ROSSBURG, Ohio — Eldora Speedway has always been known for high speeds, thrilling racing and countless slide jobs, and on Friday night, Craig Dollansky used a textbook slide job to take the lead from Donny Schatz on a late restart to earn his second Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series triumph of the season.
Dollansky lined up second behind Schatz on a restart with 10 laps to go and slid under the two-time defending series champion exiting the second turn. Schatz battled back down the stretch, with Dollansky holding him off after a restart with just two laps remaining.
The current World of Outlaws championship point leader earned $10,000 for his 23rd career A-Feature win with the series.
“It was a great run for this race team,” said Dollansky. “I’m very happy for this Larry Woodward team and everyone that is supporting it. To get win number two this early in the season and have a strong start to the year is very important. We just have to keep working hard and working hard at winning races.”
Dollansky, aboard the Auto Value Parts Stores Maxim, began the night by turning in the sixth fastest lap in time trials, and he followed that up with a strong run in the third heat to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash. He finished fifth in the dash, to earn a starting spot on the inside of the third row for the 30-lap A-Feature. He powered his way past Kerry Madsen on the third lap to move into fourth. After shadowing Shane Stewart for a number of laps, Dollansky got around him on the 18th circuit and moved into third.
“We learned some things tonight and got stronger as the night went on, which is important to us,” noted Dollansky. “We began sputtering on the last lap. The car was stumbling on the restarts, but we got a good run on Donny (Schatz) and I felt real strong once we got the lead and felt like he would have to be real strong on a restart to slide back by us. It was a great team effort and I am happy for everyone.”
Joey Saldana led the first 20 laps before a flat left-rear tire sent him to the pits and handed the lead to Schatz, who eventually finished second, after giving up the point to Dollansky on the restart.
“You’re always going to get yellows,” said Schatz. “It’s never fun when its cold out, but once you get in the car and put the helmet on, its time to go racing. We would have liked to have had some long runs, but it wouldn’t have mattered for us. We couldn’t get there quick enough and the guy that finished ahead of us deserved to.”
Jason Sides recorded his best finish of the season, coming home third, while Madsen and Tim Shaffer, who started 23rd, filled the top five.