Schatz Rules World Finals Opener for 20th WoO Win of the Year
CONCORD, N.C. (November 3, 2017) – Donny Schatz put the clamps on a ninth career World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car championship during Thursday night’s twin qualifying session.
The North Dakota racer then put a little icing on the cake by racing to his 20th series win of the year in Friday night’s 30-lap World Finals feature event at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
“It seems like we’ve been stuck on 19 for a while, it’s good to finally get to 20,” Schatz said upon climbing out of his Arctic Cat/Textron Off Road No. 15 Sprint Car.
Schatz made a bold move through traffic to snare the lead from Bill Balog on the tenth round and then survived a late caution to take his 23rd overall North American feature win of the year ahead of Ian Madsen and Dave Blaney, who rallied from tenth.
“It sucks that the season’s over because we’re rolling now,” Schatz said with just Saturday’s World Finals grand finale remaining of the 2017 season.
While Schatz started the feature third, front row outside starter Balog outgunned Ian Madsen for the early lead. With “The North Pole Nightmare” pacing the early circuits, the Madsen brothers Ian and Kerry soon moved in to pressure for the point with Schatz sneaking into contention as well on the low side.
As the lead quartet began working traffic, Schatz emerged from a scramble for the point exiting turn two on the tenth round with Kerry Madsen relegating Balog to third before the first of two cautions flew with eleven rounds in the books.
With Schatz setting the pace, Ian Madsen got the better of Balog on the restart and then disposed of brother Kerry for second at the race’s midway point. “Brother of Madman” closed on Schatz on several occasions and made one last bid following a lap 25 restart but was unable to finish off the move for the win.
“I thought we had a shot at some points of the race,” Ian Madsen said after the runner-up finish. “We closed in, I just don’t know what we could have done had we got all the way to him.”
Sitting ninth when the race’s first caution flew after eleven laps, “Buckeye Bullet” Dave Blaney was on the move over the last half of the race with a final burst to claim the show position.
“The restarts were good for us, this car really took off,” Blaney commented.
Kerry Madsen settled for fourth with Joey Saldana rounding out the top five.
The Vitals…
Series: World of Outlaws
Track: The Dirt Track at Charlotte (Concord, NC)
Car Count: 53
Quick Time: David Gravel turned in the top qualifying time of the weekend with a lap at 12.530 seconds in Thursday night’s time trialing double session.
Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): David Gravel (1), Paul McMahan (2), Joey Saldana (1), Daryn Pittman (1), Dave Blaney (1), Jason Johnson (2).
Heat Moments: Only McMahan and Johnson beat pole starters to the checkered from their outside front row starting positions with the other four heats won from the pole; Terry McCarl (sixth to third in heat four) and Sammy Swindell (seventh to third in heat four) were the only drivers to advance to the feature from beyond second row heat race starting position; After revealing intentions to partner with Destiny for the 2018 WoO tour earlier in the day, Dane Lorenc popped an engine with two laps to go in the opening heat; Paige Polyak and Jason Sides tangled on the backstretch on the restart after Lorenc’ meltdown with Sides returning after a trip to the work area; Scott Kreutter tagged the wall getting into turn one at the start of the second heat; Sadie Siegel outdid Kreutter in an attempt to drive through the first turn one wall as the fifth heat went green and then quickly red – she was unsuccessful with the car sustaining terminal damage.
Dash Winners (starting position in parentheses): Ian Madsen (1), Bill Balog (1).
Dash Moments: After Knoxville champ Ian Madsen won the first Dash, the chance seemed strong of an all-Madsen front row for the feature with Mad Man starting front row outside in Dash 2. “North Pole Nightmare” Bill Balog had other ideas though, denying Kerry to take the front row outside for the feature.
“C” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses): Greg Hodnett (1).
“C” Main Moments: While Hodnett wired the field, Shawn “Tiny” Dancer avoided a five-car scrum (including Nienhiser, Helms, Gulick, Galloway and Price) at the midway point and then quickly disposed of Josh Baughman on the lap six restart to take the second and final transfer after starting ninth.
“B” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses): Brian Brown (3).
“B” Main Moments: After climbing pole starter Paige Polyak’s tire on the start and rendering “Lady Lightning” lifeless, “Blackjack” Brian Brown moved to the front row outside and proceeded to drive on to an easy “B” Main win with Logan Schuchart slipping around Sam Hafertepe, Jr., in the final corner for second; Kraig Kinser battled past nose wing askew Jac Haudenschild for the sixth and final transfer position midway through; The initial start quickly went red when Cale Conley ventured too high getting into turn one and went for a wild ride after tagging the wall.
