World of Outlaws
Hagerstown report 97-05-24
Last-Lap Pass Wins Hagerstown Prelim for Kinser By Richard Day HAGERSTOWN, MD (May 24) - Mark Kinser executed a last-lap pass of Sammy Swindell in the first corner and beat him under the checkered flag by two ...
Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber

Last-Lap Pass Wins Hagerstown Prelim for Kinser By Richard Day HAGERSTOWN, MD (May 24) - Mark Kinser executed a last-lap pass of Sammy Swindell in the first corner and beat him under the checkered flag by two car-lengths to win Saturday's Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' Preliminary Feature at Hagerstown Speedway. "The #5M Wirtgen America Maxim was working good tonight," Mark said following his third victory in a World of Outlaws Preliminary Feature this season. "It's a major relief any time you can start in front of these guys. In a dash, a heat race or anything, it's an added bonus. We'll have our work cut out for us tomorrow." Mark received his fifth Channellock Fast-Time Award of the year after pacing the qualifying session. His 15.264-second trip around the semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval was .265 seconds faster than the single-lap record he set at Hagerstown last August 3rd. Kinser put himself outside the second row in the Vivarin Dash lineup by picking the #4 inversion pill. He followed Dave Blaney and Swindell across the finish line for the right to start the 20-lap feature inside the second row. Blaney drove his #10 Vivarin J&J into the lead as the green flag fell in the evening's main event, only to have Swindell pass him high in the second corner early in the opening lap. Kinser caught "The Buckeye Bullet" in turn two the next time around, and won a back-straightaway drag race to take over the runner-up spot. Steve Kinser, who approximately 14 hours later was scheduled to line up for the Indianapolis 500, passed Greg Hodnett during the first lap and replaced Andy Hillenburg in fourth place two laps later. Swindell burst into lapped traffic with a 10-car-length lead during the sixth lap. He slowed behind a pack of backmarkers midway through the race, however, allowing Mark to narrow the gap. Sammy used lapped traffic to his advantage two laps later, passing a pair of slower cars between turns one and two. Mark used a similar move to split the backmarkers the next time around and quickly resumed his pursuit of the leader. Seconds later, Steve Kinser steered his #11 Quaker State Maxim deep into turn three to pass Blaney for third place. Hillenburg relegated "The Buckeye Bullet" to fifth place with a low move through turns three and four late in the 16th lap. Swindell appeared to be well on his way to his fifth Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Preliminary Feature victory of the year when he took the white flag. Kinser caught him on the front straightaway, however, and executed an inside move between the first and second corners to take the lead. Sammy threatened to regain first place throughout the remainder of the final lap, but was two car-lengths behind when Mark took the checkered flag. "We set the car up for the bottom," Mark said in victory lane. "About halfway through the race, it started getting a little loose, so I thought we'd better get up (in the high groove) and make up some ground. "We cut down a tire sometime in the last couple of laps. It started flattening out, but having less air pressure in the tire might have even helped us." The right rear tire on the #5M Wirtgen Maxim was completely flat by the end of Kinser's victory lane interview. Steve Kinser finished in third place, ahead of Hillenburg, Blaney, First Heat Race winner Stevie Smith, 13th-starting Joe Gaerte, Hodnett, Jac Haudenschild and Danny Lasoski. Johnny Herrera received passing honors for second consecutive night, racing into 11th place from outside the 10th row. Smoke started billowing from the engine in the #2 STP J&J immediately after Hillenburg took the checkered flag in the Second Heat Race. Andy and his crew quickly changed the valve covers on the Wesmar engine and had it ready for the Vivarin Dash. Hillenburg passed four cars in the five-lap race to earn the second-row-outside starting spot in the Preliminary Feature. A vibration in Lance Blevins' engine caused him to finish last in the Second Heat Race. The #21 Citgo J&J came back strong after the heat races, however, as Blevins won the "B" Feature and finished 17th in the evening's main event. WoO 1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerstown, MD Saturday, May 24, Preliminary Program Qualifications: 1. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 15.264 (new one- lap record); 2. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 15.289; 3. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 15.562; 4. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 15.674; 5. Dave Blaney, Blaney/Hylton 10, 15.590; 6. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 15.743; 7. Billy Pauch, Zemaitis 1Z, 15.803; 8. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 15.824; 9. Danny Lasoski, Wahlie 1W, 15.900; 10. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 15.983; 11. Kevin Gobrecht, Apple Motorsports 12, 16.040; 12. Paul McMahan, Stanton 75, 16.113; 13. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 16.200; 14. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 16.211; 15. Jeff Shepard, Shuttlesworth 41, 16.277; 16. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 16.286; 17. Randy Hannagan, Roth 83, 16.298; 18. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 16.313; 19. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 16.341; 20. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 16.348; 21. Randy Wolfe, Allebach 75W, 16.402; 22. Tim Kuhn, Kuhn 2C, 16.464; 23. Scott Jones, Jones 13, 16.682; 24. Chuck Roan, Jr., Roan 22R, 18.129; 25. Christine Karns, Karns 65.5, 18.326; 26. Mike Kostic, Kostic 40, 18.968; 27. Andy McKisson, McKisson 0, no time. First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Stevie Smith, 2. Jeff Swindell, 3. Billy Pauch, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Mark Kinser, 6. Joe Gaerte, 7. Christine Karns, 8. Dion Hindi, 9. Tim Kuhn. (first six qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Dave Blaney, 3. Randy Hannagan, 4. Jac Haudenschild, 5. Johnny Herrera, 6. Kevin Gobrecht, 7. Scott Jones, 9. Mike Kostic, 9. Lance Blevins. (first six qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jeff Shepard, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Danny Lasoski, 5. Paul McMahan, 6. Greg Hodnett, 7. Randy Wolfe, 8. Andy McKisson, 9. Chuck Roan, Jr. (first six qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Vivarin Dash (five laps): 1. Dave Blaney, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Mark Kinser, 4. Andy Hillenburg, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Steve Kinser, 7. Jac Haudenschild, 8. Billy Pauch. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the Preliminary Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Lance Blevins, 2. Randy Wolfe, 3. Dion Hindi, 4. Tim Kuhn, 5. Andy McKisson, 6. Chuck Roan, Jr. 7. Mike Kostic ($150); 8. Christine Karns ($125); 9. Scott Jones ($100). (first six qualified for the Preliminary Feature) Preliminary Feature (20 laps): 1. Mark Kinser ($4,500); 2. Sammy Swindell ($2,500); 3. Steve Kinser ($1,700); 4. Andy Hillenburg ($1,500); 5. Dave Blaney ($1,350); 6. Stevie Smith ($1,250); 7. Joe Gaerte ($1,200); 8. Greg Hodnett ($1,100); 9. Jac Haudenschild ($1,075); 10. Danny Lasoski ($1,050); 11. Johnny Herrera ($1,000); 12. Paul McMahan ($800); 13. Jeff Shepard ($700); 14. Jeff Swindell ($630); 15. Donny Schatz ($400); 16. Billy Pauch ($400); 17. Lance Blevins ($320); 18. Kevin Gobrecht ($300); 19. Randy Hannagan ($300); 20. Randy Wolfe ($320); 21. Dion Hindi ($320); 22. Andy McKisson ($320); 23. Tim Kuhn ($320); 24. Chuck Roan, Jr. ($320). Lap leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-19, Mark Kinser 20 Channellock Fast-Time Award winner: Mark Kinser WoO
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article This week in racing history (1997-04-27)
Next article This week in racing history (1997-05-11)
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Sammy Swindell

Swindell moving forward after crash that ended his racing career
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Swindell moving forward after crash that ended his racing career

Not everybody in the sprint car world is happy with Tony Stewart
Sprint
Sprint
Not everybody in the sprint car world is happy with Tony Stewart

Kevin Swindell hopes Chili Bowl success opens doors
Midget
Midget
Kevin Swindell hopes Chili Bowl success opens doors
Latest news

Why NASCAR's indecision led to Dodge's decision to return to Cup
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
31 min
Why NASCAR's indecision led to Dodge's decision to return to Cup

Dodge announces return to NASCAR Cup Series in 2027
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 4 h
Dodge announces return to NASCAR Cup Series in 2027

Justin Allgaier confirms he will return for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Martinsville II
4 h
Justin Allgaier confirms he will return for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season

NASCAR Cup Homestead finale to feature full field of 40 cars
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
7 h
NASCAR Cup Homestead finale to feature full field of 40 cars
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe