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WoO: Saldana Takes Lone Star Speedway
Joey Saldana may not win the 2009 World of Outlaws' championship but at least he has the satisfaction of knowing that nobody won more races or led more laps.
Robin Miller  |  Posted October 25, 2009   Kilgore, TX
Saldana held off Sam Hefertepe, Jr. for the win. (Boyd Adams)
Joey Saldana may not win the 2009 World of Outlaws' championship but at least he has the satisfaction of knowing that nobody won more races or led more laps.

Saldana scored his 19th victory of the season Saturday night at the Lone Star Speedway in domineering fashion -- leading all 30 laps in his Kasey Kahne-owned Budweiser Maxium/Dodge.

It was a replay of his rout last April on this fast half-mile near the Louisiana state line and it was set up by his qualifying run (second), heat race performance (second) and then the all-important draw for the Top 10 starting spots (first).

"I couldn't ask for a better car or engine and every now and then you just have one of those perfect nights," said Saldana, who finished comfortably ahead of local favorite Sam Harfertepe Jr. and 20-time WOO king Steve Kinser.

"We haven't been qualifying as well as Donny (Schatz) or Jason (Meyers) but nobody has raced any better. Tonight, Speedway Engines gave me what we needed and we did what we had to do."

Saldana who has now led a season-high 462 laps, went into the show in third place, 57 points behind leader Schatz. He headed for the season finale at Charlotte in two weeks 46 points in arrears as the three-time WOO champ finished sixth but earned five points for setting quick time.

And, even though Meyers ran fourth after starting seventh, he still one point and a little ground to Schatz and now trails by 19 points with two A Mains remaining.

"We had a little issue with our engine in the feature but we salvaged the night and that's the mark of a championship team," said Schatz, a 12-time winner in '09 who drives the Fastenal J&J/Chevy for Tony Stewart and is trying to lock up his fourth consecutive WOO title.

"We qualified strong and that's been a key all year."
Joey Saldana made it a clean sweep winning every WoO feature in Texas, with a win at Lonestar Speedway Saturday night. (Boyd Adams)

Hafertepe, who helps his dad run this track, started out 2009 running the full WOO schedule but got snarked out of a sponsor and had to become a part-timer. But, after dropping back a straightaway early, he closed in on Saldana in traffic and kept his honest to the checkered flag.

"I hated to see that cation (Lap 22) come out because we might have had something for Joey with all the traffic but I'm happy, we're a little family team and we've shown all season we can run with these guys," he said.

"I think we were one of the guys to beat several times this year and I'm going to win one of these deals real soon."
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