“I was pretty sure we were going to drive by him,” said a grinning Kinser, who also won the first-ever Outlaws event at Dodge City Raceway Park in 2004. “He did get a little sideways. It made it a little bit easier.”

For Sides, it was the latest heartbreak during a season when he has started on the pole of a World of Outlaws feature a series-best four times.

“We ran in behind a lapped car going into turn one there and I ran in way faster than I thought he was running,” he said after finishing third. “I had to pitch it sideways to keep from running over him. I thought I was going to be able to save it, but once it started to come around I just had to stand on it and keep it going and hope for the best.”

However, the race was anything but over following the spin. One lap later the fourth-and-final caution bunched the field up for a shootout during the second half of the 30-lap feature.

Kinser choose the outside lane on the double-file restart with Sammy Swindell and Lucas Wolfe between himself and Sides. Kinser got a solid jump with Swindell tucking into second and Sides sliding by Wolfe for third place on the restart.

Kinser sailed into a big lead with Swindell dramatically cutting into it once they reached traffic with 10 laps remaining. Swindell’s best opportunity to win came in the closing laps as he reeled Kinser within a car length.

As the duo entering turn three coming to the white flag Swindell nearly pulled to the inside of Kinser, but traffic slowed his momentum and Kinser utilized the preferred line to cruise to the victory.

“Just too much traffic and it didn’t work out for us,” Swindell said after finishing second. “We were just as quick as he was. He had the line and I had to kinda go somewhere else. That’s just the way it is sometimes.”

Wolfe was fourth and Donny Schatz earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 13th to fifth. Chad Kemenah ended sixth, Joey Saldana seventh, Kerry Madsen eighth, Tim Kaeding ninth and Craig Dollansky rounded out the top 10.

Kraig Kinser was the quickest in qualifying with a lap of 13.481 seconds, but was caught up in an opening-lap crash during his heat race. Kinser failed to finish and was relegated to the Last Chance Showdown, which he dominated for the second time this year.

Kaeding, Kemenah and Rose each picked up a heat race win.

“We were real close, but we weren’t roughing each other up,” Swindell said. “It was just good, clean fun. Even if I hadn’t have won, it still would have been fun because we did race each other hard and close and clean. I look forward to doing that every night if I can.

“As far as racing wheel to wheel that was definitely the best race.”

Swindell led the first eight and the final eight of the 30-lap feature en route to his fifth Outlaws victory of the season and 281st of his career. It’s the most World of Outlaws wins Swindell has earned in a season since 2000.

However, his road to victory was anything but smooth and Chad Kemenah made sure of it.

After starting eighth, Kemenah maneuvered into the third place by the fifth lap. On lap seven he passed Joey Saldana for second and two laps later, Kemenah drove around Swindell for the lead exiting turn two.

Kemenah entered traffic on lap 10 and set a blistering pace. He put a handful of cars and nearly a straightaway between himself and Swindell before a caution on lap 19 for a spin by Greg Nikitenko in turn two brought the field back together.

“When they dropped the green flag I knew we were pretty good,” Kemenah said. “It seemed like I could run in underneath them and get to what little cushion that was there. I was using it all up.”

Swindell took the lead on the restart only to have it negated when sixth-running Steve Kinser, who entered the race with a series-best nine victories in 30 World of Outlaws features at Red River Valley Speedway, stopped on the backstretch with apparent mechanical issues. Kinser went to the pits and was credited with a 19th-place finish.

Kemenah capitalized on the redo and rocketed to the lead with Donny Schatz sliding into second on the ensuing restart. Kaley Gharst then brought out a caution with 10 laps remaining to set up an epic finish.

Swindell, who restarted third, slid by the front row of Kemenah and Schatz as they entered the first turn. Kemenah rallied back into the lead by turn two, but Swindell was a close second. The duo then slid each other for the lead the next three times they entered a corner before Kyle Fedyk’s flip on lap 24 forced the final caution.

“That’s the fun part, being able to go out here and race real close,” Swindell said. “There were a few times with Chad we were only inches apart in a nice drift. I wasn’t trying to give and he wasn’t either, but we weren’t really pushing each other around. It’s fun to have that kind of respect and race like that.”

Swindell restarted in the lead and narrowly held off Kemenah for the final seven laps.

“It was really, really close and he raced me really, really clean,” Kemenah said. “That makes it so much better for the fans when we get to slide each other. I don’t know how many times it was, but I think we put on a really good show here for these fans who came out to support this deal.”

Schatz, whose split time working as the race promoter because his family owns Red River Valley Speedway, ended third. It was his best finish in the past seven races and was good enough to regain the World of Outlaws championship points lead.

“It’s a very difficult night trying to play driver and promoter, track prep and a little bit of everything,” Schatz said. “It was a great capacity crowd here tonight and I’m glad to be a part of this event.

“Promoter is a lot tougher job than anybody thinks. At the end of the day when you hear the cheers of the fans and the roar of the crowd when the racing is going on, it’s well worth it.”

Jason Sides was fourth and Kraig Kinser finished fifth. Craig Dollansky placed sixth and fast qualifier Saldana was seventh. Kerry Madsen worked from 17    th to eighth and Chris Shirek earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 19th to ninth. Cody Darrah rounded out the top 10.

But on Friday he was admittedly surprised when his son, Kraig Kinser, drove around him with seven laps remaining to claim Round 1 of The Duel at the Dakotas in front of a packed crowd at River Cities Speedway.

“I thought I had them covered the whole race,” Steve Kinser said. “He caught me by surprise.”

For Kraig, who is driving a car owned by his father, it doesn’t get much better than to pick up his second World of Outlaws victory in the last 10 days by passing his car owner and mentor.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said with a big smile. “It’s tough to pass any of these guys, especially when they’re looking a win down the barrel. That it’s my dad makes it even better.”

The veteran Kinser, who started third in the 40-lap feature, passed Kerry Madsen for second place on lap nine and cruised by Mark Dobmeier for the lead as the duo exited turn two on lap 13.

On a night when consistency was an issue with nearly every driver on the changing track, Kinser led the next 21 laps amid flashes of strength from Dobmeier, Madsen and Lucas Wolfe.

Once Kinser found the top spot, Dobmeier and Madsen battled closely for the runner-up spot for a couple of laps. Madsen squeezed by Dobmeier for second place as the duo crossed the finish line on lap 16, but the third red flag of the race appeared before another lap was completed as contact between the two sent Madsen flipping off the track in turn four and Dobmeier to the pits with a broken top wing.

“He’s a hard racer just like I am,” said Dobmeier, a hometown driver who set his first career quick time with the World of Outlaws at 10.516 seconds on Friday.

“We were both going for the same spot, nobody was going to lift. We got a little tangled up.”

Wolfe capitalized and was a close second to Kinser. As the preferred line began to shift toward the bottom near the middle of the feature, traffic began to play a role. When Wolfe would close to the rear bumper of Kinser, he’d be slowed by a lapped car and vice versa.

Meanwhile, Kraig Kinser began working his way toward the front in the second half of the race. He restarted eighth on the fourth-and-final caution of the race for a spin by Wade Nygaard on lap 18. However, Kinser worked his way into the top five by the halfway point. He then drove into third place with 16 laps remaining and powered around Wolfe for the runner-up spot with 12 laps to go.

“I just got a line that my car was working at really and lapped traffic helped me,” Kinser said. “I think dad was a little better than me in open track. I just got fortunate enough to catch him in lapped traffic and our car was just working through the middle a lot better than it was on the bottom.”

As the two Kinsers and Wolfe fought their way through traffic – at one point nearly being three wide for the race lead – Kraig Kinser found grip in the middle of the track. He maneuvered around his father as they exited turn four on lap 34 and pulled away in the final half-dozen laps.

“If I’ve got to get outrun, I’m much rather it be him than anybody else,” said Steve Kinser, who maintains the championship points lead. “On these short tracks he’s just been as tough as he can be.”

Craig Dollansky snagged third place with four laps remaining and Donny Schatz snuck by Wolfe fourth in the closing laps. Dobmeier, who restarted 14    th after his crash on lap 16, drove back to sixth. Sammy Swindell was seventh, Bill Rose eighth, Justin Henderson ninth and Joey Saldana rounded out the top 10.

A driver known for his aggressiveness, Madsen exuded the definition of patience as he recorded his third career World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory and his first since 2007.

“It’s difficult because you’ve got lapped traffic in front of you and you want to gas it, you want to put some lapped cars between you and him, but unfortunately there was not a lot to go,” he said. “So I thought the smarter option was to back myself away from the lapped cars, keep a dose of fresh air on the hood and just try to save some tires for reserve.”

After qualifying sixth and winning his heat race from the third starting position, Madsen quickly found the lead in the dash and powered to the victory, earning him his second feature pole of the season. Madsen carried that momentum to the start of the main event, which was waved off after Davey Heskin was called for jumping the start.

Swindell, who won the only other World of Outlaws event at Knoxville Raceway this season and who started second, took advantage of the complete restart. He grabbed the top spot on the opening lap as Brian Brown aimed to make it a three-way battle for the lead.

The trio went three wide entering turn one on the second lap, with Swindell high, Brown on the bottom and Madsen searching for grip through the middle. Swindell carried the momentum to maintain the lead and Madsen began to work the middle of the track.

On the sixth lap, Madsen found what he was looking for in turns one and two, and he maneuvered around Swindell into the lead.

“He went to the bottom and there was grip there,” Swindell said. “The track came in down there and when we came off of (turn) two he was right there on me and was able to get ahead. I moved right down behind him and could easily run with him, but there wasn’t much of a chance to do anything.”

Swindell stayed within a couple of car lengths of Madsen for the entire race. But as the duo worked down the backstretch after taking the white flag, it appeared that Madsen had wrapped up the win.

However, Heskin brought out the second-and-final caution as he crashed in turn four, setting up a green-white-checkered finish and allowing Swindell one last shot.

“You want to just go, ‘No!'” Madsen said. “But you just have to focus, start thinking about the restart, thinking about what you’ve got to do. You can’t let your mind wander, especially with a guy like Sammy behind you with so much experience.”

Madsen put together two consistent laps to edge Swindell for the victory, which was his 17th overall at Knoxville Raceway.

Brown outlasted Donny Schatz for the final spot on the podium.

“To come out and run third with the Outlaws I feel is an honor,” Brown said. “(I) definitely wanted to win it, but I’m sure there were 40 others who wanted to win it, too.”

Brad Sweet, who picked up his first career World of Outlaws victory on Friday, finished fifth and fast qualifier Joey Saldana was sixth. Ian Madsen ended seventh, Terry McCarl eighth, Chad Kemenah ninth and Craig Dollansky rounded out the top 10.

Ryan Bunton, Kerry Madsen, Sweet and Ian Madsen each won heat races, and Sam Hafertepe Jr. passed Steve Kinser on the last lap to claim the Last Chance Showdown.

Sweet, a NASCAR driver who can’t be kept away from the dirt, picked up his first career World of Outlaws victory in front of an electric crowd Friday at the Clay County Cup.

“It’s like, ‘Finally!'” he said after nearly climbing on the hood of his sprint car in Victory Lane. “We’ve been out here for a couple of years trying to get this. We’ve led so many laps and came so close so many times, so to finally get the monkey off my back I feel like we’re getting some momentum coming into the good summer months and I feel like we can win some more.”

In addition to competing part-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season, Sweet has made a handful of starts with World of Outlaws for Kasey Kahne Racing. He made the most of Friday’s opportunity with a powerful move to the lead during a restart on lap 16.

Sweet, who narrowly trailed polesitter Jason Sides for the first half of the 30-lap feature, rode the cushion around the track to perfection. While the duo entered turns three and four side by side, they exited with Sweet rocketing to the top spot at exactly the midpoint of the race.

“I know Jason real well,” he said. “I’ve raced against Jason a lot. He’s a clean racer and he’s really committed to the bottom most of the time. I felt like that top was getting cleaner and cleaner. Once he bobbled and I got a little bit more clean air on my nose, it was like I could run a little bit harder and feel a little bit more stuck on that cushion.”

Sweet pulled away to a sizeable margin and won by nearly a straightaway on the 3/8-mile oval. Meanwhile Sides fell to fifth after Sweet took the lead. Sides, who was riddled with four cautions while leading the first 15 laps of the feature, had to regroup in the closing laps and he was able to maneuver his way back to second place.

“We were good on the bottom,” Sides said. “When Sweet got by us there we actually tried the top and through the middle and stuff, and it wasn’t any good for us. I had to get back to the bottom and by that time we’d lost a few spots.

“I knew that we were good enough to be up there. I just had to calm myself down and get back to running my groove and hitting the marks that I needed to hit.”

After a three-way battle with Sweet and Sides for much of the first half of the race, Mark Dobmeier rounded out the podium.

“Sweet was running the top and Sides was running the bottom, and they were both good at their lanes so I just didn’t have a lane to get around them,” he said after placing third. “To be honest, it was a very racy track. We ran side by side for several laps there, so you couldn’t ask for much better of a track.”

The trio put on a dazzling show from the drop of the green flag on the dusty track. Their three-way battle for the lead was only slowed by a handful of cautions before the second half of the race went caution free.

Joey Saldana, who is fifth in the championship standings, was part of a seven-car crash on the frontstretch of the opening lap. Saldana’s car was towed to the pits, along with the race cars of Danny Lasoski, Terry McCarl, Davey Heskin and Jody Rosenboom. Lucas Wolfe and Austen Wheatley were able to continue after sustaining minor damage in the accident.

