FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ben Shelton (msrmafia@gmail.com) August 3, 2021 Top-5 Run in Prairie Dirt Classic for Rocket1 Racing Four Nights of WoO Wisconsin Action on Tap this Week SHINNSTON, W.Va. (08/03/21) – Brandon Sheppard and Rocket1 Racing rolled into the famed Fairbury Speedway over the weekend for the 31st edition of the Prairie Dirt Classic. Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win finale found Sheppard recording a fifth-place finish in his Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered XR1 Rocket Chassis Super Late Model. “Really late in the race when my car came to me, I was a few spots too far back,” Sheppard said. “We just had to make the most out of it and made a few passes on the restarts and just came up short. It’s disappointing because we had a better car than where we finished. We’ll head to Wisconsin this week to go after some more big checks. Thanks as always goes out to all of our marketing partners and supporters.” Taking part in one the biggest weekends of the year with the World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model Series, Rocket1Racing and Brandon Sheppard invaded Fairbury Speedway (Fairbury, Ill.) on Friday afternoon for the 31st annual Prairie Dirt Classic. With the massive 74-car field split into two separate groups for time trials, Sheppard recorded the 11th fastest time in his group. Starting his $3,000-to-win preliminary feature in sixth, Brandon improved three spots in the 25-lapper to register a third-place finish. With his third-place finish in preliminary action on Friday placing him 11th on the starting grid for Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win Prairie Dirt Classic, Sheppard advanced six spots in the 100-lap affair to finish fifth. He followed Kyle Larson, Bobby Pierce, Shannon Babb, and Chris Madden across the line. Brandon now sits 86 points ahead of Chris Madden atop the World of Outlaws point standings. For complete results from these events, please visit www.WorldofOutlaws.com . The upcoming week has the team set for four nights of WoO action in Wisconsin. The week opens on Tuesday evening at Outagamie Speedway with a $10,000-to-win event, which is co-sanctioned with the Dirt Kings tour. On Thursday evening three rounds of WoO action kicks off at Cedar Lake Speedway with a $6,000-to-win affair. On Friday and Saturday the 2021 USA Nationals take center stage with double heat races on Friday evening followed by B-mains and the $50,000-to-win finale on Saturday night. Rocket1 Racing would like to thank all of their marketing partners, which include Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Rocket Chassis, Ace Metal Works, Durham Racing Engines, FiveStar RaceCar Bodies, Gunters Honey, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Racing Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Petroff Towing, Slavic Custom Racing Shirts & Decals, Sweet Manufacturing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Accu-Force Shock Service, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Rod Ends, Barnes Dry Sump Oil Systems, Bazell Race Fuels, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Brinn Transmissions, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, CP Carrillo, Dohm Cycles, Edelbrock, Fibreworks Composites, Hardrock Powder Coating, Howe Racing Enterprises, Jones Racing Products, Kenny’s Components, Maxima Racing Oils, MSD, NGK Spark Plugs, Tel Tac, Performance Bodies, Peterson Fluid Systems, Powers Performance, Performance Rod & Custom, Quarter Master, QuickCar Racing Products, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, Safecraft, Show Trucks Unlimited, Simpson, Stealth Carburetors, Strange Oval, Suave Talk, Total Power Valvoline Pro-V Racing, Walker Performance Filtration, Weld Racing, Wiles Driveshafts, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance Products, Wrisco Aluminum, Xceldyne Valvetrain, and MSR Mafia Marketing Services. For the latest information on Rocket1Racing please visit the team website at www.Rocket1Racing.com as well as their social media channels at www.facebook.com/Rocket1Racing, www.twitter.com/Rocket1_Racing, and www.instagram.com/rocket1racing . Official Internet Home of The Midsouth Racing Scene
 

HOME SWEET HOME: Donny Schatz Delivers Popular Win at Red River Valley

Fargo, ND Native Collects 301st World of Outlaws Victory at Home Track

FARGO, ND - August 21, 2021 - Fargo fans got exactly what they wanted on Saturday night: a Donny Schatz W.

After taking the lead from Logan Schuchart with eight to go at Red River Valley Speedway, the 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion survived the final restart and ran away with his second victory of the 2021 season.

As emotional that he was for his 300th career win, Schatz was equally as excited for his 301st.

He offered a huge fist pump in victory lane and couldn't thank the fans enough for their support. The roars of the packed crowd echoed through Cass County and random shoutings such as "WE LOVE YOU DONNY" and "YOU'RE THE GOAT" could be heard over the podium interviews.

Schatz has now won 23 of his 301 career wins with The Greatest Show on Dirt inside his home state of North Dakota. Six of those 23 triumphs in the "Peace Garden State" have come specifically at Red River Valley, located just minutes away from his Fargo residence.

Saturday's win came in the first race back since he nearly stole his 11th Knoxville Nationals title last weekend. With a new Ford Performance (FPS410) Engine under the hood and newfound confidence, Schatz says he's looking forward to these final 23 races in the 2021 season.

