For Immediate Release
Contact:  Susan Arnold
sarnold00@earthlink.net
949-637-2216

SALDANA AND MOTTER 71M TEAM WIN HEAT AND SCORE SIXTH PLACE
FINISH IN OUTLAWS EVENT IN HANFORD

HANFORD, Calif. (April 12, 2013) – Veteran driver Joey Saldana came to one of his favorite tracks, Kings Speedway, looking for his 84th career World of Outlaws STP Sprint Series victory.  Having won at this track in 2000, the Brownsburg Bullet was looking to repeat.

Out of all the years that car owner Dan Motter fielded teams in the 1990’s, it was his first trip to California to watch one his drivers compete.

Though the Motter Equipment Fatheadz Eyewear team didn’t win the feature, they won a wire-to-wire heat race and finished sixth in the A-Main. The night’s racing was a crowd-pleaser and the epitome of the wild, wild West with lead changes, three wide battles, thrills and spills.

The 12.293-second track record set by Saldana in February of 2001stayed intact following tonight’s qualifying session with quick time going to Chad Kemenah’s 13.047-second effort.  Saldana qualified in the No. 8 position with a 13.265-second lap around the 3/8-mile track.  Saldana was 18th in the order of competitors taking to the track for timed qualifying.  Despite the fact that the track began to slow down as the night went on, the 71M team was happy with the results.

“After hot laps, the team went to work and changed the rear end gear ratio and loosened up the car to get it in qualifying trim,” explained Motter.  “The changes were beneficial in improving the handling.”

The No. 8 qualifying position seeded the Motter Equipment Fatheadz Eyewear team in the outside of the first row for the second heat. Pole sitter Kraig Kinser and Saldana were side-by-side as the green flew.  On turn two of the first lap Saldana drove up over the cushion to take the lead and never looked back.  There were three yellow flags, one for D.J. Netto whose car jumped out of gear when it slammed back down on the track following a wheel stand, one for Brian Brown when his car jumped out of gear after he drove over the cushion coming out of a turn, and the final yellow was for Austen Wheatley who slid to the inside of one of the turns.  On the final restart, Saldana, still in the lead, still driving hard, was able to fend off Steve Kinser who was in hot pursuit.  Saldana was quicker in turns one and two, Kinser was better in turns three and four.  At the checker it was Saldana first, Steve Kinser second.

Car owner Motter and the 71M team were thrilled to win the heat and now turned their attention to the dash, comprised of 10 of the evening’s best performers.

The No.6 ping pong ball was pulled for the dash inversion draw, relegating Saldana
to the eighth starting position.  The Bullet would have significant challenges ahead of him, and for that matter, behind him, and only six laps to fight for any ground he could gain.

As the green flag waved, Saldana was pinched by a moving violation.  World of Outlaws officials determined he was on the throttle too early and penalized him, moving him back one row to the outside of row five.  On a slick track but with a lot of side-by-side action, Saldana moved to the top of the track and was able to gain three positions in the last two laps, finishing seventh and therefore starting seventh in the 35-lap A-Main.

The Feature saw six lead changes in the first 10 laps.  There were several stops and starts for yellow flags and one red flag when Jason Sides flipped between turns one and two with 29 laps to go.  Sides was able to repair some of his wing damage and return to action.  Saldana was quietly gaining ground while the leaders engaged in a spirited battle. With 17 laps to go, the Bullet was riding in the fourth position. With 16 laps to go another yellow flag flew because Tim Kaeding spun between turns one and two.  At this juncture, Outlaws officials threw a red flag because with all the yellows, competitors couldn’t complete the event without refueling.  The teams were given two minutes to refuel and perform work on their cars except change a tire. Racing resumed with more cautions flown.  On the final restart, Saldana was relegated to the inside of the track and got boxed in on the bottom going into turn one and lost position. After battling with Kraig Kinser for fifth position, Saldana had to settle for sixth at the checker.

Donny Schatz won the event with Chad Kemenah second and Sammy Swindell third.

The 71M team will pack the trailer tonight and make the 275 mile drive to Perris, Calif. in order to avoid any traffic congestion they might encounter if they waited until the morning to leave.  They plan to be parked at the Perris Auto Speedway gate at 10 a.m. tomorrow and will perform maintenance on the sprint car to prepare for tomorrow night’s SoCal Showdown.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chub Frank Racing
982 Lottsville Niobe Road
Bear Lake, PA 16402
814-489-3952
After Solid Top-10 Run In Illini 100, Chub Frank Taking Advantage Of Unexpected Weekend Off

BEAR LAKE, PA – April 13, 2013 – After scoring a solid eighth-place finish in last Saturday night’s Illini 100 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, Chub Frank was certainly ready for more World of Outlaws Late Model Series competition this weekend.

But when the WoO LMS’s scheduled visit to Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, was called off – the April 12-13 Buckeye 100 was first condensed to a single 50-lapper on Saturday night due to unfavorable weather, and then on Thursday heavy rain forced officials to push the renamed Buckeye 50 to May 24 – Frank didn’t mind. The unexpected free weekend is providing the 51-year-old veteran an opportunity to spend some much-needed extra time in his Bear Lake, Pa., shop.

“We got a new (Rocket) car that we really want to run but we just haven’t had time to get it done yet,” said Frank. “We’re not running anywhere this weekend (after the Wayne County postponement) so we can get some work done. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring (the new car) out next week.”

Frank has four consecutive weekends of WoO LMS racing – all at tracks in the Southeast – beginning with next weekend’s doubleheader at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway on April 19 and 311 Motor Speedway in Pine Hall, N.C., on April 20.

The driver known as ‘Chubzilla’ got back in the racing groove last weekend at the quarter-mile Farmer City oval, which hosted the first WoO LMS event since the national tour’s season-opening eight-race swing through Georgia and Florida ended on Feb. 23. Frank had not raced since his southern excursion in February, during which he scored finishes of 14th and 17th on Feb. 8-9 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga.; 15th, eighth and fifth on Feb. 15-17 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.; and 14th, 21st and 18th on Feb. 21-23 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. (He also ran four DIRTcar UMP Late Model events, finishing ninth on Feb. 10 at North Florida Speedway and failing to qualify for three shows Feb. 18-20 at Volusia.)

Frank authored a respectable run in the Illini 100, surviving a rough opening circuit that damaged the quarter-panel of his Corry Rubber/Lake Shore Paving/Hino Toyota Rocket No. 1* to finish eighth. He started 11th in an event that saw him score his third top-10 WoO LMS finish of 2013 despite feeling under the weather throughout the weekend.

“We weren’t all that great, but we were better than we had been in February so I’m happy with it,” said Frank. “I feel fortunate that we were able to get what we got. The car got beat up at the start because I had a hard tire on the right-front and I couldn’t steer, so I came up across the racetrack in the dust and got pile-drove.

“And I still wasn’t feeling all that great. I definitely felt better than (during Friday’s qualifying night), but I was still feeling pretty crappy. I was glad to get the weekend over with.”

Frank currently sits ninth in the WoO LMS points standings, 170 points behind leader Josh Richards.

For more information on Chub Frank, visit his Web site at www.chubfrank.com.

Chub Frank Racing receives support from many valued sponsors, including Corry Rubber, Lake Shore Paving, Sorbera Family Chiropractic, Horton Equipment, Hino Toyota, Nystrom’s Auto Sales, Rocket Chassis, Roush-Yates Racing Engines, Slavic Corporation, All-Star Performance,  GW Performance and Integra Shocks.