Dollansky Ends Schatz’s Rule at Volusia Speedway Park

Swindell is overall sprint car champion of UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Feb. 19, 2012 — Craig Dollansky emerged from his World of Outlaws sprint car and shared the sentiments felt by most of the teams, crew and spectators.

“This was a long day,” he said. “It was two nights of racing in one day.”

Dollansky capped a World of Outlaws doubleheader on Sunday at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., by outlasting Donny Schatz, who started on the pole and had won every race he had been in all day. Schatz claimed the afternoon feature, which had been delayed since Friday because of rain.

It was also the final event for the sprint car portion of the 41st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment, which was claimed by Sammy Swindell.

In the nightcap on Sunday, Dollansky entered the 25-lap feature on the outside front row – next to Schatz, who swept the afternoon event and claimed his heat race and the dash prior to feature.

The duo raced side by side – Schatz on the bottom and Dollansky in the high groove against the wall – for nearly a full lap before Dollansky got the edge coming to the flagstand on the opening lap. He maintained the lead while Schatz remained within striking distance for the first dozen laps.

On lap 13, the leaders entered lapped traffic. Three laps later, Schatz rocketed off the bottom in turn two to take the lead only to see Dollansky capitalize on his momentum and regain the top spot entering turn three.

“I had opportunities; I did pass him I think once coming out of (turn) two, got underneath him once going into (turn) three,” Schatz said. “We were there. Every time we got to him he was able to get a little better.”

David Gravel, who picked up his first career World of Outlaws feature victory last season, joined the mix in the final 10 laps. The top three were separated by a total of a half-dozen car lengths for several laps, and Gravel and Schatz exchanged the runner-up position with two laps remaining.

“We really started catching them there at the end,” Gravel said after finishing third. “I thought we really had something and then it started taking rubber on the bottom. Those last few laps it was pretty much just one lane.”

One bobble would have cost any of the drivers in the closing laps, but Dollansky was smooth and protected the bottom of the track to pick up his first World of Outlaws victory of the season and second sprint car win of the week.

“Once I settled in and just tried to watch our line and watch the bottom, I felt pretty comfortable at that point,” he said.

Schatz finished a close second – less than seven-tenths behind Dollansky.

“I think my best chance was actually on the last lap there on the bottom,” Schatz said. “I needed him to make a mistake. I thought he was going to. He did the lap before and I got a good run on him. I really thought I was going to get that opportunity on the last lap, which would have been a pretty exciting finish for us.”

Kraig Kinser finished fourth and Swindell was fifth.

He received a unique four-foot trophy shaped like an alligator for being the overall sprint car champion. He finished the week with three top fives, four top 10s and an average feature finish of 6.6.

“You just have to be consistent every day,” he said. “I’d like to have some wins, but we were competitive every night.”

Dale Blaney, Danny Lasoski, Jason Sides, Joey Saldana and Danny Smith rounded out the top 10, respectively.

Brad Sweet, Gravel, Schatz and Swindell each won a heat race and Daryn Pittman was the fastest in qualifying with a lap of 14.294 seconds. He also won the Last Chance Showdown.

The next World of Outlaws race is scheduled for March 8 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas.

Tickets for the rest of the 41st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit can be ordered online by clicking WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets, by calling 877-395-8606 or purchased at the track.

Volusia Speedway Park Notebook

WINNERS – Craig Dollansky – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Donny Schatz – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Danny Lasoski – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18).

TIME TRIALS – Daryn Pittman was the fastest qualifier around the half-mile oval with a time of 14.294 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Dale Blaney (4 points), Joey Saldana (3), Sammy Swindell (2) and Kraig Kinser (1).
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UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment Statistical Report; Volusia Speedway Park; Barberville, Fla.; Feb. 19, 2012
A-Main - (25 Laps) - 1. 7-Craig Dollansky [2] [$10,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [1] [$5,500]; 3. 89G-David Gravel [4] [$3,200]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5] [$2,800]; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell [6] [$2,500]; 6. 2-Dale Blaney [8] [$2,300]; 7. 33-Danny Lasoski [3] [$2,200]; 8. 7S-Jason Sides [12] [$2,100]; 9. 9-Joey Saldana [7] [$2,050]; 10. 4S-Danny Smith [10] [$2,000]; 11. 14S-Tony Stewart [13] [$1,500]; 12. 11-Steve Kinser [15] [$1,200]; 13. 49-Brad Sweet [9] [$1,100]; 14. 14-Jason Meyers [14] [$1,050]; 15. 63-Chad Kemenah [16] [$1,000]; 16. 1Z-Sam Hafertepe Jr [17] [$900]; 17. 28-Brian Paulus [20] [$800]; 18. 4-Cody Darrah [19] [$800]; 19. 24-Terry McCarl [18] [$800]; 20. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [24] [$800]; 21. 6-Bill Rose [23] [$800]; 22. 27-Daryn Pittman [11] [$800]; 23. 20E-Brian Ellenberger [22] [$800]; 24. 39-Greg Hodnett [21] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky 1-25. Hard Charger Award: 7S-Jason Sides [+4].

