Donny Schatz, TSR Score Podium Finish At Kokomo; Last Call To Conclude ’20 WoO Season
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN – Fargo, North Dakota’s Donny Schatz was well on his way to a sixth World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory on Saturday evening at Kokomo Speedway.
But Wooster, Ohio-native and fellow Outlaw full-timer, Sheldon Haudenschild, swooped in and stole the spotlight, taking command from Schatz on lap 25 before driving off to secure the $10,000 payday.
Despite being denied the top spot on the podium, Schatz was a prime contender the entire evening at the Kokomo bullring, eventually leading 16 laps of A-Main action after starting second on the grid.
Schatz took command of Kokomo’s main event on lap nine, utilizing traffic as a beneficial roadblock to sneak underneath race leader Haudenschild on the bottom of turns three and four. Suffice it to say, Haudenschild was able to return the favor on lap 25, using the same two corners to dive underneath Schatz and retake command.
“He was better than we were,” Schatz said about Haudenschild at Kokomo Speedway. “He made the top in (turns) one and two work. I wasn’t going to do it. He was up the fence and it just wasn’t me. I tried to make something else work and he got the best of us on that. That’s what got the win.”
Close on all fronts on Saturday night, Schatz, driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Advance Professional/Carquest Auto Parts/Technet Professional Automotive Service/Ford Performance/Mobil 1/Sage Fruit/Curb Records/Absolute Automation & Security/Hunt Brothers Pizza/Digital Ally/J&J Auto Racing/No. 15 sprint car, kicked-off the evening by recording the second-fastest time during his respective group of qualifying time trials, following that effort with a second-place finish during his respective heat race. A runner-up performance during dash action set-up Schatz’ front row starting position.
Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing will conclude their 2020 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series campaign with the two-day World of Outlaws Last Call at The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Friday and Saturday, November 6-7. Schatz will enter the two-day season finale with 64 points separating himself from championship leader, Brad Sweet.
The ten-time World of Outlaws champion last visited The Dirt Track at Charlotte victory lane during the 2018 World Finals finale, conquering the $12,000-to-win 30-lapper from the outside of row five.
