Continues closing gap in World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car championship

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Aug. 16, 2013 – Donny Schatz is proving once again there isn’t much he can’t do in a racecar.

A week after making history by winning the FVP Knoxville Nationals from the deepest starting position ever, Schatz on Friday night at River Cities Speedway became the first driver to win a World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series A-main in addition to winning a dirt Late Model feature just minutes apart.

In the main event at the 3/10-mile high-banked oval, Schatz powered to his 15th World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series victory of the season, leading all 40 laps and preventing runner-up Cody Darrah from completing a sweep of the Outlaws events at the track after he won there in June.

Championship points-leader Daryn Pittman was third with Brad Sweet and Craig Dollansky rounding out the top five.

Schatz, the five-time and defending series champion who is second in points behind Pittman, started on the pole and beat Pittman into turn one. Schatz faced a few tricky spots in lapped traffic, including near disaster when contact nearly spun him. As the laps ticked off, Schatz continued to build his advantage in his STP/Armor All J&J and no cautions in the 40-lap A-main hindered Darrah’s efforts to close the gap.

The Kasey Kahne Racing entries of Pittman, Darrah and Sweet battled it out for the three spots after Schatz. Pittman held off early race challenges by Darrah, but with leaders entering lapped traffic starting on lap five, Darrah would have plenty more chances.
The duo ran side-by-side for several laps with Pittman in his Great Clips car doing everything he could to hold off his teammate for the valuable position in championship hunt. On lap 18 in heavy lap traffic, Pittman finally slipped and Darrah powered around the outside in his SurePointMedical.com ride.

As the laps counted down, Darrah closed the gap to Schatz but ran out of laps in his effort to run him down.

After the 40-lap feature, an ecstatic Schatz emerged from his car in victory lane

“It was a fun night, I was wondering what I was doing with the late model when I got here,” said Schatz, of Fargo, N.D. “And in the sprint car this STP team is just incredible. These guys do a phenomenal job, they’re celebrating, they’re working hard to get ready for Minot on Sunday night.”

Darrah has quickly become a fan of River Cities, finishing first and second in two trips there this season.

“As I got into second I felt like he was out there a bit, but as the race went on it looked like he was getting closer and closer,” said Darrah, of Red Lion, Pa. “At the end I thought I had a chance, I saw him almost get into the infield and a lot of dust, but in the end we just didn’t get close enough. It was tricky to run the bottom for me, we were a little tight and it was a little easier to run the top, but it wasn’t the fast line.”

With as much success as Pittman has had this season, he was disappointed with a third-place run after earning a prime starting spot by finishing second in the dash earlier in the evening.

“Anytime you start on the front row and you don’t win, or contend for the win it’s tough,” said Pittman, a native of Owasso, Okla. “If I need to improve on anything, it’s tracks this size. Starting on the front row and getting beat and as bad as we did it’s just not fun. We’ll take it and move onto Minot, I won the last time I was there, but it’s been a pretty long time since I’ve been there.”

Steve Kinser had his second strong run in a row, finishing sixth on Friday night only a few days after posting his second victory of the season.

Tim Kaeding struggled early in the night on the high-speed short track and was forced to come out of the Last Chance Showdown, but after starting last in the feature Kaeding drove the Roth Enterprises KPC up to 13th to earn the KSE Hard Charger award.

The race within the race of the night was the six-lap dash that saw Schatz and Pittman side by side for nearly every lap from the front row. Pittman led most of the race, as they crisscrossed and threw slide jobs at one another diving into every corner, but Schatz would earn the victory as Pittman appeared to have spun coming off of the bottom of turn four giving Schatz just enough room to capture the win.

With the win Schatz, closed the gap a little more on Pittman in the championship battle. Pittman has controlled the top spot since the opening night of the season, but Schatz has now moved to only 60 points behind.

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series next invades Nodak Speedway on Sunday night in Minot, N.D., where Schatz was raised before relocating to Fargo.

RIVER CITIES SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK

NOTES – Cody Darrah was the fastest qualifier around the high-banked 3/10-mile oval with a time of 9.966 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Brad Sweet (4 points), Donny Schatz (3), Daryn Pittman (2) and Joey Saldana (1). … Steve Kinser, Bill Rose, Jason Sides and Greg Wilson won heat races. … The dash draw was a 4 for the 10th time this year… Donny Schatz won the dash for the seventh time this year.

