PEVELY, Mo. — Joey Saldana earned every penny of the $10,000 he pocketed on Saturday night at I-55 Raceway.
After starting on the pole, Saldana fell back to fourth before working his way back to the front and ultimately making the pass for the lead and the win on Danny Lasoski on the 29th lap.
The 40-lap race on the third-mile oval started with Saldana on the pole. He led into the first turn, but contact with Lasoski exiting the second turn put Lasoski in the lead and dropped Saldana to third.
Brooke Tatnell battled with Lasoski early in the race for the lead, as both ran the high side of the track. A couple of early cautions kept the leaders in open race track. Lasoski began to pull away on the fifth lap, with Tatnell and Saldana battling for the runner-up position.
Lasoski got bottled up in traffic just about a quarter of the way into the race, giving Tatnell the chance he needed to close in. A red flag came out on lap 19, giving the crews an opportunity to work on their cars.
Lasoski’s crew found a hole in the right rear tire of his machine and patched it for the remaining 21 laps.
Another yellow flag when Daryn Pittman hit the wall slowed the pace. Lasoski led on this restart, with Saldana right on his bumper. Saldana passed Lasoski on the 27th lap, but Lasoski got back around as the pair headed off the fourth turn and was scored the leader at the line. Saldana passed him on the next lap to triumph.
 “I got a little frustrated under that red, and Justin (Adams) told me to stay patient that the car would come around,” explained the winner. “We left the car pretty tight and it paid off in the end. In these 40-lap races you definitely have to struggle with the car for the first half and then it comes around in the second half.”
Schatz finished second.
Steve Kinser started ninth and finished third. Tony Bruce, Jr. romped from 24th on the grid to claim fourth, with Lasoski taking fifth.