Contact: World Racing Group
Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
704-467-7803 • tveneziano@dirtcar.com
Double Digits: Schatz Wins 10th Race of Season at Riverside International Speedway
West Memphis, AR— July 5, 2008—Last season Donny Schatz only finished outside of the Top-10 in four events with the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series en route to his second consecutive series title, and one of those events was at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas, after he got upside down in a heat race and then had a flat tire in the A-Feature. He made up for that in a big way on Saturday night, as he led wire-to-wire in the 40-lap event, to pick up his 10th win of the season and the 80th of his Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series career. He now just one win away from breaking into the Top-Five on the series all-time win list.
Schatz began the night by setting a new track record in time trials with a lap of 11.055 seconds. He did it with just one lap on the clock, after a rain delay near the end of qualifying forced the session to be aborted and complete restart to time trials in effect, with Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series officials opting to go with one lap of qualifying for each driver to save time.
Schatz lined up second in the A-Feature and charged high into the first and second turns to take the lead from pole sitter Jac Haudenschild at the drop of the green. Before Schatz was able to make it back to the start/finish line, the caution flag flew leading to a complete restart. On the second start, Schatz again powered his way to the lead.
At the same time, Craig Dollansky charged from the fifth starting spot around Steve Kinser and also Kraig Kinser to move into third. The first caution of the night flew on the sixth lap, leading to one of six restarts that Schatz masterfully negotiated.
Just a couple of laps after the restart, Schatz found himself in lapped traffic for the fist time in the event. He was help up a couple of times allowing Dollansky who had moved into second along with Jac Haudenschild to close on him. Another caution flew on the 11th lap followed by a red flag just three laps later.
On the ensuing restart, Dollansky tried a slide job on Schatz in the first and second turns, but could not complete the pass. After another caution, Dollansky tried the same move and again came up just a little short.
”It was a good night,” Schatz said. “Obviously Mother Nature played a part in us getting started late. I’m glad we were able to get the show in. We set a track record and got a good pill draw for the dash. We had a really good race car. The track was awesome. There was a top and bottom all over the place. My hat is off to these guys for giving us a good track to race on.”
The win was his fifth this season for Schatz at a track that he had never previously won at with in Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competition. After having bad luck at Riverside International Speedway last season, Schatz was very pleased with how the night went for him and his team.
“We want to be competitive at places that we were not competitive at last year,” he explained. “This is a big step. Every place that we were bad at last year and have gone to this year, we have gotten better and some of them we have even won. We’re happy with that and that goes to show the capabilities of this team. We never want to finish second. We just want to keep pushing and that is the fun part about being here.”
Near the halfway point of the race, Schatz was in very heavy traffic aboard the Armor All J&J, even having to get up the brakes a couple of times to avoid some close calls. With the laps winding down, he was slicing his way through traffic when the final caution of the night flew. The caution was turned into a red flag for a fuel stop, as the car had gone over their allotted window of green and yellow flag caution laps that they could run. A strong restart with four laps to go sealed the deal for Schatz, as he pocketed $10,000 in the second of three races over the Fourth of July weekend for the World of Outlaws.
“It’s always fun for a driver that is leading to run in lapped traffic,” he shared. “A lot of guys cringe on it when they are up front, but that is what I am here for. The people come to see a show and that is where most of the show is, to see what guys can do in lapped traffic. I think we had some good racing going there in lapped traffic. We pushed ourselves as far as we could go without getting in trouble. We had the restart with four laps to go and none of them (the lapped cars) were in there, so you just have to make sure you don’t make any mistakes.”
After finishing second at Huset’s Speedway on Thursday night, Schatz’s team quickly packed their trailer and drove the 800-plus miles to Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas. While he was thrilled to pick up a win for his team, Schatz also was quick to point out the dedication of all the teams that follow the World of Outlaws full-time.
“I have to thank my crew,” he said. “They gave up their Fourth of July to drive 825 miles to get here. They don’t get that time back and they spend a lot of time working on this car. My hat is off to them and I’m going to try to get them a day off sometime here. Maybe we can go off and celebrate the Fourth of July a month later. For today, it was good to get a victory for what we had going on.”
Dollansky started fifth on Saturday night and picked up two spots on the opening lap of the race, before setting his sights on pole sitter Jac Haudenschild. He would get around the veteran driver on the fourth lap and began to chase Schatz. Dollansky, who won last Thursday night at Huset’s Speedway, has racked up 16 consecutive Top-10 finishes.
“We had to work our way up there,” Dollansky said, who drove a Snap-on Tools painted Maxim. “The car started off pretty decent at the beginning of the race, and got a more loose as the race wore on. There are some things we would like to do different if we could do it all again. To come home second considering where we started, was a good run for the team.”
Joey Saldana finished third after lining up seventh in the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI. He began the night by turning the fifth fastest lap in time trials and followed that up with a third-place finish in the first heat, which earned him a spot in the Crane Cams Dash due to his strong qualifying time. After a tough night at Huset’s Speedway, he was thrilled to be on the podium at Riverside International Speedway.
“I feel pretty good,” Saldana said. “Going to Sioux Falls (Huset’s Speedway) and racing 17th was an eye opener for this team. We have to do a better job as a team and I as a driver have to do a better job. To come here and qualify fifth and run third in the heat and keep advancing every time we were on the track was good. We needed a good run. We are still struggling and we don’t know why. Hopefully we can carry this over to tomorrow at Haubstadt (Tri-State Speedway).”
Jac Haudenschild started on the pole after winning his fourth Crane Cams Dash of the season in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. He ran up front all night long, finishing fourth, as he continues to close in on his first win of the season.
“The car has been good and fast all year,” noted the native of Wooster, Ohio. “We have been up there all the time, so hopefully we can get a win here before too long.”
Steve Kinser, who is the only driver that has competed in every single race the World of Outlaws have contested at Riverside dating back to 1979, finished fifth in the Q Oil Maxim. Jason Meyers was sixth in the GLR Investments KPC, with Kerry Madsen in the TK Concrete Maxim in seventh. Terry McCarl was eighth in the Big Game Treestands Eagle. Paul McMahan earned his third consecutive Top-10 finish in the Casey’s General Stores Maxim as he was ninth, with Chad Kemenah rounding out the Top-10 in the Kantor Oil Company Maxim.
Dollansky made up significant ground a couple of times on Schatz in lapped traffic. It was very reminiscent of the duel the pair has at Huset’s Speedway last Thursday in which they were in traffic for a majority of the race. For Dollansky, it was his 18th Top-Five finish of the season.
“There were a few close calls there,” explained the native of Elk River, Minnesota. “A few people almost lost it in front of me. In lapped traffic I think we were working as good as he (Donny Schatz) was. I would have liked to have stayed in lapped traffic longer and not had those late cautions. In open track he was pretty good. I tried to get a run on him on the restarts, but couldn’t make it happen.”
Saldana started seventh and worked his way around Kraig Kinser and Madsen on the opening lap, before battling Steve Kinser for a number of laps, before finally getting around him on the 15th lap. Saldana next set his sights on Haudenschild, who he would pass on the 24th lap en route to his 15th Top-Five finish of the season.
“My car was really good early and I got up to fourth. I got caught in lapped traffic,” said Saldana. “I got a run on Craig (Dollansky) on that restart, but (turns) three and four were so tricky and what do you do. I almost gave up the third position overdriving that corner. It was tough to get position on a guy, so you had to wait until lapped traffic. It would have been nice to have been in traffic more, but those guys were ahead of us and I don’t know if we could have gotten to them.”
The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Sunday, July 6 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana.
RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
• FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 32 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 1/4-mile oval at 11.055 seconds at 81.411 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jac Haudenschild (4), Craig Dollansky (3), Kerry Madsen (2), and Joey Saldana (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Steve Kinser, Daryn Pittman, Craig Dollansky and Kraig Kinser won heat races… Jac Haudenschild won the Crane Cams Dash….Tim Crawley won the B-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 26 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2008. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Knoxville Raceway-twice, Attica Raceway Park, Eldora Speedway, Tri-City Speedway, Sedalia’s State Fair Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park, River Cities Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway and Riverside International Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Volusia Speedway Park, Eldora Speedway, Huset’s Speedway-twice and Eagle Raceway.), Jason Meyers (Volusia Speedway Park, Manzanita Speedway, I-55 Raceway, Lernerville Speedway and Virginia Motor Speedway), , Steve Kinser (Williams Grove Speedway and Rolling Wheels Raceway Park), Lance Dewease (The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Volusia Speedway Park), Joey Saldana (Dodge City Raceway Park) and Shane Stewart (Knoxville Raceway).
• 1/4-MILE WINNERS: Riverside International Speedway is a semi-banked 1/4-mile oval. The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series raced once this season on a track that size this season. The winner was Donny Schatz (Riverside International Speedway).
• ON THE WEB: The Official Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Web site is at http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint. Among the features are updated driver biographies with individual statistics and pictures, race-by-race statistics, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases. Also, links to the 2008 Official Rulebook can be found at the bottom of the home page.
• LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws live on DIRTVision.com through the DIRT Radio Network. To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.DIRTVision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo. Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail webmaster@DIRTVision.com.
• UP NEXT: A stop at Tri-State Speedway in Indiana, on Sunday, for an event which was postponed by rain earlier this season.
• UPCOMING EVENTS: The Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park, followed by the Knight Before the Kings Royal and the Kings Royal.
Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Riverside International Speedway; West Memphis, AR; July 5, 2008
Qualifying
1) 15-Donny Schatz 11.055
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild 11.230
3) 2-Craig Dollansky 11.243
4) 55-Kerry Madsen 11.260
5) 9-Joey Saldana 11.272
6) 14-Jason Meyers 11.276
7) 6-Paul McMahan 11.279
8) 7S-Jason Sides 11.294
9) 11-Steve Kinser 11.325
10) 21-Daryn Pittman 11.402
11) 24-Terry McCarl 11.411
12) 20-Kraig Kinser 11.432
13) 5C-Chad Hillier 11.434
14) 8K-Chad Kemenah 11.445
15) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.523
16) 9JR-Derek Hagar 11.531
17) 88-Tim Crawley 11.543
18) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 11.580
19) 83-Shane Stewart 11.602
20) 75-Don Young 11.624
21) 51-Lee Sowell 11.656
22) 12-Jeff Swindell 11.740
23) 26-Marshall Skinner 11.820
24) 99-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 11.847
25) 4X-Jan Howard 11.907
26) 3-A G Rains 12.071
