Eldora Speedway | 13929
St Route 118 | New Weston | OH | 45348
For immediate news release e-mail: mail@eldoraspeedway.com
MCMAHAN
WINS THRILLER AT ELDORA
Rossburg,
OH—June 2, 2007--By: Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws
PR Director
Ever since he began racing sprint cars, there
have been three tracks that Paul McMahan has yearned to win
at: Eldora Speedway, Knoxville Raceway and Williams Grove Speedway.
He won at Williams Grove in 2000, and on Saturday night he checked
Eldora off that list, as he won a thrilling battle with Jason
Solwold and Dean Jacobs. It was equally exciting for Davey Gantt
as he captured the hard fought UMP (United Midwestern Promoters)
Modified feature and Mike Dirksen overcame an early season of
diversity to triumph in the Advance Auto Parts Stock car finale.
Rain delayed the start of the event, which
was being sponsored by The Home Depot, but after several hours
of track preparation the racing surface was ready, and provided
for close racing all night long.
At the start of the 30-lap World of Outlaws
event, McMahan quickly moved into the third spot, passing Danny
Lasoksi on the fourth lap. He slipped back to fourth on the
13th lap, and after getting around Joey Saldana on lap 17, he
was in position for an epic duel with Jason Solwold and Dean
Jacobs.
McMahan took the lead for the first time on
the night on the 22nd lap, as he went to the low side of turn
four. The next lap, Solwold went up the track and took the lead
back again in turns three and four. They battled wheel-to-wheel
the next couple of laps, with Solwold leading at the line each
time, before the caution flag flew leading to a single file
restart.
Solwold led on the final restart, with Jacobs
briefly slipping past McMahan for the runner-up spot, only to
have McMahan power back around him. On the 25th circuit, McMahan
charged around Solwold on the high side of the track to make
the pass for the lead and ultimately the win.
McMahan driving for NASCAR star Tony Stewart,
who also owns Eldora Speedway, withstood a late flurry of challenges
from Solwold as the laps wound down. Lap after lap Solwold tried
everything he could to get around McMahan but each time McMahan
fought off the challenges. All the while, Jacobs watched from
third ready to pounce if the opening presented itself.
“I have been waiting a long time to win
a race here at Eldora,” said McMahan, driver of the Bass
Pro Shops Eagle. “I’ve run second a number of times.
To win a race in Tony’s (Stewart) cars at his race track,
I can’t say enough. It was a great night.”
McMahan also had a little luck on his side
on Saturday night, as he drove most of the race with a heavily
damaged radiator. The win was the sixth of his World of Outlaws
career and first of 2007.
“The temperature gauge was wrapped around
zero and there was no more water left in the thing,” he
said. “I popped a hole in the radiator. That Chevy power
just kept on coming though.”
Late in the race, the leaders were close to
encountering heavy lapped traffic when the caution flag flew
on two separate occasions. This gave McMahan a clear race track
ahead of him and put him right behind Solwold. Though Solwold
led on each restart, McMahan kept pace with him through each
turn.
“I wasn’t sure what Jason would
do,” said McMahan when looking back at the two late restarts.
“He was running through the middle on the restarts and
I was committed to the top. I ran to the top of him and he took
the bottom away so I could not slide him. It pulled me up in
the cushion and let Dean (Jacobs) get back in there for a battle
among the three of us for the lead. I knew if he went to the
bottom then I was going to the top or wherever he wasn’t.”
Solwold led 22 laps on Saturday night and finished
in the second spot as he continues to close in on his first
World of Outlaws A-Feature victory. While he was disappointed
that he was not in the winner’s circle, he knows that
he and his team are on the cusp of winning races with the World
of Outlaws and are consistently one of the fastest cars night
in and night out.
“The team is doing a great job,”
said Solwold, driver of the City Wide Insulation Maxim. “I
feel like I let them down a little tonight. We had a great race
car last night and were running second and cut a tire down.
We’re definitely capable of winning races. There is no
question in my mind. We’ll get some breaks sooner or later.”
Early in the race Solwold charged to some sizeable
leads, only to see those disappear when the caution flag flew.
Each time on restarts in the first half of the race, he would
power his way down the front straightaway and pull back away.
Dean Jacobs, who earned his first career World
of Outlaws A-Feature win last May at Lernerville Speedway filling
in for Terry McCarl, turned in a strong effort on Saturday night,
finishing in the third spot, with some broken pieces on the
race car.
“I thought on that last restart I had
a shot, but honestly I was lucky to finish the race,”
said Jacobs, driver of the AAG Inc. Eagle. “About halfway
through I felt a vibration. There really wasn’t anything
holding the torque tube on. We were fortunate to sees the checkers
and finish third. We are happy with that. If that thing wouldn’t
have come loose, I really think I would have had a shot at them.”
After most of the cars ran on the low side
of the track when the World of Outlaws first visited the half-mile
in April, two distinct grooves were present on Saturday night,
with a number of cars riding the rim as is customarily the fast
way around Eldora.
“I knew with the rain it would keep the
bottom good,” he explained. “That is what made the
bottom good, not the shape of the race track. The top got such
a big ledge from the weather. The track is back. I ran an All
Star race a couple weeks ago and Tony (Stewart) is doing everything
he can to make this the awesome race track that it is.”
Bill Lewis had his strongest run to date in
the Modified headliner, as he led much of the early going. After
holding off Lenny Guyton at the start, Lewis sat comfortably
in the top spot until the half-way mark, when mutli-time champion
Scott Orr and Gantt moved into the picture by getting past Guyton
and setting up a torrid three way battle. Brian Ruhlman soon
joined the picture and the stage was set for a classic finish.
Gantt got by Lewis five laps from the finish,
with Ruhlman making a similar move on Lewis two laps later.
Time ran out for Ruhlman, as en elated Gantt moved into victory
lane. Behind them at the checkered were Lewis, Orr and Gary
Richard.
Major mechanical woes and unfortunate on-track
skirmishes have marred Dirksen’s Eldora season until Saturday
night. He put all of that behind him in grand style by holding
off Earnie Woodard for victory number one of the 2007 season.
Dirksen got by early race leader Bob Burch on lap four and never
looked back.
Finishing behind him were Woodard, Jeff Babcock, Paul Smith
and Barney Craig.
