World of Outlaws | Karnac Racing News

Babb Ties All-Time Win Record with Sixth DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” Victory at Vermilion County Speedway

071413_SN_Vermilion DANVILLE, Ill. — July 14, 2013 — Shannon Babb scored his sixth victory of the 2013 DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” on Sunday night in a thriller at Vermilion County Speedway to tie Billy Moyer’s record of 82 all-time wins.

Babb, of Moweaqua, Ill., might be a long shot to capture his fourth Summer Nationals title as the series is in its final week, but that won’t keep him from fighting for victories. Babb captured the pole-position over Frank Heckenast Jr., who pulled out to the early lead. The outside groove was the fast groove early on as the outside starting Heckenast shot around Babb, pulling fourth-place-starting Mike Spatola with him.

Babb was finally able to move his car to the faster groove and gain back ground on the leaders as red-hot Bobby Pierce joined the four-way battle for the lead. Babb muscled his way around second-place running Spatola on lap 11, setting his sights on leader Heckenast as the leaders approached lapped traffic. On lap 19 two cars racing side-by-side trying to stay on the lead lap slowed down the leaders enough to bunch the top four in the outside lane. Babb captured the lead on lap 22 and led for six laps before Spatola and Pierce went by. Babb recaptured the lead for good on lap 31. (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-16T16:29:34-04:00July 16th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Late Models, Super DirtCar Series, World of Outlaws|Comments Off

Pierce Captures Fourth DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” Victory in 2013 at 34 Raceway

071313_SN_Burlington (1) WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa – July 13, 2013 – Bobby Pierce claimed his second win in as many nights and his fourth win of the 2013 DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” season Saturday night as he lead the final 15 laps and held off Brian Birkhofer at 34 Raceway.

Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., would have to pass fewer cars to capture this victory compared to the victory Fridaynight. Pierce started on the outside of row two, just behind the front row of points-leader Brandon Sheppard and Birkhofer, who grabbed the lead from Sheppard as the two drivers battled side-by-side for much of the early going. With Birkhofer and Sheppard putting on a show for the fans, the youngster Pierce was marching his way to the front. (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T18:06:00-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Super DirtCar Series, World of Outlaws|Comments Off

Brad Sweet Earns Crown in 30th Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway

Californian Dominates for Second World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Win

071313_SP_KINGSROYAL ROSSBURG, Ohio. – July 13, 2013 – It was only a matter of time until Brad Sweet tasted victory lane at Eldora Speedway in World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series competition. However, no one would have guessed it would have been in one of the most prestigious races anywhere in dirt track racing, the Kings Royal.

Sweet, of Grass Valley, Calif., started outside of Brandon Wimmer for the 30^th running of the historic event and jumped out to an early lead in the 40-lap, $50,000-to-win race in his Kasey Kahne Racing Ollie’s Bargain Outlets ride. A three-car battle that included Wimmer and Donny Schatz prevented Sweet from running away.

On the final restart on lap 25, after a wreck involving Chad Kemenah and Paul McMahan battling for the fifth position, Sweet struggled at first to retake the lead as Schatz put the pressure on in his attempt to become a three-time Kings Royal winner. By the 27^th lap, though, Sweet had fully cleared Schatz and with 13 more clean laps through lapped traffic found himself crowned King.

“It’s unbelievable to win the Kings Royal,” said Sweet, who has narrowly missed out on winning a World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series event at Eldora several times, including Friday night when he finished second. “It’s still sinking in, but we’ve been fast here so I knew we could do it. I can’t thank my guys enough, Kasey Kahne Racing, Kasey Kahne himself for giving me this opportunity, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, my guys Dave, Eric, Rob and Willie. It was déjà vu on coming up to try to get around Sammy Swindell again to lap him. I know Donny’s going to be good and the first time we restarted I chose the top and he had me beat going into one and if he would’ve gone to the top it would’ve made it a much closer race.” (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T18:03:12-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Sprint Cars|Comments Off

Pierce Claims Third DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” Victory at Kankakee County Speedway

071313_SN_Burlington KANKAKEE, Ill. — July 12, 2013 — Bobby Pierce, much like his previous two wins, kept his car glued to the bottom of the track all night as he stormed from his row six starting position to claim his third win of the 2013 DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” on Friday night at Kankakee County Speedway.

Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., started 11th, five rows behind the pole-sitter Matt Miller, of Whitehouse, Ohio. Miller, who has not won a “Hell Tour” event since 2008, was clearly in charge the first half of the feature. Pierce, locked to the bottom, needed 24 laps to reel in Miller before passing him for the lead with a little over half of the race to go. Pierce went on to lead the rest of the way and capture the $10,000 checkered flag in the 20^th race of the 2013 “Hell Tour” schedule at Kankakee County Speedway.

“I didn’t think I was gonna be able to do it from 11th,” said Pierce, a 16-year-old who continues his strong points year as he currently sits fourth in the standings with a week to go. “But I was watching the track and seen that the bottom was really coming in a lot. I knew that I was good down here last year when I got second so I just had to keep doing the same thing over and over again and hitting my marks.” (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T17:30:20-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Late Models, Super DirtCar Series|Comments Off

Curl Captures His First Win of 2013 Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals at Kankakee County Speedway

071213_MN_Kankakee KANKAKEE, Ill. — July 12, 2013 — Jeff Curl passed race-long leader Nick Allen with six laps remaining and then held on to the checkered flag to secure his first win of the 2013 Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals season at Kankakee County Speedway.

Curl, of Forrest, Ill., started sixth and found the early-going a challenge to find room to make a pass, leaving him stuck outside the top five. A restart near the midway point gave him the opportunity he needed and with the field bunched up he moved to the outside line. Not many drivers chose to get off of the bottom of the track, giving Curl enough room to pass and catch Allen, who had dominated the entire race from his pole-position.

Allen, seeing Curl cutting into his lead, moved up to the high side to try and hold off Curl, but Curl was too strong as he got to the corner of Allen’s car and slipped by him going into turn three with six laps remaining. Curl then held off Kenny Wallace en route to scoring the $1,000 checkered flag, his first of the six-week long tour. (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T17:25:18-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Super DirtCar Series|Comments Off

Madsen Slides Past Sweet for 2nd Victory at Eldora Speedway

Aussie’s two World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Wins this Year have been at Ohio Track

ROSSBURG, Ohio. – July 12, 2013 – Kerry Madsen really likes racing at Eldora Speedway. Madsen powered to victory on Friday night in the “Knight Before the Kings Royal” at the historic half-mile track in western Ohio for his second World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win of the season, both of which came at Eldora.

Madsen, of St Marys, NSW, Australia, finished the night right where he started, on the top of the chart after qualifying with a lap of 13.157 seconds to lead the 44-car field. He parlayed that into a fourth-place starting position in the feature and wound up in victory lane 30 laps later after holding off Brad Sweet in a thriller that included too many slide jobs to count.

In the feature Madsen was relentless, charging to second on the fifth lap past pole-sitter Joey Saldana. Fifteen laps later he took his Keneric Racing KPC to the lead from Sweet after several slide jobs where he could not hold the pass. Sweet mounted a few other charges in traffic, but was never be able to make the pass stick allowing Madsen to collect his second victory on the season, with the first one also on a Fridaynight victory at Eldora on May 3.

“It was an insane race,” Madsen said of the final tuneup for Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win Kings Royal. “We got to lapped traffic and Brad really couldn’t do anything with them, so I just decided to tuck up as close as I could and wait until he tried to make a move or something and try to seize the opportunity. It felt as the race progressed our car got better and better and we brought it home. Maybe I pushed too hard at the end of the race, because I didn’t want to leave any room and we got away with it.” (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T17:03:40-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Sprint Cars|Comments Off

Harrison Captures Third Win in the 2013 Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals at Macon Speedway

071113_MN_Macon MACON, Ill. — July 11, 2013 — In a season that has proven difficult for any driver to score more than one win, Mike Harrison now has three in the 2013 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals as he claimed the victory Thursday night at 1/5th-mile Macon Speedway.

