Swindell, Doty Challenge Kinser in Opener at Ascot

Sammy Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., and Brad Doty of Fredricksburg, Ohio, two of the big scorers in the California swing on the World of Outlaws tour for winged sprint cars last year, challenge seven-time champion Steve Kinser of Bloomington, Ind., in 1987’s opening round at Ascot Park next Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The versatile Swindell, who spends part of his racing season competing in both stock cars and the open-wheeled American Racing series, and Doty will be matched in night events at Hanford (Feb. 25), San Jose (Feb. 26), Baylands (Feb. 28) and Chico (Mar. 6-7).

When the World of Outlaws broke from their Florida tradition and started their season in California last year, Swindell won both the qualifying main and the feature at Ascot. Doty was the winner at Hanford’s Kings’s Speedway, the only other winter event in the state.

In the group’s fall return to Ascot in October, Swindell took another preliminary main while Doty won the feature. The latter represented Doty’s only other 1986 victory, but it was a big one. He pocketed $24,000 for winning the Pacific Coast Nationals and finishing fifth in a California Racing Assn. nonwinged event the following night.

Swindell, sprint car racing’s second millionaire, was victorious at Placerville, Baylands and Santa Maria on the Outlaws fall tour. He also won another feature at Ascot in September 1985, when the winged sprinters appeared at Ascot for the first time.

Kinser, who won $340,760 in marching to his seventh World of Outlaws championship in nine years (Swindell won the other two), ran his career total earnings to $1.432.557. Swindell’s total is $1,085,380, despite his wanderings in the past couple of years into other areas of the sport.

Kinser and Doty return to California as teammates in the Coors/Gambler house cars, which are built by singer Kenny Rogers’ manager, C.K. Spurlock. Swindell’s car is a Challenger.

Set to challenge this talented trio are Bobby Davis Jr. of Memphis, Tenn., at 24, the best of the younger Outlaws; Jack Haudenschild of Millersburg, Ohio; Pennsylvania’s Bobby Allen and Keith Kauffman and westerners Jimmy Sills of Sacramento and Ron Shuman of Tempe, Ariz.

Davis ran second to Doty in last fall’s Pacific Coast National; Haudenschild beat both the Outlaws and local drivers in the nonwinged Challenge race while Allen is the only driver ever to better 17 seconds for a lap at Ascot. He did it last February when he toured the half-mile oval in 16.797 second.

Shuman, winner of three Pacific Coast Nationals at Ascot before the advent of wings as well as five Turkey Night midget races at Ascot, will be in a Ford-powered car owned by Casey Luna of Albuquerque, N.M.

The local CRA ranks will be represented by the top two drivers from last season, champion Brad Noffsinger of Huntington Beach and Mike Sweeney of Carson.