From Kyle Ludders
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Aug. 5, 2011 — Donny Schatz wanted a victory at Bloomington Speedway since the last time the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series rolled out of the pit area. Unfortunately for Schatz, he didn’t know he would have to wait 11 years to do so, but made sure he wouldn’t let the chance slip away again by charging to the front and holding on during two green-white-checkered flag periods to win his fourth event of the season.
“This just feels so good,” said a smiling Schatz, of Fargo, N.D. “We wanted to win here really bad last time and I had no idea we’d have to wait this long to come back and do it. Ricky (Warner) and the crew really gave me a great piece tonight. It was good everywhere on the track.”
(Click here to watch an interview with Schatz following his win at Bloomington Speedway.)
Schatz’s STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J was the fastest race car in clean air on the quarter-mile oval but lapped traffic made things interesting for the four-time champion as he had to fend off two challengers in Jason Sides and Lucas Wolfe.
“Jason actually got around me there for a little bit,” Schatz said. “He wound up having some issues and then Lucas got close. If anyone had to pass me for the win, I would have wanted it to be Lucas. He’s wanted one of these wins pretty bad for quite awhile now. But overall, I’m pumped and ready to go. The Ironman 55 is tomorrow night so we’re looking forward to that. We’ve also got our big track program figured out so we’re anxious to get up to Knoxville.”
Schatz started from the pole position and led 39 of the 40 laps in the feature. Sides challenged early on but went out with a broken U-joint near the mid-point of the race. Sides’ misfortune opened the door for Wolfe, a native of Mechanicsburg, Pa., who is closing in on his first World of Outlaws win in his #5w Allebach car.
“We had a great car tonight and we keep having good runs here as of late,” said Wolfe, the 2008 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year. “We’re looking forward to the Ironman since we ran really well there last year and then of course, Knoxville. We had a good setup there in the spring and hopefully we’ll get another great result.”
Paul McMahan, who won last weekend in Canada, surged through the pack to claim the third position. Had it not been for a called back start during the dash, McMahan felt like he could have contended for the win.
“The officials and I just saw the call differently, that’s all,” said McMahan, driver of the #83 Roth Motorsports/H.R. Cattle Maxim. “We probably could have gotten up there and raced Donny a bit had we not had that call in the dash. We’ll take a third though and we are looking forward to the Ironman.”
Ohio native Chad Kemenah was fourth with the night’s fastest qualifier and — new track record holder — Jason Meyers, rounding out the Top 5. Hometown hero Steve Kinser raced his way to a 6th-place finish in front of a standing room only crowd.
Saturday night the World of Outlaws invade Pevely, Mo., for the third annual Ironman 55 for 55 laps of intense racing on high-banked, 1/3-mile I-55 Raceway.
BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
QUICK TIME – Jason Meyers was the night’s fastest qualifier with a lap around the quarter-mile oval in 9.672 seconds, earning five championship points. Lucas Wolfe, Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser and Paul McMahan also earned qualifying points. It marked Meyer’s sixth Quick Time of the season.
WINNERS – There have been 40 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events in 2011. The winners include: Craig Dollansky – 6 (Silver Dollar Speedway on March 12, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 3, River Cities Speedway on June 17 and 18, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 1, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 24); Steve Kinser – 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 11 and 12, Pike County Raceway on Feb. 25, the Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 4, Lakeside Speedway on June 4); Sammy Swindell – 4 (Royal Purple Raceway on Feb. 26, Merced Speedway on April 1, Tri-State Speedway on April 30, Knoxville Raceway on June 11); Joey Saldana – 4 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 19, Eldora Speedway on May 6, Beaver Dam Raceway on July 9); Donny Schatz – 4 (Attica Raceway Park on May 20, Princeton Speedway on June 25, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 13, Bloomington Speedway on August 5); Jason Sides – 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Calistoga Speedway on April 2, I-96 Speedway on May 30, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 2); Paul McMahan – 3 (the Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 28, Belleville Highbanks on June 3, Brockville-Ontario Speedway on July 29); Jason Meyers – 3 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 8, Williams Grove Speedway on July 23, Autodrome Drummond on July 30); Tim Shaffer – 2 (Eldora Speedway on July 15, Lernerville Speedway on July 19); Dale Blaney – 1 (Lernerville Speedway on July 19); Greg Hodnett – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 22); Daryn Pittman – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 13); Tony Stewart – 1 (Oshweken Speedway on July 27); Tyler Walker – 1 (Eldora Speedway on July 16.)
WE’RE ONLINE – Make sure to check out the all-new WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com .
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway; Aug. 5, 2011
A-Main — (40 Laps) — 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1] [$10,000]; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [5] [$5,500]; 3. 83-Paul McMahan [3] [$3,200]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah [7] [$2,800]; 5. 14-Jason Meyers [6] [$2,500]; 6. 11-Steve Kinser [4] [$2,300]; 7. 9-Brad Sweet [9] [$2,200]; 8. 4-Danny Smith [12] [$2,100]; 9. 7-Craig Dollansky [8] [$2,050]; 10. 6-Kraig Kinser [18] [$2,000]; 11. 91-Cody Darrah [10] [$1,500]; 12. 92-Kerry Madsen [22] [$1,200]; 13. 6R-Bill Rose [21] [$1,100]; 14. 48-Ty Deckard [11] [$1,050]; 15. 44W-Austen Wheatley [13] [$1,000]; 16. 71M-Paul May [16] [$900]; 17. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton [14] [$800]; 18. 7S-Jason Sides [2] [$800]; 19. 4K-Kody Kinser [17] [$800]; 20. 66-Tommy Worley Jr [15] [$800]; 21. 22-Cole Duncan [20] [$800]; 22. 41-Jimmy Stinson [19] [$800]; 23. 32-Chase Stockon [23] [$800]; 24. 4M-Alex Pettas [24] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-12, 14-40, Jason Sides 13. KSE Hard Charger Award: 92-Kerry Madsen [+10].