“A” Main Cautions: Two
Lap 11 – Sheldon Haudenschild slows with a cut right rear tire with third-runner David Gravel ducking into the work area as well with a similar problem. Before action resumes, Terry McCarl makes a quick stop as well, also with a cut right rear.
Lap 24 – Daryn Pittman shreds a right rear while battling for third.
“A” Main Hard Charger: After using one of six provisionals among the feature field, Brad Sweet salvages an otherwise subpar night by rallying from 25th to ninth.
The Box Score…
Qualifying:
Flight A: 1. 5-David Gravel 12.530, 2. 15-Donny Schatz 12.584, 3. 71-Joey Saldana 12.592, 4. 44-Trey Starks 12.597, 5. 13m-Paul McMahan 12.605, 6. W20-Greg Wilson 12.663, 7. 49x-Tim Shaffer 12.681, 8. 2-Shane Stewart 12.681, 9. 18-Ian Madsen 12.694, 10. 19p-Paige Polyak 12.707, 11. 21-Brian Brown 12.714, 12. 59-Ryan Smith 12.720, 13. 12n-Cole Duncan 12.767, 14. 17-Jac Haudenschild 12.768, 15. 39-Spencer Bayston 12.812, 16. 7s-Jason Sides 12.841, 17. 19-Brent Marks 12.874, 18. 27-Greg Hodnett 12.881, 19. 1a-Jacob Allen 12.889, 20. 49k-Scott Kreutter 12.923, 21. 3g-Carson Macedo 12.927, 22. 49d-Shawn Dancer 13.053, 23. 5b-Justin Barger 13.175, 24. 7kx-Dan Shetler 13.176, 25. 00-Dane Lorenc 13.619, 26. 27g-Jay Galloway 13.707.
Flight B: 1. 9-Daryn Pittman 12.551, 2. 71m-Dave Blaney 12.558, 3. 17b-Bill Balog 12.646, 4. 3z-Brock Zearfoss 12.649, 5. 2m-Kerry Madsen 12.670, 6. 41-Jason Johnson 12.671, 7. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 12.696, 8. 1s-Logan Schuchart 12.728, 9. 13d-Danny Dietrich 12.752, 10. 11k-Kraig Kinser 12.774, 11. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild 12.789, 12. 14-Tony Stewart 12.826, 13. 7k-Cale Conley 12.856, 14. 49-Brad Sweet 12.867, 15. 7J-Chad Kemenah 12.870, 16. 24-Terry McCarl 12.873, 17. 17x-Josh Baughman 12.890, 18. 13-Clyde Knipp 12.946, 19. 4-Parker Price-Miller 12.977, 20. 3-Sammy Swindell 12.978, 21. 17c-Caleb Helms 12.984, 22. 14x-Coleman Gulick 13.081, 23. 9x-Paul Nienhiser 13.115, 24. 47-Eric Riggins, Jr. 13.366, 25. 12w-Troy Fraker 13.717, 26. 91-Sadie Siegel 13.914, 27. 822-John Price NT.
Heat One (8 Laps – 3 Advance to “A” Main): 1. 5-David Gravel (1). 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer (3), 3. 44-Trey Starks (2), 4. 12n-Cole Duncan (5), 5. 49d-Shawn Dancer (8), 6. 7s-Jason Sides (6), 7. 1a-Jacob Allen (7), 8. 19p-Paige Polyak (4), 9. 00-Dane Lorenc (9).
Heat Two (8 Laps – 3 Advance to “A” Main): 1. 13m-Paul McMahan (2), 2. 15-Donny Schatz (1), 3. 2-Shane Stewart (3), 4. 21-Brian Brown (4), 5. 17-Jac Haudenschild (5), 6. 19-Brent Marks (6), 7. 5b-Justin Barger (8), 8. 27g-Jay Galloway (9), 9. 49k-Scott Kreutter (7).
Heat Three (8 Laps – 3 Advance to “A” Main): 1. 71-Joey Saldana (1), 2. 18-Ian Madsen (3), 3. W20-Greg Wilson (2), 4. 3g-Carson Macedo (7), 5. 27-Greg Hodnett (6), 6. 39-Spencer Bayston (5), 7. 59-Ryan Smith (4), 8. 7kx-Dan Shetler (8).
