Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

SILVER CUP TRIUMPH: David Gravel scores $25K win at Lernerville Speedway
Gravel claims fifth win of the season and second Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup victory

SARVER, PA – July 23, 2019 – The No. 41 Jason Johnson Racing Sprint Car roared around Lernerville Speedway with the ferocity of a starved stomach. It was a manifestation of the driver’s mentality.

David Gravel was hungry for a big win. After three podiums in-a-row at Eldora Speedway, leading up to the Kings Royal, he had to settle for a fifth-place finish at the prestigious event. His appetite was not appeased.

On Tuesday night at the $25,000-to-win Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup, the Watertown, Conn.-native was not going to let his hunger go untamed again. He led 26 laps of the 40-lap Feature, lapped up to 13th and crossed the finish line four seconds ahead of second-place to claim his third win at Lernerville Speedway and fifth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory of the year.

“Our team deserves a win after a week like last week (at Eldora),” Gravel said. “To make it a $25,000 win is good. You want to win Jackson (Nationals). You want to win the Kings Royal. But this will do for now.”

He secured the win by finding grip where few others could.

“I didn’t have to rely on the top,” Gravel said. “I think 90 percent of the guys relied on the top in the Heat race, relied on the top in the Dash and there in the beginning of the [Feature]. I didn’t have to. I think it (the top) was just going to get thinner and thinner as it went on. I just never relied on it all night. We just kept working below it.”

He nearly won his Drydene Heat by running the middle and bottom of the track, while leader Donny Schatz relied on the top. Gravel then went on to finish fourth in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, continuing to test the lower groove of the track.

He was picky with the set up, he said. The Jason Johnson Racing team worked on it all night to get the car right for the Feature.

When the 40-lap event went green, second-place James McFadden, in the Wicked Energy Gum No. 9 car, blasted by polesitter Shane Stewart for the lead and clung to the high side of the track. Running the middle lane behind him, Gravel went from fourth-place to second in the first corner.

Neither could build run as the caution came out on the first lap for a car stopped in turn two.

When the race went back green, Gravel dove under McFadden in turn one, but didn’t have a strong enough run off the corner that could compete with the momentum McFadden carried around the high side of the track.

McFadden began to pull away running the top, while Gravel worked the middle of the track. Five laps later, another caution.

On the restart, Gravel attempted another dive bomb underneath McFadden into turn one. This time, he was ahead of the Australian exiting turn two, but McFadden, again, had the faster run off the corner and sprinted back to the lead.

Behind them, Kyle Larson lurked. He had already made his way from sixth to third. The NASCAR-star, and Series team owner, poked his nose under Gravel into turn one, but Gravel got to the throttle quicker and launched off the corner.

While McFadden mostly stuck to the high line, Gravel found his rhythm through the middle lane. With 25 laps to go, Gravel placed his Mesilla Valley Transportation No. 41 in McFadden’s peripheral view through turns three and four. McFadden had the stronger run off the corner and ducked to the bottom of the track in turn one. Gravel switched his line to the high side and drove around McFadden for the lead off turn two.

“I think he never ran the line I did,” Gravel said. “He ran high and he kind of ran lower. Sometimes it’s better to run second. Kind of had a line figured out that I ran all night long. We got the car better to run it."

Four laps later, Larson made his way by McFadden for second and began his quest for back-to-back Silver Cup victories. Halfway through the race he began to close the gap on Gravel. And lap traffic was in sight.

However, the slower traffic seemed to only make Gravel faster. With 11 laps to go he began to extend the distance between he and Larson. With three laps to go, he had a 4.6 second advantage over the No. 57 car and had lapped 13th-place Ian Madsen.

“I thought I had a shot the first time we got to little bit heavy traffic, but once we got to the heavier stuff he did a really good job getting through it,” Larson said. “I didn’t really feel like I got hung up, he just got through it really fast. I just needed a little bit more to be able to move around and run the lines he was running.”

The last five laps were tricky, though. Gravel said the track got slick and he “was just holding on” at the end. Larson closed the gap to about four seconds at the end, but Gravel held on to claim his second Silver Cup win and 44th career victory.

“It’s awesome to win another one of these,” Gravel said.

With two wins in the last seven races and a string of 13 top-five finishes in the last 14 races, Gravel has slowly been working his way into the battle for the points lead with current leader Brad Sweet, and 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz. With Sweet finishing fourth and Schatz finishing fifth at Lernerville, Gravel is now 112 points behind Sweet, and 90 points behind Schatz. He’s gained 48 points on Sweet in the last 11 races.

However, points aren’t the main focus at the moment. He wants to win. With $28,000 on the line this weekend during the doubleheader at Williams Grove Speedway and the $150,000-to-win Knoxville Nationals coming up, there are still several big races to crave during the “months of money.”

“There’s more money on the line the rest of the year, so hopefully we can keep this rolling and win some more big races,” Gravel said.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27, will be at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. for the Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals. Get tickets and more information.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 7/23/19 – Lernerville Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 41-David Gravel [4][$25,000]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [6][$7,000]; 3. 9-James McFadden [2][$5,000]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [5][$4,000]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$3,000]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3][$2,900]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [12][$2,800]; 8. 5-Shane Stewart [1][$2,700]; 9. 83-Daryn Pittman [11][$2,600]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [21][$2,500]; 11. 1-Logan Wagner [9][$2,400]; 12. 18-Ian Madsen [13][$2,300]; 13. 2-Carson Macedo [10][$2,200]; 14. 19-Brent Marks [8][$2,100]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser [18][$2,000]; 16. 4N-Dale Blaney [17][$1,500]; 17. 7K-Dan Shetler [16][$1,300]; 18. 48-Danny Dietrich [15][$1,200]; 19. 2AJ-A.J. Flick [14][$1,200]; 20. 3C-Cale Conley [23][$1,200]; 21. K4-Chad Kemenah [24][$1,200]; 22. 42-Sye Lynch [22][$1,200]; 23. 7S-Jason Sides [19][$1,200]; 24. 13-Brandon Matus [20][$1,200]; 25. 11-Carl Bowser [25];
Lap Leaders: James McFadden 1-14, David Gravel 15-40;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+11]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.838; 2. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.844; 3. 9-James McFadden, 13.99; 4. 19-Brent Marks, 14.166; 5. 4N-Dale Blaney, 14.236; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich, 14.239; 7. 1-Logan Wagner, 14.25; 8. 83-Daryn Pittman, 14.301; 9. 18-Ian Madsen, 14.498; 10. 42-Sye Lynch, 14.536; 11. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.615; 12. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.061; 13. 11-Carl Bowser, 15.074; 14. C1-Clay Riney, 15.124; 15. J4-John Garvin, 15.425; 16. O8-Dan Kuriger, 15.514; 17. 1A-Jacob Allen, 15.515; 18. 250-Jared McFarland, 15.541; 19. 14-Jeremy Hill, 15.767; 20. 76-Davey Jones, 16.388; 21. 4K-Bill Kiley, 16.459

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.939; 2. 41-David Gravel, 13.994; 3. 57-Kyle Larson, 14.014; 4. 15-Donny Schatz, 14.395; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.447; 6. 3C-Cale Conley, 14.499; 7. 2-Carson Macedo, 14.689; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 14.827; 9. 2AJ-A.J. Flick, 14.912; 10. 40-George Hobaugh, 15.073; 11. K4-Chad Kemenah, 15.13; 12. 13-Brandon Matus, 15.19; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.24; 14. 7K-Dan Shetler, 15.266; 15. 53-Jesse Attard, 15.609; 16. 33-Brent Matus, 15.88; 17. 91-Tony Fiore, 15.891; 18. 55-Dallas Schott, 16.284; 19. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer, 16.351; 20. 55K-Gary Kriess, NT

DRYDENE Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 9-James McFadden [2]; 3. 1-Logan Wagner [4]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [5]; 5. 4N-Dale Blaney [3]; 6. 11-Carl Bowser [7]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [6]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [9]; 9. J4-John Garvin [8]; 10. 14-Jeremy Hill [10]; 11. 4K-Bill Kiley [11]

DRYDENE Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [2]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 6. 42-Sye Lynch [5]; 7. C1-Clay Riney [7]; 8. O8-Dan Kuriger [8]; 9. 250-Jared McFarland [9]; 10. 76-Davey Jones [10]

DRYDENE Heat #3 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 2AJ-A.J. Flick [5]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 7. K4-Chad Kemenah [6]; 8. 53-Jesse Attard [8]; 9. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [10]; 10. 91-Tony Fiore [9]

DRYDENE Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 41-David Gravel [1]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4]; 4. 7K-Dan Shetler [7]; 5. 13-Brandon Matus [6]; 6. 3C-Cale Conley [3]; 7. 40-George Hobaugh [5]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [8]; 9. 55-Dallas Schott [9]; 10. 55K-Gary Kriess [10]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 9-James McFadden [2]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 4. 41-David Gravel [6]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 6. 57-Kyle Larson [7]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [8]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [5]

C-Main (10 Laps) – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen [1][]; 2. 91-Tony Fiore [2][]; 3. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [6][$150]; 4. 55-Dallas Schott [4][$150]; 5. 14-Jeremy Hill [5][$150]; 6. 250-Jared McFarland [3][$125]; 7. 4K-Bill Kiley [9][$125]; 8. 76-Davey Jones [7][$125]; 9. 55K-Gary Kriess [8][$125]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2][]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch [1][]; 3. 3C-Cale Conley [4][]; 4. K4-Chad Kemenah [8][]; 5. 40-George Hobaugh [6][$500]; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler [3][$400]; 7. C1-Clay Riney [7][$350]; 8. J4-John Garvin [9][$300]; 9. O8-Dan Kuriger [11][$300]; 10. 11-Carl Bowser [5][$275]; 11. 1A-Jacob Allen [13][$250]; 12. 53-Jesse Attard [10][$200]; 13. 91-Tony Fiore [14][$200]; 14. 33-Brent Matus [12][$200]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

RECLAIMING THE THRONE: Brad Sweet wins $175,000 Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway
Sweet wins the biggest purse in Sprint Car history and his second Kings Royal victory

ROSSBURG, OH – July 20, 2019 – Flaming towers burst into the air around the prestigious wooden throne. It was a signal. A celebration. The throne had a new king.

King Brad Sweet.

“Holy shit! Yeah!” Sweet yelled with the last few pockets of air in his lungs.

The Grass Valley, Calif.-native won his second Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway Saturday night. And this time it paid an unprecedented $175,000 to win.

“A hundred and seventy-five mother grand!” Sweet bellowed out once he regained his breath.

Since the inception of the prestigious event in 1984, it has always paid $50,000 – which was still one of the largest paying purses for Sprint Car racing in the country last year. But for the 36th year of the race, track owner Tony Stewart raised it to be the largest.

“Sprint car racers make money based off how they finish,” Sweet said. “When you have a race that pays $175,000 to win and basically $20,000 for second, it’s kind of all or nothing coming in here. I’m a fan of it. It’s nerve-racking. It gets the fans’ attention. It’s what we need in this sport.

“It’s intense all night long. All day. Under the red. Basically, if you don’t win the race it’s a missed opportunity. You only get so many of these opportunities. So, I’m just happy and want to cherish the moment.”

Claiming his second Kings Royal victory – 11th World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory of the year and 45th Series win over all – required Sweet to battle all night long. Battle the competition and battle through the Kings Royal’s 2019 format.

He started the long night qualifying 18th, which placed him in the fourth starting position for his Drydene Heat race. With a daring slide job on the first lap to go from fourth to the lead, Sweet cruised to the Heat win.

With his Heat race being the first one of the night, under the event’s format, he was placed sixth in the line up for the 40-lap Feature.

On the pole was three-time Kings Royal winner Sammy Swindell, in his son Kevin Swindell’s No. 39 car. To his outside was 10-time Series champion and five-time Kings Royal winner Donny Schatz – who had also won two of the last three races at Eldora during the week; Sweet won the other race.

Once the final sparks of fireworks fell into the dark of the night and the field of 24-cars filed back in line two-by-two, the anxiety and anticipation of the night was about to fade away with the drop of the green flag.

Leading the charge off turn four, Swindell charged to the high side on the start, while Schatz dove underneath him. Swindell had the better run on the top, though, and powered to the lead off turn two.

Behind them, Sweet split Cory Eliason and Aaron Reutzel, charging between them down the front stretch and launched to fourth-place in the first corner.

Swindell maintained his lead over Schatz for the next three laps, before the first caution of the night flew for Tom Harris coming to a stop on the track. When the race went back green Sweet threw another massive slide job into turn one, going from fourth to the lead. However, another caution came out before the lap was complete – placing cars back in their starting order before the restart.

The field lined up single file and Swindell pulled away from Schatz on the start, putting about a three-car length distance between them.

While Swindell led, Schuchart was forging a strong run. By Lap eight, the Drydene No. 1s car had already made its way from 12th to fourth and then bolted by Sweet for third. Two laps later he torpedoed his car into turn three, diving past Schatz and Swindell by the exit of turn four.

After not transferring into the Kings Royal last year, Schuchart was now leading and running away with the event this year.

Sweet fought his way past Schatz for second-place by Lap 15, but couldn’t match Schuchart’s pace. By Lap 25, Schuchart had a 2.5 second lead over Sweet and was poised to increase it riding the cushion around the track.

However, with the flash of yellow lights around the speedway, “The Big Cat” Sweet was brought to the bumper of the Shark Racing car.

Due to the long nature of the race, an open red was called, giving crews the chance to add fuel to their car, insuring it could make it to the end of the 40-lap race around the half-mile track.

On the restart, with 15 laps to go, Sweet continued to make a case for claiming the title of “restart king.” He throttled passed the outside of Schuchart before the flag stand and latched on to the cushion for momentum to pull away.

“Honestly, to be dead honest, I didn’t want to see the red,” Sweet said. “I felt like I just found the top in (turns) three and four and Logan hadn’t known about it. I think I found some speed there I was going to be able to make some moves with. We didn’t touch the race car, we put five gallons of fuel in it. I told my guys I was just going to put it to the fence and go for it.”

Schuchart said restarts had been an issue for him all week long. His car struggled to take off from the start.

“That’s part of the game,” Schuchart said. “We didn’t get the job done in that part of the race.”

Sweet used the high line during Wednesday’s Jokers Wild event to out duel Schatz for the win and it was working for him again Saturday night. Schuchart couldn’t build enough of a run again to make a charge at the NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car.

With about eight laps to go, a new winged-warrior joined the battle. From his 16th starting position, Brent Marks drove by Schatz for third-place like he founded 10 extra horsepower on the track. Schuchart was next. With three laps to go, the two Pennsylvania-natives waged war for second-place. Marks pulled a slide job on Schuchart in turn one and had the position exiting turn two, but Schuchart had the better run down the backstretch and reclaimed second. Marks wouldn’t let Schuchart out of his sight, staying within striking distance lap after lap. However, the laps ran out.

Sweet left the Pennsylvanians to battle for second, while he charged to the Kings Royal victory and the big $175,000 check.

“You have to pinch me. It feels surreal,” Sweet said.

Schuchart crossed the line second with Marks two-tenths of a second behind him in third.

“Hell, we started twelfth and led the Kings Royal, that’s something to be proud about,” Schuchart said. “To be leading this race with all of the people in this pit supporting me, it’s a great feeling. I didn’t make the show last year. We went from not making the show to out here in the top-five every single night.”

While Marks ran out of time to try and make a run at Sweet, he left with confidence in his strong run and the hard charger award.

“This car was badass tonight,” Marks said. “That was a fun race. The track was perfect tonight. You could get up against that wall and just hold the throttle down and carry the momentum. I was trying like hell to get to second.”

