From Aaron Fielder
Mechanicsburg, PA — (July 24, 2015) — Danny Dietrich achieved something few others have this season – he passed Donny Schatz for the lead and kept it. Dietrich charged from a ninth place starting position in Friday night’s Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway to score his first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event win since 2013.
As big of an impediment as Schatz was, the seven other cars that started in front of Dietrich may have been the bigger challenge. As cautions plagued the opening laps of the 25-lap feature, Dietrich was stuck in ninth with Joey Saldana ahead, leading Schatz. After four abortive restarts, all reset by crashes, the race got going again and Dietrich made his move. From ninth to seventh to second in just three laps, the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania-native took advantage of the restarts and pushed forward.
By lap 12, Dietrich had caught Schatz and was looking for a way around. Though Schatz was able to hold him off for the next five laps, it was short lived, as Dietrich got around Schatz as the drivers rounded turn two. Dietrich pulled away from the six-time Outlaws champion.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM NIGHT ONE OF THE SUMMER NATIONALS AT WILLIAMS GROVE
With just one lap remaining, a caution flag flew for Brent Marks who spun on the front straight. On the restart, Schatz looked for a way around, but Dietrich pulled away.
To cheers and wild applause from Beer Hill to the front grandstands at Williams Grove, the Pennsylvania Posse driver emerged from his No. 48 Sandoe’s car a winner.
“It’s tough to come from ninth on any given Friday night on a regular show, let alone to come here and win an Outlaws show and win from ninth,” Dietrich said in victory lane. “This is real special for that and real special to beat Donny and real special that I got my first Outlaws win here at the Grove.”
“It was going to be tough, especially when Joey passed Donny. I had a heck of a restart there – I lined up sixth. I passed three cars in one and two and I thought for sure on the back stretch the caution would probably come out. It didn’t and that was the difference maker. I knew I had to pounce on Joey, I had to slot him down there. Just real hard racing with Donny and clean racing. We raced each other tough but that’s what you do when you’re racing the best in the world.”
His team owner Gary Kauffman was ecstatic in victory lane after scoring his first ever Outlaws win at the track.
“It feels great. Anytime you win here at Williams Grove against the Outlaws, it means a lot to us. And I tell you, a 26-year-old driver that I picked, I wouldn’t want to change him for anybody else,” Kaufman said of Dietrich.
After starting on the feature pole, Schatz battled Joey Saldana through the early cautions and eventually got around him on lap nine. After Dietrich battled around him, Schatz had a new challenge keeping three-time series champion Sammy Swindell from getting by. He ultimately held off Swindell.
If the cheers were loud for Posse favorite Dietrich, the heckles might have been just as loud for the Outlaws’ Schatz as he talked about his run on the front stretch.
“He was obviously better than we were on the bottom and the middle,” Schatz said of Dietrich. “The only prayer I had was to make the top work there at the end. I was running as hard as I could, he was just a little better. He did a good job. He was just more patient and probably a little better with his tires than we were and he beat us.”
Schatz has 20 series wins so far this season with his No. 15 Bad Boy Buggies team and has finished first or second in 15 consecutive full points Outlaws races and 17 of the past 18.
Swindell, the second winningest driver in Outlaws history, scored his best finish with his new, Carlisle, Pennsylvania-based No. 1 CJB Motorsports team.
“We tried something there in the dash and it didn’t work so we kind of had to go back to where we were and that probably maybe hurt us a bit as far as really dialing the car in. The guys with the CJB team did a great job. They’ve been giving me good cars and it’s just been rolling right along,” Swindell said. “It’s only my fourth night in the car and we’ve already got three top-fives so I really can’t complain. This is a dream come true for me.
“I’m just blessed to be out here doing this at my age and still be competitive.”
