4/6/07
Paducah International Raceway
Paducah, KY
WoO
39 cars
WoO rookie Chad Hillier (13th car out to time) set quick time on the high-banked 3/8 mile oval at 13.473 seconds. He was followed by Kerry Madsen (14th car out), Jac Haudenschild (15th), Joey Saldana (37th), Jason Solwold (30th), Chad Kemenah (33rd), Jason Martin (10th), Jason Sides (32nd), Dusty Zomer (24th) and Dion Hindi (27th). Hillier was the first to try the high side of the high banks, and it payed off. Others followed suit with good results. The track started dry and stayed that way, though it was not abrasive on tires. The first night with the spec tire was a success as there was great racing on the frigid night, and tire inspections after the 35-lap main event saw little wear on even the soft 12 compound.
Heat one (started): 1. Solwold R19 (3) 2. Danny Smith 4 (1) 3. Zomer 1z (2) 4. Brooke Tatnell 2 (5) 5. Hillier 5c (4) / 6. Randy Hannagan 1x (6) 7. Zach Chappell 8K (7) 8. Greg Wilson w20 (9) 9. Tony Bruce Jr. 18T (8) 10. AJ Bruns 44 (10)
Smith took the early lead in the 8 lapper, but was quickly being dogged by Solwold, who seemed to take to the configuration of the Paducah oval, which must have reminded him a bit of Skagit. The two battled for four laps, before Solwold shot around Smith in turn four of lap five to take the lead for good. The two qualified for the dash as a result of their heat finish.
Heat two (started): 1. Madsen 11H (4) 2. Hindi 11D (2) 3. Tim Kaeding 11K (6) 4. Danny Lasoski 83 (1) 5. Kemenah 3x (3) / 6. Tim Shaffer 6 (7) 7. Billy Alley 55 (8) 8. Brian Paulus 28 (9) 9. Neil Shepherd 4N (5) DNS - James Mosher 12m
Hindi and Madsen diced immediately for the lead. Madsen grabbed it for good on lap two. Lap five saw young Shepherd spin bringing out the caution. At the time, Madsen led Hindi, Kaeding, Lasoski, and Shaffer and Kemenah, who were battling for the final transfer. Though Madsen showed the win on the high side, Kemenah captured the final transfer by way of the low groove.
Heat three (started): 1. Craig Dollansky 7 (2) 2. Martin 36 (3) 3. Donny Schatz 15 (5) 4. Haudenschild 35 (4) 5. Jason Meyers 14 (7) / 6. Terry McCarl 24 (6) 7. Justin Henderson D1 (1) 8. Jeremy Campbell 10c (8) 9. Tyler Thompson 11T (10) 10. Jesse Hockett A12 (9)
Dollansky led throughout, but the story of the race was the battles between third and seventh in an entertaining and stacked heat. McCarl and Meyers went at it for the final transfer, before catching Haudenschild and getting around Henderson. Schatz looked strong moving up from his uncharacteristic qualifying spot outside of the invert. Meyers edged McCarl in the end for the final transfer.
Heat four (started): 1. Saldana 9 (4) 2. Daryn Pittman 21 (1) 3. Steve Kinser 11 (2) 4. Paul McMahan 20 (5) 5. Sides 7s (3) / 6. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (6) 7. Mark Dobmeier 13 (7) 8. Brian Carlson 18 (8) 9. Doc Sloan D12 (9)
Saldana was the cream of this crop, gaining the lead almost immediately and pulling away. Sloan had brake problems bring out a caution on lap two. On that restart, Saldana used the high side to lead Pittman, Kinser, Sides and Hafertepe. McMahan would get around both Hafertepe and Sides in a fine run.
Dash (started): 1. Smith (5) 2. Saldana (4) 3. Madsen (3) 4. Martin (1) 5. Dollansky (8) 6. Hillier (9) 7. Haudenschild (10) 8. Pittman (2) 9. Hindi (7) 10. Solwold (7)
At the conclusion of the first lap a lead battle saw Saldana sliding Pittman in turn four, resulting in the two tangling. Saldana lost a couple of spots, while Pittman was relegated to the tail after a spin. Martin led Smith, Saldana, Madsen and Dollansky back to green flag racing. Smith was able to duck under Martin, and held off the charges of Saldana to earn the pole for the A.
B main (started): 1. McCarl (4) 2. Hannagan (3) 3. Bruce (9) 4. Henderson (1) / 5. Campbell (11) 6. Wilson (13) 7. Hafertepe (5) 8. Alley (10) 9. Shepherd (2) 10. Hockett (15) 11. Dobmeier (8) 12. Chappell (6) 13. Carlson (12) 14. Paulus (16) 15. Bruns (17) 16. Shaffer (7) 17. Thompson (18) 18. Sloan (14) DNS - Mosher
Hannagan took the initial lead, but not without company. Henderson got by on lap two for the point, but Hannagan came back on lap three to retake it in some great action. McCarl entered the fray getting by Henderson and shooting around Hannagan for the win on lap five. Bruce had a nice charge to claim third. Hafertepe and Shaffer used provisionals to start the A.
A main (started): 1. Lasoski (15) 2. Saldana (2) 3. Kemenah (11) 4. Martin (4) 5. Solwold (10) 6. Schatz (6) 7. McCarl (22) 8. Meyers (23) 9. Pittman (8) 10. Sides (12) 11. Smith (1) 12. Hannagan (20) 13. Hillier (6) 14. Dollansky (5) 15. Haudenschild (7) 16. Tatnell (17) 17. Shaffer (25, pr.) 18. Kaeding (21) 19. Bruce (24) 20. Zomer (13) 21. Henderson (16) 22. Hafertepe (26, pr.) 23. Madsen (3) 24. Kinser (14) 25. Hindi (9) 26. McMahan (19)
Before a lap could be completed, a mess in the middle of the pack resulted in McCarl being contacted and spinning. He restarted at the tail, and would put on a show. Saldana fended off Smith for the early lead in the 35 lapper. Madsen trailed the two on lap four, when he tagged the wall in turn four, bringing out a caution. He would return later a lap down. The opportunity came when Hindi suffered the same fate, spun and collected McMahan. Both drivers retired. At the time of the restart, Saldana led Smith, Martin, Dollansky, Haudenschild, Pittman, Solwold, a charging Lasoski, Hillier and Kemenah. The action was fast-paced from there on out with battles all over the track. Saldana increased his lead to almost a half a lap over Haudenschild, who had taken over second from Smith. Lasoski and Kemenah were picking through the field on the bottom, while McCarl, Meyers and Pittman were putting sliders on each other behind them. McCarl went to the wall to shoot around several machines after restarting at the tail. With five laps to go, Dollansky, who had a top ten run going, came to a stop, halting the action. Under yellow, Haudenschild also ducked out of second to the work area. Both would restart at the tail. Without lapped cars between he and second, Saldana led Lasoski, Martin, Kemenah, Smith, Pittman, Solwold, Schatz, Meyers and McCarl. Saldana's car appeared to go away a bit as he drifted toward the wall a couple of times. Lasoski was able to sneak under him with three to go and steal the win. Kemenah sniped third from a fine running Martin, while Solwold rounded out the top five. Schatz held down sixth, while McCarl made a pass of Meyers on the final corner for seventh. Following Meyers and completing the top ten were Pittman and Sides.