When Sweet won the first big paying race of the year, the $41,000-to-win Jackson Nationals, he was jubilant. After winning the $175,000 at Eldora Speedway, jubilant would only be strong enough to describe his smile. After climbing out of his car, Sweet leaped about a foot in the air onto the Victory Lane stage with his arm held high. He couldn't inhale air fast enough to continue his joyous yelling spree.

With the cloak on his back and the crown placed on his head, he was king. The wooden throne was his – for a few minutes. The $175,000 check, though, is going home with him.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Tuesday, July 23, will be at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. for the $25,000-to-win Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. Get tickets and more information.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 7/20/19 – Kings Royal – Eldora Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [6][$175,000]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [12][$20,000]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [16][$15,000]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$12,500]; 5. 41-David Gravel [11][$10,000]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$7,500]; 7. 39-Sammy Swindell [1][$6,500]; 8. 3-Jac Haudenschild [10][$6,000]; 9. 49X-Tim Shaffer [8][$5,500]; 10. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3][$5,000]; 11. 12N-Joey Saldana [18][$4,750]; 12. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [15][$4,500]; 13. 18-Ian Madsen [21][$4,000]; 14. 5-Shane Stewart [24][$3,750]; 15. 11-Dale Blaney [14][$3,500]; 16. 24-Rico Abreu [17][$3,450]; 17. 26-Cory Eliason [5][$3,400]; 18. 91-Cale Thomas [7][$3,350]; 19. 83-Daryn Pittman [13][$3,300]; 20. 70-Brock Zearfoss [23][$3,250]; 21. 92-Sye Lynch [19][$3,200]; 22. 70X-Justin Peck [22][$3,150]; 23. 84-Tom Harris [20][$3,100]; 24. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4][$3,000];
Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-10, Logan Schuchart 11-25, Brad Sweet 26-40;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+13]

Qualifying – 1. 92-Sye Lynch, 13.019; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.127; 3. 84-Tom Harris, 13.148; 4. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.159; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.16; 6. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.191; 7. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.215; 8. 22-Cole Duncan, 13.217; 9. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.225; 10. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.226; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.228; 12. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 13.239; 13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.244; 14. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.27; 15. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.273; 16. 19-Brent Marks, 13.284; 17. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.302; 18. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.302; 19. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.305; 20. 12N-Joey Saldana, 13.309; 21. 70X-Justin Peck, 13.321; 22. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.327; 23. 21-Brian Brown, 13.334; 24. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.349; 25. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.36; 26. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.367; 27. 11-Dale Blaney, 13.371; 28. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.38; 29. 19P-Paige Polyak, 13.383; 30. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.399; 31. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.404; 32. 39-Sammy Swindell, 13.42; 33. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.435; 34. 9-James McFadden, 13.441; 35. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 13.457; 36. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.463; 37. 7-Jason Sides, 13.474; 38. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.475; 39. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.495; 40. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.5; 41. 41-David Gravel, 13.502; 42. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.512; 43. 1ST-Gary Taylor, 13.513; 44. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.537; 45. 23-Hunter Schuerenburg, 13.551; 46. 71M-Paul May, 13.588; 47. 85-Dustin Daggett, 13.595; 48. 17XL-Caleb Helms, 13.604; 49. 4-Cap Henry, 13.635; 50. 18J-R.J. Jacobs, 13.64; 51. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 13.658; 52. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 13.673; 53. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.708; 54. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle, 13.721; 55. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 13.737; 56. 28-Brian Paulus, 13.743; 57. 64-Scotty Thiel, 13.752; 58. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.814; 59. 33W-Michael Walter, 13.847; 60. 14M-Marcus Dumesny, 14.059; 61. 25R-Mitchell Harble, 14.228; 62. 10P-Jim Perricone, 14.962

Drydene Heat #1 (10 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 2. 91-Cale Thomas [1]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [6]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen [3]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 6. 17XL-Caleb Helms [8]; 7. 7S-Tim Kaeding [5]; 8. 98H-Dave Blaney [7]; 9. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [10]; 10. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [9]

Drydene Heat #2 (10 Laps) – 1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [2]; 4. 70X-Justin Peck [3]; 5. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [5]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [7]; 7. 23-Hunter Schuerenburg [8]; 8. 64-Scotty Thiel [10]; 9. 71-Ayrton Olsen [9]

Drydene Heat #3 (10 Laps) – 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 3. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [5]; 4. 5-Shane Stewart [3]; 5. 7-Jason Sides [7]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [9]; 7. 1ST-Gary Taylor [8]; 8. 2-Carson Macedo [2]; 9. 2L-Landon Lalonde [10]; 10. 25R-Mitchell Harble [11]

Drydene Heat #4 (10 Laps) – 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [4]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [6]; 5. 9-James McFadden [1]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee [10]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 8. 71M-Paul May [8]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo [7]; 10. 49D-Shawn Dancer [9]

Drydene Heat #5 (10 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [6]; 2. 41-David Gravel [7]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 4. 19P-Paige Polyak [2]; 5. A79-Brandon Wimmer [1]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [3]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 8. 85-Dustin Daggett [8]

Drydene Heat #6 (10 Laps) – 1. 39-Sammy Swindell [1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 3. 12N-Joey Saldana [3]; 4. 70-Brock Zearfoss [4]; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs [2]; 6. 22-Cole Duncan [5]; 7. 3C-Cale Conley [8]; 8. K4-Chad Kemenah [7]; 9. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [9]; 10. 28-Brian Paulus [10]; 11. 10P-Jim Perricone [11]

C-Main (12 Laps) – 1. 7S-Tim Kaeding [1][-]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [4][-]; 3. 3C-Cale Conley [6][-]; 4. 2-Carson Macedo [9][-]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5][-]; 6. 23-Hunter Schuerenburg [2][-]; 7. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [13][$500]; 8. 25R-Mitchell Harble [19][$450]; 9. 71-Ayrton Olsen [14][$400]; 10. 49D-Shawn Dancer [20][$375]; 11. 85-Dustin Daggett [11][$350]; 12. 10P-Jim Perricone [22][$350]; 13. 1ST-Gary Taylor [3][$350]; 14. 71M-Paul May [10][$350]; 15. 2L-Landon Lalonde [15][$350]; 16. 98H-Dave Blaney [7][$350]; 17. K4-Chad Kemenah [12][$350]; 18. 64-Scotty Thiel [8][$350]; 19. 5T-Travis Philo [16][$350]; 20. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [17][$350]; 21. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [18][$350]; 22. 28-Brian Paulus [21][$350]; 23. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [23][$350]; 24. 33W-Michael Walter [24][$350]

Last Chance Showdown (15 Laps) – 1. 18-Ian Madsen [4][-]; 2. 70X-Justin Peck [2][-]; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss [6][-]; 4. 5-Shane Stewart [3][-]; 5. 9-James McFadden [10][$2,000]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [1][$1,750]; 7. 17XL-Caleb Helms [13][$1,500]; 8. 2-Carson Macedo [22][$1,250]; 9. 13-Paul McMahan [7][$1,000]; 10. 7S-Tim Kaeding [19][$750]; 11. 4-Cap Henry [15][$650]; 12. W20-Greg Wilson [20][$600]; 13. 19P-Paige Polyak [5][$600]; 14. 21-Brian Brown [17][$600]; 15. A79-Brandon Wimmer [11][$600]; 16. 3C-Cale Conley [21][$600]; 17. 7-Jason Sides [9][$600]; 18. 17B-Bill Balog [14][$600]; 19. 23-Hunter Schuerenburg [24][$600]; 20. 22-Cole Duncan [18][$600]; 21. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [8][$600]; 22. 81-Lee Jacobs [12][$600]; 23. 99-Skylar Gee [16][$600]; 24. 11K-Kraig Kinser [23][$600]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

KNIGHT OF 'THE BIG E’: Donny Schatz wins at Eldora Speedway for third time this year

Schatz holds off charge by David Gravel to win The Knight Before the Kings Royal

The duty of a knight is to protect their king and his castle.

