KNOXVILLE, IA — June 10, 2017 — Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver and eight-time World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series Champion Donny Schatz officially joined the ranks of the top-10 winningest drivers at Knoxville Raceway, leading all 25 laps of the Brownells Big Guns Bash night two Feature. The win marks his 25th career win at the 1/2-mile oval, tying him with two-time Track Champion Skip Jackson. It also marks the 10th win of the season for the No. 15 Arctic Cat car.

Much like the previous night, in which Brad Sweet led flag-to-flag, an exciting battle took place behind the leader, resulting in the same three Outlaws to the podium, only slightly rearranged this time with Schatz on top. And he was unusually happy about it.

“We haven’t been on pace the last couple months,” said Schatz. “You keep looking for little things that aren’t right. One thing here. But we found three things. And so, that’s why I’m smiling. I’m a happy guy. I got my feel back. I can feel all four corners again, and that’s important. These guys have put up with me through some not so good moods the last few months, but it feels good to be back in Victory Lane, especially here at Knoxville, and get that win.”

Behind Schatz, David Gravel, Brad Sweet and Ian Madsen fought a tough battled for second and third. A caution on Dakota Hendrickson four laps in gave Madsen the chance he needed to jump past Logan Schuchart, then Daryn Pittman. A second caution — from Jason Sides spinning into the wall in turn one — allowed Gravel to slide inside Sweet, leaving Sweet momentarily at Madsen’s mercy as the two exchanged positions a couple of times almost halfway through the Feature. But Sweet prevailed, and with only eight laps to go pressed on Gravel for second as he got caught in lap traffic.

“It hurt me there,” said Gravel. “I tried to go under Sides, and he slipped off and kind of caught me up a little bit. I thought that was my only chance to even get close to Donny, but I lost ten car lengths in that corner and never really had a shot at him. We’re really happy with how the car is. The track was super super fast tonight. That was a hell of a workout for 25 laps.”

Despite the heat and strong winds, the track was in great condition on night two and did not rubber up at all like the previous night.

“Last night the race track was a little bit different,” said Schatz. “It got abrasive. It was really slick early. It was hard to get a hold of, so yeah, you try things. You don’t get too far away from baseline, but these guys did an incredible job with the race track today. It’s miserable and hard to do this in the heat and the wind, and they did an incredible job, got us two grooves, so hats off to the Duncans for that and just a great night.”

Unfortunately, Sweet was unable to comment after his win, as the heat and the tough workout left him dehydrated and worn out enough to warrant medical attention.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series returns to action on Tuesday for the Eagle Nationals in Eagle, NE. Tickets are available online. The Series will then continue to Schatz’s home state of North Dakota on Friday and Saturday.

Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$10,000]; 2. 5-David Gravel [4][$5,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$3,000]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [5][$2,700]; 5. 21-Brian Brown [10][$2,500]; 6. 2-Shane Stewart [16][$2,200]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6][$2,000]; 8. 9-Daryn Pittman [3][$1,800]; 9. 1M-Danny Lasoski [13][$1,600]; 10. 41-Jason Johnson [11][$1,450]; 11. 17-Joey Saldana [9][$1,300]; 12. 55-Brooke Tatnell [21][$1,200]; 13. 56N-David Heskin [19][$1,100]; 14. 4-Paul McMahan [12][$1,000]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser [18][$950]; 16. 19-Brent Marks [24][$900]; 17. 2KS-Austin McCarl [15][$850]; 18. 22-Rager Phillips [17][$750]; 19. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [8][$725]; 20. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [22][$700]; 21. 7S-Jason Sides [7][$700]; 22. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [25][$]; 23. O9-Matt Juhl [23][$700]; 24. 4X-Dakota Hendrickson [14][$700]; 25. 24-Terry McCarl [20][$700]; Lap Leader: Donny Schatz 1-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 2-Shane Stewart[+10]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 5-David Gravel, 15.281; 2. 12-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.359; 3. 18-Ian Madsen, 15.363; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman, 15.365; 5. 17-Joey Saldana, 15.558; 6. 56N-David Heskin, 15.573; 7. 22-Rager Phillips, 15.586; 8. 41-Jason Johnson, 15.615; 9. 1M-Danny Lasoski, 15.681; 10. 20-A.J. Moeller, 15.695; 11. O9-Matt Juhl, 15.723; 12. 2KS-Austin McCarl, 15.77; 13. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 15.78; 14. 19-Brent Marks, 15.841; 15. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 15.928; 16. 7W-Tasker Phillips, 15.953; 17. 71A-R.J. Johnson, 15.997; 18. 9Z-Jared Goerges, 16.292; 19. 13-Clyde Knipp, 16.683; 20. 19W-Bobby Weuve, 16.702

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.379; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 15.491; 3. 4X-Dakota Hendrickson, 15.575; 4. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.577; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.584; 6. 4-Paul McMahan, 15.66; 7. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.678; 8. 24-Terry McCarl, 15.684; 9. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 15.687; 10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.694; 11. 21-Brian Brown, 15.742; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen, 15.789; 13. 1B-Dustin Selvage, 15.813; 14. 2-Shane Stewart, 15.817; 15. 82-Cap Henry, 15.943; 16. W20-Greg Wilson, 15.962; 17. 19P-Paige Polyak, 16.03; 18. 3-Tim Kaeding, 16.099; 19. 15X-Bobby Mincer, 16.392; 20. 2M-Kerry Madsen, NT

By Tony Veneziano

JACKSON, MN. – June 3, 2017 – Brad Sweet looked at the first two nights of the 39th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals for the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series at Jackson Motorplex as battles that would ultimately put him in position to win the war. He did exactly that on Saturday night to the tune of $25,000, adding his name to the illustrious list of past winners of the tradition-laden event.

For Sweet, it was his third win of the season and second on a half-mile. Sweet now has 23 career World of Outlaws Feature wins, which ties him for 19th on the Series’ all-time win list with fellow competitors David Gravel and Shane Stewart, who also both finished in the top-five on Saturday night.

“It feels awesome to win the Jackson Nationals,” said Sweet. “We’re just ecstatic. I can’t thank Tod Quiring and all the guys enough for taking a chance and putting on a three-day show that pays big money like this. It’s a breath of fresh air and great to race for that kind of money. Hopefully the fans saw a good show.”

Sweet lined up second for the 30-lap main event and challenged pole sitter Kerry Madsen in the early going. Sweet hung with Madsen for a number of laps, especially in lapped traffic, mainly while working the bottom lane of the track.

Just before the halfway point of the race, Donny Schatz got by Sweet for second, with the latter getting back by a couple of laps later. Sweet took the lead from Kerry Madsen on the back straightaway on lap 18 and led the remainder of the race. He did have to withstand a pair of restarts with 11 laps remaining. The first was a double-file restart and the second single-file. Strong restarts each time propelled him to a solid lead over Madsen.

“I was in attack mode the whole time,” noted Sweet. “I was a little frustrated with myself. When I got behind Kerry (Madsen) I made a few mistakes and let Donny (Schatz) get by me. Usually you don’t get that back. Then I was able to get by both of them. Once I was able to get in control of the race, I knew I was in good shape and just tried not to screw it up. I almost messed up a few times and didn’t know how big of a lead we had, but I drove as hard I could those last 11 laps.” (more…)

JACKSON, Minn. — June 2, 2017 — Kerry Madsen was part of a historic finish on the opening night of the 39^th Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals for the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series at Jackson Motorplex, finishing second to his brother Ian, which made them the first-ever Australian-born brothers to finish 1-2 in an Outlaws race. K. Madsen felt as if he didn’t get the job done, though on Thursday night. He made up for the near-miss on Friday night, leading flag-to-flag in the 25-lap main event to earn his first World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series win of the season and the 20^th of his career.

Madsen withstood a trio of yellow flags and one red flag period en route to the win. For the native of St. Marys, NSW, Australia, who now calls Knoxville, Iowa home, it was his second win of the season at Jackson Motorplex, which is owned by his car owner, Tod Quiring.

“The car was working everywhere until we lost the front wing, then we lost our front downforce,” said Madsen. “I had to run not as hard as I wanted to going into (turn) one and gave up a lot of speed there. I just kept watching the front wing and it was still on so, I kept trying harder. I saw Kraig and thought, ‘Oh no,’ but I saw the lapped traffic and knew if I could get to the outside of the lapped traffic it would block the lane and I would be okay. I was just hanging on at the end and it was a handful in (turn) one and two. It was great to get the job done tonight.”

Madsen, who entered the night as the overall event point leader, put himself in a very solid position to go for a repeat in the AGCO Jackson Nationals, which he won for the first time last season.

“This track is all about being in the right place and being in the right line,” explained Madsen. “You can’t just stick to a line. You have to constantly search and keeping your eye out. It’s going to take 30 good laps to be in contention again tomorrow.” (more…)