Joey Saldana took his 13th World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Main Feature race win of the year Saturday night at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO, gutting it out for 55 laps to take home $20,000 and victor’s trophy in the inaugural Ironman 55 race. The win was Saldana’s 13th of the season, a new career high, and the 52nd of his career, putting him in 9th place on the all-time list. Teamate Craig Dollansky, winner of Friday’s main event at the track, had another strong run to finish 2nd and secure a dominant weekend for the Kasey Kahne Racing squad. Danny Lasoski came in 3rd to round out the podium.

“This is a very important race,” said Saldana, who broke his longest winless streak of the season. “It’s the first one and nobody ever forgets who won the first one. Thanks to everyone for going through all of the hard work to make this event and the track preparation that’s what made it a great race tonight. Thanks to the fans that stuck with us and made it happen.”

Dollansky was equally pleased with the conclusion of what has been his best weekend to date for the Kasey Kahne team, though after leading the first 18 laps, he had surely been imagining a weekend sweep.

“It was a great run for Kasey Kahne Racing to have both cars one and two in a big race, it’s pretty neat,” Dollansky said. “It was a good effort by both race teams. Joey (Saldana) and I were nose to tail there all the way through the race. He got me there on the bottom in (turns) three and four and it looked like the bottom was good at that point of the race. I just was on top running up there and he just snuck by.”

“We had a pretty decent race car. It was tight all the way down to the finish. Hopefully it was good for the fans. I appreciate your patience with these guys reworking the race track. I know they put a lot of time and effort into it.”

Lasoski used the extended race distance to his advantage, blazing his way from 16th position on the grid (and 18th place on lap 20) all the way to 3rd position.

“We really had a fast car,” said Lasoski. “We knew that both the Kasey Kahne cars would be up on the fence and we locked our car for the bottom.”

“You had to think about how tight you wanted your car with the 55 laps. We got our car right and I would have liked to have had a caution to have seen what I was like with those two guys, because they were out there pretty good.”

Donny Schatz recovered from a 2 place penalty for a pit stop issue to finish 4th, while Jason Sides completed a solid weekend with his 5th place.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Series takes a short break as teams prepare for the Knoxville Nationals in Indiana this week. The next Outlaws event is scheduled for August 19th at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota.

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Ironman 55 Top 10

1) 9 Joey Saldana
2) 19 Craig Dollansky
3) 6 Danny Lasoski
4) 15 Donny Schatz
5) 7S Jason Sides
6) 1 Stevie Smith
7) R19 Jac Haudenschild
8) 83X Tim Shaffer
9) 20 Kraig Kinser
10) 14 Jason Meyers

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