SARAH MCCOLGAN Paul McMahon passes Steve Kinser in front of a standing-room-only crowd to win the eight-lap Channellock Dash at New Egypt Speedway on Monday night.
A standing-room-only crowd topping 10,000 stock car fans were treated to the high-speed excitement of the Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint cars Monday night at New Egypt Speedway.
Minot, N.D.’s Donny Schatz etched his name in the record books by scoring the first victory in the World of Outlaws debut at the Central Jersey dirt track.
Schatz led the final 16 laps of the 30-lap feature.
Paul McMahan of Bristol, Ind., jumped out to the lead at the start of the A main event. The red flag came out on lap two when Len Thompson flipped his car in turn two. After the restart, McMahan remained in front until Schatz, the hottest driver on the circuit right now, passed him on the high groove of turn four on the 14th lap.
Schatz opened up some daylight between him and the field over the last half of the race. It was the fifth win of the year for the North Dakota driver and his third in his last five starts.
Jeff Shepard made a charge over the second half of the race and went by McMahan to take second place. Danny Lasoki was fourth at the line and Steve Kinser was fifth. Rounding out the Top 10 were: Craig Dollansky, New Egypt regular Billy Pauch, Joey Saldana, Randy Hannagan and Dale Blaney. Winner Schatz was highly impressed with the New Egypt Speedway, which was hosting the event for the first time.
"It’s a pretty awesome facility, but the racetrack is real different than we’re used to," Schatz explained. "It’s a great big ‘D.’ We went with a little harder Goodyear tire than anyone else, and I think it was better in the long run."
Heat winners were McMahan, Steve Kinser and Schatz with McMahan capturing the eight-lap Channellock Dash. Mark Kinser won the eight-lap B feature. In the time trials, Joey Saldana of Brownsburg, Ind., turned in the fasted lap, 13.828, which is a new NES track record.
In the Pennzoil World of Outlaws title chase, Mark Kinser remains in first place in the points standings, with Lasoski second and Kinser’s cousin, Steve Kinser, third. Schatz moved up to fifth with his victory.
In addition to the World of Outlaws, New Egypt Speedway held a companion Sportsman Invitational, which was taken by Ryan Godown of Ringoes. It was the fifth win of the year at New Egypt for Godown, whose brother, Brian Godown, was second at the checkered flag. Gary Hager was third, followed by Brian Pearson and Dominick Buffalino.
Prior to the Outlaw invasion, New Egypt held its regular Saturday night action, where it was lucky No. 7 for Frenchtown’s Billy Pauch as the two-time Modified division champion scored his seventh win of the 2001 season. Pauch had to earn number seven, as he had to fend off the bids of both Brian Weaver and then Kenny Brightbill on the last lap, before securing the victory.
"We had a problem with the fuel pickup in the heat race, and the crew had to take the whole system apart," Pauch said after his win. "It’s never easy."
And it wasn’t. Pauch wheeled his way through the field from the 16th starting spot on the grid into a position to challenge race leader Frank Cozze midway through the race. On the 19th lap, Pauch drove by to take the lead. Just as he was pulling away from the field, a caution with three laps remaining brought Pauch back to the pack. Weaver and Brightbill took advantage of the restart to have a go at Pauch.
The trio was three wide on the last lap, with Pauch holding off the duo for the win. Weaver was second at the line, and Brightbill was third. Early leader Cozze was fourth, and Keith Hoffman finished fifth.
Ryan Godown rallied from farther back in the pack, 18th at the start, to score his fourth Sportsman feature of the season in the extra-distance main event. Current division points leader Matt Papiez nursed his stock car home in second place with a flat to his left-front tire. It was crucial to his title aspiration because the race carried double points. Third in the 25-lap event was Phil Meisner Jr., followed by Kenny Roth and Donnie Kline.
Beachwood’s ‘Super’ Mario Page survived a three-car assault and a restart with two to go to win for the second time in three weeks in the Street Stock division. Al Cheney III, gunning for his fifth win of the season, was right on Page’s bumper in second place. Pat Conaway was third, Pat Freiberger was fourth and Jim Hewitt finished fifth.
Bradley Beach’s Richie Byrne won the four-lap Street Stock Cash Dash, worth $1,431.50 to the winner. The Lightning Lap Awards for fastest laps in a feature were won by Brightbill (Modifieds, 18.76), Papiez (Sportsman, 19.984) and Page (Street Stock, 21.184).