Richard Day

WoO Director of Public Relations

PHOENIX, AZ (February 20) – Tyler Walker, no stranger to success at Manzanita Speedway, held off Steve Kinser to win the Preliminary Feature then performed his signature back-flip victory celebration Friday when the World of Outlaws opened the Inaugural Cactus Classic.

Walker, who won both feature races in the 1998 Western World Championships at Manzanita, earned the privilege of starting Saturday’s Dash Race on the pole by leading the final 24 laps of Friday’s Preliminary Feature.

“Man, that was the longest race I ever ran,” the 2002 World of Outlaws Gumout Series champion said. “It seemed like I was out there for two days. I have to thank Guy Forbrook for giving me the chance to drive his car and Stu Murray from Wirtgen – he makes this all possible. I’m out here having a blast.

“Goodyear tires really did their homework over the off-season. They gave us a great tire tonight. The Mopar engines, everything was great. I’ll come back (to victory lane) tomorrow night and do some more back-flips for you.”

Walker, the second-fastest qualifier in the 32-car field, earned the privilege of starting the Preliminary Feature on the pole by winning the First Dash Race. He raced wheel-to-wheel with outside pole-sitter Brian Brown, but spins by Third Heat Race winner Jeff Hodgson and Keith Watkins brought back the first two starts.

Brown drove Lonny Parsons’ #6 Casey General Stores Maxim into the lead following the second caution period. Defending and 18-time champion Steve Kinser took the high line through the first and second corners to pass Tim Shaffer for third place early in opening lap.

Brown flipped in turn two the next time around, however, and Walker restarted in first place when the green flag replaced the red.

Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year candidate Kraig Kinser was battling Paul McMahan for fourth place within a lap after the race resumed when he spun into the retaining wall in turn three. Hodgson, Brian Paulus and Sammy Swindell collided with Kinser. Swindell, whose #83JR Ore-Cal J&J turned over in the crash, joined Kinser in the infield for the remainder of the race.

Randy Hannagan was trying to pass Dean Jacobs for sixth place early in the second lap when he hit the berm between the first and second corners and rolled the #1X TH Racing Hurricane.

Donny Schatz, who swept the 1999 Western World Championships feature races, steered his #15 Parker Stores J&J into the low groove in turn three to pass McMahan for fourth place as the race resumed.

Daryn Pittman lost 11th place late in the sixth lap when the #21 Hop & Sack CMC hit the wall in turn four. Fast qualifier Danny Lasoski, who passed seven cars during the first six laps, took the low line into the second corner to pass Jason Sides for ninth place as the green flag replaced the yellow.

Walker was a half-straightaway ahead of Steve Kinser when he entered lapped traffic midway through the race. “The King of the Outlaws” was only two car-lengths behind Walker four laps later when mechanical problems forced Joey Saldana to stop in turn two. Brian O’Donnell crashed into the wall and flipped in the second corner as the race resumed, bringing out the red flag. The driveline broke on Karavan Motorsports’ #7 VMAC Maxim during the ensuing restart, sending the 2000 Gumout Series champion into the retaining wall in turn one.

Walker raced away from Kinser as the green flag replaced the red, and was 15 car-lengths ahead when he caught the back-markers with 1½ laps remaining. “The King of the Outlaws” was half a straightaway behind when Walker took the checkered flag.

Shaffer finished in third place, ahead of Schatz, McMahan, Jacobs, Lasoski, Jonathan Allard, Sides and 18th-starting Brian Paulus. Calvin Landis raced past nine cars to finish in 11th place.

“The Dude,” who led the World of Outlaws with 28 fast times a year ago, paced the qualifying session with a 116.085-M.P.H. lap around Manzanita’s legendary half-mile oval.

2004 World of Outlaws
Inaugural Cactus Classic
Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix, AZ
Friday, February 20, Preliminary Program

Qualifying: 1. Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 15.506; 2. Tyler Walker, Forbrook 5, 15.703; 3. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 15.707; 4. Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 15.734; 5. Jason Meyers, Elite 14, 15.771; 6. Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 15.775; 7. Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, 15.793; 8. Brian Brown, Parsons 6, 15.799; 9. Erin Crocker, Woodring 16, 15.825; 10. Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 15.851; 11. Tim Shaffer, Roth 83, 15.852; 12. Toni Lutar, Lutar 4X, 15.852; 13. Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 15.865; 14. Brian Paulus, P and P Motorsports 28, 15.857; 15. Sammy Swindell, Roth 83JR, 15.868; 16. Dean Jacobs, Woodward 2, 15.882; 17. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 15.896; 18. Daryn Pittman, Sher-Don Motorsports 21, 15.942; 19. Jeff Hodgson, Hodgson V8, 15.986; 20. Jonathan Allard, Wright 35, 16.033; 21. Joey Saldana, Saldana 17, 16.054; 22. Calvin Landis, Landis 70, 16.075; 23. Jason Solwold, K&M Motorsports 18, 16.201; 24. Keith Watkins, Watkins 82, 16.650; 25. Brian O’Donnell, O’Donnell 5B, 16.820; 26. Steve Martin, Martin 20AZ, 16.949; 27. Paul Norbury, Carsten 91, 17.844; 28. Bugs Norbury, Carsten 61, 17.862; 29. James High, High 23H, 17.922; 30. Steve Stone, Stone 57X, 18.384; 31. Buddy Earle, Earle 95, no time; 32. Dennis Moore, Jr., Williams 0, no time.

