Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN – Ten-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, Donny Schatz, put on a show Saturday night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri, not only conquering the Show-Me State highbanks for a $12,000 payday, but accomplishing said feat in convincing fashion, taking command on lap 11 before stretching his legs to a near-six-second advantage over early race leader, Bill Balog.
Lemoore, California’s Carson Macedo would eventually take over the runner-up spot and shrink Schatz’ command, but the damage was already done, as Schatz was well on his way to secure his 313th World of Outlaws triumph – his third at I-55.
Schatz’ winning move occurred when Balog found himself trapped behind a lapper, pulling a perfect slider between turns three and four.
“Sometimes it’s probably better to be in the position where you’re in that second row not knowing what the racetrack is going to do,” Schatz, ace of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Carquest, Advance Auto Parts, Ford Performance, Curb Records, Sage Fruit, Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts, Mobil 1, No. 15 sprint car, said. “And I think that was a huge thing tonight. The #41 there he was pretty good on the bottom early, and I couldn’t ever really get down there. I was worried about the hole off of (Turn) 2. Hats off to the whole Carquest team. It was actually a pretty fun race. Normally when we come here it’s up near the fence. And tonight, we could roll around on the fence, on the bottom, kind of anywhere. So that felt really good.”
Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing opened their weekend at I-55 with a top-ten performance on Friday, April 12, finishing eighth after starting seventh on the A-Main grid. The Fargo, North Dakota, native is currently second in the World of Outlaws championship standings, trailing David Gravel by a mere-48 markers.
Impressive enough, Schatz’ stat card now includes 12 top-ten appearances in the first 13 World of Outlaws contests, six of which top-fives including a pair of victories.
“If you were near my trailer after qualifying, you probably heard some choice words, so I apologize for that,” Schatz added regarding Saturday, who was 20th quick after qualifying time trials. “It just shows the heart of this team. It’s such a double-edged razor blade some days. We dug out of a huge hole tonight and got a win at a racetrack we typically don’t run well on. We threw two kitchen sinks at it tonight. This place is demanding, and we haven’t been to Victory Lane here in a long time and didn’t really know what the track was going to do. I just went where everybody wasn’t, and it actually felt pretty good.”