Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance Driver Returns Home
For Father’s Day Weekend Races in the Dakotas

INDIANAPOLIS (June 16, 2016) – There is an old saying in the Upper Midwest that, when you are in North Dakota, you are 500 miles from anywhere. When you call the “Rough Rider State” home and you race with the World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman® Sprint Car Series, you are almost always a long way from home. This weekend, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing (TSR) driver and North Dakota resident Donny Schatz will have the first of two opportunities in 2016 to race in his home region with Friday’sannual June stop at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Sunday’s race at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Schatz leads the Outlaws to his home state looking to add to his current North Dakota winning streak after sweeping three races last year. He won both stops at River Cities Speedway, the high-banked, quarter-mile, dirt oval that’s just 80 miles from his Fargo residence. The driver of the TSR No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance J&J is also looking to repeat his performance during Father’s Day weekend last year when he won Friday night at River Cities and Saturday’s stop in South Dakota.

Last season’s three victories in North Dakota were part of a career-best 31 single season WoO A-Feature triumphs for the Minot native and he enters the weekend with a series-high nine victories. He has been extremely successful at River Cities since the Outlaws began racing at the track annually in 2007. Schatz earned his first of six WoO victories there in June 2008 and followed that up with another win in June 2009. He won the Outlaws’ stop in August 2013 to begin a string of four wins in the last five starts. He finished second to Daryn Pittman in August 2014.

Schatz won both Outlaw stops in South Dakota last season, as well. He raced to victory at the Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron the night before Father’s Day. One week earlier, he was victorious at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota. The Outlaws haven’t raced at Brown County Speedway since 1985 and that race was contested on a half-mile configuration. The track has since been reshaped to a 3/8-mile dirt oval and Schatz will be trying to make it the 78th different track where he’s won a WoO A-Feature in this, his 20th season of racing with “The Greatest Show on Dirt.”

Last weekend, Schatz earned first- and second-place finishes at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway to temporarily take over the top spot in the championship standings, and the seven-time and reigning WoO champion was looking to continue his June surge last night at Granite City Speedway in Sauk Valley, Minnesota. Unfortunately, a part failure in the powerplant of his TSR No. 15 machine forced him out of competition on lap 13 of the 30-lap A-Feature. It was only his second DNF (did not finish) of the season. The first came on the opening night of the season at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida. The silver lining may be in that Schatz followed that DNF with a victory the following night.

Through 37 races, Schatz has nine wins, 24 top-fives, 34 top-10s and seven KSE Hard Charger Awards. He ranks second in the championship standings with 5,092 points, trailing Brad Sweet by a single marker.

Friday at River Cities Speedway, the pit gates open at 2 p.m. CDT and grandstands open at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit rivercitiesspeedway.com or call 218-773-3001.

On Sunday at Brown County Speedway, the pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT and the grandstands at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit browncountyspeedway1.com or call 1-844-GO2-BCS3.

Race fans unable to attend this week’s races can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen free as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO Craftsman Sprint Car Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information.

For the last 20 seasons, you have been out on the road racing with the World of Outlaws all across the country. At least once a year you’ve had the chance to race in your home state, what makes racing near home important?

“We’ve made a lot of laps at a lot of places over the years and the fans we see everywhere have been incredible. It’s great to see all the familiar faces. Not only my family and friends, but also all the fans over the years. They might have changed a little, some have grown up right in front of my eyes, but the smiles and handshakes are always something I look forward to. Coming back home and getting to race couple of World of Outlaws races in North Dakota has been something I’ve really enjoyed over the last 20 years. It started with those big shows in Fargo, which when I was a kid were the highlights of my summers. We work really hard to win races everywhere. I know the guys on my Tony Stewart Racing team – Rick Warner, Steve Swenson and Brad Mariscotti – are the most competitive guys I know and they realize there is something special about winning at home.  Our goal is to keep continue thatFriday.”

You race at tracks all across the county. What makes the racing so good at River Cities Speedway?

“It’s really a great layout for Sprint car racing. It’s high-banked, you can carry a lot of speed and it’s not very big. Those variables lead it to being good racing. They work really hard to provide a good, three-groove surface which really give you as a driver a lot of opportunities to make passes. The racing throughout the night is always pretty good. Heat races are extremely competitive and even in the dash it’s not impossible to come from the back to the front. We race 40 laps in the feature and so much can change over the course of the race. You have to make the right moves at the right time in track. You want to be aggressive, but you can’t put yourself in too many bad positions or it will cost you. It’s a great place to race and I know I really look forward to getting to race not the Sprint car there, but my Dirt Late Model as well.”

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CONTACT:
Contact Bill Klingbeil with True Speed Communication
(704) 875-3388 ext. 804 or Bill.Klingbeil@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
www.TrueSpeedCommunication.com ● Online Media Kit Available at: www.TrueSpeedMedia.com