Qualifying - 1. 27-Daryn Pittman, 14.294; 2. 2-Dale Blaney, 14.380; 3. 9-Joey Saldana, 14.453; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell, 14.461; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.548; 6. 7S-Jason Sides, 14.562; 7. 14S-Tony Stewart, 14.581; 8. O-Glen Styres, 14.613; 9. 7-Craig Dollansky, 14.617; 10. 89G-David Gravel, 14.628; 11. 15-Donny Schatz, 14.677; 12. 33-Danny Lasoski, 14.703; 13. 49-Brad Sweet, 14.751; 14. 4S-Danny Smith, 14.764; 15. 14-Jason Meyers, 14.780; 16. 11-Steve Kinser, 14.780; 17. 63-Chad Kemenah, 14.792; 18. 77-Aaron Ott, 14.844; 19. 1Z-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 14.849; 20. 24-Terry McCarl, 14.882; 21. 4-Cody Darrah, 14.890; 22. 28-Brian Paulus, 14.916; 23. 39-Greg Hodnett, 14.971; 24. 20E-Brian Ellenberger, 15.017; 25. 2X-Dustin Morgan, 15.075; 26. 59-Dave Blaney, 15.129; 27. 51-Fred Rahmer, 15.213; 28. 54-Cap Henry, 15.232; 29. 29-Kerry Madsen, 15.253; 30. 45-Paul McMahan, 15.328; 31. 5-Jac Haudenschild, 15.359; 32. 6-Bill Rose, 15.601; 33. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, No Time.

Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) - 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky [2]; 3. 4-Cody Darrah [6]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 5. 63-Chad Kemenah [5]; 6. 27-Daryn Pittman [4]; 7. 29-Kerry Madsen [8]; 8. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [9]; 9. 2X-Dustin Morgan [7].

Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) - 1. 89G-David Gravel [2]; 2. 4S-Danny Smith [1]; 3. 2-Dale Blaney [4]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [3]; 5. 28-Brian Paulus [6]; 6. 77-Aaron Ott [5]; 7. 45-Paul McMahan [8]; 8. 59-Dave Blaney [7].

Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) - 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 9-Joey Saldana [4]; 3. 14S-Tony Stewart [3]; 4. 14-Jason Meyers [1]; 5. 39-Greg Hodnett [6]; 6. 1Z-Sam Hafertepe Jr [5]; 7. 51-Fred Rahmer [7]; 8. 5-Jac Haudenschild [8].

Heat 4 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) - 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 2. 33-Danny Lasoski [2]; 3. 11-Steve Kinser [1]; 4. 6-Bill Rose [8]; 5. 20E-Brian Ellenberger [6]; 6. 24-Terry McCarl [5]; 7. O-Glen Styres [3]; 8. 54-Cap Henry [7].

Dash - (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) - 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky [4]; 3. 33-Danny Lasoski [1]; 4. 89G-David Gravel [3]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 6. 1-Sammy Swindell [6]; 7. 9-Joey Saldana [7]; 8. 2-Dale Blaney [8]; 9. 49-Brad Sweet [9]; 10. 4S-Danny Smith [10].

B-Main - (10 Laps - Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) - 1. 27-Daryn Pittman [1] [-]; 2. 1Z-Sam Hafertepe Jr [4] [-]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [13] [-]; 4. 24-Terry McCarl [5] [-]; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen [10] [$200]; 6. 77-Aaron Ott [3] [$180]; 7. 59-Dave Blaney [7] [$175]; 8. O-Glen Styres [2] [$160]; 9. 45-Paul McMahan [11] [$150]; 10. 2X-Dustin Morgan [6] [$150]; 11. 51-Fred Rahmer [8] [$150]; 12. 5-Jac Haudenschild [12] [$150]; 13. 54-Cap Henry [9] [$150].

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings
Pos.    Driver    Total    Diff    Wins    Top 5's    Top 10's    QT
1    Donny Schatz
438    0    1    3    3    0
2    Sammy Swindell    433    -5    0    3    3    1
3    Brad Sweet    408    -30    0    1    2    0
    Craig Dollansky
408    -30    1    2    2    0
5    Jason Sides    402    -36    0    1    2    0
6    Dale Blaney    401    -37    0    0    2    0
7    Sam Hafertepe Jr.    391    -47    0    0    2    0
8    Joey Saldana
391    -47    0    1    2    0
9    Danny Lasoski    389    -49    1    1    2    0
    Kraig Kinser
389    -49    0    1    2    0
11    Jason Meyers
387    -51    0    1    1    1
12    David Gravel    380    -58    0    1    1    0
13    Steve Kinser
374    -64    0    0    1    0
14    Cody Darrah
367    -71    0    0    1    0
15    Brian Ellenberger    346    -92    0    0    1    0
16    Fred Rahmer    341    -97    0    0    1    0
17    Lucas Wolfe
340    -98    0    0    0    0
18    Aaron Ott    339    -99    0    0    1    0
19    Chad Kemenah
334    -104    0    0    0    0
20    Danny Smith    329    -109    0    0    1    0
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