Craig Dollansky survived a couple of run-ins and a heavy dose of thick lapped traffic to pick up his second Outlaws victory of the season and the $10,000 prize. It also extended his streak of claiming each World of Outlaws feature at the high-banked, quarter-mile oval during even years since 2006.

“I don’t know what there is to that,” he said. “It takes a team to win races and a great team, especially on this tour. It’s not easily done.

“At Haubstadt, there’s definitely a lot going on at this race track. There was a lot of back and forth, and sliding back and forth. It was great racing and that’s what you see here.”

After winning the dash, Dollansky started the 40-lap feature on the pole. Once the green flag waved, it was a no-holds-barred match between the 24 drivers in the bullring setting.

Several drivers were three wide and a couple popped wheelies on the opening lap as Dollansky took charge of the top spot. He chose the bottom line on a trio of double-file restarts in the first five laps before lapped traffic began to play a role.

With fifth-place starting Joey Saldana a close second, Dollansky entered lapped traffic on lap 11. Saldana closed within inches on several occasions as both drivers tried to maneuver around the slower cars. However, Saldana’s night ended on lap 16 when contact with Dollansky sent him airborne.

As the duo exited turn four a handful of laps prior to the midpoint of the feature, Dollansky worked toward the bottom of the track to avoid a slower driver. Saldana shot for a similar opening, but his car made contact with the left rear tire of Dollansky. The impact launched Saldana, whose car flipped several times across the finish line to bring out the red flag.

“I was working on some lapped cars and we got to the 66 car (of Alex Shanks),” Dollansky said. “I got to him a couple of times, but couldn’t get him cleared and he got us a little bit sideways on the frontstretch. As I was trying to get corrected and get going down the frontstretch, Joey was on my left rear there. I hate it for him. I hated to see him break an axel and get tipped over there. You never want to see that kind of stuff.”

After hopping out of his mangled car, Saldana found Dollansky parked in turn three during the stoppage. Saldana marched across the infield toward Dollansky to the roar of the crowd and the duo exchanged words before Saldana walked to his pit as the cars refired.

Brady Bacon dove to the bottom on the restart to capture the lead, which he relinquished a couple laps later after a broken fuel valve forced him to the infield with a 21st-place finish.

Dollansky regained the top spot and he manipulated traffic for the final 22 laps en route to the victory.

Dale Blaney capitalized on the final restart two laps before the midpoint by charging from seventh to third. After Bacon fell out of the race, Blaney advanced to the runner-up position to earn a season-best finish with the World of Outlaws.

“If you were a little bit better than a guy you could slide across and make a guy lift pretty easily,” he said. “If your car was really good you could maneuver a little bit.”

Championship leader Sammy Swindell, who entered the race with an eight-point advantage over Saldana, salvaged a third-place finish after fighting a broken right front shock for most of the race.

“I had a great car,” said Swindell, who now leads Donny Schatz by 36 points in the standings. “We just had a problem where we did a wheelie and broke a shock. I got the front up and I let it drop down too hard. We salvaged it with a third-place finish.”

Cody Darrah earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 18th to fourth and Steve Kinser finished fifth.

Stevie Smith was sixth, Lucas Wolfe seventh, Kraig Kinser eighth, Schatz ninth and Jason Sides rounded out the top 10.

Swindell, who has five World of Outlaws feature wins at Tri-State Speedway – including last season – timed in quickest with a top lap of 11.766 seconds.

The duo nearly took each other out on a restart with three laps remaining as they made contact entering turn one on the half-mile oval. Instead, Swindell held on to the top spot after an aggressive move to get to the bottom of the track and he pulled away to pick up his first World of Outlaws win at Missouri State Fair Speedway since 1985.

“We’re not just driving around people so you’ve got to use every bit that you have and you’ve got to take advantage of it,” said Swindell, who also won with the Outlaws in Sedalia in 1982.

“The main thing is to put yourself in the right position. When we’re in front we had control of the first corner. Once it was like that and you get out there running, the guy has to run behind you in the dirty air and if theirs were like mine, it wasn’t much fun.”