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Williams Grove Speedway; Mechanicsburg, Pa.; July 24, 2015
A-Main – (26 Laps due to green-white-checkered finish) – 1. 48-Danny Dietrich [9] [$8,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [1] [$4,000]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [8] [$2,500]; 4. 51-Paul McMahan [4] [$2,200]; 5. 71M-Joey Saldana [2] [$2,100]; 6. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe [5] [$2,000]; 7. 19-Stevie Smith [10] [$1,800]; 8. 2-Shane Stewart [18] [$1,600]; 9. 14-Lance Dewease [3] [$1,500]; 10. 25-Aaron Ott [16] [$1,300]; 11. 9-Daryn Pittman [7] [$1,200]; 12. 49-Brad Sweet [24] [$1,100]; 13. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [21] [$1,000]; 14. 7S-Jason Sides [12] [$700]; 15. 7-David Gravel [27] [$]; 16. 41-Jason Johnson [25] [$]; 17. O7-Doug Esh [15] [$600]; 18. 1S-Logan Schuchart [14] [$600]; 19. 3-Pat Cannon [11] [$600]; 20. 21-Brian Montieth [20] [$600]; 21. 11K-Kraig Kinser [23] [$600]; 22. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [17] [$600]; 23. 29-Kerry Madsen [13] [$600]; 24. 19M-Brent Marks [22] [$600]; 25. 75-Nicole Bower [26] [$]; 26. 59J-Jim Siegel [19] [$600]; 27. 27-Greg Hodnett [6] [$600]; 28. 12W-Troy Fraker [28] [$]. Lap Leaders: Joey Saldana 1-8, Donny Schatz 9-17, Danny Dietrich 18-26. KSE Hard Charger Award: 49-Brad Sweet [+12]
Qualifying Flight #1 – 1. 27-Greg Hodnett, 16.789; 2. 71M-Joey Saldana, 16.873; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.991; 4. 3-Pat Cannon, 17.002; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen, 17.043; 6. O7-Doug Esh, 17.097; 7. 14-Lance Dewease, 17.137; 8. 1-Sammy Swindell, 17.171; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 17.194; 10. 44-Rodney Westhafer, 17.225; 11. 59J-Jim Siegel, 17.227; 12. 77-Darren Mollenoyux, 17.273; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen, 17.298; 14. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 17.312; 15. 37-J.J. Grasso, 17.318; 16. 39-Tim Glatfelter, 17.351; 17. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 17.453; 18. 21K-Kyle Reinhardt, 17.580; 19. Q83-David Murcott, 17.587
Qualifying Flight #2 – 1. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe, 16.935; 2. 51-Paul McMahan, 17.031; 3. 19-Stevie Smith, 17.034; 4. 7S-Jason Sides, 17.059; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 17.097; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 17.188; 7. 25-Aaron Ott, 17.228; 8. 9-Daryn Pittman, 17.230; 9. 2-Shane Stewart, 17.282; 10. 21-Brian Montieth, 17.286; 11. 19M-Brent Marks, 17.335; 12. 41-Jason Johnson, 17.339; 13. 49-Brad Sweet, 17.444; 14. 11C-Cory Haas, 17.445; 15. 87-Alan Krimes, 17.447; 16. 7-David Gravel, 17.563; 17. 75-Nicole Bower, 17.860; 18. 36D-Wayne Dadetto, 17.993; 19. 3W-Hunter Mackison, 18.263; 20. 12W-Troy Fraker, 18.534
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 14-Lance Dewease [1]; 2. 29-Kerry Madsen [2]; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett [4]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 6. 59J-Jim Siegel [6]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [9]; 8. 37-J.J. Grasso [8]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen [7]; 10. Q83-David Murcott [10]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [1]; 2. O7-Doug Esh [2]; 3. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [7]; 4. 3-Pat Cannon [3]; 5. 71M-Joey Saldana [4]; 6. 44-Rodney Westhafer [5]; 7. 77-Darren Mollenoyux [6]; 8. 39-Tim Glatfelter [8]; 9. 21K-Kyle Reinhardt [9]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe [4]; 3. 25-Aaron Ott [1]; 4. 19-Stevie Smith [3]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [7]; 6. 19M-Brent Marks [6]; 7. 2-Shane Stewart [5]; 8. 3W-Hunter Mackison [10]; 9. 75-Nicole Bower [9]; 10. 87-Alan Krimes [8]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [1]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [4]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [3]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 5. 21-Brian Montieth [5]; 6. 41-Jason Johnson [6]; 7. 7-David Gravel [8]; 8. 11C-Cory Haas [7]; 9. 36D-Wayne Dadetto [9]; 10. 12W-Troy Fraker [10]
Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 8 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [6]; 2. 71M-Joey Saldana [3]; 3. 14-Lance Dewease [5]; 4. 51-Paul McMahan [4]; 5. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe [2]; 6. 27-Greg Hodnett [1]; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman [8]; 8. 1-Sammy Swindell [7]
Last Chance Showdown #1 – (12 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 59J-Jim Siegel [2] [-]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7] [-]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen [4] [$300]; 4. 39-Tim Glatfelter [6] [$250]; 5. 37-J.J. Grasso [5] [$225]; 6. Q83-David Murcott [9] [$200]; 7. 21K-Kyle Reinhardt [8] [$200]; 8. 77-Darren Mollenoyux [3] [$200]; 9. 44-Rodney Westhafer [1] [$200]
Last Chance Showdown #2 – (12 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 2-Shane Stewart [1] [-]; 2. 19M-Brent Marks [2] [-]; 3. 41-Jason Johnson [3] [$300]; 4. 87-Alan Krimes [5] [$250]; 5. 75-Nicole Bower [7] [$225]; 6. 7-David Gravel [6] [$200]; 7. 36D-Wayne Dadetto [8] [$200]; 8. 3W-Hunter Mackison [9] [$200]; 9. 12W-Troy Fraker [10] [$200]; 10. 11C-Cory Haas [4] [$200]