Blaney's first victory in the last 21 World of Outlaws events
did take some time to complete. After two reds and one caution
period delayed the final two laps, "The Buckeye Bullet" took the
checkered flag with three car-lengths to spare.
    Blaney, whose previous victory came on June 25th at Tulsa
Speedway, was 1 3/4 laps from his sixth victory of the season
when Greg Brown turned over in the first corner and was hit by
Skoal Outlaw Series points leader Mark Kinser. The crash set up a
two-lap dash to the checkered flag.
    "The Buckeye Bullet" was four car-lengths ahead of Steve
Kinser with less than half-a-lap remaining when Fourth Heat Race
winner Andy Hillenburg and his #2 STP J&J flipped in turn two.
The red flag was thrown, bringing about another green-white-
checker situation.
    The inevitable was delayed yet again when Joey Saldana, Steve
Beitler and Second Heat Race winner Greg Hodnett spun and
collided in the fourth corner.
    "The King of the Outlaws" was unable to keep pace with Blaney
on the final restart and held off Preliminary Feature winner
Sammy Swindell for the runner-up spot.
    Blaney took the high line around Swindell as the green flag
fell in the World of Outlaws' 51st "A" Feature of the season, and
opened a five-car-length advantage within three laps.
    Swindell was challenging "The Buckeye Bullet" for the lead
when Trev Wilson flipped on the back straightaway halfway through
the fifth lap. Mark Kinser challenged Sammy for second place
while Jeff Swindell threatened to pass Steve Kinser for fourth as
the race resumed.
    Blaney was three car-lengths ahead of Sammy when he entered
lapped traffic early in the 10th lap. Although Swindell caught
him in turn four, he was unable to make the pass for the lead.
    Sammy threatened to drive his #1 ChannelLock Gambler into the
lead in dense lapped traffic four laps later, but "The Buckeye
Bullet" was equal to the challenge. Blaney opened a five-car-
length advantage as he cleared the backmarkers during lap 16.
    A three-car battle for the runner-up spot raged through the
race's middle stages as Mark caught Sammy and Steve caught Mark.
Blaney's advantage was 10 car-lengths as Swindell and the Kinser
cousins raced nose-to-tail through lapped traffic with 18 laps
remaining.
    "The Buckeye Bullet" was 10 car-lengths ahead of his closest
pursuers when Steve drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim past Sammy
on the back straightaway during the 24th lap. Then "The King of
the Outlaws" started reeling in the leader. He narrowed the gap
to eight car-lengths by lap 28 and was within four car-lengths
the next time around.
    Blaney increased his advantage when he took the low line into
the first corner to pass a pair of backmarkers early in lap 32,
only to have Kinser catch him in dense lapped traffic two laps
later. Keeping his #11 in the high groove, "The King of the
Outlaws" challenged Blaney for the lead in lapped traffic until
less than two laps remained and the red and yellow flags started
flying. "The Buckeye Bullet" beat Kinser on the final restart to
claim the $9,000 first prize.
    The Swindell brothers - Sammy and Jeff - finished third and
fourth, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 in the main event
were Elma's new one-lap record holder, Joe Gaerte, Stevie Smith,
Lance Blevins, 13th-starting Johnny Herrera, Mark Kinser and Jim
Carr.
    Gaerte sliced .073 seconds off the one-lap record Blaney set
24 hours earlier with a 13.831-second qualifying run around the
high-banked, 3/8-mile oval.
    Carr, the Skoal Outlaw Series' Rookie of the Year in 1991,
missed Friday's preliminary program as his crew put a new #7M
American Fire Extinguishers Maxim together. He came back strong
Saturday, qualifying seventh-quick and finishing 10th in the "A"
Feature. WoO
            1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                 Elma National Raceway, Elma, WA
            Saturday, August 24, Feature Program #51
    Qualifications:  1. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 13.831 (new one-
lap record); 2. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 14.053; 3. Travis
Cram, Cram 92, 14.088; 4. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 14.114;
5. Stevie Smith, Motter 71M, 14.119; 6. Lance Blevins, Blevins
21, 14.183; 7. Jim Carr, McCarr 7M, 14.256; 8. Steve Beitler,
Beitler 21x, 14.270; 9. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 14.281; 10.
Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 14.301; 11. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports
28, 14.515; 12. Joey Saldana, Stanton 75, 14.706; 13. Kirk
Fellers, Fellers 77, 14.759; 14. Randy Ridge, Mann 88, 14.801;
15. Shawna Wilskey, Wilskey 56JR, 14.836; 16. James Grantham,
Jr., Grantham 28G, 14.857; 17. Trev Wilson, Wilson 5W, 14.861;
18. Marc Huson, Huson 3D, 14.875; 19. Glenn Borden, Sr., Borden
72, 14.875; 20. Vern Reagen, Reagen 7R, 14.902; 21. Glenn Borden,
Jr., Kufahl 67, 14.910; 22. Greg Brown, Pagel 44R, 15.044; 23.
Steve Tupper, D&S Enterprises 48, 15.157; 24. Jay Cole, Cole 0J,
15.227; 25. Mike Zvono, Zvono 85, 15.240; 26. Donny Fry, Fry 3,
15.306; 27. Ron Reed, Reed 97C, 15.337; 28. Brian Coy, Coy 6,
15.387; 29. Kenny Cope, Pederson 5, 15.419; 30. John McDonald,
McDonald 78, 15.451; 31. Todd Von Stroberg, Von Stroberg 9,
15.466; 32. Stormy Glick, Glick 20, 15.555; 33. Clint Houston,
Houston 25, 15.639; 34. Michael Thompson, Thompson 32, 16.102.
    First Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Joe Gaerte,
3. Stevie Smith, 4. Kirk Fellers, 5. Trev Wilson, 6. Glenn
Borden, Jr., 7. Mike Zvono, 8. Kenny Cope, 9. Clint Houston.
(first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Second Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Jeff
Swindell, 3. Lance Blevins, 4. Greg Brown, 5. Randy Ridge, 6.
John McDonald, 7. Donny Fry, 8. Marc Huson, 9. Michael Thompson.
(first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Third Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Shawna Wilskey, 2. Brian
Paulus, 3. Travis Cram, 4. Jim Carr, 5. Glenn Borden, Sr., 6.
Steve Tupper, 7. Ron Reed, 8. Todd Von Stroberg. (first four
qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Fourth Heat Race (10 laps):  1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Joey
Saldana, 3. Steve Beitler, 4. Brian Coy, 5. Jay Cole, 6. James
Grantham, Jr., 7. Stormy Glick. DNS - Vern Reagen. (first four
qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically
qualified Sammy Swindell, Dave Blaney, Mark Kinser and Steve
Kinser for the first four starting positions in the Vivarin Dash.
    Vivarin Dash (seven laps):  1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Dave
Blaney, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Joe Gaerte, 6. Jeff
Swindell. (finish determined the first six starting positions in
the "A" Feature)
    B Feature (12 laps):  1. Marc Huson, 2. Randy Ridge, 3. Trev
Wilson, 4. James Grantham, Jr., 5. Jay Cole ($210); 6. Mike Zvono
($185); 7. Glenn Borden, Sr. ($160); 8. Steve Tupper ($110); 9.
Donny Fry ($100); 10. Kenny Cope ($90); 11. Ron Reed ($70); 12.
Todd Von Stroberg ($60); 13. Clint Houston ($60); 14. Stormy
Glick ($60); 15. John McDonald ($60); 16. Michael Thompson ($60);
17. Glenn Borden, Jr. ($60); 18. Vern Reagen ($60). (first four
qualified for the "A" Feature)
    A Feature (40 laps):  1. Dave Blaney ($9,000); 2. Steve
Kinser ($5,000); 3. Sammy Swindell ($3,300); 4. Jeff Swindell
($3,010); 5. Joe Gaerte ($2,260); 6. Stevie Smith ($2,085); 7.
Lance Blevins ($1,810); 8. Johnny Herrera ($1,710); 9. Mark
Kinser ($1,500); 10. Jim Carr ($1,410); 11. Travis Cram ($1,210);
12. Brian Paulus ($1,110); 13. Marc Huson ($1,080); 14. Greg
Hodnett ($1,010); 15. Shawna Wilskey ($710); 16. Andy Hillenburg
($610); 17. Joey Saldana ($510); 18. Steve Beitler ($510); 19.
Randy Ridge ($530); 20. Brian Coy ($510); 21. Greg Brown ($510);
22. James Grantham, Jr. ($530); 23. Kirk Fellers ($510); 24. Trev
Wilson ($530).
                  Lap leader:  Dave Blaney 1-40
                               WoO
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