Donny
Schatz powers to
Elma, WA — August 27, 2005 — By Chris
Dolack, WoO Sprint Series Public Relations Director
Watching Donny Schatz power his way through the field Saturday night at Grays
Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., was like watching a mountain climber finally
stake a flag in a peak. A checkered flag.
Sure, Schatz had four victories coming into the
He wasn’t disheartened by the near-misses, instead he was satisfied in knowing
his reshuffled team with Ricky Warner and Dion Hindi were close to finally
having a reason to celebrate.
Schatz knew in his heat race, after nearly splitting Tim Shaffer and Paul
McMahan, he had a car that could win the main event, but starting ninth in a
40-lap race with Steve Kinser on the pole would be a tough climb.
Schatz motored his ParkerStore J&J deep into every corner, picking off car
after car and sliding past Brooke Tatnell for second with 28 laps down and
setting his sights on Kinser in front of the largest crowd in
Once in front, Schatz kept pushing and held off Kinser to earn his fifth
A-feature victory of the season. Tatnell finished third in his Bombardier Eagle
ahead of Terry McCarl’s Big Game
“The car was really decent,” said Schatz, a Mean 15 racer from Fargo, N.D., who
is only 17 points out of fifth-place in the Outlaws championship standings.
“[Friday] night was a learning experience. I’m working with some new guys and
they understand things very well so it gave us a chance [Friday] night to come
back tonight and adjust our car. We did the same thing in Billings last
weekend. We spent the first night trying to get good and the second night we
were good. It was awful exciting to be that decent. To come from ninth and race
the way we did, the racecar was just better, plain, flat and simple. They guys
did a great job. They worked on this thing awful hard on the five days off that
we had. That’s the difference. We’re getting our program switched around,
getting our engines running really good and as long as Hoosier continues to
build a great tire we’re going to be in good shape.”
Kinser was strong all night after easily earning the pole with a victory in the
Stacker 2 Dash. He raced out to a big lead while the action behind him heated
up. Kinser was strong on the bottom and was going to force anybody who caught
him to go to the outside. With three grooves on the racy 3/8-mile oval, Schatz
was able to go low, then slide up the track before settling in the middle line
for his power move to the front.
“Steve was really good on the bottom,” Schatz said. “I showed my nose
underneath him once just to kind of mess with him a little bit and he thought I
was going to be there and he just wouldn’t give that bottom up and we were
actually better in the middle of the racetrack. I knew when we were five car
lengths behind him and I pulled up next to him going into Turn 3, that’s really
where the difference was. The car was so good in the middle of the racetrack on
entry that anybody could have driven it. Race cars don’t get that good that
often so you have to eat it up when you can.
“I didn’t know if we could get that far up starting ninth, but the race car was
that good and we made the right tire selection. Everything kind of fell into
the place just right. We hit lapped traffic, I honestly believe that’s what
cost us the Knoxville Nationals, not being able to race in lapped traffic.”
With the race going green from a Lap 9 restart to the checkered flag, traffic
was definitely a factor. The track allowed for racing from top to bottom with
the top 10 cars sliding back in forth in each corner. The traffic at various
points held up the leaders, but Kinser said his car wasn’t quite able to cut
through smoothly, which allowed Tatnell to close first and eventually Schatz.
“I was getting a little bit loose,’’ said Kinser, who has a 474-point lead in
his quest for a 20th Outlaws championship. “I couldn’t roll around the middle
at all when I needed to when I got to the lapped cars. I just heated the right
rear tire up. I should have tightened it up a little bit better, I just got a
little too conservative.”
With a loose car, Kinser wasn’t able to take advantage of the various racing
lines. He kept his car on the bottom, one time actually going up and over the
inner berm off of Turn 4 to put a car a lap down. So when Schatz, whose car was
handling perfectly on nearly every inch of the racing surface, put his front
wing under Kinser’s car, Kinser made sure he wasn’t going to let him by on the
inside. That’s when Schatz slid back up the track and went around the outside
of Kinser at the flagstand.
“I knew I was getting in a little bit of trouble,” Kinser said. “He showed
himself once and I knew he was there, I just didn’t quite get the job done. He
had to be running pretty good to run us down and come up from where he
started.”
Brooke Tatnell hopes his team’s third-place run sparks his Rush Racing machine
back to a strong streak like the one he was on in late July and August when he
finished first or second on three of the four race nights heading into the
Knoxville Nationals. Plus, his showing Saturday in the A-feature at Elma was a
boost for his Washington-based owners.
“Our car owners were disappointed for us as a team Friday night and we were
disappointed to disappoint in front of their home crowd,” said Tatnell, who
wound up 18th in the preliminary feature. “There isn’t a car owner out here
that has put as much into promotion as these guys have. To last night walk
away, I said running second was like kissing your sister, Friday night was like
kissing your brother. It was terrible. But we bounced back and took it up to
Steve for a little bit. I don’t know if I used up my tires trying to get by a
lapped car or not, but Schatz also took a gamble. When you’re running third or
fourth, you’ve got to roll the dice. We weren’t close enough to Steve to roll
that dice so we kept on plugging away. Third place is better than the four DNFs
we had over the four previous nights through flat tires and bits and pieces.
“I can’t say enough about our team. From our car owners and their families to
all the crew and their families, I’m proud to be plugging away. We’ll get this
back on a roll. We went 20 races with top-10 finishes, now we’ve got to start
again.”
McCarl wrapped up a solid weekend with a fourth-place run after challenging
Tatnell for second during much of the race. McCarl, who won a Northern Sprint
Tour event on Thursday at Grays Harbor and finished third in the preliminary
feature, is aiming to remain in the Top 10 in points for the rest of the
season.
“It was a really good track and it was a game of inches out there,” said
McCarl, of Altoona, Iowa. “I was just a little bit too loose in the middle
where I had to run to try to get Steve. I wasn’t worried about Tatnell, I was
trying to win the race, and Brooke snuck underneath us. I got him back a couple
of times in the middle but if I turned the wheel a little too much I’d lose it.
We were just a shade too loose. To get another top-five and keep finishing the
season strong, we’re pretty happy with the car and the team.”
Joey Saldana quietly raced to his 11th top-five in an A-feature. He avoided the
back-and-forth action of Tatnell and McCarl by running near the fence to keep
his momentum going and held his ground the entire event.
“We’ve had nothing but motor problems all year,” said Saldana, a Mean 15 racer
from Brownsburg, Ind. “We put another motor in tonight and it was the
difference between night and day. [Friday] we were 15th quick and ran 12th and
tonight we were second quick and ran fifth. That’s what a motor means out here.
It means everything. I think if we would have run better [Friday] we wouldn’t
have been chasing our car so much tonight. It was a good, solid run for us.”
Saldana’s run, as well as Schatz’s, were just another example of how important
the qualifying events are to finishing well in
“It’s everything,” Saldana said. “I realize Schatz started ninth and [Daryn]
Pittman started ninth last week [and won at Billings], that happens, but nine
times out of 10, you put Steve Kinser on the pole it takes an exceptional night
from somebody out here to beat the guy. Schatz was on tonight, but
realistically if he wouldn’t have been on or Pittman wasn’t on the other night,
Steve would have won two more races. You just got to come out here and qualify
good and you have to be up front. If you’re up front, something good will
happen, but when we’ve been up front we’ve had everything happen to us to knock
us out. I’ll take a top-five and hopefully we can run better at Cottage Grove.”
The
GRAYS HARBOR RACEWAY NOTEBOOK
• Brooke Tatnell paced the 42 cars that went through time trials by turning
an AMB i.t.-timed lap around the 3/8-mile oval in 11.998 seconds at 112.519
mph. Joey Saldana was the second quickest with a 12.090-second, 111.683-mph
lap. Craig Dollansky established the single-lap record of 11.915 seconds on
Aug. 27, 2004.
