Man on a Mission: Donny Schatz Wins at Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville, IA— May 2, 2009—After enduring more than his fair share of bad luck last weekend, Donny Schatz was bound and determined to get back on track at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Saturday night. The three-time and defending World of Outlaws champion showed he would be the man to beat, setting fast time and then charging from the fourth starting spot in the first heat race to win that heat and earn a spot in the dash. He wrapped up the night by winning the 25-lap A-Feature, taking the lead from Terry McCarl with five laps to go.
For Schatz, it was his second consecutive win at Knoxville aboard the Armor All J&J for Tony Stewart Racing and his fifth in his last seven starts at the famed half-mile. The victory worth $10,000 on Saturday night was his fourth of the season and the 92nd of his World of Outlaws career.
“To get a victory is all you can ask for, especially after the weekend we had last week and we're going to have them, but we're not going to stay down long,” said Schatz in Victory Lane. “We come back kicking.”
The race began with Brian Brown, who started on the pole, leading the field into turns one and two. Schatz charged past Dusty Zomer and Steve Kinser on the opening lap to move all the way to fifth after lining up seventh. On the next lap he got around Jac Haudenschild to take third.
Brown led the first 14 laps of the race, with Danny Lasoski chasing him for the first few circuits, before Terry McCarl moved into the runner-up spot and tracked down the leader. McCarl tried a slide job on Brown on a lap-6 restart, but could not quite make it stick. At the same time, Schatz reeled in McCarl and the pair began to battle for the second spot as Brown maintained his lead in lapped traffic.
On the 15th lap, McCarl put a slider on Brown in turn four and powered his way into the lead as the pair charged down the front straightaway. Just two laps later, Schatz was able to get around Brown and set his sights on McCarl as the leader negotiated lapped traffic. With just seven laps to go, Schatz tried a slider on McCarl off turn four and nearly took the lead.
Schatz used the high side of turn four on the 20th lap to power his way by McCarl and quickly pull away as the leaders were still in lapped traffic. The final caution of the night flew on the white flag lap, leading to a two-lap shootout on the restart, per World of Outlaws rules that two consecutive green flag laps have to be run to finish a race. Schatz led on the final restart and pulled away over the final two laps to earn his 11th career win at Knoxville.
“I was thinking, yes we need this,” said the North Dakota native with a smile when asked about the late caution. “Right now, I need to have things thrown at me that I can't make mistakes on. That gives someone else an opportunity to win a race and that is what we are here for is to race for wins. If I was running second, I wouldn't have wanted to have that. It's my job in that race car to make sure that I don't make mistakes. If I go out and run the laps that I'm supposed to and keep my car underneath me which I'm supposed to do, I'm not going to give it up.”
McCarl wound up leading five laps and finished second aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim to pick up his best finish of the season with the World of Outlaws. The six-time Knoxville Raceway track champion started third and battled reigning Knoxville champion Danny Lasoski early in the race and did all he could to fend off Schatz as the laps wound down.
“We were good,” said McCarl. “It's disappointing after last week, but I also learned last week that sometimes second is better than nothing. “We got a little tight in the traffic when it laid rubber and Donny (Schatz) was better than me there. I fought him off the best I could. He is a real clean race car driver and at times when you think he could chop you off, he doesn't. For a guy who has won as many races as he has, I think he is the cleanest driver that I have ever seen.
Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws champion, finished third in the Quaker State Maxim, to earn his series best 14th Top-10 finish of the season in 15 events. He fell back a few spots early in the race before working his way back up and using the late restart to snag the third spot from Brian Brown. Kinser remains the current World of Outlaws point leader and has a 25-point advantage over Schatz who took the second spot from Joey Saldana who finished 12th.
“I didn't run the best race in the world in the feature,” said Kinser. “I was in the wrong spot going into (turn) one and got kind of tangled up and lost a couple of spots. Then I just lost the balance on the car a little bit. It wasn't a bad run, we just need to be a little better.”
Brown ended up fourth in the SuperClean Maxim to match his best career World of Outlaws finish. The former Knoxville Raceway track champion used a strong opening start to pull away from Danny Lasoski and was fast on a couple of subsequent restarts when he was out front.
“If it would have been a 14-lap race, we would have had them covered,” quipped Brown. “I just got a little tight there and had to cheat the cushion a little and that let guys like (Terry) McCarl and (Donny) Schatz get a run. We didn't give up after they passed me. We still had a shot to win it. To run fourth with the Outlaws and win the heat and the dash, I'm tickled to death.”
Jac Haudenschild finished fifth in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim, with Lasoski in sixth aboard the Casey's General Store JEI. Jason Johnson was seventh in The Shop Motorsports Eagle. Jason Sides was eighth piloting the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Craig Dollansky came all the way from the 22nd starting spot to finish ninth in the DirecTV Maxim to earn the KSE Race Products Hard Charger Award. Jason Meyers rounded out the Top-10 in the GLR Investments KPC.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9 at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 45 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked half-mile oval at 14.592 seconds at 123.355 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Danny Lasoski (4), Jason Sides (3), Jac Haudenschild (2), and Terry McCarl (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Donny Schatz, Brian Brown, Jason Johnson and Steve Kinser won heat races. Brian Brown won the Crane Cams Dash. Craig Dollansky won the B-Main. Pete Crall won the C-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 15 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Lone Star Speedway and Houston Raceway Park), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Knoxville Raceway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway and Paducah International Raceway), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway) and Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway).
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series has raced seven times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Knoxville Raceway), Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park and Lone Star Speedway) and Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Knoxville Raceway; Knoxville, IA; May 2, 2009
Qualifying
15-Donny Schatz 14.592
6-Danny Lasoski 14.670
7S-Jason Sides 14.710
R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.847
24-Terry McCarl 14.879
21-Brian Brown 14.972
9-Joey Saldana 14.984
11-Steve Kinser 15.009
10J-Jeffrey Lynton 15.045
1X-Randy Hannagan 15.046
17G-Dusty Zomer 15.063
2-Skip Jackson 15.088
14-Jason Meyers 15.088
70-Calvin Landis 15.125
41-Jason Johnson 15.151
21AU-Brooke Tatnell 15.157
55-Kerry Madsen 15.189
20-Kraig Kinser 15.192
7K-Chris Morgan 15.197
1-Bronson Maeschen 15.222
18-Tony Bruce Jr. 15.226
14AJ-Wayne Johnson 15.265
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15.278
19W-Bob Weave 15.294
9P-Rager Phillips 15.304
22-Brian Ellenberger 15.328
22A-Billy Alley 15.337
10-Sammy Swindell 15.344
19-Craig Dollansky 15.346
56-Davey Heskin 15.379
13V-Seth Brahmer 15.391
83-Tim Kaeding 15.417
4X-Toni Lutar 15.432
2W-Johnny Herrera 15.459
13-Mark Dobmeier 15.481
23W-Scott Winters 15.525
69-Mike Moore 15.546
21K-Lou Kennedy 15.584
71R-Ryan Anderson 15.617
2T-Tony Shilling 15.677
17A-Austin McCarl 15.794
1PC-Pete Crall 15.800
3B-Brad Greer 15.838
49-Josh Schneideman 16.164
71-Robert Bell 17.730
47-Don Droud Sr. -.---
5W-Lucas Wolfe -.---
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
15-Donny Schatz
14-Jason Meyers
10J-Jeffrey Lynton
18-Tony Bruce Jr.
24-Terry McCarl
55-Kerry Madsen
19-Craig Dollansky
69-Mike Moore
17A-Austin McCarl
4X-Toni Lutar
9P-Rager Phillips
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
21-Brian Brown
6-Danny Lasoski
1X-Randy Hannagan
20-Kraig Kinser
14AJ-Wayne Johnson
70-Calvin Landis
2W-Johnny Herrera
22-Brian Ellenberger
47-Don Droud Sr.