It was a bittersweet night for Saldana, who is only eight points behind Swindell after a runner-up finish.

“When you’re racing guys like Sammy Swindell, Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz, they’re champions (and) have won a lot of races,” Saldana said. “You’ve got to learn from your mistakes and hope that you don’t do it again. We were in position. I just had to put my car in a better spot and I think we could have won the race.”

The drivers battled throughout several aggressive restarts, including one on lap 15 when the duo made it three wide with leader Cody Darrah getting stuck in the middle. Swindell capitalized on momentum in the outside lane to rocket into the lead off turn two as Saldana catapulted off the bottom lane to move into a close second.

Missouri native Brian Brown maneuvered from sixth to third on the same restart as the trio pulled to a sizeable advantage. Darrah, who was running fourth, brought out a caution with three laps remaining when he stopped in turn four with a broken U-joint.

Swindell chose the outside lane on the double-file restart and Saldana entered turn one side by side for the lead. They exited turn two in a tight battle before the final caution waved as NASCAR star Tony Stewart sustained a flat right rear tire while running fifth.

Swindell again picked the outside lane, which set up a drag race to turn one. In what looked like a dead heat, Swindell edged Saldana to the inside groove in turn one as their cars touched. Saldana lost momentum as Swindell cleared him for the lead.

“The way he raced me going into (turn) one, I should have raced him a little harder going into (turns) three and four,” Saldana said. “I had position on him there and I let it go. I just should have raced him harder because of the way he raced me earlier in that lap.

“I was just trying to race my car really clean. You get to a point like that and you kind of have to throw that out of the window if you’re going to win an Outlaws show. Tonight I think I just drove my car a little too easy.”

Brown closed within two car lengths of Saldana before his car began to show signs of running out of fuel, forcing Brown to race conservatively the last two laps.

“When you run a top three anywhere, it’s good, especially with the Outlaws,” he said. “With two to go, I was running out of fuel or I thought we may have had something for them. Hats off to Sammy and Joey. They’re at the top of their game right now and to run third to those guys is an honor.”

Donny Schatz earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 19th to fourth, which kept him third in the championship standings – only 20 points behind Swindell. Jason Sides, who started 14th, rounded out the top five.

Kerry Madsen drove from 12th to sixth with Kraig Kinser finishing seventh. Brady Bacon was eighth and Craig Dollansky placed ninth after violently flipping on the first lap of the dash. David Gravel charged from 17th to round out the top 10.

Stewart, outside polesitter and Missouri native Danny Lasoski, and Swindell each claimed a heat race. Brown won the Last Chance Showdown and Dollansky was the fast qualifier with a time of 15.975 seconds.

“In qualifying we went out and were really good, and then in the heat race we changed everything and were really bad,” he said. “Then we went back to the way we were in qualifying for the dash and we were respectable. And then we just worked off that and made our car 100 percent better for the feature, and it showed because when it counted we definitely had the car to pass. We had the speed when it counted and luckily we had enough tire to finish the race.”

Saldana, who timed in fifth quick of the 29 cars, dropped from third to fifth in his heat race to snag the second-to-last transfer to the 30-lap main event. However, Saldana’s qualifying effort combined with advancing to the feature earned him a spot in the dash. Saldana started fifth and finished fourth, which is where he began the main event.

On the third lap, Saldana made a dicey move to drive between Chad Kemenah and Geoff Dodge. With Kemenah on the bottom and Dodge running the top, all three cars were sliding through turn four when Saldana split the middle to pull into the runner-up position. He then closed on polesitter Danny Smith, who entered lapped traffic around lap 10.

A caution fell on lap 13 when Kemenah stopped in turn three with a flat right rear tire. Smith chose the bottom on the restart and it didn’t take long for Saldana to rocket into the lead when the green flag was waved.

Saldana held a slight advantage at the flag stand and Smith drove hard into turn one, sliding up from the middle of the track. However, Saldana’s momentum in the high line propelled him into the lead for good as the duo exited turn two.

“The rubber was getting laid down and I thought I could get in the middle there and get the jump on Joey and bring it home, but it didn’t work out that way,” Smith said after finishing second.

