Fargo, N.D. (July 15, 2024) – Donny Schatz and the rest of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returned from a summer break with one final run through the Badger State last week which included events at the Beaver Dam and Wilmot Raceways. Schatz ended the three race mini-series parking in victory lane in the No. 15 CarQuest / Ford Performance J&J at Wilmot Saturday night.

Last Wednesday the series returned to Beaver Dam Raceway to complete the JB Memorial weekend which was cut short last month. Rebounding from a tough start to the evening where he timed 19th quick in qualifying, Schatz avoided disaster in the opening lap of the heat race running through the infield to avoid a spinning Kerry Madsen.

Schatz traded sliders with Landon Brooks to take a dash spot on a late restart in the heat to earn a dash spot. Schatz drew the eight-pill and finished seventh to start inside the fourth row in the 40-lap main event.

Schatz fell back to as low as 11th early in the race but remained inside the top ten from lap 13 onward. Schatz finished the race in the eighth position.

The first two-day show at Wilmot Raceway was up next for the Outlaws where night one started in a similar fashion as did Schatz’s night at Beaver Dam. Schatz was 18th quick and finished fourth in his heat race, setting up a 14th place start in the 40-lap feature.

Schatz entered the top ten for the first time on lap 11 and continued his climb through the field from there. Just past the midway point, Schatz charged past Gio Scelzi then peeked to the inside of fellow title contender for a spot inside the top five with David Gravel on lap 24.

With ten to go, Schatz battled Sheldon Haudenschild for a top five spot running low and high to try and make the pass. Schatz went on to finish sixth, winning the KSE Hard Charger Award.

Night two at Wilmot started with Schatz finishing second quick and scoring a heat and dash win to start on the pole of the final 40-lapper of the weekend.

Schatz ran second to Buddy Kofoid early but took the point as the leaders started to work lapped traffic. In the following five laps, Schatz had built a straightaway lead over Carson Macedo.

Through the midway point, Schatz was continuing to lap well through traffic before a lap 23 caution erased a 5.7 second lead for the 10-time series champion.

Schatz remained the class of the field on the restart, pulling away from Macedo by 10 car lengths in just one lap. Schatz continued on, leading the final 31 laps, to win the Larry Hillerud Memorial at Wilmot, his second career win at the track.

“Last night was really trying, but that’s what makes nights like this so much more important,” Schatz said in Victory Lane with the Sage Fruit victory apple in hand. “The guys spent a lot of time today digging and changing things, and it was a whole different race car tonight. Hats off to them. Scuba, Todd, Dawson, Neil. There’s a lot of communication there and that’s what it takes to be in this situation. I don’t know if someone was pushing me around there, but that was a hell of a lot of fun. I mean traffic was actually pretty awesome for me. There’s a couple times we would get two and three wide and split guys. The car was really good and allowed us to do it.

Schatz was also proud to win the Hillerud Memorial, saying “We won the Larry Hillerud Memorial, so that’s pretty damn cool. [Hillerud was a] North Dakota boy. Tons of passion for this sport and I’m sure he’s up there arguing with my dad about something but [I’m] pretty honored to win this tonight.”

This week Schatz and the Outlaws head to Ohio for three nights of action starting with Tuesday’s Brad Doty Classic at Attica Raceway Park where Schatz has five wins and 16 top tens in 18 previous races at the track. Two nights at Eldora Speedway follow, culminating with Saturday’s 41st running of the King’s Royal.

Schatz is a six-time King’s Royal winner and enters Saturday’s race as the defending champion after winning the 40th running of the event last year.

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: 34
Wins: 3
Top Fives: 16
Top Tens: 30