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Kaeding Capitalizes on Aggressive Night at FVP Outlaw Showdown

The Californian claims his third World of Outlaws feature of the season at Cedar Lake

NEW RICHMOND, Wis. - July 6, 2012 - Evidently, crazy weather brings out the crazy in sprint car drivers.

An extremely humid afternoon gave way to a stormy Friday evening at Cedar Lake Speedway, where Tim Kaeding beat the weather and his aggressive World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competition in front of a near capacity crowd at the FVP Outlaw Showdown.

"Being a California kid, when we see lightning we usually run and hide," he said with a big smile. "We were ready to go and went and had fun and did what we know how to do, and that's chase everybody and hopefully get out in front."

Following a day filled with heat and humidity, the start of the event was delayed approximately a half hour as drivers were getting in their cars to put heat in the engines because of a severe thunderstorm warning. Lightning and thunder surrounded the facility - and a nearby tornado siren even sounded - but a storm never hit during daylight.

However, as the night wore on, extreme weather moved into the area and the schedule was rearranged to put the sprint car feature first. The drivers were in a rush to get to the track and it didn't stop there.

Sammy Swindell, who entered the event with the World of Outlaws championship points lead and a series-best six victories at Cedar Lake Speedway, brought out the first caution after contact with Craig Dollansky in turn three on the opening lap. Swindell, whose team couldn't repair the damage before the race restarted, was scored last to knock him off the top of the standings.

With lightning visible in the distance, polesitter Brian Brown dominated through thick traffic until Kraig Kinser stopped in turn four with a damaged left rear wheel on lap 20. Kinser's team also was unable to fix the problem before the race went green again, but a caution for his father, Steve Kinser, and Robby Wolfgang spinning in turn four on the restart allowed Kraig Kinser to return to the field.

Dollansky, who drove from 21st to 12th after the opening-lap caution, was forced to pit with a flat left rear tire. He restarted in 18th with Kinser one row back in 20th.

The insanity resumed on the restart. As Brown and Kaeding broke away from the pack, drivers behind them jostled for position. Mark Dobmeier made a power move to drive from fifth to third, while Chad Kemenah began to work his way toward the front.

Brown entered traffic with 10 laps remaining and was maneuvering through it well before he caught Brooke Tatnell and Wolfgang. As Brown tried to lap the drivers, he was forced into the frontstretch wall while crossing the finish line on lap 29. The impact forced Brown to spin around and bring out the final caution of the race. He went to his trailer with a 20th-place finish.

"He kind of got squeeze played there by a lapped car," said Kaeding, who inherited the lead. "It was one of those bad deals. I've been there before several times. Brian ran a hell of a race up to that point. I think we would have probably got close to him. I don't know if we could have beat him, but we definitely would have gave him a run for his money at the end of that deal."

Kaeding then rocketed away from the field on the restart and sailed to his third World of Outlaws feature victory of the season. Everything behind him wasn't as smooth.

Dobmeier, who restarted second, blew a left rear tire with a lap and a half remaining. He coasted around to finish 16th. Cap Henry, who restarted third, hit the frontstretch wall in an incident, which relegated him to a 12th-place finish. After restarting fourth, Donny Schatz also faded in the final laps and placed 13th.

That allowed late charges by David Gravel, who set quick time in qualifying to start the night, and Justin Henderson. After restarting seventh, Gravel worked his way to the runner-up position.

"On the restart we ran the bottom and really caught up quite a bit," he said. "(The restarts) were pretty crazy. Everybody was trying to wreck each other, sliding into each other. I was just pacing around the bottom and it worked out for us."

Like Gravel, Henderson made most of his passes from the bottom lane during the closing laps to overcome a 19th-starting position.

"The car just kept getting better and better and better," said Henderson, who was the KSE Hard Charger. "Everybody was running the same line and I just kind of got sick and tired of following them, tried something different and it worked for once so we moved forward pretty good there."

A couple of postrace skirmishes were cooled when the storm hit the area approximately 15 minutes after the Victory Lane celebration.

FVP Outlaw Showdown Notebook

NOTES - David Gravel set quick time for the third race this season. … The top eight qualifiers were separated by less than one tenth of a second. … Chad Kemenah claimed his eighth heat race victory, Cap Henry his second and Craig Dollansky his seventh of the season. … Brian Brown picked up his second dash victory of the season. … Brooke Tatnell became the 26th different driver to win a Last Chance Showdown this year. … Tim Kaeding was the 10th different driver to win on a 3/8-mile track in as many Outlaws races this season. … The top six in the championship standings are within 77 points of each other.

CONTINGENCY WINNERS - Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Tim Kaeding; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Tim Kaeding; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Tim Kaeding; Armor All (case of product): Tim Kaeding; STP ($50 cash): David Gravel; UNOH ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Steve Kinser; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Superflow ($50 cash): Bill Rose; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Mark Dobmeier; JE Pistons (set of rings): Todd King; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Sammy Swindell; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Bill Balog.

WINNERS - Sammy Swindell - 6 (Lakeside Speedway on June 30, Red River Valley Speedway on June 16, Eldora Speedway on May 5, Knoxville Raceway on April 28, Missouri State Fair Speedway on April 20 and Merced Speedway on March 30); Craig Dollansky - 4 (I-96 Speedway on June 2, Hagerstown Speedway on May 20, Tri-State Speedway on April 21 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Tim Kaeding - 3 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 6, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8); Kraig Kinser - 3 (Dodge City Raceway Park on June 23, River Cities Speedway on June 15 and Kokomo Speedway on June 5); Steve Kinser - 3 (Dodge City Raceway Park on June 22, Orange County Fair Speedway on May 19 and Williams Grove Speedway on May 12); Joey Saldana - 3 (The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 25, Paducah International Raceway on April 13 and Perris Auto Speedway on March 10); Donny Schatz - 3 (Farmer City Raceway on April 25, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Chad Kemenah - 2 (Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 28 and Eldora Speedway on May 4); Kerry Madsen - 2 (Belleville High Banks on June 29 and Knoxville Raceway on June 9); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 10); Mark Dobmeier - 1 (Huset's Speedway on July 3); Danny Lasoski - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18); Paul McMahan - 1 (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on May 16); Fred Rahmer - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 11); Brad Sweet - 1 (Clay County Fairgrounds on June 8).

TIME TRIALS - David Gravel was the fastest qualifier around the 3/8-mile oval with a time of 11.027 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Mark Dobmeier (4 points), Tim Kaeding (3), Brian Brown (2) and Kerry Madsen (1).

WE'RE ONLINE - Make sure to check out WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com .

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