Skagit feature report

'BUCKEYE BULLET' WINS DUEL WITH SWINDELL AT SKAGIT By Richard Day ALGER, WA (August 27) - Don't be surprised if you see Dave Blaney's and Jeff Swindell's tow rigs racing side-by-side down the highway on their way to Riverside Speedway, the site of the World of Outlaws' next event. Blaney and Swindell have grown accustomed to racing each other during the series' inaugural Wild Wild Northwest Tour, finishing first and second in each of the first three events. "We've raced pretty close these last few nights," Blaney said Saturday after beating Jeff under the checkered flag in the Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout's "A" Feature, run before a standing-room-only crowd at Skagit Speedway. "When I caught Jeff, I knew it would be tough. I knew I had to pass him when I got the chance." Swindell won the first two races on the Wild Wild Northwest tour: at Magic City Speedway in Billings, MT, and Skagit's Preliminary Feature. He appeared to be on his way to a third straight victory during the first three-quarters of Saturday's 40-lap "A" Feature. Jeff beat "The Buckeye Bullet" across the finish line in the Snap-on Tools Dash for the right to start the main event on the pole. He burst into the lead immediately after the green flag fell in the feature, and entered lapped traffic with a six-car-length advantage within seven laps. Blaney and Steve Kinser passed each other for the runner-up spot twice during the second and third laps before "The Buckeye Bullet" regained the spot and started tracking down the leader. Andy Hillenburg started inside the sixth row and drove his #2 STP J&J around six sprinters during the first 12 laps. He was pressuring Kenny Jacobs for fourth place when Brent Kaeding stopped his #69 J.W. Hunt Gambler in turn four late in the 14th lap. Swindell drove the #7TW Gold Eagle Maxim away from the field when the green flag replaced the yellow, opening a four-car-length advantage within five laps. He caught the backmarkers again midway through the race. Hillenburg took fourth place from Jacobs early in the 20th lap, and immediately started reeling in "The King of the Outlaws." Blaney's and Swindell's battle for the lead raged throughout the final 15 laps. "The Buckeye Bullet" steered the #10 Vivarin J&J into first place early in the 25th lap, only to have Jeff beat him down the back straightaway seconds later. Swindell opened a six-car-length advantage within two laps, only to have Blaney chase him down as he approached Rick Fauver, "B" Feature winner Jim Carr and Alan Munn with 12 laps remaining. While "The Buckeye Bullet" chased him in the low groove, Jeff steered the #7TW to the rim to clear the backmarkers. The leaders were trying to lap Fauver in turn four late in the 33rd lap when Blaney regained first place. He took the low line onto the front straightaway as Fauver slid in front of Jeff. "The Buckeye Bullet" raced ahead of the 24-car field until Swindell regained the lead two laps later with a high move through turns three and four. Keith Kauffman took the #7 Berry Construction J&J for a spin in the fourth corner the next time around, setting up a four-lap dash for the checkered flag. The leaders switched lines when the race resumed, and Blaney caught Jeff high on the front stretch. "The Buckeye Bullet" rode the rim into turn three and completed the winning pass in the fourth corner. Blaney was three car-lengths ahead of Swindell when he took the checkered flag for his seventh victory of the year. "It's always fun to race in front of big crowds like this," Blaney said. "I hope the fans enjoyed it. If the (World of) Outlaws schedule another race here, I'll definitely be back." World of Outlaws President Ted Johnson and Skagit Speedway owner Fred Brownfield announced that another Wild Wild Northwest Tour - including a three-day, $100,000-plus event at Skagit - would be scheduled in 1995. Hillenburg finished the main event in third place, ahead of Jacobs, Kinser, Two Winners Racing teammates Greg Hodnett and Joe Gaerte, Jac Haudenschild, Johnny Herrera and Fauver. WoO 1994 WORLD OF OUTLAWS/COPENHAGEN-SKOAL SHOOTOUT Skagit Speedway, Alger, WA Saturday, August 27, Feature Program #55 Qualifications: 1. Kenny Jacobs, Motter 71M, 12.755; 2. Greg Hodnett, Two Winners 8TW, 12.912; 3. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 13.002; 4. Jeff Fletcher, Fletcher 5, 13.103; 5. Sammy Swindell, Gilliam 1, 13.159; 6. Jim Carr, Carr 65, 13.241; 7. Alan Munn, Morical 42, 13.243; 8. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 13.260; 9. Tim Levin, Levin 7L, 13.269; 10. Joe Gaerte, Two Winners 9TW, 13.276; 11. Greg DeCaires, Roth 83, 13.328; 12. Randy Hannagan, Hannagan 1x, 13.336; 13. Bobby Burrow, Burrow 1B, 13.338; 14. Johnny Herrera, Hamilton 77, 13.390; 15. Keith Kauffman, Berry 7, 13.397; 16. Steve Beitler, Beitler 21, 13.473; 17. Mike Hubert, Jr., Rasmussen 74, 13.484; 18. Randy Ridge, Cain 23K, 13.492; 19. Steve Kent, Helm 11K, 13.532; 20. Greg Brown, Collis 44B, 13.535; 21. Shawna Wilskey, Wilskey 5JR, 13.554; 22. Rick Fauver, Rotary Corp. 17, 13.588; 23. Steve Dyer, Dyer 9A, 13.669; 24. Darren Kennedy, Kennedy 55, 13.677; 25. Sid Blandford, Blandford 31, 13.686; 26. Brent Kaeding, Kaeding 69, 13.718; 27. Danny Burton, Mitchell 10M, 13.761; 28. Kirk Fellers, Fellers 77F, 13.828; 29. Richard Brown, Carpenter 33, 13.865; 30. Jay Smith, Smith 21H, 13.886; 31. John Youngquist, Youngquist 56, 13.886; 32. Eric Rossi, Gowen 38, 14.003; 33. Jason Solwold, Kennedy 39, 14.018; 34. John Vangemert, Chapman 3C, 14.050; 35. Wes Gibbs, Hillier 24U, 14.160; 36. Marc Huson, Huson 73, 14.170; 37. George Graham, Graham/Hawks 22G, 14.197; 38. Jim Kirkham, Kirkham 52, 14.198; 39. Bo Mann, Mann 8M, 14.208; 40. Phil Sivo, Sivo/ Larson 6PK, 14.276; 41. Steve Tupper, D&S Enterprises 48, 14.299; 42. Pat Kuehn, Kuehn 20K, 14.403; 43. Jerry Bundy, Bullet Racing 57, 14.464; 44. Mike Zvono, Zvono 85, 14.536; 45. Jay Follman, Follman 7F, 14.565; 46. Drew Church, Church 71, 14.574; 47. Stormy Glick, Glick 20, 14.599; 48. Mark Ellis, Sherman 11x, 14.605; 49. Jack Rose, Rose 60, 14.826; 50. Jay Cole, Cole 0J, 14.661; 51. Kurt McKinney, McKinney 78, 14.781; 52. Trevon Wilson, Wilson 1W, 14.845; 53. Randy Vincent, Vincent 21V, 14.903; 54. Glenn Borden, Jr., Borden 72, 14.984; 55. Kevin Rudeen, Rudeen 26, 15.043; 56. Bert Johnson, Johnson 76, 15.084. (first 40 qualified for the Heat Races) First Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Randy Hannagan, 2. Andy Hillenburg, 3. Sammy Swindell, 4. Kenny Jacobs, 5. Darren Kennedy, 6. Steve Beitler, 7. Greg Brown, 8. Eric Rossi, 9. Marc Huson, 10. Kirk Fellers. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Second Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Tim Levin, 2. Bobby Burrow, 3. Greg Hodnett, 4. Shawna Wilskey, 5. Mike Hubert, Jr., 6. Sid Blandford, 7. Richard Brown, 8. George Graham, 9. Jason Solwold. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Third Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Joe Gaerte, 2. Johnny Herrera, 3. Jac Haudenschild, 4. Brent Kaeding, 5. Randy Ridge, 6. Jim Carr, 7. Rick Fauver, 8. Jay Smith, 9. Jim Kirkham, 10. John Vangemert. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Steve Kent, 2. Greg DeCaires, 3. Keith Kauffman, 4. Alan Munn, 5. Wes Gibbs, 6. Danny Burton, 7. Jeff Fletcher, 8. John Youngquist, 9. Bo Mann, 10. Steve Dyer. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically qualified Jeff Swindell, Dave Blaney, Steve Kinser and Stevie Smith for the first four starting positions in the Snap-on Tools Dash. Snap-on Tools Dash (seven laps): 1. Jeff Swindell, 2. Dave Blaney, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Kenny Jacobs, 5. Stevie Smith, 6. Greg Hodnett. (finish determined the first six starting positions in the "A" Feature) D Feature (10 laps): 1. Jerry Bundy, 2. Jay Follman, 3. Steve Tupper, 4. Kevin Rudeen, 5. Mike Zvono ($20); 6. Kurt McKinney ($20); 7. Stormy Glick ($20); 8. Trevon Wilson ($20); 9. Glenn Borden, Jr. ($20); 10. Jack Rose ($20); 11. Randy Vincent ($20); 12. Bert Johnson ($20). (first four qualified for the "C" Feature) C Feature (10 laps): 1. Wes Gibbs, 2. Marc Huson, 3. Jim Kirkham, 4. John Vangemert, 5. Bo Mann ($135); 6. Phil Sivo ($110); 7. Jerry Bundy ($90); 8. Drew Church ($80); 9. George Graham ($70); 10. Mark Ellis ($60); 11. Pat Kuehn ($50); 12. Kevin Rudeen ($40); 13. Steve Tupper ($40); 14. Jay Follman ($40). (first four qualified for the "B" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Jim Carr, 2. Jay Smith, 3. Greg Brown, 4. Rick Fauver, 5. Steve Beitler ($260); 6. Randy Ridge ($235); 7. Jim Kirkham ($185); 8. Darren Kennedy ($135); 9. John Youngquist ($110); 10. Danny Burton ($90); 11. Marc Huson ($70); 12. Jason Solwold ($60); 13. Wes Gibbs ($60); 14. Eric Rossi ($60); 15. Richard Brown ($60); 16. Kirk Fellers ($60); 17. Steve Dyer ($60); 18. Sid Blandford ($60); 19. Mike Hubert, Jr. ($60); 20. Jeff Fletcher ($60). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (40 laps): 1. Dave Blaney ($8,200); 2. Jeff Swindell ($5,000); 3. Andy Hillenburg ($3,310); 4. Kenny Jacobs ($3,010); 5. Steve Kinser ($2,250); 6. Greg Hodnett ($2,085); 7. Joe Gaerte ($1,810); 8. Jac Haudenschild ($1,710); 9. Johnny Herrera ($1,510); 10. Rick Fauver ($1,430); 11. Jim Carr ($1,230); 12. Stevie Smith ($1,100); 13. Sammy Swindell ($1,060); 14. Randy Hannagan ($1,010); 15. Greg DeCaires ($710); 16. Bobby Burrow ($610); 17. Steve Kent ($510); 18. Tim Levin ($410); 19. Shawna Wilskey ($410); 20. Alan Munn ($410); 21. Brent Kaeding ($410); 22. Jay Smith ($430); 23. Greg Brown ($430); 24. Keith Kauffman ($410). Lap leaders: Jeff Swindell 1-33, 36-37; Dave Blaney 34-35, 38-40 WoO *eof