Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN – It was a slow start for Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, and despite activating his recent Pennsylvania swing with a pair of finishes outside the norm, 12th in the Brickers Bash at BAPS Motor Speedway on July 20 and 15th in Williams Grove Speedway’s Summer Nationals opener on July 21, the ten-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion and recent Kings Royal winner bumped up the heat in a hurry, eventually concluding The Grove’s $20,000-to-win Summer Nationals finale on Saturday, July 22, with a top-ten result.
Schatz, ace of the Advance Auto Parts, Carquest, Ford Motor Company, Ford Performance, MadJax XSeries, Curb Records, Sage Fruit, Absolute Automation and Security, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts, No. 15 sprint car, finished ninth in this top-ten pursuit, maintaining his place within the frontrunners after starting one position back.
The Fargo, North Dakota, native finished third in his respective heat race to qualify for The Grove’s 30-lap Summer Nationals A-Main, kicking off the evening program with the tenth-fastest time during qualifying time trials.
With all recent results considered, Schatz is now seventh in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship standings, padded heavily by 22 top-ten scores in 42 attempts.