Tony Stewart-Curb/Agajanian Racing’s (TSR) Donny Schatz earned a pair of top-five finishes heading into Monday’s annual World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman Sprint Car Series event at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway. The driver of the TSR No. 15 Arctic Cat/Ford Performance Curb J&J finished second Wednesday at New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway and fourth Friday in the Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track @ Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“We’re just not quite where we want to be,” admitted Schatz. “We expect to be challenging for wins and right now that’s not happening enough. Everyone on this Arctic Cat/Ford Performance team is working hard and I know we’ll get there. I’ve got three of the most competitive guys working with me day in and day out and no one will stop working to improve. We are always learning.”
Schatz was looking for his third career win at the D-shaped dirt track in New Jersey Wednesday night. Things started well with Schatz earning his second fast qualifier award of the season. He finished second in the opening heat and fourth in the Craftsman Club Dash. In the main event, he started on the outside of row two and advanced to third in the first corner, but lost two positions when he drifted high coming out of turn four. He battled inside the top-five throughout the event passing Brad Sweet for second with couple laps remaining. He was able to make a run at leader David Gravel on the final lap, but just couldn’t make the top groove work coming out of turn two.
The Arctic Cat/Ford Performance team traveled south following the runner-up finish with an eye winning in Charlotte. Schatz qualified third and dominated the third heat race. The Craftsman Club Dash proved to a challenging one after Schatz dropped from third to sixth. The team made numerous changes on the No. 15 machine for Schatz to chase career win number 10 at The Dirt Track @ Charlotte. For most of the race, the cushion proved to be fast, but in typical Schatz fashion, he found other lines in order to move forward. He made the bottom group work and late in the race while running fourth had the top three right in front of him. Despite closing in on the leaders, Schatz would finish fourth.
After racing a pair of Dirt Late Model events Saturday and Sunday, Schatz will return to Indiana Monday for the WoO Memorial Day race in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Next week, Schatz returns to the Jackson (Minn.) Motorplex for the 39th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals.