Donny Schatz Wins Second All Star Sprint A-Main In Three Starts During Tuesday’s Visit To East Bay

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – TAMPA, FL – For the second time in three starts, Fargo, North Dakota’s Donny Schatz is an All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner, this time doing so during Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts competition at East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa, Florida.

The ten-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion earned his return to All Star victory lane from the second row, taking command for the first time on lap 15 before fending off a late surge by Ian Madsen and a hard-charging Kerry Madsen. The East Bay win, awarding $6,000, bumped Schatz’ career All Star win total to 20.

“I haven’t been to East Bay since 1993 or 1994. This track is really neat, but it’s also very tricky. You have to respect the place,” Donny Schatz said, driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Carquest/Ford Performance/Curb Records/No. 15 sprint car. “The surface can have some slick spots, as well as some wet sports. The dynamic of the track changes so much. I went wherever I had to go. We’re going to enjoy this one.”

Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason led the first eight circuits at East Bay before getting involved in a tangle with a lapped car. Eliason’s misfortune allowed Monrovia, Illinois’ Justin Peck to inherit the top spot. Peck, driver of the Tom Buch-owned No. 13, started fourth on the Tuesday night grid and had actually worked by Schatz for second one lap prior to the aforementioned caution.

Despite Peck’s attempt to outrun Schatz during the ensuing restart, and once more during another single file restart on lap 12, Schatz would eventually prevail, ultimately slipping by Peck with a move on the bottom of turns three and four on lap 15.

Ian Madsen followed Schatz by Peck to take control of the runner-up spot the following circuit. Madsen did his best to catch the 299-time World of Outlaws winner, but Schatz’ ability to split a pair of lappers on lap 28 sealed the deal. Madsen held on to finish second, followed by his brother Kerry Madsen, who climbed 14 positions to earn the final spot on the podium.

“We have some friends here tonight from Absolute Automation and Security. They are from right up the road,” Donny Schatz continued. “It’s pretty cool to come here and win in front of their hometown crowd.”

The All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue the Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts on Wednesday and Thursday, February 4-5, with back-to-back nights of DIRTcar Nationals action at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida.

For those who can not make the journey to Volusia for the two-day All Star showcase, FloRacing, the official media partner and live broadcast provider of the All Star Circuit of Champions, has you covered. Each and every event on the 2021 All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 schedule will be broadcast live exclusively at www.floracing.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: East Bay Raceway Park – February 2, 2021:
Event: Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts
Entries: 36
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Tony Stewart | 13.455
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Ian Madsen | 12.680
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Steve Buckwalter
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Tim Shaffer
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Donny Schatz
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Ian Madsen
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Cory Eliason
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Terry McCarl
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Bradley Howard
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Donny Schatz
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Kerry Madsen (+14)
Sugarlands Shine Lap 21 Leader: Donny Schatz

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.017; 2. 25-Chris Myers, 13.294; 3. 18J-RJ Jacobs, 13.299; 4. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 13.365; 5. 75-Tyler Ross, 13.379; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.397; 7. O8-Brandon Conkel, 13.955; 8. 15B-Zach Hampton, 13.961; 9. 4b-Billy Boyd Jr., 14.711

Group (B)
1. 14-Tony Stewart, 12.836; 2. 13-Justin Peck, 13.003; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.131; 4. 18-Gio Scelzi, 13.456; 5. 19-Chris Windom, 13.463; 6. 21-Carson Short, 13.573; 7. 88N-Frank Neill, 13.891; 8. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni, 13.904; 9. 27c-Craig Pellegrini, 14.468

Group (C)
1. 11-Ian Madsen, 12.680; 2. 24-Terry McCarl, 12.882; 3. 72-Tim Shaffer, 12.929; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.007; 5. 5-Brent Marks, 13.066; 6. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.069; 7. 101-Kerry Madsen, 13.222; 8. 14R-Sean Rayhall, 13.626; 9. 40i-Mark Imler, 14.124

Group (D)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.959; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.034; 3. 1-Jamie Myers, 13.159; 4. 27-Carson McCarl, 13.315; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel, 13.330; 6. 22C-Cole Duncan, 13.545; 7. 49H-Bradley Howard, 13.556; 8. 3A-AJ Maddox, 13.647; 9. 4x-Danny Smith, 14.184

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [1]; 2. 18J-RJ Jacobs [2]; 3. 75-Tyler Ross [5]; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [4]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 6. 25-Chris Myers [3]; 7. O8-Brandon Conkel [7]; 8. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr. [9]; 9. 15B-Zach Hampton [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 7bc-Tyler Courtney [2]; 2. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [3]; 4. 14-Tony Stewart [4]; 5. 19-Chris Windom [5]; 6. 21-Carson Short [6]; 7. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni [8]; 8. 27c-Craig Pellegrini [9]; 9. 88n-Frank Neill [7]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 72-Tim Shaffer [2]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri [1]; 3. 11-Ian Madsen [4]; 4. 5-Brent Marks [5]; 5. 101-Kerry Madsen [7]; 6. 3C-Cale Conley [6]; 7. 24-Terry McCarl [3]; 8. 40I-Mark Imler [9]; 9. 14R-Sean Rayhall [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 2. 1-Jamie Myers [2]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [6]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel [5]; 6. 49H-Bradley Howard [7]; 7. 3A-AJ Maddox [8]; 8. 27-Carson McCarl [1]; 9. 4X-Danny Smith [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 11-Ian Madsen [2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 3. 14-Tony Stewart [1]; 4. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [4]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [1]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [3]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 5. 72-Tim Shaffer [4]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 24-Terry McCarl [1]; 2. 3C-Cale Conley [2]; 3. 25-Chris Myers [3]; 4. 21-Carson Short [5]; 5. 49H-Bradley Howard [4]; 6. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni [7]; 7. 15B-Zach Hampton [15]; 8. 40I-Mark Imler [10]; 9. O8-Brandon Conkel [8]; 10. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr. [12]; 11. 27C-Craig Pellegrini [11]; 12. 14R-Sean Rayhall [13]; 13. 3a-AJ Maddox [6]; 14. 27-Carson McCarl [9]; 15. 88n-Frank Neill [14]; 16. 4x-Danny Smith [16]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 2. 11-Ian Madsen [1]; 3. 101-Kerry Madsen [17]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [8]; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi [13]; 6. 72-Tim Shaffer [10]; 7. 13-Justin Peck [4]; 8. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 9. 5-Brent Marks [16]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [19]; 11. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 12. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]; 13. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [7]; 14. 21-Carson Short [24]; 15. 73-Scotty Thiel [18]; 16. 24-Terry McCarl [21]; 17. 75-Tyler Ross [14]; 18. 18J-RJ Jacobs [12]; 19. 3C-Cale Conley [22]; 20. 25-Chris Myers [23]; 21. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [9]; 22. 1-Jamie Myers [11]; 23. 22C-Cole Duncan [15]; 24. 19-Chris Windom [20] Lap Leaders: Cory Eliason (1-8), Justin Peck (9-14), Donny Schatz (15-30)