Jason Meyers no longer is with the World of Outlaws.
But the California driver had the best description of how the Outlaws feel about racing at River Cities Speedway -- the high-banked, quarter-mile bullring that is becoming one of the circuit's more notable tracks.
"You don't blink for 40 laps," said Meyers of RCS.
The Outlaws return to RCS on Friday for the sixth straight season. RCS is one of the smallest tracks on the WoO circuit, meaning leaders have to handle near-constant lapped traffic for most of the 40-lap feature.
Meyers holds the RCS track record of 9.269 seconds (116.517 mph), set during 2009 qualifying.
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But only four drivers have managed to capture WoO wins at RCS -- Craig Dollansky, who won two of the three races last season in Grand Forks, Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz and Joey Saldana.
Saldana, who grew up racing on a bullring track in Bloomington, Ind., won the inaugural WoO event in 2007.
"It's pretty fast," Saldana said. "There is no wall around it except the front straightaway. If you go off the track, it's pretty crazy because it's a drop off."
Because of the track's small size most of the features have come down to the last corner of the last lap -- including last year's classic finish. Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz -- Tony Stewart Racing teammates -- went back and forth for the lead in the closing laps.
Kinser won the race, edging Schatz by a little more than a tenth of a second.
Kinser is this season's WoO season points leader. Schatz is 10 points behind Kinser, while Sammy Swindell is 37 points off the pace.
With the local RCS drivers, a field a more than 30 sprints is expected Friday night.
RCS regular Mark Dobmeier started on the pole during the WoO race last August and finished fifth. Dobmeier raced with the Outlaws last Friday in Spencer, Iowa, and finished third.
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The Outlaws will race at RCS on Aug. 17 as well.
"It's a cool place," Saldana said. "They get a lot of fans and they support it."
Nelson reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1268; (800) 477-6572, ext. 268; or send e-mail to
