Trent Gower photo.
Fargo, N.D. (April 15, 2024) – Donny Schatz completed his two race weekend at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 by picking up his second win of the year in the No. 15 CarQuest / Ford Performance J&J, scoring his first win at the Missouri bullring in nine years, his 313th career victory with the Greatest Show on Dirt.
Schatz had a solid opening night in Pevely which started with chalking up the fourth fastest lap in his qualifying group which was backed up with a heat race win and a spot in the dash.
Schatz started on the inside of the fourth row and remained inside the top ten throughout the first 40-lap feature of the weekend, finishing eighth.
Schatz and crew battled back from a rough start to night two. Schatz rolled out 29th in qualifying and ended the session with the 20th best lap.
In customary Donny Schatz never-give-up fashion, Schatz stormed from fifth to second to earn another trip to the dash.
Following his fourth place run in the dash, Schatz started the second 40-lap main event of the weekend by taking the second spot from Buddy Kofoid on a lap four restart. From there Schatz reeled in Bill Balog in lapped traffic to challenge for the lead.
Schatz took the lead on the eleventh trip around the quarter-mile bullring and began to build a significant advantage in lapped traffic from there.
The final 36 laps went green to checkered with Schatz leading the final 30 laps to score his second win of the season.
After a quick juggle of the Sage Fruit victory apple, Schatz recounted his race in victory lane saying, “I don’t remember [the pass for the lead.] I guess you just go and go. If you were near my trailer after qualifying, you probably heard some choice words so I apologize for that. But it just shows the heart of this team. It’s such a double-edged razor blade some days and we dug out of a huge hole tonight and got a win on a racetrack that we typically don’t run good on.
Schatz continued, “We threw everything, two kitchen sinks at it tonight so it’s good to get that win. This place is demanding and we haven’t been to victory lane here in a long time and didn’t really know what the track was going to do. But I just went where everybody wasn’t and we actually felt pretty good. Hats off to the whole CarQuest team. It’s actually a pretty fun race normally when we come here.”
Schatz’s win on Saturday night was his third in his career in Pevely, MO in his 61st appearance at the track. Schatz’s win was his first in nine years at the track. His 2015 win also came nine years after his first I-55 win during his first championship winning season in 2006.
Schatz and the Outlaws now head to Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky on Friday night and Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana on Saturday. Schatz remains in title contention heading into the weekend just 48 markers back of David Gravel in his quest for an 11th series title.
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, Advance Auto Parts, Curb Records, Ford Performance, Sage Fruit, Mobil 1, Absolute Automation & Security, J&J Auto Racing, Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts
2024 Stats:
Races: 13
Wins: 2
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 12