Saldana maintained the lead for the rest of the race and survived the closing laps. He finished with a little more than a one-second advantage as the top six were separated by less than four seconds.

“Racing with the Outlaws, you get a feel for the double-file restarts,” Saldana said. “I think (Smith) did the right thing. I had enough experience with it. I got a good start and put myself in position to get the lead. I don’t think he did anything wrong. That’s just a characteristic of double-file restarts.”

Sammy Swindell was arguably the quickest in the final half of the race as he charged from ninth to finish third after a pass on Kerry Madsen on the second-to-last lap.

“It was really hard to get by,” Swindell said. “You could pull down, but if you weren’t in the right spot there just wasn’t any grip. … Maybe a line and a half in the corners, but it was just a line and an eighth down the straights. So you had to be right on it.

“Sometimes track position means a lot. I think if we’d have started up front they wouldn’t have seen us, but coming from the fifth row we’ll take the third and try to be better next time.”

Madsen was fourth with Steve Kinser making a last-lap pass on Tony Stewart Racing teammate Donny Schatz to corral fifth place.

Following Schatz across the line was Geoff Dodge, who placed a career-best seventh. Cody Darrah was eighth, David Gravel ninth and Stevie Smith, who set fast time with a lap of 13.206 seconds, rounded out the top 10.

Kemenah, Gravel and Swindell each claimed heat races, and Jim Moughan won the Last Chance Showdown. Brian Paulus drove from 22nd to 15     th to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award.

Paducah International Raceway Notebook

“Pevely is a great race track,” Saldana said. “It always seems to put on a good show. It’s just a cool, little bullring. You just have to hustle your car and stay after it.

“When I was growing up racing, Bloomington, Ind., was a place we ran every Friday night. It’s pretty similar to that. So maybe my background in racing was short tracks and it just seems to be a pretty fun race track to race and everything that I do racing-wise seems to apply at that race track.”

April 14 will be the first of two World of Outlaws’ events this season at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, which has featured 20 different winners in 35 Outlaws races. The other event is the Federated Auto Parts Ironman 55 – the only 55-lap race on the schedule – on Aug. 4.

Brad Doty won the first World of Outlaws feature in 1987 and Craig Dollansky claimed last season’s lone event at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. Dollansky, along with Saldana, Steve Kinser, Jac Haudenschild and Sammy Swindell have each won at least three main events there with Kinser taking a record four victories.

Kraig Kinser picked up his only win at the track in 2005.

“It’s close-quarter racing,” he said. “You’ve got a wall on the inside, a wall on the outside and 24 cars going around a short track. You always seem to be around cars there.”

Veteran Donny Schatz has experienced the highs and lows at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, including a victory in 2006.

Schatz capitalized on a good start and led wire to wire en route to picking up his second victory of the season. It also gave the Outlaws a 2-to-1 edge in wins versus Californians this season in the state of California.

“Tonight we started up front and maintained,” Schatz said after extending his points lead to 20. “We’re not 100 percent where we are comfortable with the car and all the stuff yet. To have two wins in this position at this time of the year and to not be 100 percent confident in what we’ve got going on yet is pretty good.”

Schatz took advantage of the qualifying invert, which started him on the pole of his heat race after timing in 15th quickest. He led all 10 laps to lock himself into the dash. Kraig Kinser, who set quick time with a lap of 12.458 seconds, randomly pulled the No. 6 to invert the first three rows of the dash. That moved Schatz to the pole of the dash and he again led the entirety of the eight-lap race to earn the pole for the feature.

“That dash draw always helps,” he said. “Starting up there on the inside was great.”

Meanwhile, Allard won his heat race from the outside front row to lock himself into the dash, where he started outside Schatz. The duo stayed within a couple car lengths of each other for most of the race with Schatz edging Allard for the top spot and the inside lane – which was the preferred spot – for the start of the main event.

“I just fell in behind Donny and tried to learn something,” Allard said. “I’ve been known for not managing my tires as well as we could have, but the Goodyears lasted, we came home with second and we’re very proud of that.”

The race featured only two cautions – on lap 24 when 10th-running Kyle Larson spun out in turn two and on the final lap when Robbie Whitchurch stopped exiting turn four – as Schatz maintained a comfortable pace on the quarter-mile track that favored the bottom.

“You just had to be cautious not to spin your tires and slip up out of that bottom groove,” Schatz said. “There wasn’t a lot of moving around. There were guys trying things, but just couldn’t make anything work. You had to be on the bottom of the race track, right on the gutter. As long as I stayed there and tried to keep from making a mistake, I was going to be ok.”

And he never pulled within a car length of lapped traffic.

“I was hoping maybe Donny would get into traffic, but he was too smart to do that,” Allard said after his runner-up finish.

Starting in the second row, veteran Outlaws driver Joey Saldana and defending King of California Tim Kaeding duked it out for the final podium position. Saldana edged Kaeding, who had claimed two of the previous three World of Outlaws features.

That moved Saldana to second in the points, while Kaeding’s result was his fourth consecutive top-six finish.

Steve Kinser rounded out the top five. Kraig Kinser was sixth, Lucas Wolfe seventh, Bill Rose placed a season-high eighth and Jason Sides ended ninth. Last Chance Showdown winner Jac Haudenschild picked up his first top 10 of the season.

“I think I’m more mentally worn out,” he said with a smile. “Physically I feel great.”

Saldana led all 30 laps by riding the cushion around the top of Perris Auto Speedway to claim the SoCal Showdown, which was the first World of Outlaws race at the fast half-mile oval since 2007.

“You don’t get these opportunities very often and getting your first one out of the way early in the season is a big asset to the whole season,” said Saldana, who became the fifth different winner in five World of Outlaws main events this season.

“I think the key to victory was the dash. Getting around Jason (Meyers) and getting clean air made a huge difference. And just making sure I chose the right spot on those restarts.”

Saldana set a blistering pace during the feature. He was only slowed four times for a caution and chose the outside lane on every double-file restart. Despite being side-by-side with Saldana on each restart, Meyers had his best opportunity on lap 21 when the leaders entered lapped traffic.

Saldana had a couple-second lead quickly erased as he was slowed while trying to lap Austen Wheatley. Meyers closed to the back of Saldana before the final caution of the race for a collision between Jonathan Allard and Bobby McMahan in turn two on lap 23.

Saldana cruised from that restart to record his first victory of the season and his 79th career World of Outlaws main event win.

Saldana led all 30 laps by riding the cushion around the top of Perris Auto Speedway to claim the NAPA Know How SoCal Showdown, which was the first World of Outlaws race at the fast half-mile oval since 2007.

“You don’t get these opportunities very often and getting your first one out of the way early in the season is a big asset to the whole season,” said Saldana, who became the fifth different winner in five World of Outlaws main events this season.

“I think the key to victory was the dash. Getting around Jason (Meyers) and getting clean air made a huge difference. And just making sure I chose the right spot on those restarts.”

Meyers, who started on the pole of the six-lap dash, chose the bottom on a double-file restart midway through the race that determined the first five rows of the feature lineup. Saldana took advantage on the restart and zipped by Meyers on the top as the duo exited turn two. Saldana picked up the win and the pole position for the main event.

“Unfortunately I gave it away in the dash tonight,” said Meyers, the two-time defending World of Outlaws champion. “I gave it away on a restart and gave Joey the lead, which gave him the pole for the start of the feature. I just made a mistake tonight. I chose the wrong line on the restart and gave Joey the opportunity to get past me.”

Saldana then set a blistering pace during the feature. He was only slowed four times for a caution and chose the outside lane on every double-file restart. Despite being side-by-side with Saldana on each restart, Meyers had his best opportunity on lap 21 when the leaders entered lapped traffic.

Saldana had a couple-second lead quickly erased as he was slowed while trying to lap Austen Wheatley. Meyers closed to the back of Saldana before the final caution of the race for a collision between Jonathan Allard and Bobby McMahan in turn two on lap 23.

Saldana cruised from that restart to record his first victory of the season and his 79th career World of Outlaws main event win.

Meyers held off Steve Kinser for the runner-up position.

