Standing room only: One of the largest crowds ever packed into I-96 Speedway under unseasonably warm condition on Saturday for the World of Outlaws only stop of the year in the Great Lake State for the Rumble in Michigan. Heavy rain throughout the week left the pit area and parking lot very wet, though the staff from SLS Promotions and the track crew worked countless hours getting the pit area in shape for the competitors and fans, as a huge contingent of fans arrived early to visit the pit area prior to racing action.
"To have the crowd they had is great," said I-96 winner Jason Meyers in Victory Lane. "It was near a capacity crowd, if not capacity. There are great dirt track fans here in Michigan and they saw a great race."
A new track record: Joey Saldana shattered the old track record at I-96 Speedway on Saturday night, touring the half-mile in a blazing fast 14.834 seconds at 121.343 mph to lay down the first sub-15-second lap in track history in time trials. A total of four drivers broke the existing mark including former track record holder Steve Kinser, race winner Jason Meyers and Lucas Wolfe. Saldana was the only driver of the four to be in the 14-second bracket. It marked the fifth time this season that a track record has been broken or established in a World of Outlaws event.
Taking it all in: Eric Malies, who drives Work'N Woody- the Official Push Truck and Safety Vehicle of the World of Outlaws-, went on a tour of the Goodyear Tire plant in Akron, Ohio prior to last weekend's race. Along with Malies, Kerry Madsen and his crew chief Sonny Kratzer, a long time Goodyear supporter were on hand with their race car on display. Malies also displayed Work'N Woody for Goodyear employees to get an up close look at the iconic machine.
"It was pretty impressive," said Malies after the tour. "You would think it would be all automated, but each tire is handmade and it takes about three to four man-hours for each race tire. It was enlightening. You never knew that they worked that hard on just one tire. The amazing part is that in November, they had an inventory of zero tires, so they've had to build all of these tires since November. They've been working very hard and it's impressive. I'd like to thank Justin Fantozzi and Dan Curtis for inviting me over and it was a pleasure getting to go over there."
A season best finish: Chad Kemenah scored a season-best fifth-place finish on Saturday night after lining up 13th in the 30-lapper at I-96 Speedway. The Ohio native was sixth fastest in time trials with a very strong 34-car field signed in. For Kemenah, who recently added veteran crew chief Bonzai Bruns to his team it was his second consecutive Top-10 finish after a strong ninth-place effort at Virginia Motor Speedway on May 15.
"We had a really good race car," said Kemenah. "We had a not so good start to the race, but whether it was attrition or people falling out or whatever, we were able to move forward. I think it's starting to show here with the help of Bonzai coming on board. I don't have to think so much. He takes a lot of that away for me and I can actually go out and race."
A good decision: Craig Dollansky's team changed engines prior to the feature at I-96 Speedway and the veteran was able to power his way from the 12th starting spot to finish second, earning the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award in the process. The runner-up finish also helped vault Dollansky from 11th to eighth in the series standing and he is now just 31 points out of the sixth spot. He was victorious earlier this season at Lone Star Speedway in Texas and has finished seventh or better in six of his last eight starts.
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