An unbelievable season for the World of Outlaws sprint circuit at Williams Grove Speedway ended in their utter defeat Saturday night, as Pa. Posse drivers Greg Hodnett and Cody Darrah ran the season score for the locals against the travelers to 4-0.
Hodnett walked off with the 40-lap, $50,000 National Open, while Darrah won the make-up Summer Nationals feature that was held over from July. When this season started, no one anywhere the world over would have guessed that the powerful Outlaws circuit, with drivers like Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Kraig Kinser, Jac Haudenschild, Sammy Swindell and more, would end 2009 at the Grove without a single victory. But that's what has happened, as Hodnett drove the J&S Fabrication No. 22 to a trio of wins in May, July and October, while Darrah cruised his J&K No. 89 to the other.
Keeping in mind that the Outlaws were founded in 1978, wrap your head around the fact that 2009 was the first true, bona fide season that the circuit has not won a race at Williams Grove Speedway. Many times was the season when the local Posse didn't break through, but never have the Outlaws gone dry.
Back in 1978-79, during the group's first two years of existence when its roster was admittedly weak and there were sanctioned shows in which not one card-carrier even participated, technically the Outlaws were winless at Williams Grove. But there was only one show each year and at least one or both of the aforementioned rules applied. Kramer Williamson won in '78, while Lynn Paxton won in '79. Greg Hodnett tried to sum up what winning the National Open meant to him.
"People don't understand that when you race for a living, you want to win all the biggest races, you want to run the biggest races, all of these races that were won by my heroes," he said.
"This is an elusive event, not many people have done it. I'm happy to just be standing up here one time in my life."
CRASHES AND POINTS: Saturday night at the Grove was full of intense action and heated tempers, with 60 cars trying to qualify for one of the biggest sprint car shows on earth.
Save for a vicious flip down the frontchute at the start of the National Open by Jac Haudenschild after contact with Chad Layton, much of the violence occurred in the heat races.
Sammy Swindell drilled two-time Grove winner Adam Wilt coming out of the fourth corner after Wilt had passed him. Displeased by Slammin' Sammy's tactics, Wilt took his steering wheel and lunged at Swindell as he idled by.
Lucas Wolfe and Daryn Pittman collided in the first corner in heat action, and somehow both stayed grounded. Pittman climbed from his racer and jogged through the first corner and all the way through the frontstretch pit area in an effort to get his hands on Wolfe. Officials headed off any contact.
Grove point leader Todd Shaffer had a rough night, first slamming into a spun Steve Kinser in the fourth corner, destroying his first car in the fourth heat before totaling a second car on the final lap of the Open. Shaffer then had to "buy" a car from Aaron Ott in order to run the Summer Nationals make-up feature and not lose too many points.
By virtue of his bad luck, Shaffer now has just a 90-point lead over Hodnett and Mark Smith, with a pair of points races standing in the way of his third Grove title.
QUOTABLE: Greg Hodnett produced one of the classiest yet candid quotes in National Open victory lane.
When asked what he was thinking when he saw the red flag unfurl on the final lap before he could get the checkers ahead of Donny Schatz, Hodnett first asked if he was still on live TV.
When told the SPEED network cameras were no longer rolling, he spoke to the moment.
"I was saying I gotta' get going here! I was like holy heck.' I saw the 15 on the board and thought, Jesus to Pete, I gotta' get Donny Schatz again."
THIS WEEK: The super late models race Friday night at the Grove with the 410 sprints. The Kenny Weld Memorial is at Lincoln on Saturday. And when the Outlaws race this weekend at Rolling Wheels in New York, Cody Darrah is expected to compete in a Kasey Kahne team car -- perhaps a sign of things to come.
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