The race was then delayed on the eighth lap when Wheatley jumped the cushion in turns one and two. On the restart, Cody Darrah spun entering turn three and Wolfe had nowhere to go, sliding into Darrah.

The final caution came on lap 16 when Ian Madsen stopped on the frontstretch. That gave Sweet the opening he needed.

“It’s such a big relief to get this win and it feels really good for me and all my guys,” Sweet said. “Now I know what it takes to win these races and I should be able to get more I hope.”

Chad Kemenah, who drove from eighth and was running second with three laps remaining, finished fourth and Kerry Madsen was fifth. Sammy Swindell placed sixth and World of Outlaws championship standings leader Steve Kinser rallied from 21st to finish seventh to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award. Donny Schatz advanced from 22nd to eighth, Kraig Kinser was ninth and Brian Brown rounded out the top 10.

Saldana was the quickest in qualifying with a lap of 13.926 seconds. Sides, Ian Madsen and Dobmeier each claimed a heat race, and Craig Dollansky won the Last Chance Showdown.

As meaningful as it was to get the monkey off his back, the Indiana native was just as enthused to find his way to Victory Lane at a track that has historic significance to his family.

“I love running in my home state of Indiana,” he said. “This track has a lot of history with my family, so being able to add a little more history with the Kinser name is unbelievable for me.”

Kinser, who grew up and resides in Bloomington – a little more than a two-hour drive from Kokomo – picked up his first career sprint car victory at the quarter-mile track. He also claimed a World of Outlaws feature in 2005 at Kokomo Speedway, where his father, 20-time Outlaws champion Steve Kinser, holds a series-best six victories.

“It goes way up there with me,” Kraig Kinser said. “And not just with me, but my grandpa, my cousins, my uncle, my dad; they just have a lot of history at this track and a lot of tracks in Indiana.”

Kinser qualified third quickest of the 31 competitors and finished fourth in his heat race, locking himself into the dash. The inversion for the eight-lap dash was a six, starting him on the outside of the second row. Kinser gained one position to earn the third starting spot for the feature.

It didn’t take long for Kinser to find the lead. After two failed attempts to start the main event – the first for Brian Paulus’ flip in turn three followed by Kyle Larson and Austen Wheatley spinning in turn four – Kinser advanced to second by lap two, when the third caution occurred.

Polesitter Joey Saldana chose the outside lane for the double-file restart, putting Kinser on the inside. His restart made the duo even at the flag stand and Kinser took the lead entering turn one, pulling away to a sizeable advantage.

As he entered traffic for the first time, Sammy Swindell, who was in fourth place, tipped over in turn three on lap 10. Swindell’s car was towed to the pits and he ended with a 20th-place finish, which dropped him to a season-worst fourth in the championship standings.

Kinser set a blistering pace as the final 31 laps were cautionless. Craig Dollansky, who passed Saldana for second on lap 11, closed to within a couple of car lengths when Kinser was stuck in thick traffic. However, Kinser always had an answer to retain the top spot.

“Kraig drove a great race,” said Dollansky, who advanced to third in the championship standings. “We were right there. If he would have made a mistake there ….”

Saldana outlasted KSE Hard Charger Dave Blaney for the final spot on the podium.

“Obviously the third-place finish is awesome tonight, but when you start on the front row and run third, we gave a good, solid night up,” Saldana said. “That race played out perfect for Kraig Kinser’s car. He’s been good. He’s definitely been fast enough to win these races and he’s had bad luck, so he definitely deserved that win tonight.”

Brad Sweet, who started on the outside of the front row, finished fifth. Donny Schatz was sixth and Steve Kinser drove from 17th to seventh to maintain the championship standings lead. Daryn Pittman was eighth, Kerry Madsen ninth and Cody Darrah rounded out the top 10.

Swindell was the quickest in qualifying with a track-record time of 10.950 seconds. Saldana, Schatz and Pittman each won a heat race, and Chad Kemenah claimed the Last Chance Showdown.

“I seen Kraig get underneath me a couple of times and I figured we were going to win it or wear it,” Kemenah said. “Kraig, he’s an awesome race car driver. He could have probably pinched me off there a couple of times. He raced me like I race him I believe and that matters.”

The duo traded the lead several times and battled side by side for nearly three consecutive laps. With Kemenah maintaining his momentum on the high lane, Kinser hit his marks on the bottom groove to stay within striking distance of first place.  

Kemenah snuck by at the flag stand on lap 30 and barely edged Kinser on the ensuing lap, when a yellow flag was waved for a spin by Cody Darrah in turn four. Kemenah chose the inside lane on the double-file restart – which he had to do twice after the initial attempt was called back for Donny Schatz starting too early – and pulled away to his second Outlaws win of the season.

“It’s hard to win these things,” Kemenah said. “You’re racing against Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, and Schatz and Joey (Saldana). They’re the best and they’re the best for a reason. Any time you win them, you cherish them because you just don’t know when the next one is going to be.”

The race was anything but a given for Kemenah, who caught a break when Danny Lasoski – who led the first 11 laps of the feature – pulled to the infield with a blown engine on lap 12. That gave Kemenah the top spot with polesitter Craig Dollansky in hot pursuit.

The first caution of the race happened on lap 14 when Darrah slowed dramatically in turn two. Kemenah rocketed to a sizeable advantage on the restart while Dollansky and Kinser traded slide jobs for the runner-up position for several laps.

Traffic began to play a role with approximately a dozen laps remaining as Dollansky closed to within a car length of Kemenah for the lead. However, Dollansky’s right rear tire blew going into turn one on lap 27 – ending his bid for the win.

The restart featured a wild battle between Kemenah and Kinser, who first found the lead as he exited turn two on the bottom of lap 28. Kemenah stayed on the cushion and the momentum carried him into the lead entering each corner, but Kinser’s bottom lane propelled him to the top spot exiting the turns.

“It was getting fun there,” Kinser said. “He was a little bit better than me on the top, could carry his momentum a little bit better and he pulled it off tonight.

“I couldn’t carry that much momentum around the bottom. I don’t know if I was a little too free everywhere so I wasn’t tight enough where I could carry momentum to keep up with him up top. I was just trying to run the bottom to make the track as short as I could and just try to keep the car straight and under control the whole time.”

Kinser led laps 28 and 29 by a nose, and at one point almost had his car entirely in front of Kemenah. But the outside lane prevailed and Kemenah led the lap prior to the caution with five laps remaining, giving him the opportunity to choose where to start on the double-file restart.

The inside lane proved effective as he easily drove into a comfortable lead by turn one before moving to the cushion for the remainder of the race. Kinser and Kyle Larson then put on a show to close out the final laps.

The duo swapped the runner-up position a handful of times before Kinser slipped by exiting turn four on the final lap.

“We definitely set up for the end there,” Larson said after a season-best third-place finish. “We were really good at the end. Maybe could have used another caution, but who knows I might have got hung out like Kraig did there on that last restart. I’ll take a third.

“It’s always satisfying just finishing in the top 10 with these guys.”

World of Outlaws points leader Steve Kinser placed fourth and David Gravel was fifth. Sammy Swindell, who set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 11.924 seconds, ended sixth with Kerry Madsen seventh and NASCAR star Tony Stewart eighth. Daryn Pittman finished ninth and Jason Sides rounded out the top 10.

Lasoski, Dollansky, Larson and Gravel each picked up a heat race victory, and Danny Smith claimed the Last Chance Showdown.

“I seen Kraig get underneath me a couple of times and I figured we were going to win it or wear it,” Kemenah said. “Kraig, he’s an awesome race car driver. He could have probably pinched me off there a couple of times. He raced me like I race him I believe and that matters.”

The duo traded the lead several times and battled side by side for nearly three consecutive laps. With Kemenah maintaining his momentum on the high lane, Kinser hit his marks on the bottom groove to stay within striking distance of first place.  

Kemenah snuck by at the flag stand on lap 30 and barely edged Kinser on the ensuing lap, when a yellow flag was waved for a spin by Cody Darrah in turn four. Kemenah chose the inside lane on the double-file restart – which he had to do twice after the initial attempt was called back for Donny Schatz starting too early – and pulled away to his second Outlaws win of the season.

“It’s hard to win these things,” Kemenah said. “You’re racing against Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, and Schatz and Joey (Saldana). They’re the best and they’re the best for a reason. Any time you win them, you cherish them because you just don’t know when the next one is going to be.”

The race was anything but a given for Kemenah, who caught a break when Danny Lasoski – who led the first 11 laps of the feature – pulled to the infield with a blown engine on lap 12. That gave Kemenah the top spot with polesitter Craig Dollansky in hot pursuit.

The first caution of the race happened on lap 14 when Darrah slowed dramatically in turn two. Kemenah rocketed to a sizeable advantage on the restart while Dollansky and Kinser traded slide jobs for the runner-up position for several laps.

Traffic began to play a role with approximately a dozen laps remaining as Dollansky closed to within a car length of Kemenah for the lead. However, Dollansky’s right rear tire blew going into turn one on lap 27 – ending his bid for the win.

The restart featured a wild battle between Kemenah and Kinser, who first found the lead as he exited turn two on the bottom of lap 28. Kemenah stayed on the cushion and the momentum carried him into the lead entering each corner, but Kinser’s bottom lane propelled him to the top spot exiting the turns.

“It was getting fun there,” Kinser said. “He was a little bit better than me on the top, could carry his momentum a little bit better and he pulled it off tonight.

“I couldn’t carry that much momentum around the bottom. I don’t know if I was a little too free everywhere so I wasn’t tight enough where I could carry momentum to keep up with him up top. I was just trying to run the bottom to make the track as short as I could and just try to keep the car straight and under control the whole time.”

Kinser led laps 28 and 29 by a nose, and at one point almost had his car entirely in front of Kemenah. But the outside lane prevailed and Kemenah led the lap prior to the caution with five laps remaining, giving him the opportunity to choose where to start on the double-file restart.

The inside lane proved effective as he easily drove into a comfortable lead by turn one before moving to the cushion for the remainder of the race. Kinser and Kyle Larson then put on a show to close out the final laps.

The duo swapped the runner-up position a handful of times before Kinser slipped by exiting turn four on the final lap.

“We definitely set up for the end there,” Larson said after a season-best third-place finish. “We were really good at the end. Maybe could have used another caution, but who knows I might have got hung out like Kraig did there on that last restart. I’ll take a third.

“It’s always satisfying just finishing in the top 10 with these guys.”

World of Outlaws points leader Steve Kinser placed fourth and David Gravel was fifth. Sammy Swindell, who set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 11.924 seconds, ended sixth with Kerry Madsen seventh and NASCAR star Tony Stewart eighth. Daryn Pittman finished ninth and Jason Sides rounded out the top 10.

Lasoski, Dollansky, Larson and Gravel each picked up a heat race victory, and Danny Smith claimed the Last Chance Showdown.

“The racing people that normally don’t see what we do, at least they can see that we actually work in our race cars,” Saldana said. “You do get dirty, you sweat and it’s definitely a chore out there to drive a winged sprint car especially on dirt and especially on a track like this. At least they can see what we do and they appreciate that we’re actually going out there and working for a living.”

Saldana did exactly that at the semi-banked, 4/10-mile dirt oval, where he won twice in 2009. He led 23 of the 30 laps, including the final eight, to pick up his 79th career World of Outlaws feature victory and the first in exactly six weeks.

“This is a place you need to win at,” he said. “It may not pay the most money, but it’s probably the most prestigious for sponsors and just recognition amongst people that pay our bills.

“Our main objective is to win races obviously, win the Knoxville Nationals, win the championship and win as many Outlaws shows as possible, and we haven’t been doing that lately. So this is definitely a step in the right direction.”

Saldana qualified seventh quickest and claimed his heat race, which locked him into the dash. The dash inversion was an eight, starting Saldana third. He finished fourth to line up on the outside of the second row for the main event.

Saldana quickly advanced to second place in turn one on the opening lap behind Sammy Swindell, who led the first six laps. On a restart of lap seven, Saldana pulled off an effective slide job on Swindell in turn two for the lead.

He pulled away before Ed Lynch Jr. brought out a caution on lap 11 with a flat right rear tire. Saldana chose the outside lane for the double-file restart and sailed to a big advantage before a caution on lap 15 for Matt Linder bunched the field together.

NASCAR star Tony Stewart, who started 12th after winning the Last Chance Showdown, worked his way into the top five on the restart and Swindell faded with smoke pouring from his engine. He pulled into the infield on lap 20.

Saldana faced his biggest task when Steve Kinser took advantage of an opportunity in traffic on the 22nd circuit. However, Kinser’s lead was short-lived as his left rear tire blew on the backstretch of the ensuing lap.

That gave the lead back to Saldana, who outlasted a strong finish by Donny Schatz and a late charge from Craig Dollansky.

“It definitely was better when the fuel load would come off,” Schatz said after his runner-up performance. “Any time you get the tires worn down it’s going to be harder to drive. Joey kept good care of his tires staying up there on the top. I was better at the end than I was at the beginning.

“We would have really liked to win, but tonight we’re going to settle for second.”

Dollansky overcame an early issue in qualifying, which sent him to the pits with the 23rd-best time. He claimed the sixth-and-final transfer from his heat race and then maneuvered his way from 21st to round out the podium.

“Any time you start that far back and get that far up toward the front it’s a good night for your entire team,” Dollansky said. “Our car was getting better as the race was wearing on. I would have liked to see five more laps. Even in the open track we were starting to come on pretty good there at the end. To start 21st and get up to third, that’s a great run.”

Polesitter Kraig Kinser finished fourth and Cody Darrah survived a flip in his heat race to place fifth in the feature. Brad Sweet was sixth, NASCAR driver and the owner of Saldana’s car, Kasey Kahne, ended seventh and Jason Sides placed eighth. Kerry Madsen, who set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 13.811 seconds, finished ninth and Chad Kemenah charged from 17th to round out the top 10.

Steve Kinser finished 13th, but maintains the World of Outlaws points lead by 12 over Schatz.

Stewart, who owns the cars for Kinser and Schatz, was 19th after a part in the suspension broke on lap 27 while he was running fourth.

“It’s a big deal being on live TV,” said championship contender Sammy Swindell, who won the first race at the track in 2000. “It’s a definite plus for our sponsors and even our suppliers.

“For me, I don’t think there’s anything extra there other than you’re trying to not make mistakes. We’re not going to work any harder or try any harder. If there’s anything, it’d be trying not to make a mistake.”

It will be the fifth year in a row with SPEED capturing the action at the semi-banked, 4/10-mile oval. Four-time series champion Donny Schatz has taken advantage of the spotlight. Schatz has claimed six of the 27 World of Outlaws races at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, including three of the last six and the final two to end last season at the Lowes Foods World Finals.

“You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time,” he said. “It’s a tricky race track.

“It’s a place where if you’re not on top of everything and on your game, you can find yourself in the back pretty easy.”

In addition to the live broadcast, the World of Outlaws race starts the action on the compound of Charlotte Motor Speedway. One of NASCAR’s premier events – the Coca-Cola 600 – is two days later at the pavement track a stone throw away from The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

“It’s in NASCAR land,” Kerry Madsen said. “At the World Finals (last year) I led like 20 laps and then kind of faded. I want to go kinda avenge ourselves. I’m excited about going back.”

“Those are usually the good races for us whenever we go to places in an area that doesn’t have a whole lot of sprint car racing,” Lucas Wolfe said. “I think it’s always good to go to those events and that’s the only race in Michigan this year.”

It will mark the sixth consecutive year and eighth out of the last 10 seasons that the Outlaws have competed at the semi-banked track.

“It’s always a good weekend when you get to a track that we’ve been to a few times that we’ve had some decent speed at,” Wolfe said.

The track record of 14.834 seconds was established by Joey Saldana in 2010. Saldana claimed the first World of Outlaws event at I-96 Speedway in 1995 and six other drivers have picked up a feature win since.

Steve Kinser, who leads the current Outlaws points, has won a series-best four events and Jason Meyers took two victories. Jason Sides, Craig Dollansky, Stevie Smith and Sammy Swindell are also winners at the facility.

“It’s a unique track,” Kerry Madsen said. “I always look forward to going there. I think we can run well there, so I’m pretty excited about I-96.”

He snapped a 27-race winless streak exactly a week ago and added to an impressive record on Saturday at Orange County Fair Speedway, where Kinser won for the sixth time in 22 features, claimed career Outlaws victory No. 572 and pulled into a tie atop the World of Outlaws championship standings with Swindell.

“It’s nothing that hasn’t happened many years before,” Kinser said of his renewed rivalry with Swindell.

Kinser led all 25 laps of the main event at the 5/8-mile oval, which has featured a different winner in the past six World of Outlaws events dating back to 1999. However, Kinser is a familiar face in Victory Lane.

He claimed the first race at Orange County Fair Speedway in 1983 and won five more within a decade. After starting on the pole on Saturday, it appeared that his sixth victory – which is twice as many as any other driver – was eminent.

Kinser rocketed to a 10-car advantage in front of son, Kraig Kinser, on the opening lap. The duo paced the field with Kraig beginning to close the gap on lap five. They entered traffic on the ninth lap and were side by side on the frontstretch of lap 10.

The elder maintained the lead and the preferred lane around the bottom. The race went cautionless until lap 21 when it became just the opposite.

There were eight cautions and a red flag for a fuel stop in the final five laps. In fact, only three drivers of the 24 starters weren’t involved in a caution or didn’t pull into the pits.

“I was up front where I could be a little bit easier on tires,” Kinser said. “I nursed mine as much as I could. We just barely made it ourselves.

“It’s a bad feeling when you’re sitting there leading the race and you’re seeing half the field change tires and put new tires on ….”

Kraig Kinser was one of the catastrophes as a tire issue on the final lap dropped him from the runner-up position to 15th. That allowed Swindell to gain a few positions in the final laps to salvage a second-place finish and keep himself tied for the points lead.

“When we took off I could see that guys were just slipping the tires way too much,” Swindell said. “This place is real abrasive, so I just sat back there and rode for half the race. I just wanted to make sure I had tires at the end.”

Frank Cozze earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after maneuvering from last – 24th – to place third.

“Well we got a little bit of luck out there with the guys with the tires,” he said. “Plus I’ve probably raced here about 35 or 36 years, so I kinda know the place. You’ve gotta kind of cool it at the beginning and get lucky. And we got lucky. If it had run straight through we would have run 15th.

“It feels pretty good to get a podium finish with anybody. I don’t care if it was Mickey Mouse at this point.”

Daryn Pittman rebounded from causing a caution on a restart of lap 22 because of a tire issue. He restarted 19th and finished fourth. David Gravel rounded out the top five after facing a similar fate because of a flat tire with three laps remaining.

Joey Saldana was sixth, Fred Rahmer seventh, Paul McMahan eighth, Craig Dollansky ninth and Lucas Wolfe placed 10th. All went to the work area at some point during those final five laps to fix a flat tire.

“We had been running top fives, but hadn’t been able to get to Victory Lane,” Kinser said. “We got two tonight.”

It was his 571st World of Outlaws feature win and 38th total Outlaws victory at the famed half mile. Both numbers are more than double the next closest driver.

The win combined with trouble from Sammy Swindell and Donny Schatz, who entered the race 54 and 46 points ahead of Kinser, respectively, created an even closer points battle.

Swindell, who had a tire issue while running fifth on lap 23, finished 24th. He holds an eight-point advantage over Kinser. Schatz, who violently flipped in turns three and four on the restart following Swindell’s caution, is third in the standings – 12 points behind Swindell.

Kinser qualified fourth quickest of the 41 drivers and charged from fourth to second in his heat race to lock himself into the dash. The random inversion was a six, starting Kinser on the inside of the second row – which is where he finished.

Kinser darted to second on the opening lap of the feature as Craig Dollansky rocketed into the lead. As drivers were in various lines across the track, Kinser was the premier car on the bottom and he used a run off turn two to grab the lead on lap 8.

He quickly pulled away until the first caution of the race on lap 11 for Logan Schuchart, who spun out between turns one and two. Kinser chose the inside lane for the restart and again found himself with a comfortable before the caution waved on the restart lap for a handful of cars who collided in turn four.

“The only way we was going to get into any trouble was trying to pass some lapped cars,” he said. “I don’t know if I could have gotten out in the second groove and passed or not. I think I could move around as good as anybody.”

The inside lane worked for Kinser again on the restart and more drivers began to move to the bottom groove. Greg Hodnett passed Dollansky for the runner-up position on lap 12 and closed on Kinser as the duo entered traffic on lap 19.

The cautions for Swindell and Schatz closed the gap for Hodnett, who was unable to get around Kinser for the top spot.

“We did the best we could,” he said. “Unfortunately it turned out second. Considering Steve Kinser, the greatest World of Outlaws driver ever, just beat us, I think I can live with it.”

Polesitter Danny Lasoski, who dropped to fourth place in the first nine laps, rebounded toward the end of the race and he passed Hodnett for second place on the restart following Swindell’s caution only to have the position negated by Schatz’s red flag.

“Tonight starting on the pole we thought we had a really good shot at winning,” Lasoski said. “Steve went by us and he was stuck real good. And then the middle of the race here we come when (the track) cleaned off.

“As soon as we had the red flag I don’t know what happened. We pushed back off and had no brakes, so it was just like hanging on the last few laps.”

Lance Dewease finished fourth and Dollansky was fifth. Aaron Ott drove from 12th to sixth, Daryn Pittman placed seventh, Stevie Smith was eighth and Danny Dietrich charged from 22nd to ninth to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award.

Adam Wilt, who set quick time with a lap of 16.936 seconds, rounded out the top 10.

“Any time you get a win against this group, plus our local guys, it’s a good win,” Rahmer said. “When you respect somebody as much as most of the guys around here respect (the Outlaws), it feels really good. It’s tough to put a whole night together and end up standing here in the winner’s circle.”

The Hall of Famer timed in third quick of the season-high 45 cars. He then finished fourth in his heat race to advance to the feature and lock himself into the dash. The invert was a six, starting Rahmer fourth in the six-lap dash. He gained a position to earn the third starting spot for the 25-lap feature and then he began to play the guessing game.

“I knew watching the (Last Chance Showdown) that there was no way it could sustain life on the top the whole race,” he said. “I just hoped it gave up quick enough and it did. I saw Steve (Kinser) driving across the track in the (Last Chance Showdown) and that’s my best line. We were just fortunate that it gave up just enough right at the right time.”

Rahmer, who rocketed into second place as polesitter Jason Sides took an early advantage in the feature, peaked late in the race. Midway through the event Rahmer fell to fourth place as Greg Hodnett began to work his way toward the front.

Hodnett passed Daryn Pittman and Rahmer to advance to the runner-up position on lap 13. Hodnett reeled in Sides through lapped traffic and slid for the lead in turn four on lap 19.

At that time Rahmer also found a groove and advanced to second on the ensuing lap. He then passed Hodnett for the top spot as the duo exited turn two on lap 21.

“I thought we were pretty decent,” Hodnett said. “I was floating around, not really running the bottom, not really running the top. I just kept doing what I was doing and I think it kind of took half rubber on the bottom of (turn) four. I just kept sliding by it and I was having to slow down too much to get to it.”

The only caution came on lap 22 as Sides appeared to have something break in the front of his car entering turn one while running fourth. He spun up the track and had to be towed to the pits.

Rahmer lined up on the inside for the double-file restart and checked out during the last four laps. Pittman slid Hodnett for second place in the final couple of laps.

“To be good enough to race with Fred and actually pass Hodnett back, those guys have been really good and we haven’t even been in their league,” Pittman said. “It’s fun to be competitive again.

“Every time I thought I had something figured out I’d change around and get better. The track really, really changed a lot as the race went on. That was fun driving it, so that had to have been fun to watch.”

For Hodnett, it was a disappointing end to a promising night in his return to a sprint car. It was Hodnett’s first race back since his father, Hoyette, passed away last Saturday.

“We want to come out with a win every night, but this one would have been pretty nice,” he said. “Obviously we’re going to try again tomorrow, but I really wanted to win this one and it just didn’t work out.”

Danny Dietrich, who claimed his first career World of Outlaws win on Thursday at Lincoln Speedway, finished fourth and Steve Kinser led the Outlaws with a fifth-place finish.

Stevie Smith was sixth, Don Kreitz Jr. placed seventh and Sammy Swindell earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 23rd to eighth. He also reclaimed the World of Outlaws points lead, which has swapped each of the past seven races.

Craig Dollansky, who set quick time with a lap of 17.118 seconds, finished ninth and Lucas Wolfe rounded out the top 10.

Dietrich, Hodnett, Smith and Wolfe each claimed a heat race victory. Kinser won the Last Chance Showdown and Paul McMahan was victorious in the C Main.

Dietrich, a native Pennsylvanian whose 24th birthday is a week and a half away, picked up his first career World of Outlaws victory on Thursday in The Gettysburg Clash at Lincoln Speedway.

“Words can’t express,” a beaming Dietrich said. “I’m ready to go drink a few beers.”

Dietrich was dominant in the first World of Outlaws event at the semi-banked, 3/8-mile oval since 1998. After starting seventh, he was up to fourth place within the first three laps. Following a caution on lap four for Alan Krimes, who spun in turn one, Dietrich took little time finding the lead.

He passed Danny Lasoski for third on the backstretch of lap four and then blew by polesitter Lance Dewease for the runner-up position on the ensuing lap. Dietrich edged Sam Hafetertepe Jr. for the lead as the duo cross the finish line on lap six and quickly checked out.

“When he drove around us on the outside I knew that there was nobody going to beat him tonight,” Hafertepe Jr. said. “That’s the most dominant car that’s been out here in a long time.”

Dietrich had to survive four cautions, including the final three for drivers who had trouble while running in the top 10. Lasoski slowed dramatically on the backstretch on lap 18 and Adam Wilt hit the wall in turn two on lap 24. The final caution came on the restart for fifth-running Doug Esh, who came to a stop in turn two after colliding with another driver.

Despite double-file restarts, Dietrich rocketed to the lead every time and never faced a stiff challenge once he found the top spot.

“All about knowing the track and getting the setup right,” he said. “I felt like we hit it perfect from the drop of the green and hopefully we can do that the rest of the weekend.

“This is pretty much a normal Saturday night for us. We’ve been fast. We just had to clear up a few issues. Luckily we put it all together tonight.”

It was the third win of the season for Dietrich, which comes as no surprise to Dewease.

“Danny deserves to win,” he said after finishing second. “He’s been the best race car in Central PA all year and definitely the best race car here all year.

“He started seventh so he must have been pretty good to get up through there that quick. I’m sure he got to the top before a lot of people did, but he can run anywhere at this race track.”

