CONCORD, N.C. — Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Chris Seelman photo —

Call them the top dogs.

Three-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Sammy Swindell (Friday) and leading 2015 qualifier Joey Saldana (Saturday) topped their respective qualifying groups at the Bad Boy Buggies World Finals on Thursday night at the Dirt Track at Charlotte, putting themselves into their heat race inversions and showing off an impressive display of speed at the fast four-tenths mile oval.

Swindell’s quick lap of 12.506 seconds came in Qualifying Flight A for the Friday group, and Saldana’s slower clip of 12.904 seconds came in Flight A for the Saturday session of two-lap time trials. Both will start their respective heats from third on Friday night.

“It’s real good (to qualify up front) because it puts you in good position to get locked in for the Dash and sit in a solid starting spot for the main event,” Swindell said after recording his third quick time of the 2015 season at the controls of the No. 1 Big Game Treestands/CJB Motorsports entry. “It’s been tough all day today. The rain has made the track real soft, and it’s rutted up pretty deep, so with the heavier cars out there it just pushes the dirt around and makes it really bumpy. Tonight was a challenge, but we made it through and showed a lot of speed, so we’re happy with it.”

Flight ‘B’ quick man Kerry Madsen (12.594), Shane Stewart, Saldana and Greg Hodnett rounded out the overall ‘Fast Five’ in Friday’s two-flight, two-lap qualifying session.

Saldana’s effort during the Saturday round was his series-leading 17th quick time of the 2015 season and gives his Motter Motorsports team a bright spot to grab onto as they close their 2015 season with uncertainty about the future. Team owner Dan Motter announced last week that the organization is in need of a major sponsor in order to compete full-time in 2016.

“The first time we drew (a) one, and I hate going out first,” Saldana laughed. “I never know what to expect when that happens. I don’t think I ran the car in the right part of the race track (in the first session) so the second time out I got to watch some guys and figure out a little better of what worked.”

“Going out late, you get nervous whether you’ll have enough or not, but my car was flawless and a pleasure to drive. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and Saturday — hopefully we can close out the season with a win for Motter Motorsports.”

Going into Friday and Saturday, Saldana added that the qualifying runs give him a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season.

“We’ve had fast cars all year — we just need to finish it off,” Saldana said. “We’ve done it a few times but not enough. Hopefully we can do it again this weekend. It’s a great venue to race at and a lot people get to see us that don’t normally get to see us. I’ve been lucky enough to win here a couple of times, so hopefully we can do that in the next few days.”

Brad Sweet, Flight ‘B’ fast qualifier Brent Marks (12.920), Hodnett and David Gravel made up the balance of the ‘Fast Five’ for the Saturday groups.

Heat race lineups for Friday will see Gravel, Dusty Zomer, Chad Kemenah, Paul McMahan, Jac Haudenschild and Danny Holtgraver lead their respective fields to green for the eight-lap dashes. The top three in each heat race will transfer to Friday night’s 30-lap main event.

Gates open at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon for the second 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.

RESULTS: World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series; Bad Boy Buggies World Finals; The Dirt Track at Charlotte; Nov. 5, 2015

Friday Qualifying Session

Qualifying Flight 1 — 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

Qualifying Flight 2 — 1. 29-Kerry Madsen, 12.594; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett, 12.661; 3. 23S-Trey Starks, 12.682; 4. 17W-Bryan Clauson, 12.712; 5. 21-Brian Brown, 12.734; 6. 24-Terry McCarl, 12.764; 7. 51-Paul McMahan, 12.766; 8. 13-Jac Haudenschild, 12.769; 9. 70-Danny Holtgraver, 12.797; 10. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.815; 11. 24R-Rico Abreu, 12.817; 12. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.823; 13. 4-Cody Darrah, 12.839; 14. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.848; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.850; 16. 19-Paige Polyak, 12.865; 17. 1B-Dale Blaney, 12.867; 18. 98H-Dave Blaney, 12.882; 19. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.891; 20. 19M-Brent Marks, 12.989; 21. 41-Jason Johnson, 12.990; 22. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 13.014; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.015; 24. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.073; 25. 67-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.147; 26. 6T-Cole Duncan, 13.148; 27. 36D-Wayne Dadetto, 13.159; 28. 23M-Lance Moss, 13.299; 29. 47-Eric Riggins Jr, 13.347

Saturday Qualifying Session

Qualifying Flight 1 — 1. 71M- Joey Saldana, 12.904; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.919; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett, 12.930; 4. 2-Shane Stewart, 12.990; 5. 67-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.994; 6. 29-Kerry Madsen, 13.025; 7. 45-Tim Shaffer, 13.031; 8. 51S-Stevie Smith, 13.047; 9. 70-Danny Holtgraver, 13.080; 10. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.099; 11. 19-Paige Polyak, 13.107; 12. 4-Cody Darrah, 13.122; 13. 23C-Tyler Courtney, 13.135; 14. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.136; 15. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.148; 16. 24R-Rico Abreu, 13.200; 17. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.204; 18. 41-Jason Johnson, 13.212; 19. 82-Dusty Zomer, 13.214; 20. 21-Brian Brown, 13.216; 21. 49X-Tanner Thorson, 13.294; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.295; 23. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.311; 24. 11N-Randy Hannagan, 13.380; 25. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.385; 26. 1Z-Stewart Friesen, 13.425; 27. 2LX-Logan Forler, 13.454; 28. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.511; 29. 77X-Sam Hafertepe, 13.609

Qualifying Flight 2 — 1. 19M-Brent Marks, 12.920; 2. 7-David Gravel, 12.934; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.961; 4. 17W-Bryan Clauson, 13.029; 5. 23S-Trey Starks, 13.041; 6. 2L-Danny Lasoski, 13.044; 7. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.071; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.072; 9. 13-Jac Haudenschild, 13.098; 10. 24-Terry McCarl, 13.104; 11. 1B-Dale Blaney, 13.158; 12. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.169; 13. 51-Paul McMahan, 13.180; 14. 6T-Cole Duncan, 13.194; 15. 33-Dominic Scelzi, 13.290; 16. 94-Ryan Smith, 13.318; 17. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 13.355; 18. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 13.418; 19. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter, 13.438; 20. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.514; 21. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.528; 22. 94Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.531; 23. 44D-Chase Dietz, 13.587; 24. 47-Eric Riggins Jr, 13.709; 25. 23M-Lance Moss, 13.712; 26. 60-Kory Crabtree, 13.966; 27. 49H-Bradley Howard, 14.031; 28. 36D-Wayne Dadetto, 14.332; 29. 73-Jevon Ahner, 14.401

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.

Email Jacob at: [email protected]

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