At the Tony Stewart owned Eldora Speedway Friday night, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver Donny Schatz claimed his third World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory at the Ohio track this year. It was also the 300th Series career win for Tony Stewart as a car owner.

“Eldora has always been really good to me,” said Schatz, who’s now won at the speedway 18 times and has an average finish of 1.25.

He led every lap of The Knight Before the Kings Royal 30-lap Feature, but his reign of the night wasn’t an easy task.

Hunting the 10-time Series champion all night was a fierce David Gravel. Coming off two podium finishes in-a-row at Eldora, the Jason Johnson Racing driver was eager to claim his third victory at the speedway – his last coming in 2016.

Schatz, of Fargo, N.D., started on the pole for the Feature – a virtue of winning the first DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash; Daryn Pittman, of Owasso, Okla., won the second Dash and lined up on the outside pole. When the race went green, Schatz jumped to the lead and immediately began to put distance between he and Pittman.

The reigning champion had a horse capable of charging to the victory. However, 10 laps into the run, Pittman and third-place Gravel began reeling in Schatz.

While Schatz rode the bottom lane, Pittman powered along the cushion – the same line Brad Sweet used to win at Eldora the night before. The Roth Motorsports No. 83 had a run brewing to challenge for the lead. But while he tried to focus on catching Schatz, Gravel continued to poke his nose under Pittman lap by lap, looking to find enough grip on the bottom to make the pass for second.

With 19 laps to go Pittman came within feet of Schatz’s bumper going into turn one, but unlike the lap before Schatz chose the high line. That decision gave Schatz a strong enough run off turn two to put about a six-car length distance between he and Pittman. Then Gravel dove underneath Pittman the next corner and took the position on the exit.

However, Pittman charged back, driving underneath the Watertown, Conn.-native down the front stretch and back by him into turn two. The next time into turn three Gravel mimicked his previous lap, again, diving underneath Pittman. This time it worked, though. He cleared him off the corner and maintained the position into turn one with 14 laps to go.

The hunt for Schatz was on. Lap after lap, running the bottom in turns one and two and the high side in turns three and four, the Mesilla Valley Transportation No. 41 crept closer and closer to the Toco Warranty No. 15 car.

Schatz said he and his team tried something new with the set up and while it worked in the Dash, he was just hanging on to his car throughout the Feature. He wouldn’t have been surprised if someone drove by him.

With 11 laps to go, Schatz went from a dot in Gravel’s line of sight to a boulder. But despite Gravel’s charge, Schatz’s proficiency with running the bottom of the speedway threw a shield in Gravel’s run. A few car lengths distance was as close as Gravel could bring his car to Schatz.

To beat Schatz, he was going to need help. With six laps to go, he got it in the form of lap traffic.

Twenty-third-place Parker Price-Miller gave the leader his biggest challenge of the night. Schatz attempted to pass the slower No. 71p car on the bottom through turns one and two – where he struggled to find grip all night – but Price-Miller charged back in front of him down the backstretch. Into turns three and four Schatz, again, tried to pass Price-Miller on the bottom and, again, failed.

“I could make good laps in (turns) three and four and hold my own, but in turns one and two, I was just… I got to lap traffic and watched the 71 car drive by me,” Schatz said. “I had to change everything I did. I was stomping and stabbing and slinging, doing everything I could. I just couldn’t make it do what I wanted it to do.”

Schatz’s battle with Price-Miller put Gravel a car length behind him.

With five laps to, Schatz launched underneath Price-Miller into turn one, finally able to make the pass. However, he lost traction off turn two, allowing Price-Miller to charge underneath the No. 15 car with Gravel following his trail.

Choosing the middle lane of the track in turn three, Schatz cleared Price-Miller and pulled away from him and Gravel, who had to make a split-second evasive maneuver around the slower Price-Miller into turn three.

Behind them, Pittman and Logan Schuchart traded slide jobs lap after lap for third-place.

While they battled for third, Schatz had pulled back to a comfortable half a straightaway lead over Gravel. He looked to be en route for another Eldora Speedway victory, but with three laps to go the caution came out for Cory Eliason, who spun on the backstretch.

Gravel was now close enough to reach out and touch Schatz’s bumper. When the race restart, Schatz chose the high line and Gravel launched his car to the bottom of the track in turn one, coming side-by-side with Schatz in the middle of the corner.

Schatz had the advantage, though, being able to carry the momentum of riding the high side down the backstretch, leaving Gravel to catch up.

The duo remained a few car lengths distance from one another the remaining two laps.

When the white flag was shown, Gravel made one last attempt at out dueling Schatz for the win by, again, diving underneath him in turn one. Like before, it wasn’t enough. Schatz had the run on the high side and carried it the remainder of the circuit to his sixth win of the season – 289th career World of Outlaws win overall.

“My dad always taught me to worry about what’s in front of me, not what’s behind me,” Schatz said. “It’s paid off this long in my career.”

Gravel picked up his sixth podium finish in-a-row, but he was left still hungry for more.

“I think we were good enough to win tonight,” Gravel said. “I wish the yellow didn’t come out. I liked the lap traffic. I had the shot to pass him (Schatz) that one time. I’m happy where we’re at, though. Just a touch off.”

Schuchart was able to make the pass on Pittman for third – collecting his third top-five in three races at Eldora Speedway.

“I just feel like we started too far back,” said Hanover, Pa.-native Schuchart, who started ninth. “I feel like we might have had one of the fastest cars. On the last restart a bolt came out of the wing there and let it go the whole way back, so I got real tight. Before that, I feel like I was running right with those guys.”

With Schatz’s win and Series points leader Sweet finishing seventh, the gap between them has shrunk to 20 points.

But right now, Schatz isn’t worried about points. He’s not even engrossed in his second win in two races at the speedway. He’s focused on Saturday’s $175,000-to-win Kings Royal.

“Everything is about tomorrow night,” said five-time Kings Royal winner Schatz. “The night is over. We’ll forget about it. It’s all about the Kings Royal now.”

There’s no points on the line. Just an unprecedented winning purse and the opportunity to go from a knight to a king.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Saturday, July 20, will return to Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio for the prestigious Kings Royal event. Get tickets and more information.

Learn more about the Kings Royal format.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 7/19/19 – Eldora Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1][$12,000]; 2. 41-David Gravel [3][$5,700]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10][$3,500]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [8][$3,000]; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman [2][$2,600]; 6. 2-Carson Macedo [6][$2,400]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [7][$2,300]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [18][$2,200]; 9. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [13][$2,150]; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser [15][$2,100]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog [12][$1,600]; 12. 70-Brock Zearfoss [9][$1,350]; 13. 21-Brian Brown [11][$1,300]; 14. 2M-Kerry Madsen [19][$1,200]; 15. 19-Brent Marks [25][$1,100]; 16. 5-Shane Stewart [16][$1,000]; 17. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [14][$900]; 18. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [17][$850]; 19. 18-Ian Madsen [21][$800]; 20. 7S-Tim Kaeding [24][$800]; 21. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [20][$800]; 22. 26-Cory Eliason [4][$800]; 23. 11-Dale Blaney [5][$800]; 24. 98H-Dave Blaney [23][$800]; 25. 92-Sye Lynch [22][$800];
Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-30;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 1A-Jacob Allen[+10]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 41-David Gravel, 13.005; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.111; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.182; 4. 11-Dale Blaney, 13.187; 5. 21-Brian Brown, 13.191; 6. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.204; 7. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.225; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.276; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.306; 10. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.31; 11. 84-Tom Harris, 13.321; 12. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.414; 13. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 13.418; 14. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.419; 15. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.42; 16. 19-Brent Marks, 13.42; 17. 9-James McFadden, 13.422; 18. 7-Jason Sides, 13.435; 19. 39-Sammy Swindell, 13.439; 20. 64-Scotty Thiel, 13.486; 21. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.5; 22. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.507; 23. 33W-Michael Walter, 13.563; 24. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.589; 25. 71M-Paul May, 13.707; 26. 18J-R.J. Jacobs, 13.774; 27. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle, 13.779; 28. 28-Brian Paulus, 13.833; 29. 10P-Jim Perricone, 14.237; 30. 3C-Cale Conley, NT