56-Davey Heskin
21K-Lou Kennedy
1PC-Pete Crall
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
41-Jason Johnson
17G-Dusty Zomer
7S-Jason Sides
9-Joey Saldana
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
5W-Lucas Wolfe
71R-Ryan Anderson
7K-Chris Morgan
13-Mark Dobmeier
3B-Brad Greer
22A-Billy Alley
13V-Seth Brahmer
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
11-Steve Kinser
R19-Jac Haudenschild
2-Skip Jackson
21AU-Brooke Tatnell
83-Tim Kaeding
10-Sammy Swindell
1-Bronson Maecshen
49-Josh Schneideman
23W-Scott Winters
19W-Bob Weave
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
21-Brian Brown
6-Danny Lasoski
24-Terry McCarl
R19-Jac Haudenschild
11-Steve Kinser
17G-Dusty Zomer
15-Donny Schatz
41-Jason Johnson
14-Jason Meyers
7S-Jason Sides
C-main (8 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1PC-Pete Crall
49-Josh Schneideman
5W-Lucas Wolfe [$125]
47-Don Droud Sr. [$125]
17A-Austin McCarl [$125]
3B-Brad Greer [$100]
21K-Lou Kennedy [$100]
71R-Ryan Anderson [$100]
13V-Seth Brahmer [$100]
2T-Tony Shilling [$100]
71-Robert Bell [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
19-Craig Dollansky
70-Calvin Landis
2W-Johnny Herrera
1-Bronson Maeschen
7K-Chris Morgan [$200]
13-Mark Dobmeier [$180]
19W-Bob Weave [$175]
23W-Scott Winters [$160]
9P-Rager Phillips [$150]
22-Brian Ellenberger [$150]
4X-Toni Lutar [$150]
69-Mike Moore [$150]
56-Davey Heskin [$150]
55-Kerry Madsen [$150]
22A-Billy Alley [$150]
49-Josh Schneidemasn [$150]
10-Sammy Swindell [$150]
1PC-Pete Crall [$150]
A-main (25 laps) - Starting Position [#]
15-Donny Schatz[7] [$10,000]
24-Terry McCarl[3] [$5,500]
11-Steve Kinser[5] [$3,200]
21-Brian Brown[1] [$2,800]
R19-Jac Haudenschild[4] [$2,500]
6-Danny Lasoski[2] [$2,300]
41-Jason Johnson[8] [$2,200]
7S-Jason Sides[10] [$2,100]
19-Craig Dollansky[22] [$2,050]
14-Jason Meyers[9] [$2,000]
1X-Randy Hannagan[13] [$1,500]
9-Joey Saldana[11] [$1,200]
83-Tim Kaeding[23] [$1,100]
2W-Johnny Herrera[24] [$1,050]
21AU-Brooke Tatnell[16] [$1,000]
55-Kerry Madsen[25] [$100]
14AJ-Wayne Johnson[20] [$800]
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[21] [$800]
17G-Dusty Zomer[6] [$800]
5W-Lucas Wolfe[26] [$0]
20-Kraig Kinser[17] [$800]
18-Tony Bruce Jr.[19] [$800]
1-Bronson Maeschen[18] [$800]
2-Skip Jackson[14] [$800]
70-Calvin Landis[15] [$800]
10J-Jeffrey Lynton[12] [$800]
Note: Kerry Madsen and Lucas Wolfe used World of Outlaws provisionals to start the A-Feature.
Lap Leaders: Brian Brown 1-14, Terry McCarl 15-20, Donny Schatz 21-25
Penske Power Position Award: Steve Kinser
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Craig Dollansky
KSE Hard Charger Award: Craig Dollansky
Top-10 in Championship Standings
- Steve Kinser 2087
- Donny Schatz 2062
- Joey Saldana 2038
- Jason Meyers 2017
- Jason Sides 2009
- Craig Dollansky 1988
- Terry McCarl 1953
- Sammy Swindell 1942
- Danny Lasoski 1936
- Kerry Madsen 1923