Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing (TSR) driver Donny Schatz scored a pair of top-10 finishes at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio in the #LetsRaceTwo doubleheader this past weekend. He placed ninth Friday and seventh Saturday.
Schatz, the seven-time and reigning World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman® Sprint Car Series champion, led the Outlaws to Eldora for the first of three appearances at the high-banked, half-mile dirt oval behind the wheel of a new-look TSR No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance J&J. The TSR machine, carrying the new Bad Boy Off Road brand marks, was the fifth of 46 cars to make a qualifying lap in Friday’s opener. Schatz turned in the fifth-best lap in Group A and started third in the opening heat race. He raced past Joey Saldana at the start and finished second to grab one of the coveted eight spots in the dash. He raced from fourth to second in the six-lap dash to earn a spot on the front row in Friday’s 30-lap A-Feature. In the main event, Schatz was strong for the first 10 laps, challenging polesitter Kerry Madsen for the lead in the early going. As the race went on, Schatz searched for grip on the slick surface and battled several drivers for position. He eventually finished ninth.
The TSR team returned Saturday looking to improve on Friday’s performance. Schatz was the 30th car to make a qualifying lap and he turned in the sixth-best lap in Group B qualifying. For the second consecutive night, Schatz started third in his heat race and raced his way to second to earn a spot in the dash. He advanced to seventh in the dash and started the 30-lap A-Feature inside of row four. At the drop of the green, Schatz held the seventh position and, on lap three, he worked his way past Shane Stewart and Chad Kemenah to grab fifth. Three laps later, he passed David Gravel for fourth on lap five. Gravel got the spot back the next lap and Schatz held fifth until lap eight. He battled Shane Stewart the next five laps for sixth with Stewart ultimately taking the spot on lap 13. Schatz held seventh during the final 17 laps to earn his 16th consecutive top-10 finish and 27th in his last 29 starts at Eldora.
Madsen completed the weekend sweep by leading all 30 laps in both events.
Through 23 of the scheduled 92 races, Schatz is tied for most victories with five, and he has earned 14 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s.
He ranks second in the WoO championship with 3,122 points and trails leader Brad Sweet by 97 markers.
The TSR team will return to action with two Indiana stops this weekend, starting with the Outlaws’ first appearance at Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway Friday night. Saturday, the team will travel to southwest Indiana to the high-banked, quarter-mile Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt.