NOVEMBER 29, 2006: Author:
Tony Veneziano, WoO Sprint Series PR Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Jac Haudenschild has won numerous races in his career, and many
of these stick out in his mind. He added a very special victory
to that list this season, at U.S. 36 Raceway in Missouri as
part of the World of Outlaws Sprint Series inaugural visit to
the blazing fast high-banks in front of a standing room only
crowd.
Not
only did his name go down in the record books as the first series
winner at the track, but more importantly he scored the first
series win for veteran owner Rick Wright, who has campaigned
cars on the World of Outlaws trail for a number of years.
After
the victory in early May, Haudenschild followed it up with three
more wins over the course of the spring and summer, including
a thrilling performance at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway in July,
that saw him ride the cushion to charge to the lead with just
three laps to go in a three-wide battle with Joey Saldana and
Craig Dollansky. In one of the most impressive drives all season,
Haudenschild fell from the fourth spot to 10th on the opening
lap and methodically worked his way back into contention on
the tight quarter-mile.
The
native of Wooster, Ohio also made trips to RacinSoles Victory
Lane at Sharon Speedway in his home state in May and in June
at The Raceway @ Powercom Park in Wisconsin. Haudenschild wound
up the year leading 117 laps.
On
the strength of 17 Top-Five finishes, the fan favorite wrapped
up the season fifth in the championship standings. The four
wins he totaled on the year brought his career mark with the
World of Outlaws to 44, which is eighth on the all-time winners
list.
“We
were pretty good,” said Haudenschild, driver of the Wright
One Construction Maxim. “We expected to win a few more
races than we did, but the Rick Wright car was pretty quick.
We’re looking forward to doing it again next year.”
The
season started off on a very positive note for the team, as
Haudenschild scored a runner-up finish in the second race of
the campaign at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida. The always
optimistic driver finished off the early part of the season
by scoring Top-10 runs at USA Race and The Dirt Track @ Las
Vegas Motor Speedway.
A
fifth-place finish at Batesville (Ark.) Speedway wrapped up
the month of March, and he opened April on the same note, scoring
a strong fourth at I-55 Raceway. After some bad luck on the
opening night of a two-day event at Eldora Speedway, one of
his favorite tracks, Haudenschild charged his way to another
fourth-place run.
The
solid finishes continued for the veteran on the bullrings, as
he was fourth at the high-banks of Tri-State (Ind.) Speedway,
followed by the win at U.S. 36 Raceway. A trip north to Huset’s
Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota was next in store, and Haudenschild
was fourth in that event. The string of Top-fives continued
at Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania on May 16, setting the
stage for his win at Sharon Speedway.
The
first trip of the year to New York brought more solid results
for Haudenschild and the team. At Orange County Fair Speedway,
the largest track on the circuit, a spacious 5/8-mile, he came
home third, to begin a stretch of six straight Top-10 finishes.
He followed this up with a 10th-place run at Rolling Wheels
Raceway Park.
On
June 3 at Eldora, Haudenschild lived up his name of “The
Wild Child,” thrilling the fans after racing his way through
the B-main into the A-Feature where he rode the rim and kissed
the wall countless times en route to a stunning fifth-place
run. The following night at the Terre Haute Action Track, he
was sixth.
Haudenschild
racked up a streak of eight Top-10 finishes from the early in
June, until early in July, that were book ended by his win at
The Raceway @ Powercom Park on June 16 and at Lawrenceburg (Ind.)
Speedway on July 7.
Showing
the consistency that helped him remain in the Top-Five in standings
all season, Haudenschild finished no lower than 11th from July
25 until September 16. In that stretch he turned in a stellar
performance in the finale of the Gold Cup Race of Champions,
as he tracked down eventual winner Daryn Pittman with a couple
laps to go, to finish second on the quarter-mile, again riding
the rim and hugging the wall.
While
he has driven for many owners over the years, he feels very
much at home driving for California native Rick Wright, who
assembled a very strong team to tackle the 2006 World of Outlaws
season. Haudenschild especially enjoyed being able to bring
Wright his first World of Outlaws win, a triumph that he has
sought for many years.
“It
felt good to get Rick Wright his first World of Outlaws win,”
he said. “The car was good all year. We had Bonzai (Bruns)
and Paul (Baines) working on the car and they did a good job.
We were a little off and on, and we just have to get a little
more consistent for next year.”
Being
reunited with longtime crew chief Bonzai Bruns, Haudenschild
had the confidence and speed to compete for wins all season
every time the series took to the track.
“We
have worked together for so many years, that we a lot of times
know what each other is thinking,” explained Haudenschild.
“It was a fun year, and I am looking forward to another
one.”
With
large car counts all season, Haudenschild knew the importance
of time trials each and every night. He stopped the clocks first
on three different occasions. Just as impressive, he won seven
dashes on the year, which earned him five pole positions.
“You
have to keep up with the track all night, and follow the track,”
commented Haudenschild. “You have to make the right changes
to the car as the night goes on.”
With
16 different drivers winning A-Feature on the season and 26
drivers leading laps the competition just as tough as Haudenschild
envisioned it before the season. He wound up with 40 Top-10
finishes in the 56 A-Features events that were contested in
2006.
“The
competition was tough this year,” he said. “You
had a lot of guys running real good, and you never knew who
was going to win. We had a lot of different winners this season.
I think it will be just as tough next year.”
Looking
to build momentum for the 2007 season, Haudenschild scored Top-10
finishes in four of the last five events, including a strong
eighth-place run in the season finale at The Dirt Track @ Las
Vegas Motor Speedway. While he will take some time to relax
in the off-season, Haudenschild’s mind is always thinking
about racing.
“The
guys will be building new cars all winter,” he stated.
“I just started to do some racing with my son in the winter,
so I’ll be doing a little motorcycle racing this winter.”
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