"Winning at home is big, and it's important," Schatz said to a raucous crowd. "I mean, look at this crowd. You guys are incredible. It's cliche, but I can't thank you guys enough for the support, it means a lot to me. I'm 25 years into this deal, and I'm feeling better every day. I don't know that I have another 25, but I know that I've still got a lot left in me."

Before Schatz thrilled his hometown crowd, Kasey Kahne sent the internet into a frenzy during Slick Woody's Qualifying. In his first race as a "full-time" Outlaw, Kahne established a NEW TRACK RECORD (11.397 seconds) and made it four consecutive QuickTimes for the Roth Motorsports #83.

Team Drydene Heat wins followed for Schatz, Schuchart & McFadden, but it was David Gravel earning his eighth pole position by topping the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.

Gravel paced the opening lap of the Feature in his Big Game Motorsports #2, but in choosing the outside lane on the first restart, he chose poorly. Schuchart scooted by with a slide job into turn one and Gravel eventually succumbed to Schatz on Lap 11 as he faded to third.

As the cross flags waved with 15 down and 15 to go, Schatz picked up the pace and quickly caught Schuchart in a battle for the lead. Fans were treated to a thrilling show through lap traffic as the #15 and the #1S dueled for a handful of laps, even going three-wide with the backmarkers.

Schatz officially took command on Lap 22, moments prior to the final caution being called for Marcus Dumesny on Lap 24. He aced the final restart and went challenge free to the checkered flag ahead by 2.636-seconds as his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Carquest #15 made it two wins in 2021.

"We haven't had the greatest year, but we're past 300, we're onto the 301, and now we want 302," Schatz mentioned. "We're hitting on all cylinders right now. This is a new Ford powerplant under the hood. Things have been way better with this. It's a lot easier for me to drive, and we can do the things that we couldn't earlier this year. Hats off to Ford Performance, and every single one of our partners for sticking with us. We've lacked speed at the end of the races, and these past few weeks there's been a huge difference. I'm feeling really good going forward."

While Schatz walked away with the win, mayhem broke loose in the battle for second as a three-way war ensued.

Ultimately, David Gravel ended the night with a runner-up finish. The Big Game Motorsports #2 didn't get the W they wanted, but they'll now head to Huset's Speedway on Sunday with the championship runner-up slot back in their grasp.

"I feel bad for my guys," Gravel acknowledged. "I chose the top and gave up the lead, and I think that is what took us out of contention for the win. If I didn't make that big move at the end, I think we'd run fourth tonight. Starting on the pole, you always want to win so it's a bit disappointing. It's been a good year, but we need to start picking up some more wins." 

Rounding out the podium for the seventh time this year was James McFadden aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing, Karavan Trailers #9. He sealed his deal for a top-three in the midst of a wild three-wide move with Gravel and Schuchart on the Lap 24 restart.

"That was a lot of fun, mate," McFadden offered. "It was treacherous up top. A real fine line between ripping or falling off. This place reminds me of home. It's always fun when you run better and we've been doing that lately."

Closing out the top-10 at Red River Valley was early leader Logan Schuchart in fourth, NOS Energy Drink pilot Sheldon Haudenschild in fifth, championship leader Brad Sweet in sixth, Jason Johnson Racing's Carson Macedo in seventh, 360 Nationals champion Giovanni Scelzi in eighth, KSE Hard Charger Kraig Kinser in ninth, and Shark Racing driver Jacob Allen in tenth.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series wraps up the weekend tomorrow, Sunday, August 22 at Huset's Speedway. The Pioneer Bin Buster Bash marks the 50th all-time appearance by The Greatest Show on Dirtin Brandon, SD. Tickets are available to BUY HERE.

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$10,000]; 2. 2-David Gravel [1][$6,000]; 3. 9-James McFadden [5][$3,500]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2][$2,800]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [10][$2,500]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$2,300]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo [9][$2,200]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [3][$2,100]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [18][$2,050]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [6][$2,000]; 11. 83-Kasey Kahne [7][$1,600]; 12. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [12][$1,400]; 13. 2C-Wayne Johnson [17][$1,200]; 14. 20G-Noah Gass [14][$1,100]; 15. 47N-Marcus Dumesny [15][$1,050]; 16. 13-Mark Dobmeier [22][$1,000]; 17. 7S-Jason Sides [20][$1,000]; 18. 6N-Greg Nikitenko [21][$1,000]; 19. 2K-Kevin Ingle [24][$1,000]; 20. 20A-Jordan Adams [16][$1,000]; 21. 14T-Tim Estenson [19][$1,000]; 22. 8-Jack Croaker [23][$1,000]; 23. 9N-Wade Nygaard [11][$1,000]; 24. 55-Nick Ranten [13][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: David Gravel 1, Logan Schuchart 2-21, Donny Schatz 22-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 11K-Kraig Kinser[+9]

NEW Championship Standings (57/81 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (7,588); 2. David Gravel (-136); 3. Carson Macedo (-142); 4. Donny Schatz (-246); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-264); 6. Logan Schuchart (-296); 7. James McFadden (-716); 8. Kraig Kinser (-916); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-1186); 10. Jacob Allen (-1394).