Schatz Strikes, Dillon Repeats on Huge Night a
t DIRTcar Nationals
BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Feb. 15, 2014 — It was only the second World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series race of the season on Saturday night at Volusia Speedway Park, but Donny Schatz looks like he’s in midseason form after charging from 11th to victory in front of packed grandstands at the DIRTcar Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment.
Then in the DIRTcar UMP Modified nightcap, Ty Dillon motored his way to victory lane for second consecutive night, putting himself in prime position for a shot at Monday’s Gator Championship.
But Saturday night belonged to Tony Stewart Racing’s Schatz. Just when it looked like Kasey Kahne Racing’s Cody Darrah was cruising toward victory in the 30-lap main event, Schatz took off, eventually passing last year’s World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series champion Daryn Pittman for second, then charging past Darrah for the win.
“It was a lot of fun, you kind of had to pass everywhere,” said Schatz, the five-time series champion from Fargo, N.D. “We didn’t have the greatest night (Friday) night, but you’ll have that in racing. It’s how quick you rebound, came back today with had an awesome race car and got ourselves qualified well. Every time we made changes we went the right direction. It was a fun race, it was awesome and fast. Sometimes I didn’t know where I was going to end up. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t come to the race to win, but we were extra hungry leaving here (Friday) night, we felt like we had a decent run from the back. It just wasn’t very good and we were a long ways off on balance. Those guys are what make that car fast and I get the fun job.”
In the 20-lap DIRTcar UMP Modified feature, which was one of two qualifying races for Monday night’s Gator Championship, Dillon couldn’t be touched. As he was in control out front, a wild battle behind him broke out as six cars battled for the fifth position, guaranteeing them a shot at the pole on Monday night’s random draw. Brian Ruhlman, Nick Hoffman, Devin Gilpin and Kyle Strickler eventually rounded out the top five and will join Dillon plus the top five finishers from Sunday night’s feature in the draw for positions on Monday.
“You always want to keep going because the second you slack up, there’s some good drivers here and they’ll pounce on you,” Dillon said. “If we can keep chugging along like this, we want to get that big Gator and then we’ll have an awesome weekend. I’m as tickled as I can be right now with getting two wins this week. It’s a lot of fun for us.”
Nightly doubleheaders at Volusia run Sunday through Saturday. Sunday night will be the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series final event of this season’s DIRTcar Nationals. DIRTcar Late Models begin competing on Monday night.
For more information and updates on the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment, click DIRTcarNationals.com or follow on Twitter at Twitter.com/DIRTcarNats.
DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment Statistical Report; Feb. 15, 2014; Volusia Speedway Park; Barberville, Fla.
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
A-Main (20 Laps) – 1. (41) Ty Dillon ($700), 2. (49) Brian Ruhlman, 3. (2) Nick Hoffman, 4. (1G) Devin Gilpin, 5. (8) Kyle Strickler, 6. (85) Kent Robinson, 7. (35) David Stremme, 8. (40B) Kyle Bronson, 9. (K9) Will Krup, 10. (OJ) Bryce Jewell, 11. (67) Garret Stewart, 12. (O5) Dave Wiethholder, 13. (90) Jason Beaulieu, 14. (5B) Steven Brooks, 15. (47) Collin Thirlby, 16. (54B) Larry Burkins, 17. (D4) Dave Jamison, 18. (18I) Jason Intoppa, 19. (7C) Kent Corbin, 20. (10M) Scott Mooers, 21. (44) Bob Johnson, 22. (28) Paul Miles, 23. (15) Hunter Gustafson, 24. (24JR) Jeffrey Lien Jr.
Heat 1 (8 laps) – 1. (OJ) Bryce Jewell, 2. (47) Collin Thirlby, 3. (5B) Steven Brooks, 4. (28) Paul Miles, 5. (90) Jason Beaulieu, 6. (O5) Dave Wiethholder, 7. (7C) Kent Corbin, 8. (54B) Larry Burkins
Heat 2 (8 laps) – 1. (K9) Will Krup, 2. (35) David Stremme, 3. (85) Kent Robinson, 4. (8) Kyle Strickler, 5. (1G) Devin Gilpin, 6. (67) Garret Stewart, 7. (24JR) Jeffrey Lien Jr, 8. (10M) Scott Mooers.
Heat 3 (8 laps) – 1. (41) Ty Dillon, 2. (49) Brian Ruhlman, 3. (2) Nick Hoffman, 4. (D4) Dave Jamison, 5. (15) Hunter Gustafson, 6. (44) Bob Johnson, 7. (18I) Jason Intoppa, 8. (40B) Kyle Bronson.
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
A-Main (30 Laps) – 1. (15) Donny Schatz ($10,000), 2. (4) Cody Darrah, 3. (9) Daryn Pittman, 4. (51) Paul McMahan, 5. (24) Terry McCarl, 6. (49) Brad Sweet, 7. (11) Steve Kinser, 8. (71M) Joey Saldana, 9. (1) Sammy Swindell, 10. (29) Kerry Madsen, 11. (10H) Danny Holtgraver, 12. (27) Greg Hodnett, 13. (83) Tim Kaeding, 14. (96) Bronson Maeschen, 15. (11K) Kraig Kinser, 16. (24A) Rico Abreu, 17. (98H) Dave Blaney, 18. (19M) Brent Marks,19. (HO7) Justin Henderson, 20. (W20) Greg Wilson, 21. (7S) Jason Sides, 22. (33) Danny Lasoski, 23. (63) Chad Kemenah, 24. (1Z) Lucas Wolfe.
Qualifying – 1. 51-Paul McMahan, 12.890; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell, 12.957; 3. 71M-Joey Saldana, 12.961; 4. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe, 13.004; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.054; 6. 96-Bronson Maeschen, 13.068; 7. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.092; 8. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.095; 9. 4-Cody Darrah, 13.148; 10. 10H-Danny Holtgraver, 13.171; 11. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.171; 12. 27-Greg Hodnett, 13.182; 13. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.195; 14. 24A-Rico Abreu, 13.205; 15. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.212; 16. 24-Terry McCarl, 13.212; 17. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.220; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 13.231; 19. 29-Kerry Madsen, 13.236; 20. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.252; 21. 80-Trey Gustin, 13.255; 22. 83-Tim Kaeding, 13.284; 23. HO7-Justin Henderson, 13.288; 24. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 13.306; 25. 33-Danny Lasoski, 13.315; 26. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.320; 27. 9W-Jac Haudenschild, 13.326; 28. 1A-Rodney Westhafer, 13.327; 29. 45-Tim Shaffer, 13.345; 30. 19M-Brent Marks, 13.359; 31. 59-David Gravel, 13.364; 32. 6-Bill Rose, 13.377; 33. 83X-Christopher Bell, 13.422; 34. 77X-Wayne Johnson, 13.437; 35. 19-Klint Angelette, 13.466; 36. 1S-Logan Schuchart, nt
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 4-Cody Darrah[2] ; 2. 98H-Dave Blaney[1] ; 3. 51-Paul McMahan[4] ; 4. 7S-Jason Sides[5] ; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[3] ; 6. 33-Danny Lasoski[7] ; 7. 83X-Christopher Bell[9] ; 8. 80-Trey Gustin[6] ; 9. 45-Tim Shaffer[8]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 10H-Danny Holtgraver[2] ; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell[4] ; 3. 83-Tim Kaeding[6] ; 4. 24A-Rico Abreu[1] ; 5. 96-Bronson Maeschen[3] ; 6. 19M-Brent Marks[8] ; 7. 77X-Wayne Johnson[9] ; 8. W20-Greg Wilson[7] ; 9. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 49-Brad Sweet[2] ; 2. 71M-Joey Saldana[4] ; 3. 63-Chad Kemenah[1] ; 4. 11-Steve Kinser[3] ; 5. HO7-Justin Henderson[6] ; 6. 59-David Gravel[8] ; 7. 29-Kerry Madsen[5] ; 8. 9W-Jac Haudenschild[7] ; 9. 19-Klint Angelette[9]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 24-Terry McCarl[1] ; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman[3] ; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[5] ; 5. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe[4] ; 6. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[6] ; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9] ; 8. 6-Bill Rose[8]
Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) 1. 9-Daryn Pittman[2] ; 2. 4-Cody Darrah[1] ; 3. 71M-Joey Saldana[4] ; 4. 51-Paul McMahan[6] ; 5. 49-Brad Sweet[8] ; 6. 1-Sammy Swindell[5] ; 7. 24-Terry McCarl[10] ; 8. 10H-Danny Holtgraver[7] ; 9. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe[3] ; 10. 98H-Dave Blaney[9]
B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 29-Kerry Madsen[1] [-]; 2. 33-Danny Lasoski[4] [-]; 3. 19M-Brent Marks[8] [-]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson[5] [-]; 5. 77X-Wayne Johnson[12] [$200]; 6. 59-David Gravel[9] [$180]; 7. 83X-Christopher Bell[11] [$175]; 8. 9W-Jac Haudenschild[6] [$160]; 9. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[3] [$150]; 10. 45-Tim Shaffer[7] [$150]; 11. 19-Klint Angelette[13] [$150]; 12. 80-Trey Gustin[2] [$150]; 13. 6-Bill Rose[10] [$150]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14] [$150]; 15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[15] [$150]; 16. 1A-Rodney Westhafer[16] [$150]
