By Tony Veneziano
Ohsweken, ON—August 1, 2010— After finishing third on Friday night in the opener of the Six Nation Showdown at Ohsweken Speedway to earn his fourth straight podium finish at the track, Donny Schatz couldn’t wait to climb back in his race car a night later in search of his first win at the always racy 3/8-mile. Mother Nature had other ideas though, postponing the finale of the two-day event until Sunday. The wait was certainly worth it for Schatz as he dominated the race on Sunday night to score his first career win at Ohsweken Speedway and his second overall triumph in Canada with the World of Outlaws.
The win was the third of the season for Schatz and the 103rd of his World of Outlaws career. He is currently four wins behind Hall of Famer Doug Wolfgang who is fourth on the all-time list.
“It feels good to be back in Victory Lane,” said Schatz. “I guess if you keep knocking on the door long enough somebody is going to let you in. It’s kind of how I feel right now. We had an awesome car and we’ve always been pretty good here. We learned something in the dash tonight about this place and about our car in general and were really excited about that. It didn’t feel the greatest in the car inside, but it would turn under guys and it’s great to have that. We’re pretty pumped.”
Schatz started on the pole and gunned to an early lead over his teammate, 20-time series champion Steve Kinser. The four-time and defending series champion was out front for four double file restarts, with Kinser lined up to the outside of him each and every time. Schatz used four strong restarts to power his way into turns one and two and stay out front.
“Steve (Kinser) is one of the toughest guys to start next to,” noted the winner. “I probably could have done some things on those restart to screw him up, but being teammates we show each other respect and try not to do that. The car took off good and I stayed down there and that’s all there is to it. The race track was great tonight. It had some moisture on the bottom and a little bit in the middle and you could throw stuff up and catch it. It just was good all over the place and seemed to like my car tonight.”
Schatz set a blistering pace in the 30-lapper, finding himself in lapped traffic for a majority of the contest. He lapped all the way up to the 14 th-place finisher aboard the Armor All/STP J&J. Following the first caution of the night on the fourth lap, it took Schatz just five laps to be in traffic after the restart.
“I love the traffic,” he stated. “That is what you grit your teeth for. In racing, you want to get yourself in that position and I feel like I can maybe get a guy that way or if he makes a mistake or a lapped car forces a guy down, I feel like that is where the races are won and lost. If I’m leading the race, I want to get to traffic, so I can maneuver through there better and put a little ground there or if I am behind maybe snooker a few guys. I wish we had 40 car races every night, but I guess that wouldn’t go over real well. It’s fun to be in traffic and I grit my teeth every time we are in it.”
Joey Saldana, the current World of Outlaws point leader, finished second to earn his second straight Top-Five at Ohsweken Speedway in the Budweiser Maxim. He stared third and ran in that spot for most of the race as he did all he could to track down Kinser and Schatz, who were ahead of him.
“It was a great effort,” Saldana said. “We didn’t quite have enough for Donny (Schatz) at the end. We had a very good car and worked hard on the car both nights and had solid results. I’ll take it go on to Fulton (Speedway). We just have to keep running strong.”
Saldana lined up on the inside of the second row on each of the double file restarts as he battled Steve Kinser for the second spot. He took the runner-up position from Kinser coming off turn four on the 21st go-around and gained a little bit of ground on Schatz in the late going.
“I was in the spot I wanted to be, but at the same time I was in a bad spot, with the leader being able to control things how he wants on the restarts,” explained the second generation driver of the double file restarts on Sunday night. “You just have to make do and you really can’t worry about what you do coming off (turn) four, you have to worry about what you do coming off (turn) two. Every time coming off two, I would be right with Steve (Kinser) again.”
Steve Kinser ended up third in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim to earn his series leading 29th Top-Five and 41st Top-10 finish of the season. He began the night by qualifying in the third spot to gain three bonus points in the standings and now trails Saldana by just 30 markers as he chases his record 21st title.
Paul McMahan continued his strong East Coast swing coming home fourth in the Great Clips Maxim to earn his 11th Top-Five finish in the last 14 races.
Jason Meyers, who is currently third in points, finished fifth on Sunday night aboard the GLR Investments KPC. He set fast time to open the night to earn five bonus points in the standings and is currently 57 points behind Saldana as he chases his first series title.
Kraig Kinser finished sixth after starting 12th in the Quaker State Maxim, with Jason Sides seventh in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Danny Lasoski came home eighth in the Casey’s General Stores JEI, with Sam Hafertepe Jr. ninth aboard the Lone Star Speedway Maxim. Craig Dollansky rounded out the Top-10 in the Big Game Treestands Maxim coming from the 17th starting spot to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Tuesday, August 3 at Fulton Speedway in New York.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY NIGHT #2 NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Meyers paced the 34 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 3/8-mile oval at 12.875 seconds at 104.854 mph. For his qualifying effort, Meyers earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Paul McMahan (4), Steve Kinser (3), Toni Lutar (2) and Donny Schatz (1).
•OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Danny Lasoski, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Jason Sides and Chad Kemenah won heat races. Donny Schatz won the dash. Rick Wilson won the Last Chance Showdown.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 46 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, I-55 Raceway, Eldora Speedway-twice, Dodge City Raceway Park, River Cities Speedway, LaSalle Speedway, Beaver Dam Raceway and Lernerville Speedway), Virginia Motor Speedway, I-96 Speedway and North Central Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Lakeside Speedway, Eldora Speedway and Autodrome Drummond), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway, Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park , Tri-City Speedway, Missouri State Fair Speedway and Ohsweken Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park, The Dirt Track at Charlotte and Ohsweken Speedway), Lance Dewease (Lernerville Speedway and Williams Grove Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway and Cedar Lake Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway and Knoxville Raceway), Sammy Swindell (Dodge City Raceway and Huset’s Speedway), Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway and Junction Motor Speedway), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Doug Esh (Lebanon Valley Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway) and Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway).
•3/8-MILE-WINNERS: Ohsweken Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced nine times on a track that size this season. The winners include: Sammy Swindell (Dodge City Raceway Park and Huset’s Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Cedar Lake Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway), Jason Meyers (Tri-State-Okla. Speedway), Joey Saldana (Dodge City Raceway Park), Donny Schatz (Ohsweken Speedway), Jason Sides (Ohsweken Speedway) and Brooke Tatnell (Junction Motor Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Ohsweken Speedway; Ohsweken, ON; August 1, 2010
Qualifying
1) 14-Jason Meyers 12.875
2) 91-Paul McMahan 12.920
3) 11-Steve Kinser 12.935
4) 4X-Toni Lutar 13.023
5) 15-Donny Schatz 13.048
6) 11K-Kraig Kinser 13.103
7) 14Z-Jessica Zemken 13.113
8) 9-Joey Saldana 13.116
9) O-Glenn Styres 13.123
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.171
11) R19-Doug Esh 13.178
12) 63-Chad Kemenah 13.207
13) 6-Danny Lasoski 13.234
14) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 13.261
15) 7S-Jason Sides 13.323
16) 77X-Randy Hannagan 13.401
17) 7-Craig Dollansky 13.440
18) 2B-Ben Gregg 13.465
19) 71-Travis Cunningham 13.547
20) 8B-Alain Bergeron 13.590
21) 42W-Rick Wilson 13.694
22) 32-Justin Barger 13.700
23) 5-Keith Dempster 13.748
24) 14H-Jim Huppunen 13.760
25) 7A-Tom Huppunen 13.916
26) 80-Chris Steele 14.010
27) 15AW-April Wilson 14.163
28) OK-Kyle Patrick 14.171
29) O1-Mikey Kruchka 14.178
30) 5D-Dave Dykstra 14.235
31) 31-John Burbridge 14.592
32) 67-Chris Durand 14.880
33) 7X-Dain Naida 19.184
34) 30G-Stevin Goldner 14.628
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 6-Danny Lasoski[1]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[3]
3) 7-Craig Dollansky[5]
4) 14-Jason Meyers[4]
5) O-Glenn Styres[2]
6) 42W-Rick Wilson[6]
7) 7X-Dain Naida[9]
8) 7A-Tom Huppunen[7]
9) O1-Mikey Kruchka[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2]
2) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1]
3) 11K-Kraig Kinser[3]
4) 91-Paul McMahan[4]
5) 2B-Ben Gregg[5]
6) 32-Justin Barger[6]
7) 5D-Dave Dykstra[8]
8) 80-Chris Steele[7]
9) 30G-Stevin Goldner[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 7S-Jason Sides[1]
2) 11-Steve Kinser[4]
3) 14Z-Jessica Zemken[3]
4) R19-Doug Esh[2]
5) 5-Keith Dempster[6]
6) 71-Travis Cunningham[5]
7) 15AW-April Wilson[7]
8) 31-John Burbridge[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 63-Chad Kemenah[2]
2) 9-Joey Saldana[3]
3) 77X-Randy Hannagan[1]
4) 4X-Toni Lutar[4]
5) 8B-Alain Bergeron[5]
6) 14H-Jim Huppunen[6]
7) OK-Kyle Patrick[7]
8) 67-Chris Durand[8]
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15-Donny Schatz[3]
2) 11-Steve Kinser[4]
3) 9-Joey Saldana[2]
4) 91-Paul McMahan[5]
5) 6-Danny Lasoski[8]
6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[1]
7) 14-Jason Meyers[6]
8) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[9]
9) 7S-Jason Sides[10]
10) 63-Chad Kemenah[7]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 42W-Rick Wilson[2]
2) 32-Justin Barger[3]
3) 5D-Dave Dykstra[10]
4) 71-Travis Cunningham[1]
5) 14H-Jim Huppunen[4] [$200]
6) OK-Kyle Patrick[8] [$180]
7) 7A-Tom Huppunen[5] [$175]
8) 80-Chris Steele[6] [$160]
9) 31-John Burbridge[11] [$150]
10) O1-Mikey Kruchka[9] [$150]
11) 7X-Dain Naida[13] [$150]
12) 15AW-April Wilson[7] [$150]
13) 67-Chris Durand[12] [$150]
14) 30G-Stevin Goldner[14] [$150]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15-Donny Schatz[1] [$10,000]
2) 9-Joey Saldana[3] [$5,000]
3) 11-Steve Kinser[2] [$3,000]
4) 91-Paul McMahan[4] [$2,700]
5) 14-Jason Meyers[7] [$2,500]
6) 11K-Kraig Kinser[12] [$2,200]
7) 7S-Jason Sides[9] [$2,000]
8) 6-Danny Lasoski[5] [$1,800]
9) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[6] [$1,600]
10) 7-Craig Dollansky[17] [$1,450]
11) R19-Doug Esh[15] [$1,300]
12) 77X-Randy Hannagan[16] [$1,200]
13) O-Glenn Styres[14] [$1,100]
14) 14Z-Jessica Zemken[13] [$1,000]
15) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[8] [$950]
16) 42W-Rick Wilson[21] [$900]
17) 4X-Toni Lutar[11] [$850]
18) 2B-Ben Gregg[18] [$750]
19) 8B-Alain Bergeron[20] [$725]
20) 5-Keith Dempster[23] [$700]
21) 63-Chad Kemenah[10] [$700]
22) 71-Travis Cunningham[19] [$700]
23) 5D-Dave Dykstra[24] [$700]
24) 32-Justin Barger[22] [$700]
Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-30
KSE Hard Charger Award: Craig Dollansky
Penske Power Position Award: Toni Lutar
World of Outlaws Championship Standings through August 1
1. Joey Saldana 6195
2. Steve Kinser 6165 -30
3. Jason Meyers 6138 -57
4. Donny Schatz 6034 -161
5. Jason Sides 5973 -222
6. Paul McMahan 5928 -267
7. Lucas Wolfe 5741 -454
8. Craig Dollansky 5696 -499
9. Kraig Kinser 5569 -626
10. Danny Lasoski 5558 -637
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Chizmark & Larson Insurance , Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Penske Shocks , R2C Performance, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo; Engine Builder’s Challenge participants Don Ott Racing Engines, Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines; and Chassis Builder’s Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.