Harrison, of Highland, Ill., started the race from the outside of row two, just behind the front row of Brian Divley and Kenny Wallace. Staying glued to the bottom, Harrison passed Wallace within the first five laps and set his sights on leader Divley. With a restart coming on lap 9, Harrison was right on Divley’s tail. Harrison changed his line and moved to the top of the track to try and get around Divley, who did his best to hold his line but on lap 13 Harrison got a nose under Divley’s right corner and make the pass in turn one on lap 14. (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T16:47:55-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Super DirtCar Series|Comments Off

Babb Masters Macon Speedway for Fifth DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” Victory in 2013

Babb 2 MACON, Ill. – July 11, 2013 – Shannon Babb continued his mid-season dominance Thursday night at Macon Speedway as he rallied from the ninth starting position to lead the second half of the 33rd Annual Herald & Review 100, capturing his fifth checkered flag of the 2013 DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” season.

Babb, of Moweaqua, Ill., has proven why the three time champion should never be counted out. After starting the season relatively slow by his standards, Babb has scored four wins in seven races since the start of July and was just 50 points behind Brandon Sheppard entering the night.

Babb’s most recent victory would not be handed to him as he started from the inside of row five. Sheppard secured the pole-position but handed the lead over to Brian Shirley early in the feature. Babb reached Shirley and second-place running Kevin Weaver by the race’s halfway point. Shirley was glued to the top and Weaver glued to the bottom, so the faster Babb made the middle lane work for him as he split the two leaders in a daring three-wide pass for the lead. Babb secured the top spot and led the rest of the way to score the $5,000 checkered flag. Sheppard worked his way back to second as he continues to hold onto the points lead. (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T16:45:20-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Super DirtCar Series|Comments Off

Donny Schatz Wins His Second Brad Doty Classic at Limaland

Champ Earns 9th World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Win of the Year

LIMA, Ohio. – July 11, 2013 – The proverbial Month of Money is here and five-time champion Donny Schatz is heating up, becoming just the second driver to repeat as winner of the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic on Thursday night at Limaland Motorsports Park.

Schatz pulled off a slide job to go around leader Shane Stewart on lap 24 and held off Paul McMahan and points leader Daryn Pittman to the checkered flag for his ninth victory of the season as the top three in the championship standings finished in reverse order on the podium.

Schatz started the night by qualifying 8th in his Tony Stewart Racing STP/Armor All J&J and then winning his heat race. A third-place finish in the dash put him behind Stewart and James McFadden to start the 40-lap A-main, where he fell backwards while struggling with handling due to a full fuel load before beginning his surge to the lead about 10 laps into the feature.

“We didn’t start very well, the car started way too tight,” said Schatz, of Fargo, N.D. “The longer we went the better we got. Paul was good on restarts and was really good off of the bottom, but once we got speed built up we were better than him.” (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-14T16:35:55-04:00July 14th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Sprint Cars|Comments Off

Babb Captures Fourth Win of 2013 DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” at Tri-State Speedway

070713_LM_Haubstadt HAUBSTADT, Ind. — July 7, 2013 — Shannon Babb scored his fourth win of the 2013 “Hell Tour” season in dominating fashion Sunday night, as he lead all 40-laps from his second starting position to capture the checkered flag at Tri-State Speedway.

Babb, of Moweaqua, Ill., started from the outside of row one with teenager Bobby Pierce grabbing the pole. Babb took advantage of his starting position and pulled out to an early lead as he rode the outside line. Babb led every lap, but Pierce challenged him as the race wore on. Pierce pulled to Babb’s inside multiple times but couldn’t complete a pass. Babb held him off over the final two laps and pulled away to secure the $5,000 checkered flag. With the victory Sunday night, Shannon Babb is now only two wins shy of Billy Moyer’s record of 82 Summer National career wins.

“The track was excellent,” said Babb, a three-time Summer Nationals champion. “I just think I got the right draw — front row outside was hard to beat tonight. It worked out perfect for me. We’re just happy we’ve won the race. It’s been getting tough. These guys — little Bobby was right there — and these guys are making me step up my program a little bit.” (more…)

By Scott|2013-07-08T18:08:48-04:00July 8th, 2013|Featured, Front Page News, Super DirtCar Series|Comments Off