“We just had to start back too far,” Kinser said. “We were just as fast as anybody out there, maybe even a little quicker at times. I almost could catch them down on the bottom. There just wasn’t enough to get off the corner down there.

“Starting back there in the fourth row with the cars that were up front, we just couldn’t do it unless we would have stayed in that lapped traffic.”

Kraig Kinser finished fourth and Kerry Madsen was fifth. Tim Kaeding placed sixth, Lucas Wolfe seventh and Sammy Swindell, who picked up the KSE Hard Charger Award after starting 19th, was eighth. Chad Kemenah ended ninth and Sam Hafertepe Jr. drove from 18th to 10th.

Meyers, Brian Brown and Kaeding each won a heat race, and McMahan claimed the Last Chance Showdown.

It was his seventh career World of Outlaws feature win and his first since April 24, 2009, at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. And Kaeding celebrated in style.

With fists pumping and several shouts, Kaeding drew a loud cheer from the packed crowd when he hopped out of his car on the fronstretch, hugged almost anyone in sight and climbed on the back of the high-powered race car with his arms held high.

“We weren’t even expecting to come here,” the reigning King of California said. “About a week and a half ago we made the decision to come.

“It’s a hard-fought battle when you can start up front and stay up front with the Outlaws. They’re definitely fast on the half miles. Tonight we just got lucky. We just went out, had a lot of fun and enjoyed ourselves.”

Kaeding qualified sixth quickest and finished second in his heat race to earn a spot in the dash. The invert for the dash was “six”, giving Kaeding the pole. He led all six laps to earn the pole for the feature, which he then commanded for all but two of the 30 laps.

However, it was anything but easy. Kaeding survived nine cautions, including one on the opening lap when Brian Brown jumped the start from his 21     st starting position. He was penalized a row on the restart.

Kaeding and the rest of the field were slowed on the third lap for a caution by Sammy Swindell, who sustained a flat left front tire. Swindell restarted last – 24th.

Chad Kemenah, who opened the night as the fastest qualifier with a lap of 15.093 seconds, took the lead for the seventh and eighth laps before Kaeding regained the top position in lapped traffic entering turn three on the ninth circuit.

Jason Meyers brought out a caution on lap 10 as he came to a spinning stop because of front end damage. He then stopped on lap 23 with a similar issue and NASCAR star Tony Stewart was forced pitside because of a flat right rear tire.

Kerry Madsen’s flip in turn one on the restart prompted a red flag. Two laps later, Terry McCarl spun in turn two for the fifth stoppage and Lucas Wolfe ran out of fuel on lap 26 while running fourth. Second-running Kraig Kinser had a flat right rear tire, but elected not to pit and therefore be forced to the back. However, he brought out a caution with two laps remaining because of the flat tire.

Sides, who maintained a close second for most of the second half of the race, dove under Kaeding for the lead entering turn one on the restart. However, Sides slide up the track and Kaeding drove underneath as the duo exited turn two.

“We had a right front tire going low there,” Sides said. “The last couple of laps I’d get in there and get on the right front. The one time I got by Tim, I got in there and he got back underneath me. It took a little push and I think that allowed him to get back underneath us.

“Our car was good. I don’t know that we could have done much better setup-wise or anything like that. We needed longer green-flag runs. It seemed like we were better on longer runs rather than those little short runs.”

Kaeding regained the lead and the final caution came as he received the white flag when Cody Darrah spun out in turn four.

Kaeding again pulled to a good advantage on the restart and held on for the victory with Sides a close runner-up. Steve Kinser, who started 14     th, charged to third.

“We passed a lot of cars, got by a few on a restart,” he said. “To get a third after starting 14th, I can’t complain.

“There at the end, once we got strung out the first couple of laps, the only guys probably making up time were guys that had come in and already had new tires on their right rear.”

Kemenah was fourth and Brown worked his way back to fifth, which earned him the Hard Charger Award.

Swindell, Meyers and Stewart overcame their issues to finish sixth through eighth, respectively. Donny Schatz, who started 16th, was ninth and Kraig Kinser drove from 20th to 10th in the final two laps after his caution for a flat tire.