• By virtue of finishing in the top four in Friday’s preliminary feature, Steve
Kinser, Jonathan Allard, Terry McCarl and Shane Stewart advanced directly to
the top four spots in the Stacker 2® Dash and were joined by Brooke Tatnell and
Joey Saldana as the two fastest drivers on Saturday. In the Dash, Kinser jumped
out to a quick lead and drove away to the checkered flag to grab his third pole
position in the past five race nights and his 11th pole of the year.
• Following heat race action, many of the
• Donny Schatz’s victory Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., was
his fifth this season. … Steve Kinser has a series-leading 17 A-feature
victories to go with three preliminary night wins. … Shane Stewart won the second
preliminary A-main Aug. 12 at Knoxville Raceway, visiting Victory Lane with the
Outlaws for the first time this season and making him the 22nd different driver
to do so. There have been 16 different A-feature winners. … Kraig Kinser
captured the Knoxville Nationals on Aug. 14 for his sixth A-feature victory of
the season. He also has a preliminary feature win at Las Vegas. …
• Grays Harbor Raceway is a high-banked 3/8-mile oval. Including
preliminaries, the series has raced 13 times this season on tracks that length,
at Pike County Speedway, Houston Raceway Park, Batesville Speedway, Outlaw
Motor Speedway, 81 Speedway, Huset’s Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Attica
Raceway Park, Fulton Speedway, BMP Speedway and Grays Harbor Raceway. Steve
Kinser held off Brooke Tatnell to win at Pike County, Donny Schatz edged Steve
Kinser at Houston, Kraig Kinser dominated at Batesville, Steve Kinser snuck
past
• Drivers who have raced to victory in preliminary features this season include
(in alphabetical order) Craig Dollansky twice (Manzanita/Williams Grove), Jason
Johnson once (Williams Grove), Kraig Kinser once (Las Vegas), Steve Kinser
three times (Eagle/Billings/Elma), Danny Lasoski twice (Australia/Knoxville),
Kerry Madsen once (Australia), Paul McMahan once (Williams Grove),
• After a series of cautions in the B-main, Toni Lutar and Shawn Rice charged
out to the lead with five laps down as Travis Rutz shot into a transfer spot
after starting sixth. Rice slid to the lead on Lap 9 and pulled away to the
checkered flag as Lutar held on to finish second with Rutz and Barry Martinez
earning the final positions in the A-main grid. Henry Van Dam and Roy
Blumenhagen transferred to the rear of the B-main lineup after finishing in the
top two spots in the C-main.
• In the first heat, Jac Haudenschild grabbed the lead in the first corner but
• In the second heat, Brandon Wimmer charged to the lead and slid up in front
of Danny Lasoski in Turn 2 and was driving away from Lasoski, Joey Saldana and
• In the third heat, Roger Crockett and Tim Kaeding swapped the lead for the
first several laps before Crockett, the pole-sitter for the preliminary A-main
on Friday, took charge and drove away to the checkered flag. Kaeding wound up
second with Daryn Pittman and Kraig Kinser earning the final transfer spots to
the feature.
• The fourth heat featured some of the most incredible racing all weekend as
Tim Shaffer shot out to the lead in the high groove, Paul McMahan raced into
second on the bottom and Donny Schatz made it three-wide charging right through
the middle. The top three slid up and down and used every inch of the racing
surface before a caution waved for Marc Huson’s spinning car in Turn 4.
Shaffer, Schatz and McMahan picked right back up on the restart with Jason
Sides joining the battle. Shaffer on to win with Schatz, McMahan and Sides
earning the transfer spots.
• The
• The Outdoor Channel will air on Aug. 31 the race at BMP Speedway and Sept. 7
the event at Grays Harbor Raceway.
• The Official
• If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the
excitement of the
• The
WoO Sprint Series Statistical Report; Grays Harbor Raceway
A-feature; Aug. 27, 2005
Qualifying
1) Brooke Tatnell, Rush Racing 8, 11.998
2) Joey Saldana, Woodward 2, 12.090
3) Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, 12.131
4) Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S, 12.136
5) Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 12.158
6) Daryn Pittman, Titan Racing USA 21, 12.161
7)
8) Jason Solwold, Carnahan R19, 12.191
9)
10) Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 12.221
11) Tim Kaeding, Roth 83, 12.248
12) Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 12.276
13) Tim Shaffer, Parsons 6, 12.314
14) Roger Crockett, Doyle 11C, 12.316
15) Brandon Wimmer, Two Winners Racin 7TW, 12.358
16) Jac Haudenschild, Roth 83JR, 12.399
17) Brandon Johnson, Johnson 14J, 12.420
18) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 12.431
19) Toni Lutar, Lutar 4X, 12.442
20) Danny Bullock, Bullock 31, 12.516
21) Shawn Rice, Rice 76, 12.519
22) Travis Rutz, Rutz 8R, 12.576
23) Jared Ridge, Ridge 12, 12.627
24) Marc Huson, Huson 73, 12.748
25) Barry Martinez, Martinez 66, 12.860
26) Jayme Barnes, Alseth 6X, 12.889
27) Joe Ramaker, Ramaker 98, 12.892
28) Steve Kilcup, K&M Motorsports 18, 12.896
29) Steve Vague, Vague 08, 13.036
30) Rick Fauver, Pierce 5SP, 13.188
31) Roy Blumenhagen, Blumenhagen 75, 13.227
32) Henry Van Dam, Van Dam 33V, 13.268
33) Travis Jacobson, Jacobson 22, 13.326
34) T.J. Winningham, Winningham 9T, 13.347
35) Danny Horner, Horner 75H, 13.350
36) Kelly Barnett, Barnett 17, 13.385
37) Brad Holmes, Holmes 5H, 13.439
38) Jay Cole, Cole 0J, 13.694
39) Mark Hinkle, Hinkle 9, 13.905
40) Dan Dunlap, Dunlap 15D, 13.927
41) Rob Johnson, Johnson 83X, 14.081
42) Lance Sponberg, Sponberg 56, 14.308
Top 4 finishers in preliminary A-feature (locked into first 4 starting
positions in Stacker 2 Dash): Steve Kinser, Kinser 11; Jonathan Allard,
Williams 0; Terry McCarl, McCarl 24; Shane Stewart, Rudeen Racing 26
First Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1)
2) Jac Haudenschild
3) Brooke Tatnell
4) Jason Solwold
5) Barry Martinez
6) Travis Jacobson
7) Steve Vague
8) Brad Holmes
9) Rob Johnson
10) Brandon Johnson
11) Shawn Rice
Second Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Brandon Wimmer
2) Danny Lasoski
3) Joey Saldana
4) Craig Dollansky
5)
6) Travis Rutz
7) Jayme Barnes
8) T.J. Winningham
9) Jay Cole
10) Lance Sponberg
11) Rick Fauver
Third Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Roger Crockett
2) Tim Kaeding
3) Daryn Pittman
4) Kraig Kinser
5) Toni Lutar
6) Danny Horner
7) Jared Ridge
8) Joe Ramaker
9) Roy Blumenhagen
10) Mark Hinkle (DNS)
Fourth Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Tim Shaffer
2) Donny Schatz
3) Paul McMahan
4) Jason Sides
5) Steve Kilcup
6) Kelly Barnett
