CONCORD, N.C. – Audio and story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman – Chris Seelman photo –

In a bizarre affair where just about everything imaginable happened to delay and shuffle the evening’s events, Dusty Zomer took his first career World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series main event victory in his first-ever appearance at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday night.

Zomer led the final nine laps of a shortened 25-lap A-main and held off Pennsylvania Posse ringleader Tim Shaffer for the win despite making contact with Puyallup, Wash. young gun Trey Starks coming off turn four to the checkered flag, pocketing $12,000 for his efforts behind the wheel of the No. 82 Buffalo Wild Wings entry.

“We definitely exceeded our expectations tonight,” said Zomer, a Sioux Falls, S.D. native who inherited the point after Joey Saldana lost the side panel from his top wing and was forced to the work area. “If you’d have said I was going to come down [to Charlotte] for your first time and win and Outlaws show, I would have said you were crazy.”

“I’m definitely happy we were able to get the job done. We were able to position ourselves well and take advantage of people’s misfortunes, but we had a fast hot rod too. This one was definitely worth the wait, with Mother Nature and the nasty flips delaying us and all, but it’s one we’ll celebrate for a long time.”

After taking the win in the six-lap pole dash, Starks led the way to the green flag ahead of Joey Saldana and Shane Stewart. However, the action was quickly slowed by the first caution at lap two when Danny Lasoski went around in turns three and four. On the restart, a jam-up saw Dusty Zomer move to third as Starks ran out to a half-straightaway lead.

Three more laps went in the books before a red flag at lap five saw three-time series champion Sammy Swindell slow up in turn one and Bill Balog make contact with no place to go. The “North Pole Nightmare” went end over end before coming to rest atop the cushion, but Balog climbed out of his car uninjured.

When the race resumed, Starks and Saldana took off running but quickly encountered slower traffic at lap 10 that nearly cost the Washington native the lead. A timely caution at lap 12 for a spinning Shane Stewart allowed him to keep the lead, but under the caution, heartbreak came for the 19-year-old as the Jeff McCall Racing No. 23 was forced to the work area with a broken right front tie rod.

While Starks was able to return to the track, his chances at a maiden World of Outlaws sprint car victory were dashed in an instant.

“I gotta start off by thanking Jeff, because this Champion Racing Oil car has been fast all weekend,” Starks said after the event. “We were lightning-fast. We started on the pole of the dash, won it, and I thought to myself, ‘I might have a chance to do something big here.’”

“The fast way was up around the rough stuff, and sometimes when you run up there you bend some stuff. That’s what happened tonight, it was the right front tie rod on the suspension that got us. It’s a real heartbreaker, we had a super fast car and this track was just hard on equipment. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

With that, Saldana took over the lead in his No. 71 Motter Motorsports entry, and on the restart pulled away from Zomer as Rico Abreu slowed in turns three and four on lap 14. Abreu was able to make it to the infield, but two laps later Tyler Courtney impacted the turn one wall to draw the fourth caution with nine laps remaining.

On the ensuing green flag, Saldana pulled out to a five car-length advantage before the left side panel sheared off his wing and sent him to the work area after the yellow returned for the debris, which came to rest in turn three.

That was the misfortune that allowed Zomer to assume the top spot, and he powered away from Hodnett over the final green flag stint to take the checkered flag.

Hodnett, who finished second, said after the race he thought the caution might have come out for Starks’ spin before the flagstand, but it was not meant to be.

“The biggest difference [keeping me from the win] was that Dusty actually hit a car coming off turn four and I thought, ‘Wow, this might be my chance,’ but they let the lap count. That was pretty much the only shot I had tonight, was trying to get him in traffic. He was pretty good; we were a little tight on starts and restarts and it just didn’t really happen. We were lucky to survive tonight.”

Stevie Smith, Brad Sweet and Bryan Clauson rounded out the top five in an event that finished at 1:56 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday morning.

Smith, Zomer, Chad Kemenah, Clauson, Brian Brown and Terry McCarl won their respective heat races to kick off the night’s racing action, but two of the massive incidents that pushed the program into the wee hours of the morning happened during that slate of six heat races.

Tanner Thorson and Sammy Swindell got together on the opening lap of the first heat race, with Thorson climbing the turn four wall and getting into the catchfence to force repairs that took just over a half hour (click here for additional details). A second incident in heat four – where Paul McMahan flipped into the turn two fencing – necessitated a red flag period lasting almost an hour.

Jason Johnson took the eight-lap D-Main victory at the start of main event action, with “The King of the Outlaws,” Steve Kinser, claiming the C-feature checkers. Swindell took top honors in the 12-lap Last Chance Showdown to lead the six cars who transferred to the night’s main event.

Gates open at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon for the third and final day of action at the Bad Boy Buggies World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte, with hot laps kicking off at 4 p.m. Tickets are still available by calling 1-800-455-FANS.

Audio with race winner Dusty Zomer:

Audio with runner-up Greg Hodnett:

Audio post-race with Trey Starks:

RESULTS: World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series; Bad Boy Buggies World Finals; The Dirt Track at Charlotte; Nov. 6, 2015

A-Main – (25 Laps) – 1. 82-Dusty Zomer [6] [$12,000]; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett [5] [$5,500]; 3. 51S-Stevie Smith [4] [$3,200]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [14] [$2,800]; 5. 17W-Bryan Clauson [8] [$2,500]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [22] [$2,300]; 7. 70-Danny Holtgraver [12] [$2,200]; 8. 24-Terry McCarl [7] [$2,100]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [19] [$2,050]; 10. 9-Daryn Pittman [21] [$2,000]; 11. 29-Kerry Madsen [25] [$500]; 12. 1-Sammy Swindell [11] [$1,200]; 13. 41-Jason Johnson [28] [$100]; 14. 10H-Chad Kemenah [10] [$1,050]; 15. 51-Paul McMahan [26] [$]; 16. 7-David Gravel [15] [$1,000]; 17. 1S-Logan Schuchart [27] [$]; 18. 4-Cody Darrah [20] [$1,000]; 19. 23S-Trey Starks [1] [$1,000]; 20. 11K-Kraig Kinser [29] [$]; 21. 19-Paige Polyak [23] [$1,000]; 22. 71M-Joey Saldana [2] [$1,000]; 23. 23C-Tyler Courtney [13] [$1,000]; 24. 45-Tim Shaffer [17] [$1,000]; 25. 2-Shane Stewart [3] [$1,000]; 26. 24R-Rico Abreu [16] [$1,000]; 27. 2L-Danny Lasoski [24] [$1,000]; 28. 17B-Bill Balog [18] [$1,000]; 29. 21-Brian Brown [9] [$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Trey Starks 1-12, Joey Saldana 13-16, Dusty Zomer 17-25. KSE Hard Charger Award: 15-Donny Schatz [+16]

Qualifying – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell, 12.506; 2. 2-Shane Stewart, 12.624; 3. 71M-Joey Saldana, 12.640; 4. 51S-Stevie Smith, 12.734; 5. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.756; 6. 23C-Tyler Courtney, 12.759; 7. 7-David Gravel, 12.770; 8. 82-Dusty Zomer, 12.809; 9. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.812; 10. 49X-Tanner Thorson, 12.816; 11. 45-Tim Shaffer, 12.817; 12. 94Z-Brock Zearfoss, 12.859; 13. 2L-Danny Lasoski, 12.877; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.887; 15. 11-Steve Kinser, 12.918; 16. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.959; 17. 94-Ryan Smith, 12.985; 18. 33-Dominic Scelzi, 13.002; 19. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 13.045; 20. 44D-Chase Dietz, 13.046; 21. 2LX-Logan Forler, 13.106; 22. 11N-Randy Hannagan, 13.112; 23. 77X-Sam Hafertepe, 13.150; 24. 73-Jevon Ahner, 13.267; 25. 1Z-Stewart Friesen, 13.397; 26. 60-Kory Crabtree, 13.571; 27. 49H-Bradley Howard, 13.648; 28. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.725; 29. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter, nt; 30. 29-Kerry Madsen, 12.594; 31. 27-Greg Hodnett, 12.661; 32. 23S-Trey Starks, 12.682; 33. 17W-Bryan Clauson, 12.712; 34. 21-Brian Brown, 12.734; 35. 24-Terry McCarl, 12.764; 36. 51-Paul McMahan, 12.766; 37. 13-Jac Haudenschild, 12.769; 38. 70-Danny Holtgraver, 12.797; 39. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.815; 40. 24R-Rico Abreu, 12.817; 41. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.823; 42. 4-Cody Darrah, 12.839; 43. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.848; 44. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.850; 45. 19-Paige Polyak, 12.865; 46. 1B-Dale Blaney, 12.867; 47. 98H-Dave Blaney, 12.882; 48. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.891; 49. 19M-Brent Marks, 12.989; 50. 41-Jason Johnson, 12.990; 51. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 13.014; 52. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.015; 53. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.073; 54. 67-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.147; 55. 6T-Cole Duncan, 13.148; 56. 36D-Wayne Dadetto, 13.159; 57. 23M-Lance Moss, 13.299; 58. 47-Eric Riggins Jr, 13.347

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 51S-Stevie Smith [2]; 2. 7-David Gravel [1]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 4. 2L-Danny Lasoski [5]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [10]; 6. 1Z-Stewart Friesen [9]; 7. 5C-Dylan Cisney [7]; 8. 11N-Randy Hannagan [8]; 9. 1-Sammy Swindell [3]; 10. 49X-Tanner Thorson [4]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 82-Dusty Zomer [1]; 2. 2-Shane Stewart [3]; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer [4]; 4. 44D-Chase Dietz [7]; 5. 94-Ryan Smith [6]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 7. 77X-Sam Hafertepe [8]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 9. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter [10]; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree [9]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 23C-Tyler Courtney [2]; 3. 71M-Joey Saldana [3]; 4. 33-Dominic Scelzi [6]; 5. 11-Steve Kinser [5]; 6. 94Z-Brock Zearfoss [4]; 7. 2LX-Logan Forler [7]; 8. 49H-Bradley Howard [9]; 9. 73-Jevon Ahner [8]

Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 17W-Bryan Clauson [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [7]; 4. 29-Kerry Madsen [3]; 5. 4-Cody Darrah [5]; 6. 19-Paige Polyak [6]; 7. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [8]; 8. 67-Sheldon Haudenschild [9]; 9. 23M-Lance Moss [10]; 10. 51-Paul McMahan [1]

Heat 5 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett [3]; 3. 24R-Rico Abreu [4]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [5]; 5. 19M-Brent Marks [7]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]; 7. 6T-Cole Duncan [9]; 8. 47-Eric Riggins Jr [10]; 9. 1B-Dale Blaney [6]; 10. 13-Jac Haudenschild [1]

Heat 6 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 24-Terry McCarl [2]; 2. 70-Danny Holtgraver [1]; 3. 23S-Trey Starks [3]; 4. 98H-Dave Blaney [6]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 6. 36D-Wayne Dadetto [9]; 7. 41-Jason Johnson [7]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [8]

Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 23S-Trey Starks [4]; 2. 71M-Joey Saldana [3]; 3. 2-Shane Stewart [1]; 4. 51S-Stevie Smith [5]; 5. 27-Greg Hodnett [2]; 6. 82-Dusty Zomer [7]; 7. 24-Terry McCarl [10]; 8. 17W-Bryan Clauson [6]; 9. 21-Brian Brown [8]; 10. 10H-Chad Kemenah [9]

D-Main – (6 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the C-Main) – 1. 41-Jason Johnson [2] [$0]; 2. 11N-Randy Hannagan [3] [$0]; 3. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [4] [$100]; 4. 1Z-Stewart Friesen [9] [$100]; 5. 6T-Cole Duncan [12] [$100]; 6. 49H-Bradley Howard [11] [$100]; 7. 36D-Wayne Dadetto [14] [$100]; 8. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [13] [$100]; 9. 73-Jevon Ahner [7] [$100]; 10. 2LX-Logan Forler [1] [$100]; 11. 77X-Sam Hafertepe [5] [$100]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen [6] [$100]; 13. W20-Greg Wilson [8] [$100]; 14. 67-Sheldon Haudenschild [10] [$100]; 15. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter [15] [$100]; 16. 23M-Lance Moss [16] [$100]; 17. 60-Kory Crabtree [17] [$100]; 18. 47-Eric Riggins Jr [18] [$100]

C-Main – (12 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the Last Chance Showdown) – 1. 11-Steve Kinser [1] [-]; 2. 19-Paige Polyak [4] [-]; 3. 44D-Chase Dietz [9] [$150]; 4. 94-Ryan Smith [3] [$150]; 5. 5C-Dylan Cisney [7] [$150]; 6. 98H-Dave Blaney [8] [$125]; 7. 11N-Randy Hannagan [12] [$125]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2] [$125]; 9. 33-Dominic Scelzi [5] [$125]; 10. 41-Jason Johnson [11] [$125]

Last Chance Showdown – (12 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [1] [-]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [8] [-]; 3. 4-Cody Darrah [10] [-]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [12] [-]; 5. 19-Paige Polyak [14] [-]; 6. 2L-Danny Lasoski [9] [-]; 7. 94Z-Brock Zearfoss [7] [$300]; 8. 29-Kerry Madsen [2] [$250]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [11] [$225]; 10. 13-Jac Haudenschild [6] [$200]; 11. 18-Ian Madsen [3] [$200]; 12. 51-Paul McMahan [4] [$200]; 13. 49X-Tanner Thorson [5] [$200]; 14. 11-Steve Kinser [13] [$200]

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

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