The reigning series champion now has 27 wins on the season, the most single-season wins of his career
ELMA, Wash. - Sept. 7, 2015 - Donny Schatz entered rarefied territory Monday night at Grays Harbor Raceway as he scored his 200th career World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory and joined legends Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell as the only drivers to ever reach the mark.
The history-making moment occurred after Schatz passed Paul McMahan with two laps remaining in the Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel Outlaw Invasion feature.
The win comes almost 17 years to the date of Schatz's first-ever series win at Cottage Grove (Ore.) Speedway on Aug. 24, 1998.
"Unbelieveable," Schatz said of his 200th win. "I've just been blessed being around great people my whole life. My family has supported me whole heartedly to this point and these guys I get to race with are awesome. Without their hard work, and all the guys who ever worked for me, there's no way I would have ever got this far."
Speaking of his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team and more specifically crew members Ricky Warner, Steve Swenson and Eric Prutzman, Schatz said they have been together for so long they can read each other like a book.
"They do a great job," Schatz said. "We have great marketing partners, Chevrolet Performance, Bad Boy Buggies, our car owner Tony Stewart - there are not too many people quite like that."
In a season he will not soon forget, Schatz also exceeded his previous single-season win record by recording his 27th series win of the year. He holds a 422 point lead in the championship standings over second place Shane Stewart with 18 features remaining in 2015.
"I enjoy doing this, I love racing these cars, I love being able to race with the guys that I race with," Schatz said. "These milestones have always been hard for me to get over.
"It would have been really cool for me to get this at Cottage Grove but I didn't want to wait that long - that's just the racer mentality. Glad to get it tonight, we're going to enjoy it and maybe a little bit tomorrow. And then we're going to go to Cottage Grove and try to win another one."
Joey Saldana kicked off Monday night by making a little history of his own as he knocked down the 12-year-old track record set by Craig Dollansky. Saldana took home the quick time, his 15th of the season, and added his name to the record book after recording a lap of 11.750 seconds.
Paul McMahan and Brad Sweet led the field to the green flag. Sweet led through the first half of the feature and through two cautions. On a mid-race restart it was McMahan who jumped to the lead in his No. 51 CJB Motorsports/Nyce Crete & Landis car as Sweet slipped back.
It was that same mid-race restart that proved pivotal for Schatz as he battled from fourth to second in less than a lap. Two more cautions waved as a tire cut down on Sweet's car and the 39C of Travis Rilat subsequently slowed on track. When the race got back underway, Shane Stewart, in third, gave chase and a heated battle for second ensued for several laps. At one point Stewart and Schatz almost made contact, but it was McMahan who was in Schatz's sights.
On the final restart, McMahan jumped out early to a commanding lead, but traffic quickly came into play and Schatz closed.
"I wasn't going to catch him without traffic, there's no question," Schatz said. "On that restart he took off and it was really kind of tricky. I couldn't catch him - I was trying everything I could. We needed traffic obviously… (McMahan) got bottled up behind the 55 and I had to go where he wasn't."
McMahan said his car was too free to run on the bottom of the track and he opened a door for Schatz.
"Donny was able to get underneath me," McMahan said. "I just caught the lap cars and there's no place for them to go with the holes on the bottom and you're hoping they'll get out of the way but they're racing just as hard as we are. I just got beat."
McMahan finished the night in second with Stewart in third, Joey Saldana in fourth and David Gravel in fifth.
Stewart said his No. 2 Larson Marks Racing/GoPro/Eneos car was good the whole race, at one point catching Schatz who was running second, but it fell off a bit after the final restart.
"After that last restart I don't know if it just got a little rougher or what but my pace slowed down a little bit," Stewart said. "I actually thought Paul was checked out and then I saw him get bottled up down there in one and two and I'm like, oh man, I've still got a shot at this. They just got through lap traffic better than I did, plain and simple."
On the front straight following the feature, McMahan and Stewart spoke of Schatz's accomplishment and what this win means.
"Donny is awesome, that whole team is awesome," McMahan said. "They've been together a long time and him getting his 200th win shows how good the guy is."
Stewart complimented Schatz's career and said the moment was special to be part of.
"Donny is doing a great job this year and he's done a great job his whole career in sprint car racing," Stewart said. "Just kind of cool to see and witness his 200th win."
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action Wednesday night at Cottage Grove (Ore.) Speedway. To find out more information and to learn how to buy tickets, visit http://woosprint.com/cottage-grove-speedway.
Follow the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws.
Grays Harbor Raceway Notebook
RACE NOTES: Donny Schatz won his 200th career World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature Monday night at Grays Harbor Raceway… Tonight's win pushed Donny Schatz past his previous single-season win record of 26 races… Joey Saldana took home the quick time and record a new track record at Grays Harbor Monday night after a qualifying lap of 11.750 seconds… Henry VanDam was the night's KSE Racing Hard Charger, advancing eight positions to finish in 15th.
CONTINGENCY WINNERS - MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Jacob Allen; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Sweet Manufacturing ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Penske Shocks ($50 cash): David Gravel; Mobil 1 ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; JE Pistons ($50 cash): David Gravel; Lincoln Welders ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Jason Solwold; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Brad Sweet; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Super Flow ($50 cash): Jason Johnson; Sweet Manufacturing ($50 product certificate): Paul McMahan;KSE Racing Products ($100 product certificate): Henry VanDam; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Donny Schatz;Mobil 1 (20% off Mobil1RacingStore.com): Jacob Allen; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Robbie Price; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Jacob Allen.
SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz - 27 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 21, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 28, Placerville Speedway on April 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 12, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 26, Eldora Speedway on May 8, Eldora Speedway on May 9, Williams Grove Speedway on May 15, Weedsport Speedway on May 17, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 22, Knoxville Raceway on June 13, Huset's Speedway on June 14, Granite City Speedway on June 17, River Cities Speedway on June 19, Dakota State Fair Speedway on June 20, Beaver Dam Raceway on June 27, Lakeside Speedway on July 1, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 4, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 11, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 26, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 8, Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 15, River Cities Speedway on Aug. 21, Nodak Speedway on Aug. 23, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 28, Grays Harbor Raceway on Sept. 7); Shane Stewart - 8 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, Keller Auto Speedway on April 17, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 1, Crawford County Speedway on June 12, Eldora Speedway on July 17, Eldora Speedway on July 18, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 8, Skagit Speedway on Sept. 5); Daryn Pittman - 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Antioch Speedway on March 29, New Egypt Speedway on May 19, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 29); Brad Sweet - 3 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, Calistoga Speedway on April 11, I-96 Speedway on June 25); Rico Abreu - 2 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 22); Dale Blaney - 2 (Attica Raceway Park on May 29, Lernerville Speedway on July 21); Paul McMahan - 2 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 18, Tri-State Speedway on May 3);Joey Saldana - 2 (Kokomo Speedway on June 3, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 12); Christopher Bell - 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on May 2); Brian Brown - 1 (USA Raceway on March 7); Cody Darrah - 1 (Lernerville Speedway on July 21); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 25); Stewart Friesen - 1 (Ohsweken Speedway on July 28); Greg Hodnett - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 13); Tim Kaeding - 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 13);Danny Lasoski - 1 (I-80 Speedway on June 5); Kerry Madsen - 1 (Junction Motor Speedway on Aug. 18); Terry McCarl - 1 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5); Jason Sides - 1 (Dodge City Raceway Park on July 3); Stevie Smith - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 25).
- administrator on Sep 08, 2015
- Article Date: 9/7/2015