27) 6T-Tim Sites 12.117
28) 78-Henry Gustavus 12.199
29) 31-Josh Baker 12.276
30) 26S-Jon Stinson 12.348
31) 44-Ronny Howard 12.477
32) 12M-Greg Merritt 12.488
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 9-Joey Saldana
4) 5C-Chad Hillier
5) 51-Lee Sowell
6) 31-Josh Baker
7) 88-Tim Crawley
8) 4X-Jan Howard
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 21-Daryn Pittman
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild
3) 8K-Chad Kemenah
4) 14-Jason Meyers
5) 12-Jeff Swindell
6) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
7) 3-A G Rains
8) 26S-Jon Stinson
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 2-Craig Dollansky
2) 24-Terry McCarl
3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
4) 6-Paul McMahan
5) 83-Shane Stewart
6) 26-Marshall Skinner
7) 6T-Tim Sites
8) 44-Ronny Howard
Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 20-Kraig Kinser
2) 7S-Jason Sides
3) 55-Kerry Madsen
4) 9JR-Derek Hagar
5) 99-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
6) 75-Don Young
7) 12M-Greg Merritt
8) 78-Henry Gustavus
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 20-Kraig Kinser
4) 11-Steve Kinser
5) 2-Craig Dollansky
6) 55-Kerry Madsen
7) 9-Joey Saldana
8) 24-Terry McCarl
9) 7S-Jason Sides
10) 21-Daryn Pittman
B-main (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 88-Tim Crawley
2) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
3) 26-Marshall Skinner
4) 78-Henry Gustavus
5) 6T-Tim Sites [$200]
6) 31-Josh Baker [$180]
7) 12M-Greg Merritt [$175]
8) 26S-Jon Stinson [$160]
9) 3-A G Rains [$150]
10) 75-Don Young [$150]
11) 4X-Jan Howard [$150]
12) 44-Ronny Howard [$150]
A-main (40 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 15-Donny Schatz[2] [$10,000]
2) 2-Craig Dollansky[5] [$5,500]
3) 9-Joey Saldana[7] [$3,200]
4) R19-Jac Haudenschild[1] [$2,800]
5) 11-Steve Kinser[4] [$2,500]
6) 14-Jason Meyers[11] [$2,300]
7) 55-Kerry Madsen[6] [$2,200]
8) 24-Terry McCarl[8] [$2,100]
9) 6-Paul McMahan[12] [$2,050]
10) 8K-Chad Kemenah[14] [$2,000]
11) 5C-Chad Hillier[13] [$1,500]
12) 83-Shane Stewart[19] [$1,200]
13) 99-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.[23] [$1,100]
14) 88-Tim Crawley[17] [$1,050]
15) 20-Kraig Kinser[3] [$1,000]
16) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[15] [$900]
17) 12-Jeff Swindell[21] [$800]
18) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[18] [$800]
19) 21-Daryn Pittman[10] [$800]
20) 9JR-Derek Hagar[16] [$800]
21) 7S-Jason Sides[9] [$800]
22) 51-Lee Sowell[20] [$800]
23) 78-Henry Gustavus[24] [$800]
24) 26-Marshall Skinner[22] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-40
Chicken Hawk Hot Lap Award: Donny Schatz
Penske Power Position Award: Joey Saldana
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Jac Haudenschild
KSE Hard Charger Award: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
1st STOCK HEAT
1 51 JUSTIN GLOVER
2 9 KEITH GRAHAM
3 83 JOE OLIVE
4 94 RICHARD WEHRMAN
5 1 THOMAS LENAHAN
6 77 JOSH RAY
DNS 5M KEVIN MOODY
2ND STOCK HEAT
1 70 JAMES POAG
2 OO GEORGE WASHINGTON
3 12 KEVIN DAVIS
4 16 JARED KELLEY
5 1d DERRICK RICHTER
6 8J JOHN GRAHAM
3RD STOCK HEAT
1 49 JOE PETTIT
2 20 MARIO ESPINOSA
3 27S JOEY SCALZO
4 69 BUCK SCALLORN
5 25 BRANDON STUBBLEFIELD
DNS 77X CLIFF WOOLFOLK
STOCK FEATURE
2 *12 KEVIN DAVIS
3 *70 JAMES POAG
4 *1d DERRICK RICHTER
5 *83 JOE OLIVE
6 *69 BUCK SCALLORN
7 *49 JOE PETTIT
8 *25 BRANDON STUBBLEFIELD
9 *20 MARIO ESPINOSA
10 *94 RICHARD WEHRMAN
11 *27S JOEY SCALZO
12 *8J JOHN GRAHAM
13 *1 THOMAS LENAHAN
14 *00 GEORGE WASHINGTON
15 *51 JUSTIN GLOVER
16 *9 KEITH GRAHAM
DNS *77 JOSH RAY
*5M KEVIN MOODY
*77X CLIFF WOOLFOLK
DQ DOO DENNIS SHEPHERD (FAILED COMPRESSION)