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.167; 2. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.295; 3. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.315; 4. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.317; 5. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.343; 6. 92-Sye Lynch, 13.353; 7. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.361; 8. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.388; 9. 70X-Justin Peck, 13.405; 10. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.438; 11. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.446; 12. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.453; 13. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.453; 14. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.461; 15. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.528; 16. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.567; 17. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 13.594; 18. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.639; 19. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 13.683; 20. 85-Dustin Daggett, 13.726; 21. 17XL-Caleb Helms, 13.747; 22. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 13.752; 23. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.759; 24. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.792; 25. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 13.835; 26. 19P-Paige Polyak, 13.982; 27. 14M-Marcus Dumesny, 14.128; 28. J4-John Garvin, 14.194; 29. 4X-Bradley Ashford, 14.434; 30. 83C-Adam Cruea, 14.454

DRYDENE Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [2]; 3. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [4]; 4. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 5. 39-Sammy Swindell [7]; 6. 7S-Tim Kaeding [5]; 7. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 8. 28-Brian Paulus [10]; 9. 71M-Paul May [9]; 10. K4-Chad Kemenah [8]

DRYDENE Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 5. 84-Tom Harris [4]; 6. 9-James McFadden [6]; 7. 64-Scotty Thiel [7]; 8. 33W-Michael Walter [8]; 9. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [9]; 10. 10P-Jim Perricone [10]

DRYDENE Heat #3 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 4. 98H-Dave Blaney [4]; 5. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 6. 7-Jason Sides [6]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 8. 3C-Cale Conley [10]; 9. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [9]; 10. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]

DRYDENE Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1]; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 3. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [5]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [4]; 6. 91-Cale Thomas [6]; 7. 2L-Landon Lalonde [8]; 8. 71-Ayrton Olsen [7]; 9. 49D-Shawn Dancer [9]; 10. J4-John Garvin [10]

DRYDENE Heat #5 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 2-Carson Macedo [1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 3. 5-Shane Stewart [4]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [5]; 6. A79-Brandon Wimmer [6]; 7. 85-Dustin Daggett [7]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 9. 19P-Paige Polyak [9]; 10. 4X-Bradley Ashford [10]

DRYDENE Heat #6 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]; 4. 70X-Justin Peck [3]; 5. 92-Sye Lynch [2]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs [6]; 7. 17XL-Caleb Helms [7]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 9. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [9]; 10. 83C-Adam Cruea [10]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 41-David Gravel [1]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [4]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [5]; 5. 70-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [6]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash #2 (6 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [6]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [4]

D-main (8 Laps) – 1. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [1][-]; 2. 5T-Travis Philo [2][-]; 3. 49D-Shawn Dancer [4][$125]; 4. 71M-Paul May [3][$125]; 5. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [8][$125]; 6. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [5][$125]; 7. 19P-Paige Polyak [6][$125]; 8. 28-Brian Paulus [9][$125]; 9. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [7][$125]; 10. 10P-Jim Perricone [11][$125]; 11. 83C-Adam Cruea [14][$125]; 12. 4X-Bradley Ashford [12][$125]; 13. J4-John Garvin [10][$125]; 14. 3C-Cale Conley [13][$125]

C-Main (10 Laps) – 1. 9-James McFadden [1][-]; 2. A79-Brandon Wimmer [2][-]; 3. 39-Sammy Swindell [5][$150]; 4. 7-Jason Sides [3][$150]; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs [4][$150]; 6. 17XL-Caleb Helms [10][$125]; 7. 64-Scotty Thiel [7][$125]; 8. 71-Ayrton Olsen [6][$125]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [9][$125]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee [14][$125]; 11. 85-Dustin Daggett [8][$125]; 12. 2L-Landon Lalonde [12][$125]; 13. 33W-Michael Walter [13][$125]; 14. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [15][$125]; 15. 5T-Travis Philo [16][$125]; 16. K4-Chad Kemenah [11][$125]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2][-]; 2. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [1][-]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [6][-]; 4. 92-Sye Lynch [4][-]; 5. 98H-Dave Blaney [5][-]; 6. 7S-Tim Kaeding [7][-]; 7. 19-Brent Marks [13][$300]; 8. 70X-Justin Peck [8][$250]; 9. 13-Paul McMahan [10][$225]; 10. 9-James McFadden [15][$200]; 11. 91-Cale Thomas [14][$200]; 12. 84-Tom Harris [3][$200]; 13. 3-Jac Haudenschild [9][$200]; 14. A79-Brandon Wimmer [16][$200]; 15. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12][$200]; 16. 87-Aaron Reutzel [11][$200]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

NO JOKE: Brad Sweet out duels Donny Schatz for Jokers Wild win
After swapping the lead early in the race, Sweet holds off Schatz to win at Eldora Speedway

ROSSBURG, OH – July 18, 2019 – The flagman held the checkered flag tight, anxiously waiting to thrust it in the air and wave it over Eldora Speedway when the leader exited turn four.

The question of who that victor would be left the crowd of thousands in a knot throughout the 30-lap $10,000-to-win Jokers Wild Feature Thursday night.

Brad Sweet lead, but Donny Schatz – fresh off a win at Eldora from the night before – hung on to the NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car’s bumper throughout the race. The two swapped positions lap after lap in the early circuits.

However, Sweet found the 16-time Eldora Speedway winner’s kryptonite – the high line up against the wall. If the walls of the half-mile track had eyes, Sweet made sure they were closed all race, leaving inches between the concrete barrier and his right rear tire most of the night.

Schatz wasn't able to run the top groove like Sweet, having to move off it and stick to the bottom. That allowed Sweet to use the momentum of the high side to fend of challenges by the 10-time Series champion and claim his 10th World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of the season – 44th Series win overall.

“We held off Donny,” Sweet said, after winning for the second time at the Ohio track. “That’s what it takes to win at Eldora. He threw everything he had at me. I saw him multiple times. I just wasn’t sure where to be on the race track there at the end. I felt pretty good on the top, but it’s such a fine line.”

The win was a rebound for Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing team after a fourth-place finish at the speedway Wednesday night – which to Sweet and his crew was a disappointing run.

Withholding the fine details, Sweet said, they tried something different with the set up for Thursday night's race, and it worked.

He was second fastest in the first flight of Qualifying. Then went on to win his Drydene Heat race and the first of two DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash races. But every step Sweet made, Schatz was there following in his footsteps. The reigning champion went second fastest in the second flight of Qualifying. He, too, won his Drydene Heat race and claimed the win in the second Dash of the night.

That placed the two championship contenders on the front row together. The title match at Eldora Speedway was set.

When the flagman thrusted the green flag in the air, Sweet passed the flag stand first, but Schatz launched underneath the Grass Valley, Calif.-native looking to take the lead on the first lap in turn one. Sweet had the momentum on the high side, though. He charged around the Toco Warranty No. 15 down the backstretch and moved to the bottom of the track in turns three and four.

Schatz did the opposite. He ran the high line through turns three and four, giving him a strong enough run down the front stretch to again dive underneath Sweet in turn one. This time, Schatz had the lead.

Sweet wasn’t about to let Schatz cruise to another Eldora win over him, though. He charged back around Schatz the next lap and began to put distance between the two.

“He makes it awful tough when he sets his pace and runs his lines," Sweet said. "It makes it real hard to pass. I wanted to get ahead and set a pace.”

