Haubstadt, IN – April 20, 2013. Tim Kaeding of San Jose, CA, won the $10,000 top prize as Tri-State Speedway hosted the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars for the track’s 2013 season opener. Kaeding took over the lead on lap 25 of the 40 lap event and held off David Gravel and fast qualifier Paul McMahan to secure the victory. Dale Blaney and Kerry Madsen rounded out the top five.
The first 24 laps of the main event was a dual between Joey Saldana, who had won the dash to start on the pole for the feature, and Cody Darrah. Saldana led the first 10 laps. Then Darrah moved into the lead only to have Saldana retake it on lap 20. Darrah led lap 24.
Then Saldana made a move exiting turn two to get under Darrah.
Darrah’s car bounded off the wall and landed on the backstretch.
Saldana attempted the restart, but like Darrah, was forced to retire his damaged sprint car to the pits.
The WoO feature victory was the third of the season for Tim Kaeding.
“It’s awesome!
Joey and Cody were racing pretty hard. I just waited for what happened to happen. The feature was short track racing at its finest. No-one gives each other an inch in this sport. We have almost been in the top ten every night. Hope we can keep doing this all year!”
David Gravel turned in a good night’s performance also. Subbing for Bill Rose he placed fifth in his heat, fifth again in the dash, and then turned it up another notch to capture second in the main event.
The four heat races for the 39 winged outlaw competitors were captured by points leader Darryn Pittman, Kaeding, Darrah, and Steve Kinser. Chad Blond rolled his sprint car in the fourth heat. Shane Stewart won the C Main but flipped in the Last Chance Showdown.
Sammy Swindell was second in the C but had to take a provisional to start the A after finishing just out of a transfer spot in the last chance race. Jason Sides won that Last Chance Showdown.
The second five in the feature included Sheldon Haudenschild, Steve Kinser, Kraig Kinser, Craig Dollansky, and Greg Wilson. Donny Schatz finished 11th, an improvement of 12 spots, after starting at the back of the field. The feat earned him the KSE Hard Charger Award.
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The racing was also exciting in the UMP Open Wheel Modified division.
The top four drivers in the 25 lap feature split with 2 drivers running the top and two drivers running the bottom of the track.
Brian Shaw was the first driver to cut a path up through the cushion and Dave Beck soon followed. Trent Young and Kent Robinson were sharing lead laps around the bottom of the oval.
The race tightened! Shaw edged into the lead on lap 19. A yellow flew on lap 23 as Robinson spun between turns three and four. On the restart Shaw and Beck began trading the lead at every turn. Contact in the final turn resulted in a dash to the line that was so close that fans had to wait for an official announcement on the finish.
The winner was Trent Young by 6 inches with Brian Shaw second, Tyler Nicely third, and Dave Beck fourth.
The three heat races for the 29 modified entries were won by Mark Lamont, Trent Young, and Kent Robinson. Zach Fair won the B Main and followed that up by finishing fifth in the feature.
The next race scheduled at Tri-State Speedway is on Saturday May 11th. It will be the season opener for the Midwest Sprint Car Series. The event is co-sanctioned with the United States Auto Club Sprint Car division. The feature will pay $5,000 to win. The UMP Open Wheel Modifieds will also race that evening.
For Immediate Release: Provided as Race Coverage for Tri-State Speedway.
SUMMARY
Tri-State Speedway, Haubstadt, IN
April 20, 2013
WoO STP Sprint Cars:
(39 Entries)
Fastest Qualifier – Paul McMahan 11.756
First Heat – Darryn Pittman, Dale Blaney, Chad Kemenah, McMahan, Brad Loyet Second Heat – Tim Kaeding, Kerry Madsen, Craig Dollansky, Sheldon Haudenschild,
David Gravel
Third Heat – Cody Darrah, Jac Haudenschild, Brad Sweet, Brady Bacon, Danny Smith Fourth Heat – Steve Kinser, Joey Saldana, Greg Wilson, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Jason Leffler
C-Main – Shane Stewart, Sammy Swindell, Kurt Gross, Miranda Throckmorton Last Chance Showdown – Jason Sides, Kraig Kinser, Lucas Wolfe, Donny Schatz
Dash – Saldana, Darrah, McMahan, Kaeding, Gravel
Feature (40 Laps) – Kaeding, Gravel, McMahan, Blaney, Madsen, S. Haudenschild, S. Kinser, K. Kinser, Dollansky, Wilson, Schatz, Kemenah, Swindell, Bacon, Pittman, Leffler, Sides, Wolfe, Loyet, Sweet, Saldana, Darrah, Smith, Hafertepe, J. Haudenschild
UMP Open Wheel Modifieds:
( 29 Entries)
First Heat – Mark Lamont, Tyler Nicely, Zach Dennis
Second Heat – Trent Young, Dave Beck, Paul Miles
Third Heat – Kent Robinson, Brian Shaw, Ronnie Falloway
B-Main – Zach Fair, Everett Bradham, Chad Combs
A-Main (25 Laps) – Young, Shaw, Nicely, Beck, Fair, Kissinger, Bradham, Miles, Lamont, Falloway, Combs, Fox, Brandon McDowell, Bill Dugger, Richie Lentz, Robinson, Eilers, Dennis