HAUBSTADT, IND – After losing Friday’s World of Outlaws (WoO) STP Sprint Car Series event to rain, Tony Stewart Racing’s Donny Schatz made his way to southwest Indiana for a night of racing at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. When the night was complete, the five-time and reigning WoO STP Sprint Car Series champion had raced his way from 24th to 11th in the TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet Performance J&J and earned his third KSE Hard Charger Award of 2013.
Schatz was the fourth car to qualify and his lap of 12.722 seconds placed him 27th overall. The reigning and five-time WoO STP Sprint Car Series champion started seventh in the third heat and challenged Danny Smith for the fifth and final transfer spot for most of the heat. Schatz would finish sixth and be forced to earn his way into the A-Feature by racing his way through the Last Chance Showdown. He started seventh and made his way up to fourth in the 12-lap race and earned the 24th-starting position in the A-Feature. The Fargo, N.D., native made a few moves early in the race to climb to 19th. His charge forward would continue through the middle stages of the race and, when the field slowed again for a red flag on lap 24, Schatz had moved to 15th. His drive forward continued during the final 16 laps as he made his way up to 11th.
Following the results of last week, Schatz ranks fourth in the 2013 WoO STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. The reigning WoO champion has accumulated 2,119 points and trails leader Daryn Pittman by 159 markers through15 of 85 scheduled nights of racing.
Schatz returns to action Friday in northeast Oklahoma at the Salina Highbanks. It will be the Outlaws second race at the 3/8-mile, high-banked dirt oval. In May 2011, Schatz charged from 18th to second in the main event.