Donny Schatz Earns Pair Of Top-Ten Finishes During WoO Visits To I-96 & Wilmot
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN – Although forced to do things the hard way during his first of two starts during the recent weekend, Fargo, North Dakota’s Donny Schatz continued his consistent ways by scoring back-to-back top-ten finishes during World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series competition, one of which inside the top-five.
Schatz, pilot of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Textron Off Road/Ford Performance/Curb Records/Sage Fruit/No. 15 sprint car, finished fourth and eighth during his pair of World of Outlaws starts, kicking things off with a fourth place finish during action at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., on Friday, June 1.
After starting fourth on the feature grid Friday evening as the result of his Craftsman Club Dash finish, Schatz would suffer from a flat tire, ultimately forced to go to the work area and restart at the tail of the field with half of the 35-lapper already complete. In true championship fashion, Schatz rebounded in a big way, charging back through the field to finish fourth at the final checkers.
Schatz continued the weekend with a visit to Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wis., on Saturday, June 2. Although missing the dash due to his fourth place finish during heat race competition, the nine-time and defending World of Outlaws champion lined up tenth on the feature grid and battled ahead two positions to finish eighth at the final checkers. The top-ten performance increased Schatz’s top-ten count to 22 during action against the Greatest Show On Dirt, accomplished in 23 Series starts. Impressive enough, 18 of Schatz’s 22 top-ten finishes have been inside the top-five.
“It wasn’t a bad weekend for our team. The consistency is important, but I would rather be up front,” Donny Schatz explained, who owns nine World of Outlaws wins thus far in 2018. “I have the hardest working team in the business. Being able to battle back and show perseverance is one our qualities. Sometimes you are put in those positions, but you have to stay focused and not get distracted. We have a busy week coming up. We’re going to work as hard as we can to get this No. 15 back up front.”
Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart Racing will continue their path toward the 2018 World of Outlaws championship with four events in five days, first visiting the Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway on Tuesday, June 5.
World of Outlaws action will continue on Thursday through Saturday, June 7-9, with the Jackson Nationals at Jackson (Minn.) Motorplex. The 2018 Jackson Nationals finale on Saturday, June 9, will award a $40,000 payday.
Schatz finished fifth during the 2017 Jackson Nationals finale, igniting the three-race weekend with a pair of fourth place finishes during preliminary competition.