Qualifying — 1. 14-Jason Meyers, 9.672; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 9.730; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 9.766; 4. 11-Steve Kinser, 9.767; 5. 83-Paul McMahan, 9.775; 6. 7S-Jason Sides, 9.829; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah, 9.863; 8. 7-Craig Dollansky, 9.888; 9. 48-Ty Deckard, 9.913; 10. 91-Cody Darrah, 9.942; 11. 9-Brad Sweet, 9.947; 12. 4-Danny Smith, 9.955; 13. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 9.955; 14. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton, 10.011; 15. 66-Tommy Worley Jr, 10.044; 16. 71M-Paul May, 10.047; 17. 4K-Kody Kinser, 10.093; 18. 6-Kraig Kinser, 10.177; 19. 41-Jimmy Stinson, 10.184; 20. 5-Chase Briscoe, 10.204; 21. 22-Cole Duncan, 10.254; 22. 6R-Bill Rose, 10.280; 23. 92-Kerry Madsen, 10.324; 24. 32-Chase Stockon, 10.348; 25. 4M-Alex Pettas, 10.980; 26. 4B-Tom Busch, 11.606
Heat 1 — (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) — 1. 63-Chad Kemenah [2]; 2. 91-Cody Darrah [1]; 3. 11-Steve Kinser [3]; 4. 14-Jason Meyers [4]; 5. 44W-Austen Wheatley [5]; 6. 6R-Bill Rose [8]; 7. 71M-Paul May [6]; 8. 41-Jimmy Stinson [7]; 9. 4M-Alex Pettas [9].
Heat 2 — (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) — 1. 7-Craig Dollansky [2]; 2. 9-Brad Sweet [1]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [4]; 4. 83-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. 92-Kerry Madsen [8]; 6. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton [5]; 7. 5-Chase Briscoe [7]; 8. 4B-Tom Busch [9]; 9. 4K-Kody Kinser [6].
Heat 3 — (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) — 1. 7S-Jason Sides [3]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 3. 4-Danny Smith [1]; 4. 48-Ty Deckard [2]; 5. 66-Tommy Worley Jr [5]; 6. 6-Kraig Kinser [6]; 7. 22-Cole Duncan [7]; 8. 32-Chase Stockon [8].
Dash — (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) — 1. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [1]; 3. 83-Paul McMahan [2]; 4. 11-Steve Kinser [3]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [5]; 6. 14-Jason Meyers [6]; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah [7]; 8. 7-Craig Dollansky [8]; 9. 9-Brad Sweet [10]; 10. 91-Cody Darrah [9].
Last Chance Showdown (B-Main) — (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) — 1. 71M-Paul May [1] [-]; 2. 4K-Kody Kinser [2] [-]; 3. 41-Jimmy Stinson [3] [-]; 4. 22-Cole Duncan [5] [-]; 5. 32-Chase Stockon [6] [-]; 6. 4M-Alex Pettas [7] [-]; 7. 4B-Tom Busch [8] [$200]; 8. 5-Chase Briscoe [4] [$180].
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Points Standings through August 5, 2011:
| Pos. | Driver |
Total |
Diff |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
QT |
| 1. | Jason Meyers |
5377 |
3 |
24 |
33 |
6 |
|
| 2. | Donny Schatz |
5333 |
-44 |
4 |
17 |
32 |
2 |
| 3. | Steve Kinser |
5286 |
-91 |
5 |
18 |
31 |
1 |
| 4. | Craig Dollansky |
5165 |
-212 |
6 |
17 |
27 |
1 |
| 5. | Paul McMahan |
5144 |
-233 |
3 |
12 |
26 |
8 |
| 6. | Jason Sides |
5119 |
-258 |
4 |
14 |
26 |
3 |
| 7. | Joey Saldana |
4803 |
-574 |
4 |
16 |
23 |
5 |
| 8. | Cody Darrah |
4789 |
-588 |
0 |
5 |
14 |
0 |
| 9. | Lucas Wolfe |
4765 |
-612 |
0 |
4 |
14 |
0 |
| 10. | Chad Kemenah |
4733 |
-644 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
4 |
| 11. | Sammy Swindell |
4725 |
-652 |
4 |
15 |
22 |
4 |
| 12. | Kraig Kinser |
4659 |
-718 |
0 |
2 |
12 |
0 |
| 13. | Bill Rose |
4331 |
-1046 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
| 14. | Kerry Madsen |
3096 |
-2281 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
0 |
| 15. | Brad Sweet |
2816 |
-2561 |
0 |
5 |
12 |
2 |
| 16. | Ben Gregg |
2648 |
-2729 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| 17. | Sam Hafertepe Jr. |
1876 |
-3501 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
0 |
| 18. | Daryn Pittman |
1597 |
-3780 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
| 19. | Lance Dewease |
1367 |
-4010 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| 20. | Jessica Zemken |
1325 |
-4052 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |