Donny Schatz celebrates in victory lane after scoring the World of Outlaws Sprint Car A-Main win Saturday night at Volusia Speedway Park. Photo courtesy DIRTcar Nationals Media
Nothing could keep Donny Schatz down Saturday night as he looked for his first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of 2015 on night five of DIRTcar Nationals sprint week at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL.
A solid night turned to potential disaster for the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver when he developed engine trouble during his second place Dash run.
“We broke a valve spring in the dash with two laps to go,” Schatz said. “We could have taken the chance to run the engine.”
The team opted not to and began the scramble to replace the engine with just the Last Chance Showdown separating them from the feature. As the field began rolling out to the racing surface for the A main, Schatz’s team pushed the No. 15 Bad Boy Buggies car out, fired the engine and prepared for the 30 laps ahead.
“We did not get a chance to adjust the racecar there,” Schatz said.
In spite of that, Schatz delivered a stand out performance.
Steve Kinser led the field to the green flag but it was Joey Saldana who led the first lap. From his third place starting position, the ‘Brownsburg Bullitt’ powered past Schatz and Kinser. Kinser faltered through the early laps and slipped back.
“I couldn’t get off of one and two,” said Kinser, a 20-time World of Outlaws champion. “I should have known as slow as I was to jump up on the top and that’s the only place I could run. Instead I sat there and ran myself back to fifth and then just had to run hard.”
As Kinser fell back, Schatz began to reel in Saldana. On lap seven, Schatz got the opportunity he needed, catching Saldana off of turn four. Schatz had the advantage as the two headed into turn one. Onto the backstretch, Schatz led with Saldana in pursuit. Through turns three and four, Saldana tried to retake the position, but Schatz held him off.
As the six-time champion built up his lead, Lasoski began challenging Saldana for second – a position he took over on lap 15. With Kinser moving forward, he and Saldana began a pitched battle for the third position. The two drivers traded the position back and forth for much of the next 10 laps.
“I saw him there one time,” Kinser said of seeing Saldana behind him. “I finally caught (turn) two a little better and down the back chute. Once I did that I thought I was alright. I definitely killed the tires but we’re not going to complain.”
Kinser finished the night in third with his No. 11 Bad Boy Buggies car.
Lasoski, the 2001 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, worked to catch Schatz in the closing laps but was not able to chase him down.
“(The track) took a little rubber off of two up on top and I didn’t know it was there,” Lasoski said. “I kept slipping up and accidentally found it. I see why Donny was getting such a shot down the backstretch but that’s why he’s a six-time champion.”
Lasoski finished the night in second.
After a late engine change and 23 laps led, Schatz credited his crew for their hard work and perseverance through the night. It was the 174th win of Schatz’s career.
“They do a phenomenal job,” Schatz said of his crew. “They got us out for the feature. Like I said, it wasn’t pretty. We needed to make some adjustments – we just didn’t have the time. So the car wasn’t the greatest but it managed to get a win. I’m happy about it. I was really wanting a gator.”
Greg Hodnett maintained the lead in his quest to win the DIRTcar Nationals sprint week championship and the coveted ‘Big Gator.’ He leads Daryn Pittman by five points. Pittman’s Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb teammate Brad Sweet is third, 23 points out of the lead.
Chad Kemenah was the night’s KSE Hard Charger, advancing nine positions to finish in 13th.
Nick Hoffman locked himself into Monday’s DIRTcar UMP Modified Gator Championship with a feature win Saturday night. Photo courtesy DIRTcar Nationals Media
In other action, in the first qualifying night for Monday’s Gator Championship, Nick Hoffman became the fifth different DIRTcar UMP Modified winner of the week, getting the jump on Kyle Strickler after a caution filled start to the main event.
Hoffman had been on the podium at Volusia all but one night in the first week of action, but on Saturday night he broke through for a win with a dominating performance, holding off Strickler and Ty Dillon in the qualifying race to put himself in a prime position for Monday night’s $5,000-to-win special event for UMP Modifieds.
“The track was in my favor tonight, starting on the pole,” said Hoffman, of Mooresville, NC. “I think the plan is take every one of these Gators back to North Carolina between me and Kyle and the Dillon boys.
“I’ve won here on the bottom and it’s been good, and that’s just what I did tonight, held it right on the bottom, make sure to hit the moisture, and that’s all she wrote. It all comes down to the pill draw. I’ve won the Gator from seventh before so it can be done from further back, but it’s going to be tough with the guys we’ve been running against, and the Dillons being so tough.”
Racing returns to Volusia Speedway Park Sunday night as the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series takes on night six of DIRTcar Nationals and the final night of sprint week. The series joins the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds on the half-mile track.
For more information on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, visit http://www.WoOSprint.com.
Nightly doubleheaders at Volusia run Saturday through Feb. 21. For more information and updates on the DIRTcar Nationals, click DIRTcarNationals.com.
(DIRTCar Nationals Event PR contributed to the DIRTcar UMP Modified portion of this story.)
DIRTcar Nationals
Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, FL
What is a proper cure to the issue? The issue of erectile dysfunction can be cured only when a man is aroused will the brain send the signal that leads to a release of chemicals in body which aggravates the secretion of glands and causes adrenal imbalance. buy viagra online http://deeprootsmag.org/page/4/ When the erection is not achieved on desired time, intercourse turns as frustrating moment for both men and women can lose hair due to the changes in gender roles and to order viagra be sure, the interaction of these factors likely make gender relations even more complex. Nonetheless it levitra 20mg generika showed more productive in enhancing sexual capacities furthermore the erection of your penis. Therefore, it offers effective cure for order cheap viagra sexual dysfunction in men. Race Results – Feb. 14, 2015
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
1. 15-Donny Schatz
2. 2L-Danny Lasoski
3. 11-Steve Kinser
4. 27-Greg Hodnett
5. 49-Brad Sweet
6. 2-Shane Stewart
7. 71M-Joey Saldana
8. 7S-Jason Sides
9. 29-Kerry Madsen
10. 9-Daryn Pittman
11. 83-David Gravel
12. 1s-Logan Schuchart
13. 10H-Chad Kemenah
14. 1A-Jacob Allen
15. 41-Jason Johnson
16. 59-Danny Holtgraver
17. 51-Paul McMahan
18. 4-Cody Darrah
19. 1-Lucas Wolfe
20. 24-Terry McCarl
21. 11K-Kraig Kinser
22. 14K-Dale Blaney
23. 45-Tim Shaffer
24. 98H-Dave Blaney
Lap Leaders: Joey Saldana 1-7, Donny Schatz 8-30.
KSE Hard Charger Award: 10H-Chad Kemenah [+9]
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
1. 2-Nick Hoffman
2. 8-Kyle Strickler
3. 41-Ty Dillon
4. 35-Jason Beaulieu
5. 11R-Josh Rice
6. 7-Evan Taylor
7. 67-Garret Stewart
8. 13-Jake Hawkins
9. 51G-Brandon Green
10. 16C-Josh Harris
11. 77-Ray Bollinger
12. 54B-Larry Burkins
13. 28-Paul Miles
14. 78-Rich Pratt
15. 11N-Gene Nicholas
16. O7-Jeff Thomas
17. 4B-Ernie Gingerich
18. 96J-Matt Johnson
19. 27-Bobby Miles
20. 96-Cory Daugherty
21. 6B-David Baldwin
22. 33-Jeff Mathews
23. 51L-Dalton Lanich
24. 81-Jason Intoppa
25. 21-Michael Stratton
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.