Swindell, Madsen and Craig Dollansky each claimed a heat race victory and McCarl won the Last Chance Showdown.

“This was a long day,” he said. “It was two nights of racing in one day.”

Dollansky capped a World of Outlaws doubleheader on Sunday at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., by outlasting Donny Schatz, who started on the pole and had won every race he had been in all day. Schatz claimed the afternoon feature, which had been delayed since Friday because of rain.

It was also the final event for the sprint car portion of the 41st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment, which was claimed by Sammy Swindell.

In the nightcap on Sunday, Dollansky entered the 25-lap feature on the outside front row – next to Schatz, who swept the afternoon event and claimed his heat race and the dash prior to feature.

The duo raced side by side – Schatz on the bottom and Dollansky in the high groove against the wall – for nearly a full lap before Dollansky got the edge coming to the flagstand on the opening lap. He maintained the lead while Schatz remained within striking distance for the first dozen laps.

On lap 13, the leaders entered lapped traffic. Three laps later, Schatz rocketed off the bottom in turn two to take the lead only to see Dollansky capitalize on his momentum and regain the top spot entering turn three.

“I had opportunities; I did pass him I think once coming out of (turn) two, got underneath him once going into (turn) three,” Schatz said. “We were there. Every time we got to him he was able to get a little better.”

David Gravel, who picked up his first career World of Outlaws feature victory last season, joined the mix in the final 10 laps. The top three were separated by a total of a half-dozen car lengths for several laps, and Gravel and Schatz exchanged the runner-up position with two laps remaining.

“We really started catching them there at the end,” Gravel said after finishing third. “I thought we really had something and then it started taking rubber on the bottom. Those last few laps it was pretty much just one lane.”

One bobble would have cost any of the drivers in the closing laps, but Dollansky was smooth and protected the bottom of the track to pick up his first World of Outlaws victory of the season and second sprint car win of the week.

“Once I settled in and just tried to watch our line and watch the bottom, I felt pretty comfortable at that point,” he said.

Schatz finished a close second – less than seven-tenths behind Dollansky.

“I think my best chance was actually on the last lap there on the bottom,” Schatz said. “I needed him to make a mistake. I thought he was going to. He did the lap before and I got a good run on him. I really thought I was going to get that opportunity on the last lap, which would have been a pretty exciting finish for us.”

Kraig Kinser finished fourth and Swindell was fifth.

He received a unique four-foot trophy shaped like an alligator for being the overall sprint car champion. He finished the week with three top fives, four top 10s and an average feature finish of 6.6.

“You just have to be consistent every day,” he said. “I’d like to have some wins, but we were competitive every night.”

Dale Blaney, Danny Lasoski, Jason Sides, Joey Saldana and Danny Smith rounded out the top 10, respectively.

Brad Sweet, Gravel, Schatz and Swindell each won a heat race and Daryn Pittman was the fastest in qualifying with a lap of 14.294 seconds. He also won the Last Chance Showdown.

The next World of Outlaws race is scheduled for March 8 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas.

Tickets for the rest of the 41st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit can be ordered online by clicking     WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets, by calling 877-395-8606 or purchased at the track.

The Outlaws and an assembly of additional elite talent are preparing to kick off the 2012 campaign – a growing slate of 83 events at 51 tracks in 23 states plus Canada – at the 41st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. The event runs from Feb. 14-25, with the Outlaws racing Feb. 17-18-19.

Among the stacked group of drivers is Joey Saldana, who claimed the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit title last season. The Brownsburg, Ind., native earned quick time two of the three nights and he ended with two third-place results and an eight-place finish.

“We didn’t win a race; we were just consistent,” he said. “Volusia is one of those tracks with hard competition, and the track is hard. You just have to be consistent every night.”

While Saldana has won twice since 2006 at the half-mile track, he has thrived on consistency. Since 2008, Saldana has six top-five finishes and nine top 10s in 11 races.

“Volusia has always been pretty good for us,” he said. “I’m definitely looking forward to going there and getting the season started.

“It’s a fast track kind of like Eldora (Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio). It’s probably one of the fastest tracks we race on. I like fast tracks, so it kind of fits my style.”