Hafertepe Jr. was third with Cory Haas charging from 17th to finish fourth. Lucas Wolfe, who hails from nearby Mechanicsburg, was the top World of Outlaws driver as he placed fifth.

Kevin Nouse earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after maneuvering from 23rd to sixth. Donny Schatz finished seventh and is the new World of Outlaws points leader. It marks the sixth consecutive race the top spot has changed.

Fred Rahmer drove from 22nd to eighth, Daryn Pittman finished ninth and Gerard McIntyre rounded out the top 10.

Sammy Swindell, who entered the event with the World of Outlaws points lead, set quick time with a lap of 14.501 seconds. Wolfe, Chad Kemenah, McIntyre and Esh each claimed a heat race, with Bill Stine winning the C Main and Brad McClelland the Last Chance Showdown.

The World of Outlaws face the Posse at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg on Friday and Saturday.

“Hagerstown is pretty special to me and to our family,” Darrah said. “Ever since I was little, we’d go there and watch my uncle on the late model side. I grew up with a different background, not too much in sprint cars, but in late models. That’s a track that I’ve got to stand on the frontstretch with my uncle and also with Kasey two years ago. So it’s a pretty special race track to me and I’m pretty excited to go there with the Outlaws.”

And the fact that his car owner is co-promoting the race along with SLS Promotions doesn’t hurt.

“To be in a race that he sponsors and to get a little bit of his money back would sure be a bonus for the whole team,” Darrah said as he sported a big grin.

This will be the World of Outlaws first race at the semi-banked, half-mile oval since 2005, when Sammy Swindell claimed the feature. Swindell, who leads the current World of Outlaws points and won the first round of the Kasey Kahne Challenge, has won a series-best seven of the 35 Outlaws events on the racy track.

“It’s a notoriously, fairly slick track by the end of the night,” Kerry Madsen said. “We’re pretty confident on slick stuff, so it’ll be quite interesting to go there.”

Mark Kinser set the track record of 14.945 seconds on July 31, 1999.

“If you’re looking at the points, we could have a big lead if we just hadn’t gotten in a couple of those crashes,” said Swindell, who has crashed twice while running in the top five this season. “But it’s part of it and we keep coming back.”

Swindell has been victorious in four of the last eight events, including a dominant performance on Saturday as the veteran picked up his 19     th career World of Outlaws win at Eldora Speedway. It also pushed him back into the points lead by 11 over Schatz.

After qualifying seventh quickest, Swindell drove from third to second in both his heat race and the dash. He then rocketed to the lead at the start of the feature, which went caution free for 24 laps before Jason Sides’ flat left rear tire brought out a yellow flag.

“The way the car was rolling through there I knew that if somebody was faster, they’d have to be just really awesome because this thing was almost on rails,” Swindell said. “It was just stuck down so hard I could just drive around there like I’m driving down the freeway.”

The caution eliminated nearly a straightaway lead for Swindell, who took little time in reestablishing a sizeable advantage. However, Kraig Kinser sustained a flat left rear tire with two laps remaining to bring out the final caution of the race.

Joey Saldana, who ran second for most of the race, began to slow a couple of laps before the caution because of an engine issue. Swindell chose the outside lane on the double-file restart and Saldana’s car was slow to take off, bogging the inside lane on the start and dropping him to sixth by turn one.

Swindell sailed to the win as Dale Blaney used the late cautions to pick up a pair of positions.

“We were probably going to run fourth until those last couple of yellows,” he said after finishing second. “They kind of helped us out. Sometimes yellows can help or hurt, and tonight they helped a little bit.

“(Swindell) was awful good all night long. He drove away from us early. He was definitely a better car than us and it would have took a little bit of problem from him for us to get up to him. I just wasn’t good enough from the center off to get a run on guys to slide them.”

Craig Dollansky also capitalized on the two cautions to drive from sixth to third in the final five laps.

“My car got good as the race wore on,” he said. “Late in the race was when my car felt the best.

“Any time you can come out with a top three with this group of teams here, it’s a pretty good night.”

David Gravel, who set fast time for the second night in a row, finished fourth and Daryn Pittman drove from 11th to round out the top five.

Schatz overcame an early issue of his own and rebounded in the feature. After advancing from eighth to third in the Last Chance Showdown to earn a transfer, Schatz started the main event in 24th. He restarted 14th on the caution with six laps remaining and then restarted ninth on the green-white-checker.

Schatz finished sixth and he earned the KSE Hard Charger Award for a series-best third time this season.

Saldana placed seventh, Steve Kinser was eighth, Greg Wilson ended ninth and Friday night winner Chad Kemenah rallied from 22nd to conclude the top 10.

It all worked in favor of Ohio native Chad Kemenah, who survived the melee to record his first World of Outlaws victory since 2009.

“We got lucky there,” he said after an emotional appearance in Victory Lane. “You don’t want to win like that, but we’ve given some away so I’m not complaining. A win is a win and they pay the same.

“When you’re this close to home it makes it that much better. It’s only an hour and a half to home, so this is kinda like home to me.”

As lightning loomed in the distance, the feature began with a blazing start. Polesitter Jac Haudenschild was easily the quickest in the field and he proved it by maintaining a sizeable lead against runner-up Steve Kinser, who owns a series-best 35 World of Outlaws feature wins at the high-banked, half-mile oval.

After a caution on lap three for Randy Hannagan’s stalled car on the frontstretch, Haudenschild quickly powered to a straightaway advantage as he entered traffic on lap eight. However, a red flag for Stevie Smith, who flipped in turn two on lap 17, erased more than a three-second lead for Haudenschild.

That mattered little as he again drove to a large lead only to have the caution flag wave on lap 18 because debris shattered one of the lights on the frontstretch. The race resumed with Haudenschild setting a blistering pace as David Gravel, Sammy Swindell and Tim Shaffer battled in a thrilling three-wide race for fifth place.

With 10 laps remaining, things became hectic. While running second, Kinser’s left rear tire gave way in turn four. He returned from the pits at the last minute and restarted 14th.

Haudenschild again rocketed to the front as Swindell and Kerry Madsen traded slide jobs for fourth place for a trio of laps. On lap 24, Swindell brought out a caution while running fifth because of a left rear tire issue.

During the caution, Haudenschild gave up the lead and pulled to the pits because he ran out of fuel. That provided second-running Dale Blaney the top spot, but a lap later – while the race was still under caution – Blaney drove into the pits because of a flat tire.

That moved Gravel into the lead, which was also short-lived. Gravel chose the outside lane for the double-file restart with Madsen lining up inside. The two viscously collided on the bottom in turn one, sending both flipping up the track.

Craig Dollansky and Tim Shaffer, who were competing for top-five positions, had nowhere to go and smashed into the mess. Paul McMahan was also caught up in the incident, which forced all five cars to the pits for the remainder of the night and left debris scattered across turns one and two.

That also advanced Kemenah to the lead, which he didn’t relinquish en route to a victory at his favorite track.

“I could see there was going to be a wreck going in there,” he said after leading the final seven laps. “I just aimed for the bottom. I figured they were going to the outside.

“Any time you get an opportunity like that, you’ve just got to seize the moment and go get it.”

Donny Schatz drove from 12th to earn the runner-up position, which moved him into the World of Outlaws championship standings lead by one point over Swindell.

“There were a lot of things going on and I’m glad we weren’t in it,” Schatz said. “We had a so-so car; it wasn’t the greatest. We were just kinda riding around and trying to be cautious and stay out of trouble.”

Kinser rebounded to round out the podium as he held off a late charge from 13th-starter Cody Darrah to claim third place.

“Just one of those nights,” Kinser said. “I’m awful lucky after having a flat tire there to miss everything and to finish third.”

Daryn Pittman, who started 11th, finished fifth and Swindell was sixth. NASCAR star Tony Stewart, who owns Eldora Speedway, charged from 17     th to seventh and Joey Saldana placed eighth. Kraig Kinser earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after piloting from 20th to ninth and Cap Henry moved from 19th to round out the top 10.

Gravel set quick time in qualifying with a lap of 13.228 seconds before Blaney, Dollansky, Madsen and Swindell each won a heat race. Kraig Kinser led all 12 laps to win the Last Chance Showdown.

“It’s a track where you’ve really got to carry the corner speed and your momentum, and really hit the marks just right,” he said. “The line gets so narrow on the bottom and the top running it that you have to be almost perfect. I think my experience and the amount of laps help make up for that.”

That was evident Saturday night as Swindell passed Brian Brown for the lead on lap 15 and cruised to his 15th career World of Outlaws victory and 48th overall at Knoxville Raceway.

The win was his third of the season and allowed Swindell to regain the points lead, which has been swapped seven times this season. Swindell holds a seven-point advantage over Donny Schatz as the top five are separated by a mere 58 points.

“I think we’ve had the car that could win the last few races,” Swindell said. “We had one at Haubstadt, but had a part break and still managed a third with a wounded car. If we keep this thing running, we’ve got a chance of winning every night.”

Swindell uncharacteristically qualified 16th quickest, which gave him the final spot in the invert and the pole position for the fourth-and-final heat race. He led all eight laps to pick up his series-best fifth heat win of the season, which locked him into the dash.

Swindell started last – 10th – and drove to seventh in the six-lap race, which aligned him on the inside of the fourth row for the 25-lap feature.

A trio of red flags within the first three laps stalled the race, but allowed Swindell to climb to fourth. He picked up third place on lap three and grabbed the runner-up position on lap five.

Chasing his first career World of Outlaws feature win, polesitter Brian Brown had driven to nearly a half-straightaway advantage when Swindell began to close the gap. As Brown battled through traffic on lap nine, Swindell edged closer.

With 11 laps remaining, Swindell rocketed off the bottom in turn four and passed Brown for the top spot at the finish line. Swindell then negotiated thick lapped traffic and a final caution with six laps remaining.

Brown, who started on the outside of Swindell on the double-file restart with six laps to go, entered turn one side by side only to lose ground as they exited the turn. Craig Dollansky passed Brown for the runner-up position on the backstretch.

“We sure would have liked to have been one spot better, but we definitely learned some things here tonight,” Dollansky said. “Sammy, he had a real good car. He’s been strong here the last couple of years.

“Second with this group of cars that were here tonight is nothing to shake a stick at.”

Joey Saldana slipped past Brown for the final podium spot with a couple laps remaining.

“It was a good, solid feature,” Saldana said. “I was a second-place car at best. We ran third and that’s about where we were. Sammy was definitely the class of the field.”

Brown finished fourth with nine-time Knoxville Raceway track champion and former World of Outlaws champion Danny Lasoski rounding out the top five with a last-lap pass on Schatz.

Knoxville regular Dusty Zomer charged from 21st to seventh and Jason Sides earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 23     rd to eighth. Brad Sweet was ninth and Terry McCarl finished 10th.

“When we got to lapped traffic the first go-around, there were four or five guys that could have got the lead at any point,” four-time Outlaws champion Donny Schatz said. “It was like a hornets nest. We needed to stay out of that situation and that we did. When the race restarted those guys were all beating and banging on each other around there, and I just stayed out of the way on the bottom and got through there.”

The excitement elevated a few levels on a restart following a caution on lap 13 when Shane Stewart and Cody Darrah collided in turn two. Polesitter Kerry Madsen, who led from the drop of the initial green flag, and runner-up Daryn Pittman spun in turn one in front of the field.

Sammy Swindell, who was running fourth, had nowhere to go and skidded into the duo as they slid toward the middle of the track. Third-running Craig Dollansky slid off the top of the track and nearly tipped over during the process to avoid the melee as cars were sideways trying to avoid the mess.

Schatz was there to capitalize. After restarting fifth and maneuvering through the mess, he inherited the lead. Schatz led the final 28 laps of the race to become the first three-time winner this season.

“On the start I got next to Dollansky and he got a good run off into the corner and I needed to slow down because I saw cars in front of us,” he said. “I just went to the bottom and was lucky enough to miss them.

“It doesn’t help to have guys fall out in front of you. We like earning these races. We’ve earned plenty of them, but we’ve had them go that way against us (as well). You had to be smart and stay out of the trouble, and that we did.”

The race was anything but over at that point. Brad Sweet, who went from sixth to second during that restart, stayed within a car length of Schatz for most of the race as the track slicked off with each completed lap.

“I’d like to try it over again,” Sweet said after a season-best second-place finish. “I don’t really know if I could have done anything different. I was just really trying to take care of my tires. It was really slick down in turns one and two. When I was coming off (turn) two I was just trying to take care of my tires and it was kind of on the cushion in (turns) three and four.

“Donny just never made a mistake. I was right there. If he would have made one little mistake or we got some traffic, I think we could have at least made a race out of it. I don’t know if we would have been able to beat him or not.”

Kraig Kinser charged from seventh to third. After losing a couple of positions in the opening laps, he took advantage of the wild restart.

“We were fortunate that we avoided some of the collisions there early in the race and got away with a pretty respectable finish I think,” Kinser said.

He moved to fifth after the restart on lap 13, passed Austen Wheatley for fourth place on lap 15 and eventually worked by Danny Lasoski for the podium finish on lap 23.

Lasoski placed fourth and Brady Bacon charged from 17th to fifth. Joey Saldana was sixth and Steve Kinser drove from 22nd to seventh to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award. Randy Hannagan advanced from 18th to eighth and Chad Kemenah from 23rd to ninth. Wheatley rounded out the top 10.

Madsen, Wheatley, Dollansky and Kraig Kinser each claimed heat race wins and Bacon won the Last Chance Showdown. Sweet turned the quickest lap in qualifying with a time of 10.609 seconds.