7) Henry Van Dam
8) Danny Bullock
9) Dan Dunlap
10) Marc Huson
C-Main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) Henry Van Dam [$40]
2) Roy Blumenhagen [$40]
3) Danny Horner [$250]
4) T.J. Winningham [$200]
5) Jay Cole [$200]
6) Travis Jacobson [$200]
7) Kelly Barnett [$200]
8) Brad Holmes [$200]
9) Dan Dunlap [$200]
10) Rob Johnson [$200]
11) Lance Sponberg [$200]
12) Mark Hinkle (DNS) [$200]
Stacker 2® Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting
positions of A-feature)
1) Steve Kinser
2) Terry McCarl
3) Brooke Tatnell
4) Shane Stewart
5) Joey Saldana
6) Jonathan Allard
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) Shawn Rice [$40]
2) Toni Lutar [$40]
3) Travis Rutz [$40]
4) Barry Martinez [$40]
5) Rick Fauver [$400]
6) Henry Van Dam [$360]
7) Joe Ramaker [$350]
8) Steve Vague [$320]
9) Danny Bullock [$300]
10) Roy Blumenhagen [$300]
11)
12) Steve Kilcup [$300]
13) Jared Ridge [$300]
14) Marc Huson [$300]
15) Jayme Barnes [$300]
16) Brandon Johnson [$300]
A-main (40 laps)
1) Donny Schatz [$12,000]
2) Steve Kinser [$6,000]
3) Brooke Tatnell [$4,000]
4) Terry McCarl [$3,500]
5) Joey Saldana [$3,300]
6) Kraig Kinser [$3,100]
7) Jason Sides [$3,000]
8) Danny Lasoski [$2,500]
9) Daryn Pittman [$2,100]
10)
11) Tim Shaffer [$2,000]
12) Jason Solwold [$1,600]
13) Paul McMahan [$1,500]
14) Tim Kaeding [$1,200]
15) Shane Stewart [$1,100]
16) Roger Crockett [$1,000]
17) Craig Dollansky [$900]
18) Jonathan Allard [$800]
19) Brandon Wimmer [$800]
20) Jac Haudenschild [$800]
21) Toni Lutar [$800]
22) Barry Martinez [$800]
23) Travis Rutz [$800]
24) Shawn Rice [$800]
Lap leaders: Steve Kinser 1-36, Donny Schatz 37-40
Driver Team Team
Team Team A-feature
Rank Driver Points Points Earnings Diff. Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Steve Kinser 7611 7611 $386,830 0 17 38 49
2
3 Craig Dollansky 7053 7053 $163,270 -558 2 18 33
4 Kraig Kinser 6942 6942 $307,550 -669 6 20 33
5 Danny Lasoski 6785 6785 $158,585 -826 0 11 29
6 Donny Schatz 6768 6768 $217,710 -843 5 14 28
7 Paul McMahan 6625 6625 $105,040 -986 0 7 20
8 Brooke Tatnell* 6615 6891 $160,875 -720 2 17 29
9 Tim Shaffer 6573 6573 $148,415 -1038 3 10 21
10 Terry McCarl 6556 6556 $116,600 -1055 0 10 22
11 Daryn Pittman 6518 6518 $124,915 -1093 2 9 23
12 Shane Stewart 6392 6392 $116,785 -1219 0 5 20
13 Joey Saldana 6342 6342 $125,095 -1269 0 11 21
14
15 Jason Sides 6145 6145 $69,260 -1466 0 2 8
16 Jason Solwold 5905 5905 $81,640 -1706 0 4 10
17 Tim Kaeding** 5776 6500 $125,960 -1111 2*** 9 22
18 Brandon Wimmer 5444 5444 $42,020 -2167 0 0 2
19 Sammy Swindell 4212 4062 $110,880 -3549 2 14 17
20 Kevin Swindell 2978 2978 $25,105 -4633 0 1 3
*Rush
Racing’s No. 8 car driven by Brooke Tatnell is fifth in owners’ points.
**Dennis Roth’s No. 83 car driven by Tim Kaeding is 12th in owners’ points.
***The second of the two victories for the No. 83 car driven by Tim Kaeding was
earned by Jac Haudenschild.