Putnamville World of Outlaws Results and Stories

Lincoln Park Speedway 6/8/2016
 
Lincoln Park Speedway
Putnamville, IN
 
WoO
 
30 cars
 
The first trip for the WoO since 1988 started with a sloppy track.  Hot laps took a while to get going, and when they did an extra set for the first two flights probably used up the track too much for a shot at Danny Lasoski’s 2006 record of 11.186 second on the ¼-mile.  As it was, Kyle Larson (8th car out to time) enjoyed a night off of the stock cars to set quick time at 11.291 seconds.  David Gravel (11th car out) was second quick, followed by Shane Stewart (4th), Donny Schatz (7th), Cale Thomas (2nd), Daryn Pittman (15th), Greg Wilson (10th), Jason Sides (12th), Jacob Allen (21st) and Paul McMahan (26th).  The cushion, especially in turn four, became more and more treacherous as qualifying went on.  Aussie Sean Zemunik paid the price, tipping over on his second lap.  He was a scratch for the night.
 
A lengthy delay followed as the track was completely reworked.  It would be weel worth the effort.

Donny Schatz Heat one (started): 1. Larson 57 (1) 2. Schatz 15 (2) 3. McMahan 7 (4) 4. Jason Johnson 41 (5) 5. Brad Sweet 49 (6) 6. Kraig Kinser 11K (7) / 7. Hunter Schuerenberg 20N (10) 8. G. Wilson w20 (3) 9. Parker Price-Miller 2x (8) 10. Clyde Knipp 13 (9)
 
10-lap heats were lined straight up by time.  The top two finishers made the Dash, while the top 6 make the feature.  Everyone is lined up in the feature by their finishing position in the heat.  Larson led McMahan who slid by Schatz early.  Schatz returned the favor in turn four at the halfway point for the second Dash spot.  Kr. Kinser used the cushion to shoot around Wilson for the last transfer spot with two to go.
 
Heat two (started): 1. Gravel 5 (1) 2. Sides 7s (3) 3. Jamie Veal 71 (5) 4. Kody Kinser 4K (4) 5. Thomas 91 (2) 6. Jimmy Light 23 (7) / 7. Dominic Scelzi 41x (6) 8. Bill Rose 6 (8) 9. Daniel Harding 11 (9) 10. Tyler Courtney 23c (10)
 
Courtney drove over Rose’s left front on the first lap.  He broke something in the rear suspension and retired, while Rose restarted at the tail.  Gravel led the distance with Sides second.  Veal worked his way by Ko. Kinser with two laps to go.  Light grabbed the final transfer early on and just held off Scelzi at the line.
 
Heat three (started): 1. Pittman 9 (2) 2. Stewart 2 (1) 3. Joey Saldana 83 (5) 4. Jacob Allen 1a (3) 5. Logan Schuchart 1s (4) 6. Danny Smith 4 (8) / 7. Jacob Wilson 07 (6) 8. Mike Terry Jr. 85 (7) 9. Critter Malone 7x (9) DNS – Sean Zemunik 27z
 
Stewart led Pittman and Saldana early.  Smith worked under Wilson to take the last transfer on lap four.  Pittman and Stewart battled throughout for the win, with Pittman taking the point on lap nine.
 
Dash (started): 1. Schatz (1) 2. Gravel (3) 3. Pittman (2) 4. Sides (5) 5. Stewart (6) 6. Larson (4)
 
Schatz led Gravel and Pittman throughout the 8-lapper.  Larson hoped to get in the fray but jumped over the turn two berm and retired on lap three.  Gravel made a late bid on the top, while Schatz was down low.  It would be a precursor to the feature.  Schatz’s advantage at the checkers was .062 of a second.
 
B main (started): 1. G. Wilson (1) 2. Scelzi (2) 3. Terry (4) 4. J. Wilson (3) 5. Rose (6) 6. Price-Miller (5) / 7. Schuerenberg (10) 8. Courtney (11) 9. Harding (8) 10. Knipp (7) 11. Malone (9) DNS – Zemunik
 
Wilson and Scelzi pulled away from the rest of the pack in the non-stop 12-lapper.  The best battle was for the sixth and final transfer spot.  Price-Miller held it down, while Malone, Schuerenberg and Courtney took turns at making a bid for it.

Putnamville WoO 4-wide Salute A main (started): 1. Schatz (1) 2. Gravel (2) 3. Pittman (3) 4. Sides (4) 5. Johnson (10) 6. Stewart (5) 7. Sweet (13) 8. Veal (8) 9. Allen (12) 10. Saldana (9) 11. Schuchart (15) 12. Kr. Kinser (16) 13. Smith (18) 14. Ko. Kinser (11) 15. McMahan (7) 16. Scelzi (20) 17. J. Wilson (22) 18. Terry (21) 19. G. Wilson (19) 20. Larson (6) 21. Price-Miller (24) 22. Thomas (14) 23. Light (17) 24. Rose (23)
 
On paper, this one looks like a snoozer, but in the flesh, it was anything but that!  The first 28 laps of the 40-lapper were scintillating! Schatz led Grave, Sides and Larson early.  By lap four, Larson was riding the cushion by Sides for third.  The lead trio entered lapped traffic on lap seven.  Gravel briefly moved by Schatz on lap eight as the lead three went three-wide down the backstretch.  Schatz maintained his lead, however, and continued through lapped traffic with Gravel and Larson in pursuit.  On lap 15. Pittman moved into fourth.  At the halfway mark, Schatz, Gravel and Larson were all within five car lengths ahead of Pittman and Sides.  Two laps later, Gravel used the cushion to pass Schatz.  Schatz battled back and retook the lead in traffic two laps later, with Larson still ready to pounce on the lead pair.  Everyone was on the edge of their seats, when Larson tagged the turn four wall on lap 28 and tipped over.  He was done for the night, but o.k..  The restart saw Schatz take the inside line ahead of Gravel, Pittman, Sides and Stewart.  One more lap was in the books when G. Wilson contacted the frontstretch wall and broke his front axle.  J. Johnson had a pass for fourth negated with the caution.  Schatz held Gravel at bay.  It looked like turns three and four might be Gravel’s chance on the very last lap, but a tip-over by McMahan, who was running eighth, brought the red and set up a green, white, checker.  Schatz held on for the win ahead of Gravel, Pittman, Sides and J. Johnson.
 
The first 28 laps had everyone on the edge of their seat.  It looked like a lot of fun for the lead three until Larson got upside down.  On a side note, Putnamville has the best ice cream in racing!