Ten laps into the Feature Logan Schuchart also made his way around Schatz by riding the high line. However, he got held up by a lap car going into turn three and Schatz took the opportunity to pounce. The Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver made a massive drive to the bottom of the track through turns three and four, blowing by Schuchart and gaining about four car lengths on Sweet off the corner.

He carried the momentum through the next corner, getting underneath Sweet and edging him by a nose off turn two with 19 laps to go. Sweet, again, used the high side to propel his car back in front of Schatz down the backstretch, though.

Into turn three the duo both slid their cars sideways to the bottom of the track, almost making contact at the apex. With Sweet blocking Schatz’s lane, he charged off the corner to a comfortable lead and added to it from there.

Schatz then had to compete with Schuchart for second, eventually losing the position to the Drydene No. 1s car right before a caution with 11 laps to.

When the race resumed, Schuchart had a terrible restart, falling from second to fifth and stacking up the top line behind him. His mistake allowed Schatz an easy pass for second and another shot at Sweet.

While Sweet stayed high, Schatz was determined to make the low line work. He put together enough of a charge to get side-by-side with Sweet in turn one the next lap, but the run was still no match for Sweet’s mastery of the high line.

“We stayed with him there, he was ripping the top, I had to get off it,” Schatz said about the final restart. “We thought we were going to be a shot at him there, but for some reason when I got to traffic, I couldn’t maneuver well or just kept making mistakes. You’ll have that. If you’re going to do it, I’d rather do it tonight than two nights from now.”

Able to stay in clean air and see where lap cars were going to go, Sweet rode the cushion until the final corner when he moved down a lane to see how his car would do. He was satisfied as he drove by the waving checkered flag for the 10th time this year – the most wins he’s collected in a season, so far.

While it’s an accomplishment he’s proud of, Sweet said there’s still work to do. Still tweaks needed to make the car better. And still many big races on the line – including Saturday’s $175,000-to-win Kings Royal.

“I’m not going to sit and dwell on it too much, because we’re trying to just stay in the moment and keep winning,” Sweet said. “I don’t want to just settle in and say, ‘That’s great, I just won my 10th race.’ Obviously, so far, it’s a dream season, but all of the big races are coming up. I think we just try to keep our heads down and at the end of the season when it’s time to look back at the stats we hope we’ll have 10 more wins, or more, and a championship.”

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will return to Eldora Speedway Friday, July 19, for the Knight Before the Kings Royal. Get tickets and more information.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 7/18/19 – Eldora Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$10,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$5,500]; 3. 41-David Gravel [10][$3,200]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4][$2,800]; 5. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$2,500]; 6. 3-Jac Haudenschild [6][$2,300]; 7. 83-Daryn Pittman [13][$2,200]; 8. 5-Shane Stewart [9][$2,100]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [25][$2,050]; 10. 18-Ian Madsen [15][$2,000]; 11. 11-Dale Blaney [8][$1,500]; 12. 70-Brock Zearfoss [7][$1,200]; 13. 19-Brent Marks [18][$1,100]; 14. 87-Aaron Reutzel [24][$1,050]; 15. 24-Rico Abreu [20][$1,000]; 16. 26-Cory Eliason [17][$900]; 17. 9-James McFadden [21][$800]; 18. 39-Sammy Swindell [11][$800]; 19. 92-Sye Lynch [12][$800]; 20. 7S-Tim Kaeding [19][$800]; 21. 12N-Joey Saldana [3][$800]; 22. 21-Brian Brown [14][$800]; 23. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [23][$800]; 24. 13-Paul McMahan [22][$800]; 25. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [16][$800];
Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet1, 3-30; Donny Schatz 2;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 11K-Kraig Kinser[+16]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.02; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.077; 3. 12N-Joey Saldana, 13.099; 4. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.108; 5. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 13.14; 6. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.17; 7. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.222; 8. 39-Sammy Swindell, 13.245; 9. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.28; 10. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.286; 11. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.292; 12. 1ST-Gary Taylor, 13.413; 13. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.462; 14. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.476; 15. 18J-R.J. Jacobs, 13.516; 16. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.552; 17. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.56; 18. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 13.591; 19. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.654; 20. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.695; 21. 14M-Marcus Dumesny, 13.727; 22. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.73; 23. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.787; 24. 71M-Paul May, 13.89; 25. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 13.91; 26. 33W-Michael Walter, 14.097; 27. 64-Scotty Thiel, 17.155

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 41-David Gravel, 13.215; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.241; 3. 92-Sye Lynch, 13.279; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.31; 5. 11-Dale Blaney, 13.336; 6. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.349; 7. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.374; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.39; 9. 9-James McFadden, 13.438; 10. 21-Brian Brown, 13.459; 11. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.459; 12. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.461; 13. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.462; 14. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.463; 15. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.473; 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.481; 17. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.49; 18. 19-Brent Marks, 13.512; 19. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.585; 20. 7-Jason Sides, 13.629; 21. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.643; 22. 70X-Justin Peck, 13.69; 23. 84-Tom Harris, 13.784; 24. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 13.844; 25. 85-Dustin Daggett, 13.968; 26. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle, 14.027; 27. 4X-Bradley Ashford, 14.37

DRYDENE Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 2-Carson Macedo [3]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 4. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [4]; 5. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [7]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs [6]; 8. 3C-Cale Conley [8]; 9. 2L-Landon Lalonde [9]

DRYDENE Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 39-Sammy Swindell [3]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [5]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 5. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [7]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 7. K4-Chad Kemenah [6]; 8. 7S-Tim Kaeding [2]; 9. 33W-Michael Walter [9]

DRYDENE Heat #3 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 12N-Joey Saldana [1]; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 4. 1ST-Gary Taylor [4]; 5. 49D-Shawn Dancer [6]; 6. 71M-Paul May [8]; 7. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [7]; 8. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [5]; 9. 64-Scotty Thiel [9]

DRYDENE Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 3. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 7. 70X-Justin Peck [8]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [7]; 9. 85-Dustin Daggett [9]

DRYDENE Heat #5 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [2]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [4]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [5]; 6. 91-Cale Thomas [6]; 7. 7-Jason Sides [7]; 8. 84-Tom Harris [8]; 9. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [9]

DRYDENE Heat #6 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]; 2. 92-Sye Lynch [1]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 4. 9-James McFadden [3]; 5. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 6. 98H-Dave Blaney [7]; 7. 71-Ayrton Olsen [8]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]; 9. 4X-Bradley Ashford [9]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 2. 12N-Joey Saldana [3]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 70-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 5. 5-Shane Stewart [6]; 6. 39-Sammy Swindell [1]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney [6]; 5. 41-David Gravel [5]; 6. 92-Sye Lynch [3]

D-main (8 Laps) – 1. 70X-Justin Peck [2][-]; 2. 3C-Cale Conley [1][-]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [3][$125]; 4. 85-Dustin Daggett [8][$125]; 5. 71M-Paul May [5][$125]; 6. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [10][$125]; 7. 71-Ayrton Olsen [6][$125]; 8. 2L-Landon Lalonde [7][$125]; 9. 4X-Bradley Ashford [12][$125]; 10. 84-Tom Harris [4][$125]; 11. 64-Scotty Thiel [11][$125]; 12. 33W-Michael Walter [9][$125]

C-Main (10 Laps) – 1. K4-Chad Kemenah [3][-]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [8][-]; 3. 70X-Justin Peck [13][$150]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4][$150]; 5. 91-Cale Thomas [6][$150]; 6. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [9][$125]; 7. 49D-Shawn Dancer [5][$125]; 8. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [11][$125]; 9. 3C-Cale Conley [14][$125]; 10. 81-Lee Jacobs [1][$125]; 11. 98H-Dave Blaney [12][$125]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen [2][$125]; 13. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [7][$125]; 14. 7-Jason Sides [10][$125]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – 1. 7S-Tim Kaeding [1][-]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [2][-]; 3. 9-James McFadden [4][-]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [6][-]; 5. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [3][-]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel [10][-]; 7. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [8][$300]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog [5][$250]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [9][$225]; 10. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12][$200]; 11. 2M-Kerry Madsen [14][$200]; 12. K4-Chad Kemenah [13][$200]; 13. 1ST-Gary Taylor [7][$200]; 14. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [11][$200]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

LET’S MAKE IT TWO: Schatz goes two-for-two at Eldora
Donny Schatz sweeps the #LetsRaceTwo events at Eldora Speedway for second straight year

ROSSBURG, OH – July 17, 2019 – There’s magic to Donny Schatz’s dominate performances at Eldora Speedway.

