Schatz Snaps Six Year Drought At Eldora With Friday Win

Donny Schatz scored Friday night’s World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series win at Eldora Speedway. Photo courtesy Eldora Speedway

Through the years Eldora Speedway has not always been kind to Donny Schatz. In fact, it had been almost exactly six years since the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver had stood as a winner in victory lane. Schatz changed that on Friday night though after he battled past Kerry Madsen and held off Shane Stewart to score his seventh World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of the season.

“Every place we’ve struggled at this year and in the past, (my team has) picked up their game and come and gotten us good qualifying positions and wins,” Schatz said. “This place was on that list. These guys just kept working at it. They beat their head against the wall just like I did… Feels good to get a victory here at Eldora. It’s been a long time.”

Early on in the night, Madsen was the one to beat. The Aussie started on the pole and held on to the lead for the first half of the feature.

On lap 12, as Madsen caught lapped traffic, Schatz quickly closed the gap. In turn four, Schatz looked low and pulled even with Madsen but wasn’t able to get around. Down the front straight in to turns one and two, Schatz battled to the lead. Out of turn two, Madsen raced back and briefly freed himself of Schatz. The battle was not over. The six-time champion again got around Madsen as they exited turn four. Schatz firmly took hold of the lead this time.

“Typically that’s not our deal up on top but they’ve got an awesome racecar underneath me,” Schatz said. “To be able to race up there, Kerry must have faded there at the end but he’s normally pretty good here too.”

Through lapped traffic and a late race caution, Schatz held off a challenge from Shane Stewart to win the feature.

“We came in to tonight just trying to get ourselves qualified well,” Schatz said of his Bad Boy Buggies team. “We did that. Get ourselves through the heat – we did that. Get forward in the dash – we did that. And try to get that win and we did that. Tomorrow is a new day. We’ve got to go back and try to learn from the mistakes we made tonight and try to make things a little bit better. These guys are trying to win a championship and I’m doing everything I can to help them.”

Schatz’s win was the 180th World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of his career. He’s the third winningest driver in series history. Following his victory, Schatz also slightly extended his championship points lead over second place Shane Stewart to 33.

Stewart, who also finished the night in second place, slipped back to fourth on the start. He rode there through much of the first half of the night before closing on third place Rico Abreu. Stewart battled around Abreu and then, on lap 19, got around second place Madsen as the two exited off of turn four.

In the waning laps, Stewart tried to close on Schatz but was forced to fend off Abreu who tried to take over the second spot as Madsen faded back. Neither driver was successful.

Stewart scored his 12th top-five finish of the season.

“We unloaded fast tonight and (crew members Scotty Martin and Andrew Seamans), as always, did a great job for me,” Stewart said. “We’re staying close to Donny – we just can’t get too far away from him. That team is just so darn good. It’s a testament to them and how hard they work and it’s a testament to my guys at how hard they’re working to try to keep up with that guy. It’s always a pleasure driving that number 2 car. It’s always a pleasure coming here to race at Eldora. The fans are excellent. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Abreu, who already has two Outlaws wins this season, closed out the night with a third place finish.

“We’ve had a lot of momentum,” Abreu said. “We just haven’t had the finishes. Either I crash or we’ve had a few mechanical failures. It’s just the way it goes.”

Abreu said having the opportunity to race with experienced drivers like Schatz and Stewart has helped his development this season.

“I just keep getting better and better each race. I’m thankful to be here. Thank you Tony (Stewart), Earl (Baltes) for building such a great race track – it’s definitely one of my favorites.”

For more info on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, visit WoOSprint.com.

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Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
Race Results – May 8, 2015

1. 15-Donny Schatz
2. 2-Shane Stewart
3. 24-Rico Abreu
4. 51-Paul McMahan
5. W20-Greg Wilson
6. 29-Kerry Madsen
7. 1-Dale Blaney
8. 9-Daryn Pittman
9. 7S-Jason Sides
10. 99-Brady Bacon
11. 7-David Gravel
12. 49-Brad Sweet
13. 1ST-Gary Taylor
14. 11-Steve Kinser
15. 10H-Chad Kemenah
16. 1S-Logan Schuchart
17. 89-Cody Darrah
18. 83-Craig Dollansky
19. 11K-Kraig Kinser
20. 21-D.J. Foos
21. 41-Jamie Veal
22. 11N-Randy Hannagan
23. 63-Kody Swanson
24. 71M-Joey Saldana
25. 67-Christopher Bell
26. 40-Caleb Helms