(Photo by Tylan Porath Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – JACKSON, Minn. (Aug. 17, 2024) – Donny Schatz and Christopher Thram are FENDT Jackson Nationals champions after both drivers earned the coveted win on Saturday during the 46th edition of the marquee event at Jackson Motorplex.
Schatz led the distance of the 35-lap World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series main event to record the $25,000 top prize. It marked his first FENDT Jackson Nationals title since 2018 and his fourth career World of Outlaws triumph at the track.
“All I can say is if you’re a fan it’s a good time to be alive,” he said. “It makes me damn proud to race with guys like Sheldon (Haudenschild) and Carson (Macedo). Not only are they awesome, but they make the old guys like me better. I’m happy to steal one from them tonight.”
Although Schatz led each lap, a close call came on Lap 12 when two drivers collided directly in front of him in turns one and two. As the drivers spun to a stop, Schatz split them to dodge the crash and keep the top spot. He was strong in traffic and held more than a one-second lead entering the last lap.
Haudenschild, who passed David Gravel for the runner-up position on Lap 28, pounded the cushion and rapidly closed on Schatz as the checkered flag was waved. He made up more than one and a half seconds in the final three laps, finishing second by only 0.175 seconds.
“Donny did a hell of a job,” he said. “He did it the easy way and I was definitely doing it the sketchy way. It’s fun racing Donny. He’s the best at it. I’m happy with our speed this weekend and looking forward to next.”
Gravel drove to a third-place outing for the second straight night to maintain the lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings.
“The top in (turns) one and two was pretty good early on,” he said. “I felt I was right there on (Schatz’s) right rear, but just not able to get around him. In the middle of that race I struggled in (turns) one and two where I felt good. I wish I could get three or four laps back. I think we were really, really close. I think the top three could have gone any way there. The track didn’t go the way I expected it. The grip went away a lot faster than I thought. A top three here this weekend is way better than last year.”
Aaron Reutzel was the fourth-place finisher and Emerson Axsom placed fifth.
Landon Crawley set quick time during qualifying before Gravel, Reutzel, Logan Schuchart and Haudenschild produced heat race wins. Schatz won the King of the Hill and Crawley was the Last Chance Showdown winner.
Thram led the final two thirds of the 25-lap, $5,000-to-win Gunderson Racing Inc. Midwest Sprint Touring Series 360 Sprint Cars A Main.
“This is really cool,” he said. “It’s not a 410 championship, but 360 championships are just as much competition. It’s great to get a win here.”
Blaine Stegenga held the top spot for the first nine laps before Thram, who advanced from fourth to second place in turns one and two during the opening lap, maneuvered into the lead two laps after traffic arrived. He quickly built a nearly two-second lead and held that advantage when a caution came out on Lap 22. Thram once again powered to a sizeable lead following the restart as he won by 1.728 seconds.
“I was kind of guessing which way Sam and Blaine would go,” he said of the start. “They left the top open. Blaine got hung up by a couple of lapped cars there and I think that kind of sealed the deal. I’m glad I could get through it well and get the win.”
Reutzel, who drew the pole position during the feature redraw and took a challenge that would have provided him a $3,000 bonus if he could win the race from eighth, drove into fourth place by the midpoint of the feature. He took third on Lap 15 and second following the late-race restart.
Stegenga rounded out the podium for his best result of the season at Jackson Motorplex.
“I tried to run the bottom,” he said. “I started getting hung up by lappers. I got up there and a little bit in the dirty air. I saw Thram on my inside and I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go.’ It feels good to be up front.”
Sam Henderson finished fourth and Kaleb Johnson posted a fifth-place result.
The heat races were won by Scott Winters and Brant O’Banion.
THE FENDT JACKSON NATIONALS FINALE RESULTS AT JACKSON MOTORPLEX (Aug. 17, 2024) –
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz (1); 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 3. 2-David Gravel (2); 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel (6); 5. 27-Emerson Axsom (8); 6. 83-Michael Kofoid (10); 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi (7); 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart (5); 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (4); 10. 5T-Ryan Timms (18); 11. 10-Scott Bogucki (11); 12. 41-Carson Macedo (19); 13. 17B-Bill Balog (12); 14. 55-Kerry Madsen (9); 15. 3-Tim Kaeding (24); 16. 23-Garet Williamson (17); 17. 2KS-Kelby Watt (16); 18. 70-Kraig Kinser (13); 19. 3J-Dusty Zomer (22); 20. 17GP-Justin Henderson (20); 21. 16-Brooke Tatnell (14); 22. 22K-Kaleb Johnson (23); 23. 7S-Landon Crawley (21); 24. 24T-Christopher Thram (15).
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 7S-Landon Crawley (1); 2. 3J-Dusty Zomer (4); 3. 22K-Kaleb Johnson (3); 4. 3-Tim Kaeding (2); 5. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (6); 6. O9-Matt Juhl (5); 7. 74N-Luke Nellis (9); 8. 64-Andy Pake (7); 9. 44-Chris Martin (11); 10. 6-Max Guilford (8); 11. 4W-Matt Wasmund (12); 12. 10J-Justin Jacobsma (10).