He used that “magic” to cruise to his second World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Eldora Speedway win of the year Wednesday night, during the make-up #LetsRaceTwo event – sweeping the #LetRaceTwo races for the second year in-a-row.

To Schatz, though, there is no “magic.” It’s a matter of knowing what to do, he said, and having the experience to do it.

“The misconception in this sport is there’s always something magic, there’s one thing you can do to make yourself better,” said Schatz, 10-time Series champion from Fargo, N.D. “It’s not. It’s ten thousand little things and this team has learned that over the years.

“It’s the same today. Probably even more so today. A quarter turn here or there makes a big difference.”

That’s what it took for Schatz to charge from fourth to win in the 30-lap Feature. He started the night winning his Drydene Heat race, and then went on to finish fourth in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash – almost four seconds behind leader Carson Macedo.

Then “a quarter turn here and there” before the Feature. When field erupted into a thunderous echo across the half-mile speedway and charged to the green flag, it was already clear the adjustments worked.

When the field exited turn four at the start, the race took on a different appearance. Brad Sweet had darted by polesitter Carson Macedo for the lead and Schatz stole third from David Gravel. The reigning champion then tried to steal second away from Macedo in turn one, but the rookie had the stronger run off turn two. His Chevrolet Accessories No. 2 launched underneath Schatz’s Toco Warranty No. 15 down the backstretch, and he cleared him into turn three.

The veteran and the rookie battled side-by-side for the next four laps with experience winning the fight. While Macedo played his luck, running as close as he could to the outside wall, Schatz cruised around the bottom line of the track – the same line he used to win at Eldora in May.

A lap after passing Macedo, Schatz, again, used the low line to his advantage, sneaking underneath leader Sweet in turn one and throttling past him off turn two.

From there, Schatz made being fast around Eldora look easy. Lap after lap, he added another car length distance between he and second-place. Even when the field was brought back together for a caution on Lap 15 – due to Kerry Madsen coming to a stop on the track – Schatz pulled away on the restart and left the field to fight for second.

Behind him, though, the hard charger of the year was coming. Logan Schuchart – who has earned the most Hard Charger awards this year, so far, with five – was making another impressive run to the front.

Schuchart started the race seventh and found himself in sixth when the caution for Madsen came out. On the restart, though, he wasn’t going to let the leaders run away. With the throttle down, the Drydene No. 1s darted to fourth by the time the field reached turn one and carried that momentum off turn two to claim third from Gravel.

From there the hunt was one. With a head of steam, while rim riding around the track, Schuchart charged his way past Sweet for second with 12 laps to go. Next on his list, Schatz. Schuchart had finished second to Schatz for the last three #LetsRaceTwo events. It was time for a change.

However, even with finding speed along the high side of the track, it still wasn’t enough to outpace Schatz.

“I was a little loose, and I think that’s why I was good on the restarts,” Schuchart said. “I’d be good for about three or four laps and then I’d start slowing down again, especially when I got the tires hot.”

With eight laps to go, a new contender emerged. Gravel found traction and got in a rhythm, passing Sweet for third. Five laps later, he found himself in second after dueling with Schuchart for a couple of laps. He, too, marked Schatz next on his list, but, again, the reigning champion was still too strong. Even with trying different lines around lap cars.

“I closed a little, but lap cars slowed him down a little bit and he started moving around,” Gravel said. “I have a good feeling we’re really close, just going to keep tuning on this thing and hoping we can beat the 15 car.”

Schatz held almost a straightaway lead over Gravel when he saw the checkered flags for the fifth time this year – becoming the second most winning driver, so far, behind nine-time winner Brad Sweet – and for his 288th career World of Outlaws win. It was also his second win in-a-row after winning the last Series race at Wilmot Raceway.

His win took a small bite out of Sweet’s points lead, again, too. Schatz is now 30-points behind the Kasey Kahne Racing driver.

Even though he claimed his last two wins in dominating fashion, Schatz admitted a wrong “quarter turn here or there” can be the difference between winning and struggling.

With three more races at Eldora Speedway to go – leading up to the $175,000-to-win Kings Royal on Saturday – Schatz isn’t looking to magic to keep his winning streak going. It’s the determination of his team to never give up and never settle. Even after a win.

“Even though we won a race tonight, they’re (the race team) going to go to bed tonight thinking about things to be better,” Schatz said. “That’s what it takes.”

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will return to Eldora Speedway Thursday, July 18, for the Jokers Wild. Get tickets and information.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 7/17/19 – Eldora Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$10,000]; 2. 41-David Gravel [3][$5,000]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][$3,000]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [2][$2,700]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [9][$2,500]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [14][$2,200]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][$2,000]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [11][$1,800]; 9. 21-Brian Brown [6][$1,600]; 10. 2-Carson Macedo [1][$1,450]; 11. 70-Brock Zearfoss [19][$1,300]; 12. 83-Daryn Pittman [18][$1,200]; 13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [13][$1,100]; 14. 12N-Joey Saldana [20][$1,000]; 15. 5-Shane Stewart [5][$950]; 16. 91-Cale Thomas [24][$900]; 17. 13-Paul McMahan [17][$850]; 18. 1A-Jacob Allen [16][$750]; 19. 57-Kyle Larson [12][$725]; 20. 7S-Tim Kaeding [8][$700]; 21. 18-Ian Madsen [22][$700]; 22. 26-Cory Eliason [21][$700]; 23. 2M-Kerry Madsen [15][$700]; 24. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [23][$700];
Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-7, Donny Schatz 8-30;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 24-Rico Abreu[+8]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 21-Brian Brown, 13.253; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.282; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.287; 4. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.388; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.407; 6. 19-Brent Marks, 13.426; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.445; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.445; 9. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.446; 10. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.45; 11. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.462; 12. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.501; 13. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.533; 14. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.537; 15. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.554; 16. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.643; 17. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.712; 18. 14M-Marcus Dumesny, 13.94; 19. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle, 14.077; 20. 4X-Bradley Ashford, 14.117; 21. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 14.371

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.194; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.325; 3. 41-David Gravel, 13.401; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.429; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.474; 6. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 13.479; 7. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.48; 8. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.516; 9. 92-Sye Lynch, 13.566; 10. 12N-Joey Saldana, 13.577; 11. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.613; 12. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.65; 13. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.651; 14. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.657; 15. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.662; 16. 9-James McFadden, 13.694; 17. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.792; 18. 7-Jason Sides, 13.843; 19. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.968; 20. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 14.056; 21. 84-Tom Harris, 14.177

DRYDENE Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [3]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 6. 3-Jac Haudenschild [7]; 7. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [5]; 8. K4-Chad Kemenah [9]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 10. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [10]; 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel [11]

DRYDENE Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 2-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [3]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 5. 70-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [6]; 7. 91-Cale Thomas [7]; 8. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 9. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [9]; 10. 4X-Bradley Ashford [10]

DRYDENE Heat #3 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 41-David Gravel [2]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]; 6. 98H-Dave Blaney [8]; 7. 92-Sye Lynch [5]; 8. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [7]; 9. 3C-Cale Conley [10]; 10. 84-Tom Harris [11]; 11. 81-Lee Jacobs [9]

DRYDENE Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1]; 2. 7S-Tim Kaeding [3]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen [2]; 5. 12N-Joey Saldana [5]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer [7]; 7. 9-James McFadden [8]; 8. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 9. 49D-Shawn Dancer [10]; 10. 7-Jason Sides [9]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 2-Carson Macedo [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 41-David Gravel [3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [7]; 5. 5-Shane Stewart [4]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [6]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 8. 7S-Tim Kaeding [8]

