Schatz Races to Outlaw Top-10s in Kansas, Oklahoma
TSR Bad Boy Off Road /Chevrolet Performance Team
Streaking Toward 2016 Championship
Dates: Friday, Oct. 21, 2016
Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016
Series: World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Locations: Friday – Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas
Saturday – Salina (Okla.) Highbanks
Winners: Friday – Brad Sweet of Kasey Kahne Racing
Saturday – Daryn Pittman of Kasey Kahne Racing
TSR Results: Friday – Started 12th, Finished 6th/Running, completed 30 of 30 laps
Saturday – Started 5th, Finished 7th/Running, completed 30 of 30 laps
TSR Points: Donny Schatz – (1st with 11,027 points)
Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing (TSR) driver Donny Schatz and the Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance team inched closer to the 2016 World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman® Sprint Car Series championship by adding two more top-10 finishes this past weekend. Schatz raced the TSR No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance J&J from 12th to sixth Friday night at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas and finished seventh Saturday night at the Salina (Okla.) Highbanks Speedway.
The seven-time and reigning WoO champion entered the weekend with a 308-point lead in the championship and returned to Lakeside Friday as the defending O’Reilly Auto Parts Rumble on the Riverwinner. Schatz qualified eighth in the field of 26 cars after circling the half-mile dirt oval in 14.097 seconds. He finished fourth in the second heat to transfer into the 30-lap A-Feature. In the main event, he started outside of row six and advanced one position during the opening two laps before the first caution of the race. When the race resumed, the Fargo, North Dakota racer began his move forward, climbing to eighth on lap five. He advanced to sixth on lap six and then passed Ian Madsen for fifth two laps later. On the 13th circuit, Madsen was able to get back past Schatz as the duo continued their battle. A restart following a lap-15 red flag slowed Schatz’s progress and he was forced to race with Shane Stewart for seventh during the next three laps. He bounced between seventh and eighth until lap 28, when he passed Kerry Madsen for sixth.
Brad Sweet led the final 18 laps aboard Kasey Kahne Racing’s No. 49 to win his first A-Feature since July 2 at Badlands Motor Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota.
The weekend concluded with Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Twister Showdown in Northeast Oklahoma. Schatz opened the program by turning the fifth-fastest lap around the 3/8-mile, dirt oval in qualifying. He chased Stewart to the checkered flag in the second heat and earned one of the six spots in the Craftsman Club Dash. Passing was again at premium in the six-lap dash and he ended up finishing fifth. In the 30-lap A-Feature, Schatz spent the early going racing with Jason Johnson for the sixth spot and then was involved in a three-car battle for fifth with Stewart and Brady Bacon. Schatz passed Bacon for sixth on the white-flag lap, but Bacon regained the position. The seventh-place finish for Schatz was his 75th top-10 of the season.
Daryn Pittman held off a late charge from David Gravel to capture his first WoO A-Feature triumph since winning the Knight Before the Kings Royal July 15 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
With 82 races now complete, it’s down to the final weekend of the season. Schatz leads the series back to Charlotte, North Carolina for the 10th annual Bad Boy Off Road World Finals, which begins Thursdaywith two rounds of qualifying. Complete shows both Friday and Saturday will follow and, as long as Schatz signs in for Thursday’s event, he will be crowned champion following Saturday’s race. The season concludes with the annual championship banquet Sunday evening.
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CONTACT:
Contact Bill Klingbeil with True Speed Communication
(704) 875-3388 ext. 804 or Bill.Klingbeil@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
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