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Tony Veneziano
World of Outlaws http://www.worldofoutlaws.com
World of Outlaws http://www.worldofoutlaws.com
10/05/2008 - 09:32 AM
Princeton, MN
Schatz earned his second consecutive victory at the track, becoming the first driver to claim two A-Feature wins at the high-banked bullring with the series. (Photo: World of Outlaws) ยป More Photos
With the success that Donny Schatz has had at Princeton Speedway, it’s hard to believe that the first time he competed at the high-banked ¼-mile located in Minnesota was in 2004, when the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series made their debut at the track. After all, the two-time defending World of Outlaws champion cut his teeth racing in the Upper Midwest, including at a number of tracks in the state of Minnesota, where he now has nine victories.
A dominating performance on Saturday night in the PolyDome Princeton National that saw him lead all 40 laps, earned Schatz his second consecutive victory at the track, becoming the first driver to claim two A-Feature wins at the high-banked bullring with the series. Schatz’s 15th A-Feature win of the season was worth $10,000 and was the 85th of his career with the World of Outlaws, as he closes in on his third consecutive series title.
“Princeton has been good to me,” he said after the win. “We’ve had a lot of fun here. I’m glad to get to Victory Lane again. It’s always good. These guys have definitely worked hard. They eat, sleep, breath and drink this race team and this race car. They definitely deserved it. They have been busting their tails.”
Schatz lined up second and beat pole sitter Sam Hafertepe Jr. into the first turn using the high side of the track to take the lead. He quickly pulled away and a lap four caution came just before he was going to enter lapped traffic. On the restart, he again charged to a comfortable lead and four laps later he was in traffic. Schatz sliced his way through traffic, extending his lead as he weaved his way through the slower machines, while the rest of the front runner lost ground in lapped traffic.
“That was one bad piece there in traffic,” he said with a smile as he pointed to his car. “It could run the top, the middle and the bottom at the same speed. That’s what its Achilles heel was. It’s good to have that and that is how my cars always are. Ricky Warner keeps tuning these things and fine tuning little things and finding things to make it better. We’re in test mode for next year and it’s good to get a win in test mode.”
Just as Schatz was about to take the white flag in the Armor All J&J, the final caution of the night flew, setting up a two-lap shootout for the win, as Terry McCarl and Jac Haudenschild lined up behind him. On the restart, Schatz easily pulled away en route to winning by nearly two seconds.
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With the win, Schatz extended his lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings to 123 points over Jason Meyers with seven events remaining on the 2008 schedule. Schatz leads the series with 54 Top-10 finishes in the 57 A-Feature events that have been contested this season.
“We’re trying to win a championship here, but we are also testing for next year,” explained the North Dakota native. “We’re doing some different things, package-wise. Maybe that is something that has hurt us in the last couple of weeks and maybe it’s what helped us win here tonight. That’s all part of the game. We’re finishing this year, but also looking ahead to next year. That’s the fun part.”
Terry McCarl, who won his first race of the season on September 24 at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York, finished second on Saturday night in the Big Game Treestands Maxim to pick up his third consecutive Top-Five finish and seventh consecutive Top-10. He started fourth and charged around both Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Tony Bruce Jr. in turns one and two on the opening lap.
“You never like to finish second, but we have been getting very consistent with our runs and that’s the key to racing a 100 nights a year out here,” noted McCarl. “Our team is really coming together. I can’t say enough about how hard they have been working. I’m excited. We’re getting better and better and my confidence is growing each night.”
McCarl lined up right behind Schatz on the final restart and had his hands full with a hard charging Jac Haudenschild behind him, who was using the high line as the pair battled for the second spot. McCarl fended off Haudenschild’s challenge to earn his four career Top-10 finish at Princeton Speedway.
“I couldn’t do much in turns one and two,” he stated. “I was just too loose in one and two from the word go. We were really good in three and four. You needed to move up, especially in traffic. I didn’t have a whole lot for him unless he made a mistake and Donny doesn’t make too many mistakes. On the second to last yellow we stayed with him really good.”
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