Tony Stewart-Curb/Agajanian Racing (TSR) driver Donny Schatz and the Arctic Cat/Ford Performance-backed team picked up their third World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman Sprint Car Series A-Feature triumph in the last two weeks with a dominant performance Saturday night in the #LetsRaceTwo 30-lap A-Feature at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Schatz, winner of last year’s prestigious Kings Royal at Eldora, raced the TSR No. 15 Arctic Cat/Ford Performance/Curb J&J from the pole and led all 30 laps to capture his eighth career WoO A-Feature at the historic half-mile dirt oval. The victory was sandwiched by a fourth-place finish in Friday’s opener of the #LetsRaceTwo doubleheader and an 11th-place finish Sunday night at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana.
“Tonight was a product of the three incredible guys who work on this TSR Arctic Cat/Ford Performance machine,” Schatz said following his 238th career WoO A-Feature triumph. “I’m fortunate to be surrounded by Rick (Warner), Steve (Swenson) and Brad (Mariscotti). They feed off one another and continue striving to make this car better. I don’t always provide the best feedback, but they find a way to get things better for me. We continue to learn every night. We weren’t happy with Friday night’s finish, so it was back to work today and the results were a phenomenal racecar and I was just the lucky one to get to drive it. It’s fun when everything comes together and you get a win, especially at Eldora. This place is incredible.”
Schatz entered the weekend following a WoO sweep of State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Missouri and 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas. He raced from seventh to fourth in Friday night’s 30-lap A-Feature at Eldora. After qualifying sixth in the field of 29 cars Saturday, Schatz finished second in heat three and took advantage of the No. 6 pill being drawn in the Craftsman Club Dash. He led all six laps of the dash and was never headed in the 30-lap A-Feature. The weekend concluded with Sunday’s event at Tri-State Speedway, which was originally scheduled for April 29. Schatz qualified 14th, finished third in heat two and started 10th and finished 11th in the 40-lap A-Feature.
Through 23 of 92 races, Schatz leads the championship standings over David Gravel by 74 points. He tops the series in wins with nine and top-fives with 16 and is tied with Gravel for most top-10s with 19.
#LetsRaceTwo – Eldora Speedway Race Notes:
• Schatz made his 105th and 106th career WoO starts at Eldora Speedway this past weekend.
- He qualified second in the field of 35 cars Friday night and won the second heat to advance to the Craftsman Club Dash.
- Schatz started seventh and finished fourth in Friday’s 30-lap A-Feature to score his fifth consecutive top-five finish at Eldora.
- In Saturday’s program, Schatz was the final driver in the 29-car field to make a qualifying lap and he turned the sixth-best lap, earning the outside-front-row starting position in heat three.
- After drawing a six for the Craftsman Club Dash, Schatz started from the pole and led all six laps of the dash and then all 30 laps of the A-Feature. It was the third time in 2017 that Schatz led all 30 laps of a main event en route to victory – LoneStar Speedway (March 3), 81 Speedway (May 6).
- The victory gives Schatz eight career WoO A-Feature triumphs at the Eldora and he ranks fifth all-time at “The Big E,” trailing only Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Joey Saldana and Doug Wolfgang.
Up Next:
Following the first of three 2017 visits to historic Eldora Speedway and Sunday’s annual stop at Tri-State Speedway, the focus for the TSR team is the first venture in the northeast to battle the vaunted “Pennsylvania Posse.” It starts with Wednesday’s Gettysburg Clash at Lincoln Speedway and is followed by a two nights of action at legendary Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg. The week concludes with the Outlaws’ third consecutive May visit to Weedsport Speedway in Upstate New York. Schatz is the defending Gettysburg Clash winner and a 15-time WoO A-Feature winner at Williams Grove. Schatz has also won the previous two WoO A-Features at Weedsport.