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Greg Wilson Wins at Eldora, Claims First Ever Outlaws Victory

The Ohio-native becomes the 21st different winner of the season, second first-time winner of the year

ROSSBURG, Ohio - Sept. 25, 2015 - Greg Wilson's ascent through the field at Eldora Speedway's 4-Crown Nationals on Friday night was steady and underneath everyone's radar as he rode the bottom of the track to his first ever World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory.

The Benton Ridge, Ohio-native and All Star Circuit of Champions regular, passed Rico Abreu midway through the feature and ran away with the win, leading second-place Shane Stewart by nearly seven seconds at the end.

"This is a World of Outlaws win!" an emotional Wilson said in victory lane. "I was starting to wonder. I just turned 40 - hell, I thought I was going to have to get Depends and quit this stuff. You ain't going to wipe this smile off for a long time."

Wilson is the 21st different driver to score a World of Outlaws feature win this season and the second driver in 2015 to claim a first-ever series win.

Chad Kemenah and Tim Shaffer led the field to the green flag in the kickoff to the 4-Crown Nationals weekend. Kemenah led through the early going as Abreu dispatched of Shaffer in his No. 24 Abreu Vineyards car for second by lap eight. Stewart then got around the 'Steel City Outlaw' three laps later to take over third.

As Kemenah began working his way through traffic, Abreu closed the gap and ran him down. As the two worked to complete lap 14, Abreu got around Kemenah, just underneath him, as they exited turn four. With Abreu in the lead, the battle intensified for the top four positions as Stewart looked for the lead and Kemenah tried to hang on.

Meanwhile, Wilson, who started ninth, jumped to bottom of the track in his No. W20 Hercules Tire/All-Star Plumbing car from the start and made easy work of the cars in front of him. By the time Abreu took over the lead, Wilson had moved into the top five, then the top three.

With an intense battle underway between Abreu and Stewart for the lead on the top side of the track, Wilson drove by on the bottom with little notice.

"Thought I was actually racing Shane there for the lead because I didn't see Greg Wilson," Abreu said.

"At first I thought it was Donny (Schatz)," Stewart said. "To be honest with you, I saw a black car and when I saw Wilson go by. He is exceptionally good here on the bottom."

While the battle continued between Abreu and Stewart through the second half of the feature, Wilson walked away, building up a large lead. Stewart eventually got by Abreu but the Outlaw was unable to make up time on the Ohio driver.

"I want to thank everybody - this has been a long time coming," Wilson said. "I'm a blessed dude. To win at Eldora, I was in tears. If you're going to win somewhere, this is the best place to do it in front of the best fans in the country."

"I'm truly a blessed guy and thankful for everything that the fans, the people that have helped me my whole career. This is for all those guys as much as it is for me."

Wilson, who has three All-Star wins this season, including one at Eldora back in June, said he and his Warnimont Motorsports team have been focused on improvement this season and have been making changes in that direction.

"We upgraded our motor program and we're still working out kinks with everything," Wilson said. "We're not (a big budget team) by any means - we won tonight on some used tires we got from Sheldon Haudenschild. That's pretty darn cool."

The 30-lap feature went flag-to-flag with no stoppages.

Stewart, who was the Kings Royal winner at Eldora back in mid-July, said the track was different than what they have been used to all summer. It took some adjustment he said.

"It was a great finish for us," Stewart said. "I didn't think after the dash that I had a good enough car to run second. Just a great effort by all my guys… We threw everything at it but the kitchen sink and made some gains from the dash to the feature and it worked out OK."

Abreu, who has two series wins this season, said he thought he had something for the rest of the field.

"We had a really good car tonight," Abreu said. "Just wasn't there at the right time, I felt. A lot of fun though - just super slick and slow and get your car going real good so that was a lot of fun."

A new battle that has emerged over the last two weeks is that for third, fourth and fifth in the championship driver standings. Brad Sweet moved into the third position from fifth as Kerry Madsen and Joey Saldana slipped back. Still, just 10 points separate the three drivers. In the owner standings, 10 points is the margin between the third through sixth positions.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action tomorrow night at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. for the NAPA Berlin Brawl. Present a NAPA receipt at the time of purchase to receive $5 off (limit two per receipt). To find out more information and to learn how to buy tickets, visit http://woosprint.com/berlin-raceway.

Follow the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws.

Eldora Speedway Notebook

RACE NOTES: Greg Wilson's win tonight at the 4-Crown Nationals was his first ever World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory… Greg Wilson is the 21st different driver to win a series feature this season and second first time winner… Dale Blaney was the night's KSE Racing Hard Charger, advancing 16 positions to finish in fifth… Shane Stewart took home quick time tonight with a lap of 13.099. It was his fifth quick time of the season… The battle for third, fourth and fifth in points is heating up as Brad Sweet moved into third and Kerry Madsen and Joey Saldana slipped into fourth and fifth. Just 10 points separate the drivers.

CONTINGENCY WINNERS - MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Mikey Kuemper; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Greg Wilson; Sweet Manufacturing ($50 cash): Shane Stewart; Penske Shocks ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Mobil 1 ($50 cash): Jacob Allen; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Lincoln Welders ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Jacob Allen; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Brad Sweet; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): David Gravel;Super Flow ($50 cash): David Gravel; Sweet Manufacturing ($50 product certificate): Greg Wilson;KSE Racing Products ($100 product certificate): Dale Blaney; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Greg Wilson;Mobil 1 (20% off Mobil1RacingStore.com): Steve Kinser; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Kerry Madsen; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Jason Johnson.

SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz - 29 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 21, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 28, Placerville Speedway on April 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 12, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 26, Eldora Speedway on May 8, Eldora Speedway on May 9, Williams Grove Speedway on May 15, Weedsport Speedway on May 17, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 22, Knoxville Raceway on June 13, Huset's Speedway on June 14, Granite City Speedway on June 17, River Cities Speedway on June 19, Dakota State Fair Speedway on June 20, Beaver Dam Raceway on June 27, Lakeside Speedway on July 1, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 4, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 11, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 26, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 8, Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 15, River Cities Speedway on Aug. 21, Nodak Speedway on Aug. 23, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 28, Grays Harbor Raceway on Sept. 7, Cottage Grove Speedway on Sept. 9, Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 12); Shane Stewart - 9 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, Keller Auto Speedway on April 17, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 1, Crawford County Speedway on June 12, Eldora Speedway on July 17, Eldora Speedway on July 18, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 8, Skagit Speedway on Sept. 5, Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 11); Daryn Pittman - 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Antioch Speedway on March 29, New Egypt Speedway on May 19, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 29, Antioch Speedway on Sept. 13); Brad Sweet - 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, Calistoga Speedway on April 11, I-96 Speedway on June 25, Deer Creek Speedway on Sept. 19); Rico Abreu - 2 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 22); Dale Blaney - 2 (Attica Raceway Park on May 29, Lernerville Speedway on July 21); Paul McMahan - 2 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 18, Tri-State Speedway on May 3);Joey Saldana - 2 (Kokomo Speedway on June 3, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 12); Christopher Bell - 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on May 2); Brian Brown - 1 (USA Raceway on March 7); Cody Darrah - 1 (Lernerville Speedway on July 21); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 25);Stewart Friesen - 1 (Ohsweken Speedway on July 28);Greg Hodnett - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 13); Tim Kaeding - 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 13); Danny Lasoski - 1 (I-80 Speedway on June 5);Kerry Madsen - 1 (Junction Motor Speedway on Aug. 18);Terry McCarl - 1 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5); Jason Sides - 1 (Dodge City Raceway Park on July 3); Stevie Smith - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 25); Greg Wilson - 1 (Eldora Speedway on Sept. 25).

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