Schatz Scores One for the Outlaws at the Grove
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (May 15, 2015) – Donny Schatz evened up the score in this year’s Outlaw vs Posse grudge match by racing past Greg Hodnett to win Friday night’s 25-lap World of Outlaws main event at the ½-mile Williams Grove Speedway.
The reigning World of Outlaws champion chased Hodnett down for the lead on the 18th round and then went on to post his ninth series score of the year aboard the Tony Stewart Racing Bad Boy Buggies No. 15 J&J, a triumph worth $8,000.
“It’s always good to win one at Williams Grove,” Schatz said after his 19th career score at the storied Central PA track. “The intensity and the competitiveness, it doesn’t get much better than here.”
Starting from the pole position after winning the Dash, Schatz fell behind fellow front row starter Hodnett at the outset and was in chase mode in the early going.
“I was just trying to stay with him early, you really need to get into traffic to pass these guys,” Schatz explained.
Gunning for a second WoO score in as many tries over three nights, Hodnett hit traffic just seven laps into the non-stop affair and the race was on.
Schatz moved in for the lead on lap nine, only to have Hodnett repel the challenge in the Heffner Racing Lelands.com No. 27 Triple-X chassis.
But Schatz kept the heat on, and went Hodnett went low to work on traffic in turns one and two on the 18th lap, Schatz raced by on the high side and took control for the duration.
“When I saw him go low, I knew it was my chance,” Schatz said. “I wish the race would have been longer, my car kept getting better the longer we went.”
A disappointed Hodnett settled for second, commenting that, “I’ve got to do a better job. My guys gave me a good car and I let them down.”
Coming off a pair of Williams Grove triumphs, Brian Montieth battled past fast qualifier Aaron Ott with just a handful of laps remaining to claim the show position. Ott crossed the stripe fourth to give Posse reps three of the top five with WoO shoe Paul McMahan rounding out the top five.
The Vitals…
Series: World of Outlaws
Track: Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA)
Car Count: 40
Quick Time: Second out among the 40-car field, Aaron Ott set the standard with a lap of 16.611 seconds. Alan Krimes scratched for the night before he ever took a lap while Cory Haas took a hard ride in turn three on his second qualifying lap. Haas was uninjured but done as well.
Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): Greg Hodnett (2), Paul McMahan (2), Stevie Smith (2), Joey Saldana (2).
Heat Moments: All four non-stop heats were won from the front row outside with the only pass of any importance being Logan Schuchart’s mid-race move around Donnie Kreitz, Jr., for the fifth and final transfer in the second heat.
“B” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses): Sheldon Haudenschild (8).
“B” Main Moments: Haudenschild got a great start by racing from eighth to third in the opening pair of corners and then went from third on a lap three restart to take the lead away from early leader Pat Cannon, who slipped over the cushion and fell out of transfer territory.
“A” Main Cautions: None
“A” Main Hard Charger: Cody Darrah gets the nod by picking off six positions to finish 16th after starting 22nd.
Complete results are available at http://www.woosprint.com/results/2015-results/3229-5-15-15-williams-grove-speedway.