First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Dean Jacobs, 3. Keith Watkins, 4. Brian Brown, 5. Brian O’Donnell, 6. James High, 7. Danny Lasoski, 8. Erin Crocker. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Daryn Pittman, 2. Randy Hannagan, 3. Tyler Walker, 4. Jason Solwold, 5. Kraig Kinser, 6. Sammy Swindell, 7. Steve Martin, 8. Steve Stone. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jeff Hodgson, 2. Calvin Landis, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Paul McMahan, 5. Tim Shaffer, 6. Brian Paulus, 7. Paul Norbury. DNS: Dennis Moore, Jr. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
Fourth Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jonathan Allard, 2. Joey Saldana, 3. Jason Sides, 4. Toni Lutar, 5. Craig Dollansky, 6. Jason Meyers, 7. Bugs Norbury, DNS: Buddy Earle. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature)

First Dash Race (five laps): 1. Tyler Walker, 2. Kraig Kinser, 3. Randy Hannagan, 4. Craig Dollansky, 5. Dean Jacobs, 6. Jonathan Allard, 7. Daryn Pittman, 8. Toni Lutar. (finish determined the inside starting positions in the first eight rows in the Preliminary Feature lineup)
Second Dash Race (five laps): 1. Brian Brown, 2. Tim Shaffer, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Paul McMahan, 5. Donny Schatz, 6. Jason Sides, 7. Jeff Hodgson. DNS: Joey Saldana. (finish determined the outside starting positions in the first eight rows in the Preliminary Feature lineup)

B Feature (12 laps): 1. Danny Lasoski, 2. Brian Paulus, 3. Sammy Swindell, 4. Steve Martin, 5. Dennis Moore, Jr. ($150); 6. Paul Norbury ($125); 7. James High ($100); 8. Steve Stone ($75); 9. Jason Meyers ($60); 10. Bugs Norbury ($50). DNS: Erin Crocker ($40). (first four qualified for the Preliminary Feature)

Preliminary Feature (25 laps): 1. Tyler Walker [1] ($5,000); 2. Steve Kinser [6] ($3,000); 3. Tim Shaffer [4] ($2,500); 4. Donny Schatz [10] ($2,200); 5. Paul McMahan [8] ($2,100); 6. Dean Jacobs [9] ($2,000); 7. Danny Lasoski [17] ($1,820); 8. Jonathan Allard [11] ($1,600); 9. Jason Sides [12] ($1,500); 10. Brian Paulus [18] ($1,320); 11. Calvin Landis [20] ($1,200); 12. Toni Lutar [15] ($1,100); 13. Randy Hannagan [5] ($1,000); 14. Steve Martin [24] ($720); 15. Craig Dollansky [7] ($600); 16. Joey Saldana [16] ($600); 17. Brian O’Donnell [23] ($600); 18. Daryn Pittman [13] ($600); 19. Jeff Hodgson [14] ($600); 20. Brian Brown [2] ($600); 21. Kraig Kinser [3] ($500); 22. Sammy Swindell [19] ($520); 23. Keith Watkins [22] ($500); 24. Jason Solwold [21] ($500).
Lap leaders: Brian Brown 1, Tyler Walker 2-25

Kinser Takes Cactus Classic Finale

World of Outlaws
Manzanita Speedway
February 21, 2004

Qualifying
1) Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 15.656 2) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 15.850 3) Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 15.874 4) Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 15.882 5) Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 15.954 6) Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, 15.970 7) Jason Meyers, Elite 14, 15.988 8) Sammy Swindell, Roth 83JR, 15.998 9) Toni Lutar, Lutar 4X, 16.003 10) Dean Jacobs, Woodward 2, 16.013 11) Jonathan Allard, Wright 35, 16.042 12) Brian Brown, Parsons 6, 16.053 13) Daryn Pittman, Sher-Don motorsports 21, 16.066 14) Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 16.099 15) Dennis Moore, Jr., Williams 0, 16.103 16) Calvin Landis, Landis 70, 16.134 17) Jason Solwold, K&M Motorsports 18, 16.232 18) Joey Saldana, Saldana 17, 16.355 19) Steve Martin, Martin 20AZ, 16.504 20) Buddy Earle, Earle 95, 17.282 21) Keith Watkins, Watkins 82, 17.370 22) Steve Stone, Stone 57, 17.388 23) Paul Norbury, Carsten 91, 17.551 24) James High, High 23H, No time 25) Bugs Norbury, Carsten 61, No time 26) Jeff Hodgson, Hodgson V8, No time 27) Erin Crocker, Woodring 16, No time.
Top 4 finishers in Friday preliminary feature (locked into first four starting positions of dash): Tyler Walker, Forbrook 5; Steve Kinser, Kinser 11; Tim Shaffer, Roth 83; Donny Schatz, Schatz 15.


First Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)--1) Danny Lasoski 2) Jason Meyers 3) Brian Brown 4) Kraig Kinser 5) Daryn Pittman 6) Calvin Landis 7) Steve Martin 8) Steve Stone

Second Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)--1) Jonathan Allard 2) Sammy Swindell 3) Randy Hannagan 4) Craig Dollansky 5) Brian Paulus 6) Erin Crocker 7) Jason Solwold 8) Paul Norbury 9) Buddy Earle

Third Heat Race (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)--1) Dean Jacobs 2) Paul McMahan 3) Toni Lutar 4) Jason Sides 5) Joey Saldana 6) Dennis Moore, Jr. 7) Keith Watkins 8) James High 9) Jeff Hodgson (DNS)

Dash (5 laps, finishing order determined first 8 starting positions of A-feature)--1) Steve Kinser 2) Tyler Walker 3) Donny Schatz 4) Tim Shaffer 5) Craig Dollansky 6) Danny Lasoski 7) Paul McMahan 8) Jason Sides

B-main (12 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)—1) Dennis Moore, Jr. 2) Jason Solwold 3) Keith Watkins 4) Erin Crocker 5) Buddy Earle 6) Paul Norbury 7) Calvin Landis 8) Steve Stone 9) Steve Martin (DNS) 10) James High (DNS) 11) Jeff Hodgson (DNS) 12) Bugs Norbury (DNS)

A-main (30laps)--1) Steve Kinser 2) Tyler Walker 3) Donny Schatz 4) Jason Sides 5) Tim Shaffer 6) Paul McMahan 7) Daryn Pittman 8) Brian Paulus 9) Kraig Kinser 10) Danny Lasoski 11) Jason Meyers 12) Dean Jacobs 13) Jonathan Allard 14) Randy Hannagan 15) Dennis Moore, Jr. 16) Jason Solwold 17) Toni Lutar 18) Sammy Swindell 19) Joey Saldana 20) Keith Watkins 21) Brian Brown 22) Craig Dollansky 23) Buddy Earle 24) Erin Crocker

Lap leaders: Steve Kinser 1-30

Notes:

Erin Crocker had engine problems during warm-ups, and did not get to take a qualifying lap.

Paul Norbury was running 5th in the B-main when he lost an engine and slid into the wall in turn 2. Norbury’s car turned onto its side, but the driver was uninjured.

A-main

Lap 1—As the field raced into turn 1, Randy Hannagan and Dean Jacobs spun, collecting Keith Watkins and Erin Crocker. All drivers were able to restart.

Lap 1—Steve Kinser got the jump off of turn 4 to take the lead. Danny Lasoski passed Craig Dollansky for 4th low in 3&4

Lap 4—Traffic. Steve Kinser’s lead 6 carlengths. With 4 laps complete, red flag for Erin Crocker, who hit the wall and flipped in turn 4. Crocker was uninjured, but could not restart.

Lap 5—Jason Sides took 5th from Craig Dollansky low in 3&4

Lap 8—Traffic. Steve Kinser’s lead 12 carlengths over Tyler Walker

Lap 9—Steve Kinser’s lead 5 carlengths. With 9 laps complete, caution for Craig Dollansky, who hit the wall in turn 1. Dollansky was uninjured, and took the car to the work area, but was unable to make repairs.

Lap 12—Traffic. Steve Kinser’s lead 10 carlengths

Lap 15—Caution for Danny Lasoski (4th at the time), who stopped on the frontstretch when a fuel nozzle line came off. Lasoski pitted for repairs

Lap 17—Jason Meyers took 6th from Sammy Swindell on the top in 3&4

Lap 19—Traffic. Steve Kinser’s lead a half straightaway

Lap 26—Caution for Joey Saldana, who spun exiting turn 4. Under caution, Jason Meyers (6th at the time), pitted with a flat tire. Meyers was able to restart at the rear of the field. On the restart, Sammy Swindell’s car would not come up to speed, and Jonathan Allard and Keith Watkins spun to avoid Swindell. Red flag for fuel stop.

Lap 30—Steve Kinser won by 15 carlengths

Quotes
Steve Kinser

“This car’s been running good, and Scott (Gerkin) and the whole team’s been working real hard. We’ve got two teams out here on the road now, and everyone’s just done a tremendous job. We’re off to a good start, and that’s what you want to have, but there’s still a long way to go, and it takes two or three months to really find out who’s gonna be fast out here. I grew up dreaming of racing, and watching my dad race, and he was just a master when it came to traffic. I carried a helmet bag around for a while after I graduated high school, but I could never come up with anything to drive, and finally my dad and Jerry Shields let me get in one of their back-up cars, and it just took off from there. I always thought I’d get to be a weekend racer, and thought I’d have to lay blocks for a living. I just have to thank my family for putting up with me being on the road all the time to try to make a living. I’ll tell you one thing, winning never gets old!”