FARGO, N.D. (May 10, 2021) – It’s no secret that when the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars roll into Eldora Speedway, chances are the Tony Stewart / Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 will be racing up front. That was the case again last weekend as the Outlaws returned to the Big E for the first time in 589 days.
Rain postponed Friday’s program to a Saturday afternoon matinee, setting up a Saturday doubleheader.
In the first program, Donny Schatz found himself mired in the 17th starting position for the main event.
Schatz made quick work of the first several cars, using the extreme low side of the speedway to perfection.
On a restart with 13 to go, Schatz again went to the low side in turn one to steal four positions by the time he exited turn two, driving from ninth to fifth. Schatz then worked around David Gravel to take fourth at the checkers. Runner-up finisher Sheldon Haudenschild was light at the scales, moving Schatz up to third in the official running order.
The effort was Schatz’s 950th top five finish in his 1,900th World of Outlaws Sprint Car series start.
Schatz’s speed continued into Saturday night’s #LetsRaceTwo finale.
A seventh-place finish in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash put the 10-time series champion on the inside of row four for the feature.
Staying loyal to the bottom groove, Schatz cruised from seventh to second by lap two before setting his sights on Ian Madsen for the lead. An early restart dropped Schatz back to third, but he passed Madsen for second and closed in on Haudenschild for the lead. After trading a pair of sliders, Schatz took the point on lap eight and checked out.
In the final stages, Schatz’s car began to fade on him allowing Haudenschild to close in. Haudenschild regained the lead with two to go before Logan Schuchart moved around Schatz on the final lap to relegate Schatz back to third at the checkers.
“We were solid up front, just kept fading there at the end,” said Schatz after the race. “He had everything to gain moving around the race track. I just didn’t move around. I don’t know if it would have done me any good or not. It’s the way it goes. These Carquest guys have done a great job. We had a pretty solid weekend. It would have been good to win, but we didn’t. We got another chance on Wednesday.”
That chance on Wednesday will come at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Pennsylvania. Schatz has one career win at Lincoln, which came in 2016 where he started on the pole and led all 35 laps. The World of Outlaws have raced at Lincoln annually since 2012, and over that span, Schatz has an average finish of 6.3 at the four-tenths mile oval.
Following Lincoln’s midweek special, the Outlaws will head to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania – the site of Schatz’s last win in October.
“Any place you’ve won a race you get excited to go to. Since it’s where I got my last win, hopefully, it’s where I’ll get my next one,” said Schatz. “It’s a fun place to go. The fans are fiery. They’ve got some good competitors and we like going out there. Can’t wait to get there.”
Schatz and the entire Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team would like to thank all of their great partners for their continued support!
Carquest Auto Parts, Curb Records, Ford Performance, Sage Fruit, Digital Ally, Mobil 1, Absolute Automation & Security, Rush Truck Centers, Advance Auto Parts, Hunt Brothers Pizza, J&J Auto Racing.
Schatz’s Statbook
2021 World of Outlaws Results:
Races: 20
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 12
Top Tens: 13
STAY CONNECTED:
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Mike Spieker
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Photo Credit: Speedway Shots