August 10, 2009 (Oskaloosa, IA) - Sammy Swindell showed patience, and emerged victorious in the 14th Annual Musco Lighting Front Row Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa on Monday. The win came after a rain delay lasting over three hours. Very few of the large throng of fans in attendance left, despite the lengthy delay in the All Star Circuit of Champions event.
Swindell earned the pole by virtue of a draw featuring the top eight qualifiers making it through their heats. The popular "King of the Hill" match races were scrapped when a brief, but heavy shower hit after the heat races. Both Swindell and Joey Saldana refused the $50,000 "Front Row Challenge", citing the heavy track conditions as a reason. Forty-five cars filled the pit area for the night's events.
The Germantown, Tennessee driver was aboard the Tom Rolfe #10, and led from start to finish in the 25-lapper. Joey Saldana gave the leader a brief challenge after a lap six restart for a stalled Daryn Pittman, but that was the only real threat to the veteran's winning run. Wayne Johnson had moved up into the top ten from his row seven starting position, but joined Pittman as a lap six retiree. The restart saw Swindell leading Saldana, Donny Schatz, Craig Dollansky and Cale Conley.
Just when the leaders approached lapped traffic on lap 16, Tyler Walker's mount went up in smoke, and Johnny Herrera stalled a lap later. The nine lap dash to the finish saw Swindell hold off all challengers. Dollansky shot under Schatz after the final restart to complete the podium finish, while Schatz, Lance Dewease, Conley, Danny Lasoski, Dale Blaney, Kraig Kinser and Tim Kaeding rounded out the top ten finishers.
Dewease broke Kasey Kahne's event record one-lap time in qualifying with a circuit of 15.231 seconds. Bronson Maeschen, Johnson, Jack Dover and Sam Hafertepe Jr. won 8-lap heats. All heat winners received a Butlerbuilt steering wheel and HRP nose wing kit for their efforts. Maeschen also received a top wing from HRP as he is a customer. Maeschen also won a new Winters' rear-end after topping the drivers finishing first and second in a foot race following the heat events.
Front Row Challenge Results (started): 1. Sammy Swindell 10 (1) 2. Joey Saldana 9 (2) 3. Craig Dollansky 19 (3) 4. Donny Schatz 15 (4) 5. Lance Dewease 30c (5) 6. Cale Conley 3c (6) 7. Danny Lasoski 33 (7) 8. Dale Blaney 2 (8) 9. Kraig Kinser 22K (10) 10. Tim Kaeding 83JR (11) 11. Brian Brown 21 (12) 12. Jack Dover 53 (19) 13. Matthew Reed v92 (23) 14. Bronson Maeschen 1 (13) 15. Ryan Myers 56R (20) 16. Bill Balog 17B (21) 17. Johnny Herrera 2w (16) 18. Tyler Walker 24T (22) 19. Jonathan Allard 0w (18) 20. Wayne Johnson 14AJ (14) 21. Daryn Pittman 17 (9) 22. Tim Shaffer 83 (17) 23. Greg Wilson w20 (15) 24. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (24)
Quick Time: Lance Dewease 15.231 (New Event Record)
Heat one (started): 1. Bronson Maeschen (2) 2. Tim Shaffer (1) 3. Craig Dollansky (3) 4. Lance Dewease (6) 5. Dale Blaney (5) / 6. Brad Sweet 91 (4) 7. Greg Hall 4WA (8) 8. Bill Balog (7) 9. Rager Phillips 7TAZ (11) 10. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (9) 11. Wade Nygaard 9N (10) DNS - Justin Berg 67x
Heat two (started): 1. Wayne Johnson (2) 2. Jonathan Allard (1) 3. Sammy Swindell (4) 4. Donny Schatz (5) 5. Kraig Kinser (3) / 6. Mark Dobmeier 13L (9) 7. Erin Crocker 59 (6) 8. Ryan Myers (7) 9. Jesse Hockett 13 (11) 10. David Gravel 89G (10) 11. Daron Clayton 92 (8)
Heat three (started): 1. Jack Dover (1) 2. Tim Kaeding (3) 3. Greg Wilson (2) 4. Cale Conley (4) 5. Joey Saldana (5) / 6. Daryn Pittman (6) 7. Danny Smith 4 (8) 8. Matthew Reed (7) 9. Ricky Logan 10a (10) 10. Kaley Gharst 7K (9) 11. Terry Babb 21x (11)
Heat four (started): 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1) 2. Johnny Herrera (2) 3. Brian Brown (3) 4. Danny Lasoski (5) 5. Tyler Walker (9) / 6. Fred Rahmer 51 (7) 7. Skip Jackson 2x (8) 8. Ryan Anderson 71R (10) 9. Ryan Bunton 6R (4) 10. Brandon Wimmer 0 (6) DNS - Shane Stewart
B main (started): 1. Daryn Pittman (1) 2. Bill Balog (2) 3. Ryan Myers (3) 4. Matthew Reed (4) / 5. Kaley Gharst (8) 6. Daron Clayton (6) 7. Mark Dobmeier (7) 8. Greg Hall (5) 9. Justin Berg (12) 10. Ryan Anderson (11) 11. Rager Phillips (9) 12. Terry Babb (10) DNS - Erin Crocker, Brad Sweet, Fred Rahmer, Danny Smith, Tony Bruce Jr., Wade Nygaard, Ricky Logan, Skip Jackson, Jesse Hockett, David Gravel, Ryan Bunton, Brandon Wimmer, Shane Stewart