Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN – It was a roller coaster week for Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, with plenty of highs and lows in between. In fact, the ten-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion did not secure his Knoxville Nationals A-Main appearance until Friday, August 9, when the Fargo, North Dakota, native claimed victory in the Hard Knox program.
Schatz, ace of the Carquest, Advance Auto Parts, Ford Performance, Curb Records, Sage Fruit, Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts, Mobil 1, Hoosier, VP Racing Fuels & Tub ‘O Towels, No. 15 sprint car, won the Hard Knox main event from the pole position, forced to compete in Friday’s “last chance” event after failing to attain enough points through preliminary competition on Wednesday, August 7; he finished 18th in the evening’s A.
After setting Friday’s fastest qualifying time, Schatz had a little help in his heat race, as Jack Dover (3rd) missed the scales and the ensuing disqualification lifted Schatz (4th) into a transfer spot. With the main event lined up on qualifying times, Schatz earned the pole.
“It wasn’t the prettiest, but this is the Knoxville Nationals, and I guess sometimes you’ve got to be lucky too,” Schatz said of his Friday victory. “I guess when it happens to you it’s great, and when it doesn’t happen to you it’s not so great… You’ve got to take it in steps. The first thing you’ve got to do is get it in the show.”
The Hard Knox victory allowed Schatz to start 21st in the 50-lap Knoxville Nationals finale on Saturday, August 10 – just behind the eventual Saturday B-Main transfer cars. The 11-time Knoxville Nationals champion drove through to finish 13th.
Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing and Donny Schatz will continue their 2024 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series campaign with the Jackson Nationals at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minnesota, on Friday and Saturday, August 16-17.