Schatz Earns Ninth Outlaw Win at Charlotte; Continue Championship Lead
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN – Two World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series starts resulted in two podium finishes for nine-time and defending Series champion, Donny Schatz, kicking-off the long, holiday weekend with a victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte (N.C.) on Friday evening, May 25. For Schatz, the WoO triumph raised his season win total to nine, 11 overall, now with an impressive 20 top-ten finishes in 21 World of Outlaws starts.
Donny Schatz, driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Textron Off Road/Ford Performance/Curb Records/Sage Fruit/No. 15 sprint car, earned his victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte from the pole position. Although earning the evening’s pole by way of dash victory, Schatz did not lead the entire feature distance. Fellow front row starter, Shane Stewart, earned the early advantage and led up until the 23rd circuit with Schatz in tow. As Stewart attempted to negotiate the lapped car of Jason Sides on lap 24, Schatz was able to slide by, immediately extending his lead to an eventual 1.6 seconds at the final checkers.
“We’ve been short a [crew] guy all year. I can’t take credit for this, I just drive the thing. These guys have dug and dug through all the adversity this season. We seem to get better through adversity though. I can’t wait for the next time we race,” Schatz said regarding his Charlotte victory.
Schatz concluded his holiday weekend campaign with a runner-up finish at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind., on Monday, May 28. The Fargo, N.D., native faded as far back as fourth during the Memorial Day Spectacular before recovering for the runner-up finish, actually leading laps 10-25 before giving up the top spot to eventual winner, Brad Sweet. David Gravel was also able to apply pressure on Schatz late, ultimately working around the Tony Stewart Racing entry to push Schatz back to third with less than ten circuits to go. Fortunately, a caution with three laps remaining gave Schatz an opportunity to work back by Gravel, eventually succeeding. Schatz secured his spot in the evening’s main event by winning his respective heat race.
Up next on the schedule, Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart Racing will enter three World of Outlaws programs in four days, ready to invade Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, respectively. Schatz’s busy week and weekend will commence tomorrow evening – Wednesday, May 30 – with an appearance at Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway, followed by stops at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich, on Friday, June 1, and Wilmot (Wis.) Raceway on Saturday, June 2.
Schatz will enter the three-race stretch on top of the current World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series standings by 108 markers over Kasey Kahne Racing’s Brad Sweet.
