Eagle Nationals opener report

KINSERS DOMINATE EAGLE NATIONALS OPENER By Richard Day EAGLE, NE (July 2) - Steve Kinser passed his cousin, Mark, in the first corner early in the white-flag lap and held on to win the Preliminary Feature when the World of Outlaws opened the Eagle Nationals Saturday at Eagle Raceway. The $60,960 event was scheduled to open Friday, but thunderstorms forced officials to postpone the preliminary program to Saturday. The Kinsers, winners of eight of the last 11 Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout events at the high-banked, 1/3-mile oval, dominated the preliminary program. Steve earned his fifth Ecowater Fast-Time Award of the year with an 11.527-second qualifying run, while Mark won the Vivarin Dash for the right to start the 20-lap Preliminary Feature on the pole. Mark burst into the lead immediately after the green flag fell in the 20-lap feature. But the green flag didn't fly for long as 12th-row starters Pat Bourke and Rodney Droud collided in turn four and flipped. When the green flag replaced the red, Mark took the lead again and opened a five-car-length lead within two laps. He was 10 car-lengths ahead of his closest pursuers when he drove the #5M Maxim into lapped traffic two laps later. Mark was lengthening his advantage in lapped traffic during the eighth lap as Steve challenged Jac Haudenschild for the runner-up spot and Dave Blaney passed Jeff Swindell for fifth place. The leader slowed behind First Snap-on Tools Heat Race winner Jeff Shepard, Greg Hodnett, Steve Dyer and Tim Baker midway through the race, allowing "The Wild Child" and Steve to close to within five car-lengths. Mark expanded his lead after lapping Dyer and Baker, but more backmarkers enabled Haudenschild and "The King of the Outlaws" to keep him in sight. Steve steered the #11 Valvoline Maxim deep into turn three to pass Haudenschild for second place with eight laps remaining, only to have "The Wild Child" drive the #22 Pennzoil Maxim back by him the next time around. "The King of the Outlaws" regained the runner-up spot with 6 1/2 laps remaining as Haudenschild slid out of the low groove in turn two. Steve was reeling Mark in during the 21st lap when "The Wild Child" bumped into the #77 MAC Tools J&J on his way around Shepard, allowing Andy Hillenburg and Blaney to race past. Steve moved into striking distance with three laps remaining when Mark slowed behind Johnny Herrera and Stevie Smith. Within seconds after the leaders took the white flag, Steve steered the #11 to the deepest point in turn one and executed the winning pass despite bouncing off the berm. Mark immediately steered the #5M into the high groove in an effort to regain the lead, but was two car-lengths behind when Steve took the checkered flag. "I really thought I had it, but Steve out-guessed me there on the last lap," Mark told the standing-room-only crowd. "Any time you take a breather, you finish second. That's what happened tonight." Steve had this to say about his Preliminary Feature victory: "It was tight the whole race, and there was a lot of traffic. It kind of opened up there at the end, and the #11 Valvoline Maxim was working good. I just made a run for it there at the end." Hillenburg and Blaney claimed the second-row starting positions in Sunday's Snap-on Tools Dash by finishing third and fourth, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 in the Preliminary Feature were Haudenschild, Jeff, Kenny Jacobs, Two Winners Racing teammates Joe Gaerte and Greg Hodnett, and Ray Lipsey. Jacobs, the 12th-fastest qualifier in the 32-car field, started the #71M Ecowater Systems Stealth on the sixth row and raced past five sprinters on his way to the seventh-place finish. WoO 1994 WORLD OF OUTLAWS/COPENHAGEN-SKOAL SHOOTOUT Eagle Nationals, Eagle Raceway, Eagle, NE Saturday, July 2, Preliminary Program Qualifications: 1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 11.527; 2. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 11.542; 3. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 11.600; 4. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 11.619; 5. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 11.629; 6. Joe Gaerte, Two Winners 9TW, 11.638; 7. Dave Blaney, Luna 10, 11.641; 8. Johnny Herrera, Pack 4A, 11.651; 9. Stevie Smith, Veilhauer 12x, 11.661; 10. Ray Lipsey, Lipsey 45, 11.663; 11. Sammy Swindell, Gilliam 1, 11.666; 12. Kenny Jacobs, Motter 71M, 11.677; 13. Greg Hodnett, Two Winners 8TW, 11.770; 14. Gary DeWall, DeWall 16, 11.823; 15. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21L, 11.827; 16. Don Droud, Jr., Kormack 1BK, 11.889; 17. Jeff Shepard, Hamilton 77, 11.895; 18. Tim Baker, Baker 2TZ, 12.003; 19. Sid Blandford, Blandford 31, 12.053; 20. Todd Ribick, Ribick 5R, 12.141; 21. Steve Dyer, Dyer 9A, 11.254; 22. Joe McCarthy, McCarthy 02, 12.343; 23. Pat Bourke, B&B Excavating 27, 12.385; 24. Rodney Droud, Droud, 2K, 12.454; 25. Mark Finnell, Finnell 27F, 12.546; 26. Scott Young, Young 1Y, 12.548; 27. Dennis Parker, Parker 3BK, 12.666; 28. Rick Halverstadt, Halverstadt 69, 13.421; 29. Todd Splain, Splain 1x, 13.630; 30. Mike Diekmann, Diekmann 98, 13.809; 31. Bob Mays, Mays 47, 13.893; 32. Dwight Carter, Carter 40, 14.031. First Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Jeff Shepard, 2. Stevie Smith, 3. Jeff Swindell, 4. Greg Hodnett, 5. Steve Kinser, 6. Steve Dyer, 7. Mark Finnell, 8. Todd Splain. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Second Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Tim Baker, 2. Ray Lipsey, 3. Andy Hillenburg, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Joe McCarthy, 6. Gary DeWall, 7. Mike Diekmann, 8. Scott Young. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Third Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Mark Kinser, 3. Dave Blaney, 4. Sid Blandford, 5. Lance Blevins, 6. Pat Bourke, 7. Bob Mays, 8. Scott Young. (first five qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Fourth Snap-on Tools Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Don Droud, Jr., 2. Kenny Jacobs, 3. Jac Haudenschild, 4. Johnny Herrera, 5. Rodney Droud, 6. Todd Ribick, 7. Rick Halverstadt, 8. Dwight Carter. (first five qualified four the Preliminary Feature) Vivarin Dash (seven laps): 1. Mark Kinser, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Andy Hillenburg, 5. Jeff Swindell, 6. Joe Gaerte, 7. Dave Blaney, 8. Johnny Herrera. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the Preliminary Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Pat Bourke, 2. Steve Dyer, 3. Gary DeWall, 4. Todd Ribick, 5. Mark Finnell ($160); 6. Todd Splain ($135); 7. Rick Halverstadt ($110); 8. Mike Diekmann ($85); 9. Bob Mays ($70); 10. Dwight Carter ($60); 11. Dennis Parker ($50); 12. Scott Young ($50). (first four qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Preliminary Feature (20 laps): 1. Steve Kinser ($4,010); 2. Mark Kinser ($2,310); 3. Andy Hillenburg ($1,610); 4. Dave Blaney ($1,410); 5. Jac Haudenschild ($1,260); 6. Jeff Swindell ($1,110); 7. Kenny Jacobs ($1,010); 8. Joe Gaerte ($860); 9. Greg Hodnett ($810); 10. Ray Lipsey ($760); 11. Stevie Smith ($460); 12. Johnny Herrera ($410); 13. Sammy Swindell ($360); 14. Jeff Shepard ($310); 15. Gary DeWall ($280); 16. Joe McCarthy ($210); 17. Todd Ribick ($230); 18. Tim Baker ($210); 19. Steve Dyer ($230); 20. Sid Blandford ($210); 21. Lance Blevins ($210); 22. Don Droud, Jr. ($210); 23. Pat Bourke ($230); 24. Rodney Droud ($210). Lap leaders: Mark Kinser 1-24; Steve Kinser 25 Ecowater Fast-Time Award winner: Steve Kinser WoO *eot