5/11/07
US36 Raceway
Osborn, MO
WoO
33 cars
Donny Schatz (28th car out to time) set quick time around the high-banked 3/8 miler at 10.358 about ½ second off the track record. Jason Solwold (13th car out) was second quick, followed by Tim Kaeding (1st), Zach Chappell (19th), Jason Meyers (31st), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (11th), Steve Kinser (7th), Chad Kemenah (25th), Jason Sides (18th) and Chad Hillier (21st). Jac Haudenschild pitched sideways finishing his opening lap, and managed only 31st quick. It would prove to be an entertaining development by the time the night was over.
Heat one (started): 1. Sides 7s (2) 2. Meyers 14 (3) 3. Schatz 15 (4) 4. Joey Saldana 9 (5) 5. Billy Alley 55 (1) / 6. Jeremy Campbell 10c (6) 7. JR Topper 92J (8) 8. Jason Martin 36 (7) 9. Mallory Armfield 5MA (9)
WoO home-cookin’ appeared to fell Alley when WoO officials deemed he set the pace too early. Even though he was on the pole and didn’t seem to get on the gas before their first cone, he was sent to row two for the start. Meyers inherited the pole and led early. Armfield struck the frontstretch wall and flipped violently on lap three. He walked away the restart saw Meyers leading Sides, Schatz, Saldana and Alley. The order was the same six laps later when Martin drifted high in turn two and smacked the wall. On the green, white, checker finish, Sides was able to slingshot around Meyers for the lead in an exciting finish.
Heat two (started): 1. Paul McMahan 20 (1) 2. Solwold R19 (4) 3. Hillier 5c (2) 4. Hafertepe 15H (3) 5. Tim Shaffer 6 (6) / 6. Danny Lasoski 83 (5) 7. Dusty Zomer 1z (7) 8. Mike Moore 69 (8)
McMahan led flag to flag in the 10 lapper. Solwold was impressive, and appeared at home on the high banks, shooting around Hillier in a good battle on lap three. Lasoski made a last lap gasp in the final corner by going to the far reaches of the high banks, but fell fractions of a second behind Shaffer, the final transfer.
Heat three (started): 1. Terry McCarl 24 (2) 2. Randy Hannagan 1x (1) 3. Kinser 11 (3) 4. Kaeding 2 (4) 5. Jac Haudenschild 35 (8) / 6. Jim Cameron 96c (6) 7. Dion Hindi 11D (7) 8. Justin Henderson D1 (5)
McCarl used his experience at US36 to dominate this one. Kinser fell just short of Hannagan at the line. Cameron had his hometown crowd in a frenzy, but the “Wild Child” fans would celebrate the final transfer with a bold move with two to go.
Heat four (started): 1. Daryn Pittman 21 (2) 2. Tony Bruce Jr. 18T (1) 3. Chappell 8K (4) 4. Kemenah 3x (3) 5. Kerry Madsen 11H (5) / 6. Craig Dollansky 7 (6) 7. Brian Carlson 18 (7) 8. David Langford 32L (8)
Pittman led the duration in a mostly single-file affair. Madsen made the move of the race at about the halfway point, when he shot around Dollansky for the final transfer in turn four.
Dash (started): 1. Meyers (2) 2. McMahan (4) 3. Hannagan (1) 4. McCarl (6) 5. Pittman (5) 6. Solwold (8) 7. Bruce (3) 8. Kaeding (10) 9. Schatz (9) 10. Sides (7)
Meyers led flag to flag in the 8 lapper. McCarl was able to move up two spots early, while Solwold continued his strong night by moving up to the third row.
B main (started): 1. Henderson (2) 2. Lasoski (1) 3. Cameron (4) 4. Campbell (3) / 5. Zomer (7) 6. Dollansky (5) 7. Topper (10) 8. Moore (11) 9. Langford (12) 10. Carlson (9) 11. Martin (6) 12. Hindi (8) DNS – Armfield
Henderson led the duration of the 12 lapper. The event was marred by a two-car crash on lap three involving Hindi and Martin. Both were uninjured but done for the night. Zomer couldn’t quite run down Campbell for the final transfer. Dollansky struggled and would need a provisional for the second week in a row.
A main (started): 1. Meyers (1) 2. Kaeding (8) 3. Haudenschild (24) 4. McMahan (2) 5. Schatz (9) 6. Pittman (5) 7. Hannagan (3) 8. Saldana (17) 9. McCarl (4) 10. Dollansky (25, pr.) 11. Chappell (11) 12. Kinser (13) 13. Bruce (7) 14. Madsen (20) 15. Campbell (21) 16. Sides (10) 17. Lasoski (18) 18. Shaffer (22) 19. Alley (16) 20. Cameron (23) 21. Solwold (6) 22. Kemenah (14) 23. Hillier (15) 24. Hafertepe (12) 25. Henderson (19)
Meyers shot out to an early lead over McMahan and McCarl in the 40 lapper. Drivers picked several lines and approaches to the corners. Meyers had mostly a low to middle approach early, while McCarl and Solwold hit the high side. McMahan and McCarl battled in lapped traffic for second when the first slowdown came when Madsen stopped high in turn two on lap nine. The restart saw Meyers leading McMahan, McCarl, Solwold and Hannagan. Haudenschild had moved from 24th to 14th. Alley visited the work area and would come back two laps later, when Henderson and Lasoski contacted bringing another yellow. Henderson retired. Now Meyers led McMahan, McCarl, Solwold and a charging Kaeding. Two more laps were in the books, when Hafertepe, who was running in the top 10, stopped on the backstretch. He went pitside. The top five were unchanged, with Schatz moving into sixth, and Haudenschild up to 11th. Kinser’s top ten run came to a halt on lap 16 when he spun, bringing caution. Under green, Kaeding had grabbed fourth from Solwold after a good duel. Haudenschild was ninth. Meyers led the group back to green, and they entered lapped traffic again, before a lap 25 spin by Campbell. Meyers led Kaeding, McMahan, McCarl, Schatz, Solwold and Haudenschild back to green. McCarl hit a rut in turn one and jolted to the right. Solwold went high above the cushion to avoid him and struck the wall, came to a stop and restarted at the tail after repairs. Back under green, McCarl remained tight and would lose several spots. The action was hot and heavy with Kaeding and Haudenschild putting on a show and rallying into the top three. On lap 38, the final slowdown came when Solwold’s tough luck night came to an end over the berm of turns three and four. The final laps saw Schatz get by Pittman to finish in the top five. Meyers took home $10,000 and the 6’3” ‘Big Bertha’ trophy.