Heat Four (8 Laps – 3 Advance to “A” Main): 1. 9-Daryn Pittman (1), 2. 3z-Brock Zearfoss (2), 3. 24-Terry McCarl (6), 4. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (3), 5. 7k-Cale Conley (5), 6. 11k-Kraig Kinser (4), 7. 4-Parker Price-Miller (7), 8. 14x-Coleman Gulick (8), 9. 12w-Troy Fraker (9).
Heat Five (8 Laps – 3 Advance to “A” Main): 1. 71m-Dave Blaney (1), 2. 2m-Kerry Madsen (2), 3. 3-Sammy Swindell (7), 4. 1s-Logan Schuchart (3), 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild (4), 6. 49-Brad Sweet (5), 7. 17x-Josh Baughman (6), 8. 9x-Paul Nienhiser (8), 9. 91-Sadie Siegel (9).
Heat Six (8 Laps – 3 Advance to “A” Main): 1. 41-Jason Johnson (2), 2. 17b-Bill Balog (1), 3. 14-Tony Stewart (4), 4. 13d-Danny Dietrich (3), 5. 7J-Chad Kemenah (5), 6. 13-Clyde Knipp (6), 7. 47-Eric Riggins, Jr. (8), 8. 822-John Price (9), 9. 17c-Caleb Helms (7).
Dash 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ian Madsen (1), 2. 15-Donny Schatz (2), 3. 71-Joey Saldana (4), 4. 5-David Gravel (6), 5. 49x-Tim Shaffer (3), 6. 13m-Paul McMahan (5).
Dash 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17b-Bill Balog (1), 2. 2m-Kerry Madsen (2), 3. 3z-Brock Zearfoss (3), 4. 9-Daryn Pittman (6), 5. 71m-Dave Blaney (5), 6. 41-Jason Johnson (4).
“C” Main (10 Laps – 2 Advance): 1. 27-Greg Hodnett (1), 2. 49d-Shawn Dancer (9), 3. 4-Parker Price-Miller (6), 4. 3g-Carson Macedo (7), 5. 17x-Josh Baughman (2), 6. 13-Clyde Knipp (4), 7. 47-Eric Riggins, Jr. (14), 8. 00-Dane Lorenc (15), 9. 7kx-Dan Shetler (13), 10. 27g-Jay Galloway (17), 11. 822-John Price (18), 12. 1a-Jacob Allen (3), 13. 14x-Coleman Gulick (10), 14. 9x-Paul Nienhiser (12), 15. 17h-Caleb Helms (8), 16. 49k-Scott Kreutter (5), 17. 12w-Troy Fraker (16), 18. 5b-Justin Barger (11). DNS: 91-Sadie Siegel.
“B” Main (12 Laps – 6 Advance): 1. 21-Brian Brown (3), 2. 1s-Logan Schuchart (4), 3. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (2), 4. 59-Ryan Smith (5), 5. 12n-Cole Duncan (7), 6. 11k-Kraig Kinser (8), 7. 7s-Jason Sides (13), 8. 49-Brad Sweet (14), 9. 17-Jac Haudenschild (9), 10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild (10), 11. 13d-Danny Dietrich (6), 12. 7J-Chad Kemenah (13), 13. 39-Spencer Bayston (11), 14. 19-Brent Marks (15), 15. 49d-Shawn Dancer (18), 16. 19p-Paige Polyak (1), 17. 7k-Cale Conley (12), 18. 27-Greg Hodnett (17).
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz (3), 2. 18-Ian Madsen (1), 3. 71m-Dave Blaney (10), 4. 2m-Kerry Madsen (4), 5. 71-Joey Saldana (5), 6. 17b-Bill Balog (2), 7. 1s-Logan Schuchart (20), 8. 41-Jason Johnson (12), 9. 49-Brad Sweet (20), 10. 49x-Tim Shaffer (9), 11. 13m-Paul McMahan (11), 12. 21-Brian Brown (19), 13. 12n-Cole Duncan (23), 14. 2-Shane Stewart (15), 15. 7s-Jason Sides (28), 16. 5-David Gravel (7), 17. 3-Sammy Swindell (16), 18. 3z-Brock Zearfoss (6), 19. 17-Jac Haudenschild (29), 20. 14-Tony Stewart (18), 21. 9-Daryn Pittman (8), 22. 44-Trey Starks (13), 23. 11k-Kraig Kinser (24), 24. 24-Terry McCarl (14), 25. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild (26), 26. 19-Brent Marks (27), 27. 59-Ryan Smith (22), 28. 4-Parker Price-Miller (30), 29. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (21), 30. W20-Greg Wilson (17).
Lap leaders: Bill Balog 1-9, Donny Schatz 10-30.
