Photo Credit: Dave Biro
FARGO, N.D. (July 2, 2018) – The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series made their 2018 debut at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World,” Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa over the weekend.
Schatz began the Brownells Big Gun Bash on Friday, June 29th with a convincing win. Schatz led all 25 trips around the historic half-mile from the pole position during the main event en route to his 12th World of Outlaws win of the season and 27th career victory at Knoxville.
A long green flag stretch in the second half of the race allowed Schatz to extend his lead through lapped traffic. At the checkers, Schatz’s margin of victory was a whopping 3.809 seconds over defending Knoxville Raceway track champion and World of Outlaw rookie, Ian Madsen.
Similar to the night before, Schatz found himself on the pole of the 25-lap feature following a win in the Sears Craftsman Dash on night two. The 10-time Knoxville Nationals champion led the first eight laps of the main event until Brad Sweet muscled his way by to take the point.
David Gravel took the lead on the lap 11 restart, which shuffled Schatz back to third. Schatz rallied back to reclaim second with 10 laps to go before briefly grabbing the lead from Gravel on the final restart with eight circuits remaining. Gravel found his way by Schatz again in turns three and four to secure the lead as Schatz went on to record a runner-up finish.
Schatz, who is in search of his 10th World of Outlaws championship in 2018, now holds a 102 point lead over Sweet atop the point standings. The driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing / Textron Off Road / Ford Performance / Curb Records / Sage Fruit / J&J Auto Racing No. 15 has a series-leading 12 wins, 24 top fives, and 30 top 10s through the first 32 events of the season.
Next up, the World of Outlaws will head to Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin for the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown on Friday, July 6th and Saturday, July 7th.
Schatz has five career victories at the high-banked three-eighths mile dirt oval. Schatz’s most recent win came on July 9th of 2016. He has also recorded wins in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015 at Cedar Lake and finished third in both appearances in 2017.
STAY CONNECTED:
Website: DonnySchatz.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DonnySchatz15/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DonnySchatz
Instagram: www.instagram.com/donnyschatz/
Tony Stewart Racing:
Website: TonyStewartRacing.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TonyStewartRacing
Twitter: www.twitter.com/TonyStewart_Rcg
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tonystewart_rcg/
2018 World of Outlaws Stats:
Races: 32
Wins: 12
Top Fives: 24
Top Tens: 30
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Contact:
Mike Spieker
SpiekerPromotions.com
spiekerpromotions@gmail.com