CONTINGENCY WINNERS – MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Chris Shirek; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Donny Schatz;STP ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky;Bruce High Performance Transporters ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Craig Dollansky UNOH ($50 cash): Steve Kinser; American Racing Custom Wheels ($50 cash): Greg Wilson; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Paul McMahan; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Bill Rose; Superflow ($50 cash): Bill Rose;Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Brandon Wimmer; KSE Racing Products ($100 certificate): Tim Kaeding; Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Bill Rose;Armor All (case of product): Greg Wilson.; Comp Cams($50 certificate): Donny Schatz; Bruce High Performance Transporters ($200 certificates): Craig Dollansky, Bill Rose, Chris Shirek; JE Pistons (set of rings): Kerry Madsen, Chris Shirek

World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; River Cities Speedway; Grand Forks, N.D.; Aug. 16, 2013

A-Main – (40 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1] [$10,000]; 2. 4-Cody Darrah [4] [$5,500]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [2] [$3,200]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [3] [$2,800]; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky [6] [$2,500]; 6. 11-Steve Kinser [5] [$2,300]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [8] [$2,200]; 8. 7S-Jason Sides [7] [$2,100]; 9. 71M-Joey Saldana [11] [$2,050]; 10. 51-Paul McMahan [17] [$2,000]; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12] [$1,500]; 12. 1-Sammy Swindell [18] [$1,200]; 13. 83-Tim Kaeding [24] [$1,100]; 14. 6-Bill Rose [9] [$1,050]; 15. 63-Chad Kemenah [10] [$1,000]; 16. 29-Kerry Madsen [14] [$900]; 17. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [20] [$800]; 18. 19-Justin Henderson [22] [$800]; 19. 13-Mark Dobmeier [19] [$800]; 20. 8-Casey Mack [16] [$800]; 21. 1K-Chris Shirek [13] [$800]; 22. 20K-Thomas Kennedy [23] [$800]; 23. 82-Scott Winters [15] [$800]; 24. 18-Ian Madsen [21] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 83-Tim Kaeding [+11].

Qualifying: 1. 4-Cody Darrah, 9.966; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 10.028; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 10.035; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman, 10.038; 5. 71M-Joey Saldana, 10.054; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 10.059; 7. 7-Craig Dollansky, 10.084; 8. 1K-Chris Shirek, 10.094; 9. 11-Steve Kinser, 10.107; 10. 6-Bill Rose, 10.123; 11. 7S-Jason Sides, 10.138; 12. 29-Kerry Madsen, 10.163; 13. 63-Chad Kemenah, 10.186; 14. 82-Scott Winters, 10.236; 15. 8-Casey Mack, 10.240; 16. W20-Greg Wilson, 10.248; 17. 51-Paul McMahan, 10.255; 18. 1-Sammy Swindell, 10.264; 19. 91K-Kyle Fedyk, 10.269; 20. 25-Cory Mack, 10.320; 21. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 10.338; 22. 9W-Brandon Wimmer, 10.354; 23. 18-Ian Madsen, 10.398; 24. 19-Justin Henderson, 10.402; 25. 20K-Thomas Kennedy, 10.411; 26. 27-Chris Ranten, 10.413; 27. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 10.431; 28. 83-Tim Kaeding, 10.451; 29. 2A-Austin Pierce, 10.464; 30. 4S-Danny Smith, 10.507; 31. 5-Dave Glennon, 10.519; 32. 6N-Greg Nikitenko, 10.551; 33. 9N-Wade Nygaard, 10.634; 34. 20A-Jordon Adams, 10.635; 35. O-Nick Omdahl, 10.699; 36. 14-Tom Egeland, 10.715; 37. 13X-Ty Hanten, 10.726; 38. 35-Brenden Wilde, 10.809; 39. 92-Mitch Mack, 10.817; 40. 10TRB-Bob Martin, 10.835; 41. 31-Shane Romeling, 10.839; 42. 26-Blake Egeland, 10.848; 43. 99-Jordan Graham, 10.931.

Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 11-Steve Kinser [2]; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah [1]; 3. 71M-Joey Saldana [3]; 4. 13-Mark Dobmeier [6]; 5. 4-Cody Darrah [4]; 6. 51-Paul McMahan [5]; 7. 20K-Thomas Kennedy [7]; 8. 9N-Wade Nygaard [9]; 9. 2A-Austin Pierce [8]; 10. 13X-Ty Hanten [10]; 11. 31-Shane Romeling [11].

Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 6-Bill Rose [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 4. 82-Scott Winters [1]; 5. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [6]; 6. 1-Sammy Swindell [5]; 7. 27-Chris Ranten [7]; 8. 4S-Danny Smith [8]; 9. 20A-Jordon Adams [9]; 10. 35-Brenden Wilde [10]; 11. 26-Blake Egeland [11].

Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 7S-Jason Sides [2]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky [3]; 3. 8-Casey Mack [1]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 5. 18-Ian Madsen [6]; 6. 44W-Austen Wheatley [7]; 7. 5-Dave Glennon [8]; 8. 91K-Kyle Fedyk [5]; 9. O-Nick Omdahl [9]; 10. 99-Jordan Graham [11]; 11. 92-Mitch Mack [10].

Heat 4 – (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. W20-Greg Wilson [1]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [4]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [2]; 4. 19-Justin Henderson [6]; 5. 1K-Chris Shirek [3]; 6. 83-Tim Kaeding [7]; 7. 25-Cory Mack [5]; 8. 14-Tom Egeland [9]; 9. 10TRB-Bob Martin [10]; 10. 6N-Greg Nikitenko [8].

Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 4. 4-Cody Darrah [4]; 5. 11-Steve Kinser [6]; 6. 7-Craig Dollansky [5]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides [8]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [10]; 9. 6-Bill Rose [7]; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah [9].

C-Main – (10 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the B-feature): 1. 20A-Jordon Adams [2] [-]; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard [1] [-]; 3. O-Nick Omdahl [3] [$125]; 4. 99-Jordan Graham [11] [$125]; 5. 13X-Ty Hanten [5] [$125]; 6. 31-Shane Romeling [9] [$100]; 7. 35-Brenden Wilde [6] [$100]; 8. 10TRB-Bob Martin [8] [$100]; 9. 14-Tom Egeland [4] [$100]; 10. 92-Mitch Mack [7] [$100]; 11. 26-Blake Egeland [10] [$100].

Last Chance Showdown – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [2] [-]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [1] [-]; 3. 83-Tim Kaeding [8] [-]; 4. 20K-Thomas Kennedy [5] [-]; 5. 25-Cory Mack [4] [$200]; 6. 91K-Kyle Fedyk [3] [$180]; 7. 4S-Danny Smith [10] [$175]; 8. 44W-Austen Wheatley [7] [$160]; 9. 27-Chris Ranten [6] [$150]; 10. 20A-Jordon Adams [13] [$150]; 11. 9N-Wade Nygaard [14] [$150]; 12. 5-Dave Glennon [11] [$150]; 13. 2A-Austin Pierce [9] [$150]; 14. 6N-Greg Nikitenko [12] [$150].

World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Championship Standings

Pos. Driver

Total

Diff

Wins

T-5

T-10

QT
1 Daryn Pittman

7468

0

8

35

43

11
2 Donny Schatz

7408

-60

15

33

46

2
3 Paul McMahan

7267

-201

3

25

41

13
4 Craig Dollansky

7047

-421

6

17

33

1
5 Sammy Swindell

6967

-501

2

14

33

4
6 Joey Saldana

6914

-554

0

11

30

4
7 Cody Darrah

6771

-697

2

11

22

2
8 Steve Kinser

6632

-836

2

6

23

0
9 David Gravel

6599

-869

1

7

24

1
10 Kerry Madsen

6564

-904

2

9

26

1
11 Chad Kemenah

6531

-937

0

12

17

2
12 Jason Sides

6511

-957

0

9

25

1
13 Kraig Kinser

6487

-981

1

8

23

0
14 Tim Kaeding

5372

-2096

7

20

25

0
15 Sam Hafertepe Jr.

3210

-4258

0

1

6

1
16 Brian Brown

3136

-4332

0

5

12

0
17 Bill Rose

3133

-4335

0

0

1

0
18 Greg Wilson

2722

-4746

0

1

3

0
19 Wayne Johnson

2617

-4851

0

0

2

0
20 Jac Haudenschild

2607

-4861

0

7

9

0

 

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: American Racing Custom Wheels (Official Custom Wheel), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), KMC (Official Custom Truck Wheel), University of Northwestern Ohio, VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Vicci (Official Apparel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Bruce High Performance Transporters, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, KSE Racing Products, MSD Ignitions, Penske Shocks and Superflow Dynos; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: ButlerBuilt, Fuel Safe, Intercomp, J&J Auto Racing, Jake’s Carts, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo, TNT Rescue and Winters Performance.