C-Main (10 Laps) – 1. 81-Lee Jacobs [2][-]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [9][-]; 3. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [3][$150]; 4. 3C-Cale Conley [6][$150]; 5. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [5][$150]; 6. 49D-Shawn Dancer [8][$125]; 7. 84-Tom Harris [10][$125]; 8. 4X-Bradley Ashford [7][$125]; 9. K4-Chad Kemenah [1][$125]; 10. 7-Jason Sides [4][$125]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – 1. 26-Cory Eliason [2][-]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [3][-]; 3. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [1][-]; 4. 91-Cale Thomas [7][-]; 5. 3-Jac Haudenschild [5][$300]; 6. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [6][$250]; 7. 9-James McFadden [12][$225]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel [14][$200]; 9. 98H-Dave Blaney [10][$200]; 10. 92-Sye Lynch [4][$200]; 11. 99-Skylar Gee [9][$200]; 12. 81-Lee Jacobs [13][$200]; 13. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [11][$200]; 14. 49X-Tim Shaffer [8][$200]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

RETURN TO FORM: Donny Schatz dominates at Wilmot Raceway
The 10-time Series champion claimed his first World of Outlaws Wilmot Raceway win

WILMOT, WI – July 13, 2019 – Donny Schatz couldn’t hold back the emotion any longer.

With his arms raised and cheeks pushed up by a grin, Schatz yelled with a childlike giggle “Hell yeah, I won at Wilmot! That’s off the books.”

The 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion and now 287-time Series winner claimed his first victory at Wilmot Raceway Saturday night – and fourth win of the season.

“The older you get, you probably put more of a fine-tooth comb on places you haven’t won at and this was one of them,” Schatz said.

Schatz and his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team unloaded Saturday evening with the finest comb they could build. He set the pace in Hot Laps and then Qualified second behind Series points leader Brad Sweet.

In his Drydene Heat race, Schatz won by 1.4 sec. He backed that performance up by winning the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash with a 2.7 sec. lead at the finish.

Dominating the night was not enough to convince Schatz he would excel in the Feature, though. He admitted he didn’t know what to expect from the 1/3-mile track, anticipating lap times to drop during the Feature.

On the initial start, outside polesitter Daryn Pittman made a charge at Schatz for the lead. He kept pace with the reigning champion down the back stretch and dove underneath him in turn three. The two entered turn four side-by-side – the closest anyone came all night to passing Schatz. But the Fargo, N.D.-native had the better run off the corner and cleared Pittman down the front stretch.

For the remaining 39 laps, the only time drivers got close enough to see the bumper of Schatz's Toco Warranty No. 15 car was during a caution on Lap 13 for a car going off track in turn two. After that, Schatz spent his night methodically navigating lap traffic.

However, Friday night’s Feature winner at Hartford Speedway, David Gravel, was not going to let Schatz cruised to the victory. Gravel, Sweet and Pittman traded positions in the top-four all night. After battling side-by-side for several laps, having to be gentle on the throttle through the tight slick corners, Sweet eventually passed Pittman for second on Lap 16. Gravel did the same a lap later, moving past the Roth Motorsports No. 83 car for third.

With 10 laps to go, Gravel finally put together a strong enough lap to work his way by Sweet and try to track down Schatz.

At that point there was about a two second gap between Schatz and second-place. Gravel slowly closed it lap by lap. Every lap car that halted Schatz’s momentum was a few more tenths of a second gained by Gravel.

By the time the white flag came out, Gravel had made up close to a second on Schatz. It wasn’t enough, though. He ran out of time.

“I couldn't get by Daryn very quick and then couldn't get by Brad,” Gravel said. “Then it was just a little too late to make a charge a Donny."

He and his Jason Johnson Racing team were happy with the run, though, leaving the weekend with a win and runner-up finish.

By taking the win Schatz finally broke his winless streak he’s had since the end of May when he won at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

“I’m sure somebody was coming there at the end,” Schatz said. “I was kind of hanging. We could get through a few lap cars, but then when I had to move around in (turns) one and two I wasn’t as good. But glad to get a win. It’s been a while. Always feels good to get the win, especially here in Wisconsin.”

Schatz's win put a small dent in Sweet’s point lead over him – he's now 38 points behind the Kasey Kahne Racing driver.

Sweet still leads the Series as the winningest driver with nine wins, so far. Schatz’s fourth victory of the year ties him with Gravel as the third winningest driver, behind Logan Schuchart, who has five wins.

For the past four years, Schatz has had double digit wins at this point in the season. He’s also amassed 20 or more wins in a year since 2013. After winning at Wilmot, he acknowledged the level of competition in the World of Outlaws right now makes those statistics hard to live up to.

“I don’t know how many guys there are capable of winning 20 races in a year,” Schatz said. “There’s some. But it’s hard to live up to them standards and there’s a lot of fast race cars out here right now. The parity in this sport is pretty crazy and to keep up with it is even more so.”

That hasn’t stopped he and his team from striving to do so, though. They continue to make changes and try new things with the car, he said.

At the moment, they’ve found a feel Schatz likes. He’s now eager to carry his winning momentum into the upcoming weeks of prestigious and big paying races. And with another grin and a chuckle, Schatz said he’s even looking forward to going to Tri-State Speedway in October – another track he hasn’t one at.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Tuesday, July 16 will venture to Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio for the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic. To purchase tickets and get more information go to www.WorldofOutlaws.com.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 7/13/19 – Wilmot Raceway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1][$10,000]; 2. 41-David Gravel [4][$5,500]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [3][$3,200]; 4. 83-Daryn Pittman [2][$2,800]; 5. 7S-Tim Kaeding [5][$2,500]; 6. 2-Carson Macedo [9][$2,300]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$2,200]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [14][$2,100]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [6][$2,050]; 10. 19-Brent Marks [13][$2,000]; 11. 9-James McFadden [8][$1,500]; 12. 5-Shane Stewart [11][$1,200]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog [12][$1,100]; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser [17][$1,050]; 15. 7-Jason Sides [10][$1,000]; 16. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer [16][$900]; 17. 68-Dave Uttech [18][$800]; 18. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [19][$800]; 19. 19T-Todd Daun [21][$800]; 20. 43-Jereme Schroeder [20][$800]; 21. 23-Russel Borland [15][$800]; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen [22][$800]; 23. 17BX-Jordan Paulsen [23][$800];
Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-40;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+6]

Qualifying – 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.563; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.587; 3. 41-David Gravel, 12.595; 4. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.602; 5. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 12.604; 6. 83-Daryn Pittman, 12.637; 7. 7-Jason Sides, 12.671; 8. 9-James McFadden, 12.746; 9. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.75; 10. 19-Brent Marks, 12.791; 11. 5-Shane Stewart, 12.817; 12. 23-Russel Borland, 12.824; 13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.827; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.827; 15. 2-Carson Macedo, 12.844; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.861; 17. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.982; 18. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.982; 19. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer, 13.131; 20. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 13.49; 21. 19T-Todd Daun, 13.491; 22. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 14.626; 23. 17BX-Jordan Paulsen, NT

DRYDENE Heat #1 (10 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]; 4. 7-Jason Sides [3]; 5. 19-Brent Marks [4]; 6. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer [7]; 7. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [8]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [6]

DRYDENE Heat #2 (10 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 7S-Tim Kaeding [2]; 3. 9-James McFadden [3]; 4. 5-Shane Stewart [4]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder [7]; 8. 17BX-Jordan Paulsen [8]

DRYDENE Heat #3 (10 Laps) – 1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [5]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [4]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech [6]; 7. 19T-Todd Daun [7]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (8 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 4. 41-David Gravel [3]; 5. 7S-Tim Kaeding [5]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [6]