For the second consecutive year, Donny Schatz won a race at Eldora Speedway in the month of May and took the lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings in the process. The three-time and defending series champion used a very fast race car and a little luck when 20-time series champion Steve Kinser broke with just two laps remaining to inherit the lead and ultimately the $10,000 win and take the point lead in the process.
The win for Schatz was the fifth of his career at Eldora Speedway, which is owned by his car owner, two-time NASCAR champions Tony Stewart. For the North Dakota native, it was his 93rd career A-Feature win with the World of Outlaws. He has won five times this season, all on half-mile tracks aboard the Armor All J&J.
Schatz began the night by turning in the fourth-fastest lap in time trials and finished second in the first heat to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash, where he finished fifth to earn a third-row starting spot in the 30-lap main event. After running fifth early in the race, he used a lap eight restart to move into fourth. On the very next lap he got around Randy Hannagan for third and began to work on pole sitter Jason Sides, who was running second at the time.
Jason Sides led from the pole as the field charged into turns one and two, with Kinser all over him the first couple of laps. Kinser looked low on Sides in turns one and two on the second lap and took the lead off turn two, with Sides retaking it by the time they got to turns three and four. The same thing happened the next lap with the pair running side by side down the back straightaway. Sides again had the lead in turns three and four. On the fourth lap. Kinser used the high side of turn four to take the lead and quickly began to open a margin on Sides.
By the sixth lap, Kinser was in traffic, though the first caution of the night flew just two laps later, giving him clear track to work with. A strong restart helped him quickly pull away and he was nearly in traffic when the caution flag flew on the 13th lap. Kinser continued to lead on a couple of restarts, with Schatz moving into second and beginning to track him down.
Schatz closed in on Kinser in lapped traffic with 10 laps to go and looked low for the lead, but could not quite make the pass. On the next circuit, Schatz went low on Kinser and took the lead exiting the second turn, though the caution flew before the lap could be completed, with Kinser retaining the lead on the restart.
The final caution of the night occurred with six laps to go and led to a red flag for a fuel stop. On the restart, Schatz ran low in turns one and two as he tried to track down the leader. Kinser maintained the lead and pulled away a slight bit, until he slowed with just over a lap to go, with a broken pinion gear, relegating him to a 21st place finish in the Quaker State Maxim.
Sammy Swindell, the three-time World of Outlaws champion, finished second at Eldora aboard the Tom Rolfe Trucking Maxim. He started third and ran in the Top-Five for the entire duration of the 30-lap contest. He began the night by setting fast time in time trials for the third time this season.
Danny Lasoski, the 2001 World of Outlaws champion, started eighth on Saturday night and wound up third in the Casey’s General Store JEI. It was his seventh Top-Five finish of the season and helped him move to eighth in the series standings.
Craig Dollansky made his first start at Eldora since sustaining a season ending arm injury at the half-mile last September. He lined up 10th and methodically worked his way to the front, eventually finishing fourth in the DirecTV Maxim and also moved into the Top-Five of the championship standings.
Randy Hannagan finished fifth in the Central Valley Meat Company Maxim to pick up his fourth Top-Five of the season with the World of Outlaws. Tim Kaeding was sixth in the DTR Transport KPC, with Cody Darrah seventh in his debut at Eldora aboard the J&K Salvage Maxim. Kerry Madsen was eighth in the TK Concrete Maxim to earn the KSE Race Products Hard Charger Award after starting 23rd.
Joey Saldana was ninth in the Budweiser Maxim after starting 18th, though he was moved to the back of the field after missing the parade lap due to his team finishing changing an engine. Terry McCarl rounded out the Top-10 in the Big Game Treestands Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Tuesday, May 12 at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, Delaware as the series kicks off its first East Coast swing of the season.
• FAST QUALIFIER: Sammy Swindell paced the 27 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 13.305 seconds at 138.408 mph. For his qualifying effort, Swindell earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Cody Darrah (4), Danny Lasoski (3), Donny Schatz (2), and Jason Sides(1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Ed Lynch Jr., Randy Hannagan and Jac Haudenschild won heat races. Jason Sides won the Crane Cams Dash. Joey Saldana won the B-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 16 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Lone Star Speedway and Houston Raceway Park), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway and Paducah International Raceway), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway) and Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway).
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Eldora Speedway is a high-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series has raced eight times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park and Lone Star Speedway) and Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway).