Schatz scores first Eldora victory since 2009

By T.J. Buffenbarger

Rossburg, OH – (May 8, 2015) – Donny Schatz pulled into victory lane on Friday night at Eldora Speedway with the World of Outlaws sprint car series for the first time since 2009. Schatz was able to pass Kerry Madsen in traffic and held on through a late race restart to pick up the feature victory during the “Mother of All Sprint Car Weekend”.

“My guys do a phenomenal job. Every place we have struggled at in the past they have picked up their game, and got us good qualifying positions and wins,” said Schatz in victory lane. “(Eldora) was on that list. My guys just kept beating their heads against the wall like I did. Typically that’s not our deal on the top, but they got an awesome race car underneath me to be able to race up there. Kerry (Madsen) must have faded at the end, but he’s normally pretty good here to. Feels good to get a victory at Eldora, it’s been a while.

Madsen jumped into the lead at the start with Schatz quickly moving up to second. Following a caution for Kraig Kinser slowing on the front stretch for a flat right rear tire Madsen pulled away during the restart while Schatz briefly had to contend with a challenge from Abreu before maintaining second position.

Lapped traffic came into play on lap 12 and allowed Schatz to close. Schatz was able to take advantage of traffic and pass Maden for the lead going down the backstretch coming off turn two. Schatz pulled away while Madsen then had to contend with Abreu and Stewart. Stewart passed Madsen on lap 18 with Abreu moving around Madsen one lap later for third. One lap later Randy Hannagan slowed to bring out the caution flag with a flat tire.

Schatz pulled away again on the restart with Stewart and Abreu racing for second. Stewart eventually pulled away with Abreu can tried to chase down Schatz. Behind them Greg Wilson was making a late race run into the top five, as McMahan and Wilson shuffled Madsen out of the top five with Madsen giving McMahan a shot in the back bumper before McMahan pulled away.

Up front it was all Schatz taking the win over Stewart, Abreu, McMahan, and Wilson.

McMahan was the fastest qualifier over the 39 car field with a lap of 12.913 second lap at an average speed of 133.394 miles per hour. Kody Swanson, Madsen, Gary Taylor, and Abreu won heat race events. Madsen won the dash while Christopher Bell won the B-Main.

World of Outlaws
Mother of All Sprint Car Weekends
Eldora Speedway – New Weston, OH
Friday May 8, 2015

Qualifications: 1. 51 – Paul McMahan, 12.913; 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 13.057; 3. 15 – Donny Schatz, 13.080; 4. 24 – Rico Abreu, 13.104; 5. 7S – Jason Sides, 13.130; 6. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 13.135; 7. 7 – David Gravel, 13.143; 8. 99 – Brady Bacon, 13.143; 9. W20 – Greg Wilson, 13.163; 10. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 13.186; 11. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 13.237; 12. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 13.247; 13. 63 – Kody Swanson, 13.273; 14. 1 – Dale Blaney, 13.299; 15. 41 – Jamie Veal, 13.300; 16. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 13.315; 17. 89 – Cody Darrah, 13.318; 18. 67 – Christopher Bell, 13.326; 19. 11 – Steve Kinser, 13.327; 20. 1A – Jacob Allen, 13.361; 21. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 13.409; 22. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 13.436; 23. 21 – D.J. Foos, 13.450; 24. 49 – Brad Sweet, 13.454; 25. 59 – Danny Holtgraver, 13.466; 26. 5T – Travis Philo, 13.490; 27. 19 – Paige Polyak, 13.530; 28. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 13.530; 29. 83 – Craig Dollansky, 13.544; 30. 71M – Joey Saldana, 13.563; 31. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.579; 32. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.745; 33. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 13.747; 34. 9K – Kevin Thomas, Jr. , 13.753; 35. 55 – Taylor Ferns, 13.826; 36. 40 – Caleb Helms, 13.863; 37. 71MX – Paul May, 13.893; 38. 35 – Wes McGlumphy, 14.027; 39. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 14.362;

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 63 – Kody Swanson, 2. W20 – Greg Wilson, 3. 7S – Jason Sides, 4. 51 – Paul McMahan, 5. 89 – Cody Darrah, 6. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 7. 83 – Craig Dollansky, 8. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 9. 59 – Danny Holtraver, 10. 71MX – Paul May. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 3. 1 – Dale Blaney, 4. 71M – Joey Saldana, 5. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 6. 67 – Christopher Bell, 7. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 8. 5T – Travis Philo, 9. 9K – Kevin Thomas, Jr., 10. 35 – Wes McGlumphy. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 2. 41 – Jamie Veal, 3. 15 – Donny Schatz, 4. 7 – David Gravel, 5. 21 – D.J. Foos, 6. 11 – Steve Kinser, 7. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 8. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 9. 55 – Taylor Ferns, 10. 16 – Ryan Ruhl. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 24 – Rico Abreu, 2. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 3. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 4. 49 – Brad Sweet, 5. 40 – Caleb Helms, 6. 99 – Brady Bacon, 7. 19 – Paige Polyak, 8. 20N – Hunter Schurenberg, 9. 1A – Jacob Allen. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Dash (4 Laps): 1. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 3. 24 – Rico Abreu, 4. 2 – Shane Stewart, 5. 51 – Paul McMahan, 6. 7S – Jason Sides, 7. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 8. 63 – Kody Swanson. (Finish determined the lineup of the first three rows of the A-Main)

B-Main (12Laps): 1. 67 –Christopher Bell, 2. 11 – Steve Kinser, 3. 99 – Brady Bacon, 4. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 5. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 6. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 7. 10H – Danny Holtraver, 8. 19 – Paige Polyak, 9. 7 – Craig Dollansky, 10. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 11. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 12. 5T – Travis Philo, 13. 71M – Paul May, 14. 55 – Taylor Ferns, 15. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 16. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 17. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 18. 35 – Wes McGlumphy

A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 15 – Donny Schatz, 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 3. 24 – Rico Abreu, 4. 51 – Paul McMahan, 5. W20 – Greg Wilson, 6. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 7. 1 – Dale Blaney, 8. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 10. 99 – Brady Bacon, 11. 7 – David Gravel, 12. 49 – Brad Sweet, 13. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 14. 11 – Steve Kinser, 15. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 16. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 17. 89 – Cody Darrah, 18. 83 – Craig Dollansky, 19. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 20. 21 – D.J. Foos, 21. 41 – Jamie Veal, 22. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 23. 63 – Cody Swanson, 24. 71M – Joey Saldana, 25. 67 – Christopher Bell.

Lap Leaders: Madsen 1-13, Schatz 14 – 30.