Californian earns 8th World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car win of the season

Photo Courtesy: Steve Curtis Photography

LEBANON, Ore. – Sept. 3, 2013 – Tim Kaeding held off Donny Schatz on a green-white-checkered finishTuesday night at Willamette Speedway to earn his eighth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series victory of the season.

Kaeding drove around Rico Abreu on lap 11 of the 30-lap A-main to swipe the lead, then held him off on a wild restart that saw Abreu exit two laps later with a damaged machine after contact with another car. On the ensuing restart, Schatz got around second-place running Sammy Swindell and set his sights on Kaeding in search of a third consecutive win.

With two grooves working, Kaeding raced the top side as Schatz closed the gap on the bottom. The two hit lapped traffic with 10 to go and each carefully worked through it until a red flag for Trey Starks set up a green-white-checkered shootout with Kaeding in front and Schatz, Swindell and pole-sitter Paul McMahan ready to pounce.

Kaeding pulled away just enough in his Roth Enterprises car to keep Schatz and Swindell at bay over the final two laps before chaos erupted behind them when McMahan was spun coming to the checkered flag. (more…)

Holds off Pittman at Grays Harbor to tie his single-season victory mark

MA, Wash. – Sept. 2, 2013 – Different track, same Donny Schatz. The hottest driver in sprint car racing brought his game to Grays Harbor Raceway on Monday night and earned his 19th World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series victory of the season, tying his single-season mark, as the series’ Gold Rush Tour continues down the Pacific Coast for six more nights in a row.

Since winning the Knoxville Nationals in mid-August, five-time series champion Schatz has won five of eight World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series A-mains and closed to within 20 points of the series’ overall championship points leader, Daryn Pittman. From a historical perspective, Schatz has 143 victories in his career, 10 away from tying Mark Kinser for third all-time.

Pittman started alongside Schatz on the front row Monday night and stole the lead from Schatz on lap 13 with an incredible slide job that took all of turns three and four to complete as Schatz was tied up trying to pass a lapped car. Pittman led until a caution with 17 of 30 laps complete forced a restart. Pittman’s car bobbled just a bit but it was enough for Schatz to reclaim the top spot, a lead Schatz would not relinquish despite four more cautions. (more…)

Holds off Madsen, McMahan for his first Skagit Speedway victory

ALGER, Wash. – Aug. 31, 2013 – Donny Schatz charged to his 18th World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series victory of the season on Saturday night by passing Kerry Madsen midway through the Monster Meltdown and driving away to the checkered flag at Skagit Speedway.

Madsen earned his fourth consecutive podium finish after leading the first 17 laps but couldn’t cool off Schatz, who was cruising to victory in the 35-lap feature until a caution on the last lap forced him to hold off Madsen and the rest of the field on a green-white-checkered finish.

Paul McMahan duplicated his third-place performance from Friday night while Cody Darrah finished fourth after starting eighth. Joey Saldana finished fifth and returned to fifth in the series’ overall championship standings.

While pole-sitter Madsen jumped to an early lead, Saldana was locked in a battle with McMahan for second. McMahan eventually captured the spot as Schatz quickly pulled close to Saldana. The pair battled fiercely for 10 laps before Schatz could finally complete the pass. (more…)

Earns third victory of the season, first win at Washington track since 1979

ALGER, Wash. – Aug. 30, 2013 – Sammy Swindell dominated the opening round of the Monster MeltdownFriday night at Skagit Speedway to earn his third World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series victory of the season and his first win at the Washington bullring since 1979.

Kerry Madsen was the runner-up for his third consecutive podium finish as Paul McMahan, Joey Saldana and World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship leader Daryn Pittman rounded out the top five with the series embarking on its west coast Gold Rush Tour of nine races in 10 nights.

Swindell, a three-time series champion, started the 25-lap A-main from the pole position and controlled it through three stoppages, two reds and a caution, by a using his track position on each restart to control the pace coming back to green.

“Well I know how to make them take off,” said Swindell, of Germantown, Tenn. “That was good to start up front, this Big Game Treestands Maxim was just rolling. We had a different Parker motor in there tonight that would just take off from a crawl. We finally hit it right, started in the right spot and had a good car to keep us up there.”

Madsen finished second in his Keneric Racing EarthEx KPC to complete a game of podium bingo after running first and third last weekend while the series was in Edmonton.

“I actually butchered the original start and lost some spots, but pushed really hard on the following restarts and had a good car there at the end,” said Madsen, of St. Marys, N.S.W., Australia. “The car was fantastic and we had a great run. The cushion was as heavy as I’ve ever seen it here and it took me half the race to figure out to keep the right rear off of it, and once I started cheating it I ran a lot faster and was running those guys down.” (more…)

In backup car, champ nets 17th World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car victory

EDMONTON, Alberta – Aug. 24, 2013 – Donny Schatz continued a streak of 14 consecutive World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series podium finishes on Saturday night when he took a backup car to victory lane in the Oil City Cup finale at Castrol Raceway.

Schatz, who crashed hard during a hot lap session at the beginning of the night, was forced to race a backup car, which he qualified in a position that put him on the front row of a heat race and the perfect position for the dash inversion that helped him secure a front row starting spot for the 30-lap A-main alongside Friday night’s winner Kerry Madsen.

For the second night in a row, Madsen started from the pole and led the most laps, but Schatz was relentless in his pursuit of the Aussie, often going wheel-to-wheel before finally making a pass for the lead on lap 24 only to have Brad Sweet charge past Madsen then Schatz to lead lap 28 before Schatz went back to the front for the final two laps and his 17th victory of the season and the 141st win of his career. (more…)

Aussie earns third World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win of the year

EDMONTON, Alberta – Aug. 23, 2013 – Kerry Madsen avoided mayhem behind him and powered to victory during Friday’s opening night of the Oil City Cup at Castrol Raceway for his third World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series victory of the season.

Madsen earned the pole and was able to keep his Keneric Racing EarthEx KPC out front, which was key on a night where several of the contenders were caught in separate incidents, including a nine-car melee that collected 20-time champion Steve Kinser and championship points-leader Daryn Pittman.

Five-time champion Donny Schatz charged nine positions to eventually finish second in the 30-lap feature. He has finished third or higher in every event since the Kings Royal on July 16 as he has charged up the standings in his quest for a sixth series crown.

Top qualifier Brad Sweet was third as Paul McMahan and Joey Saldana rounded out the top five. (more…)