Toyota King of the Hill (2 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz (1); 2. 2-David Gravel (2); 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (8); 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (3); 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart (4); 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel (5); 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi (6); 8. 27-Emerson Axsom (7).
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel (2); 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (3); 3. 55-Kerry Madsen (5); 4. 70-Kraig Kinser (4); 5. 23-Garet Williamson (7); 6. 22K-Kaleb Johnson (6); 7. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (8); 8. 7S-Landon Crawley (1).
Milton Hershey School Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel (1); 2. 15-Donny Schatz (2); 3. 83-Michael Kofoid (3); 4. 16-Brooke Tatnell (4); 5. 5T-Ryan Timms (7); 6. 3-Tim Kaeding (5); 7. 64-Andy Pake (6); 8. 10J-Justin Jacobsma (8).
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart (2); 2. 27-Emerson Axsom (1); 3. 10-Scott Bogucki (4); 4. 24T-Christopher Thram (5); 5. 41-Carson Macedo (3); 6. 3J-Dusty Zomer (6); 7. 6-Max Guilford (7); 8. 44-Chris Martin (8).
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (1); 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi (2); 3. 17B-Bill Balog (4); 4. 2KS-Kelby Watt (3); 5. 17GP-Justin Henderson (6); 6. O9-Matt Juhl (5); 7. 74N-Luke Nellis (7); 8. 4W-Matt Wasmund (8).
Sea Foam Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 7S-Landon Crawley, 00:13.391 (2); 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:13.448 (13); 3. 27-Emerson Axsom, 00:13.454 (3); 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:13.459 (31); 5. 2-David Gravel, 00:13.467 (8); 6. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:13.517 (12); 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.517 (21); 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.531 (16); 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:13.566 (27); 10. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.595 (17); 11. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:13.613 (32); 12. 2KS-Kelby Watt, 00:13.643 (9); 13. 70-Kraig Kinser, 00:13.647 (4); 14. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 00:13.650 (6); 15. 10-Scott Bogucki, 00:13.678 (10); 16. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.694 (20); 17. 55-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.697 (15); 18. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:13.712 (11); 19. 24T-Christopher Thram, 00:13.730 (23); 20. O9-Matt Juhl, 00:13.736 (5); 21. 22K-Kaleb Johnson, 00:13.806 (7); 22. 64-Andy Pake, 00:13.817 (1); 23. 3J-Dusty Zomer, 00:13.820 (19); 24. 17GP-Justin Henderson, 00:13.873 (29); 25. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:13.885 (22); 26. 5T-Ryan Timms, 00:14.008 (14); 27. 6-Max Guilford, 00:14.030 (28); 28. 74N-Luke Nellis, 00:14.110 (26); 29. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:14.121 (30); 30. 10J-Justin Jacobsma, 00:14.213 (25); 31. 44-Chris Martin, 00:14.263 (24); 32. 4W-Matt Wasmund, 00:14.534 (18).
Gunderson Racing Inc. Midwest Sprint Touring Series 360 Sprint Cars
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 24T-Christopher Thram (4); 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel (8); 3. 96-Blaine Stegenga (1); 4. 83JR-Sam Henderson (2); 5. 22-Kaleb Johnson (3); 6. 35-Skylar Prochaska (6); 7. 09-Matt Juhl (5); 8. 4-Cameron Martin (7); 9. 23W-Scott Winters (9); 10. 20-Brant O'Banion (10); 11. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (14); 12. 10J-Justin Jacobsma (11); 13. 86-Jacob Hughes (12); 14. 17B-Ryan Bickett (17); 15. 91-Andrew Sullivan (19); 16. 8-Micah Slendy (13); 17. 18-Corbin Erickson (15); 18. 3J-Jeridan Jordahl (21); 19. 4W-Matt Wasmund (18); 20. 28-Nicholas Winter (20); 21. (DNF) 32-Riley Valantine (24); 22. (DNF) 81-Jared Jansen (23); 23. (DNF) 2-Dylan Opdahl (16); 24. (DNF) 11D-Dominic White (25); 25. (DNS) 101-Chuck McGillivray.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23W-Scott Winters (1); 2. 10J-Justin Jacobsma (2); 3. 8-Micah Slendy (4); 4. 18-Corbin Erickson (3); 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett (5); 6. 91-Andrew Sullivan (6); 7. 28-Nicholas Winter (8); 8. 101-Chuck McGillivray (7); 9. (DNS) 9W-Jeff Watson.
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Brant O'Banion (2); 2. 86-Jacob Hughes (1); 3. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (3); 4. 2-Dylan Opdahl (4); 5. 4W-Matt Wasmund (7); 6. 11D-Dominic White (5); 7. 3J-Jeridan Jordahl (6); 8. 81-Jared Jansen (9); 9. 32-Riley Valantine (8).
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.JacksonMotorplex.com
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JacksonMotorplex
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacksonmotorplex/
JACKSON MOTORPLEX –
Jackson Motorplex is a 4/10-mile dirt oval located in Jackson, Minn. It hosts special events from May through September, including races with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, Midwest Power Series, Midwest Sprint Touring Series and more. For more information, visit http://www.JacksonMotorplex.com.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Aug 18, 2024
- Article Date: 8/17/2024 by Inside Line Promotions