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Historic Night for Schatz at Knoxville: Sets New Track Record & Wins for Tony Stewart Racing

KNOXVILLE, IA (May 3) - Donny Schatz knows the history of Knoxville Raceway very well and he added his name to that history in three different ways on Saturday night. Not only did he put himself in elite company of drivers that have won on opening night at the famed half-mile in Iowa, but he also set a new track record for a 25-lap event, as the race was completed in just seven minutes and 14 seconds.

On top of that, the two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion and two-time defending Knoxville Nationals winner, picked up his first A-Feature triumph with the series, driving for Tony Stewart Racing.

Schatz took the lead on the 18th lap, powering his way past Steve Kinser on the high-side of the track exiting the fourth turn. One lap earlier he nearly took the lead at the same spot on the track with a similar move. He quickly opened an advantage aboard the Armor All J&J en route to his 71st career Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature win, which moved him into the fifth spot on the all-time win list ahead of 1995 series champion Dave Blaney. He pocketed $10,000 for the win, which was the eighth of his career at Knoxville Raceway.

“It feels good to get that out of the way,” said Schatz from Victory Lane. “We knew it was coming. It feels good to do it passing ‘The King.’ That’s awesome. It was a great night. We had quick time and were able to win the heat and just had an awesome race car. The guys have worked so hard, and they needed this and I needed this. Everybody needed it. We can now breath a sigh of relieve and go on to next weekend and try to win races again.”

Schatz lined up third for the 25-lap event which took three full starts to get going due to a yellow flag and then a red flag for a Tim Shaffer flip. On the third start, Schatz quickly challenged Jac Haudenschild for the runner-up spot, passing him a couple of time coming off the fourth corner, only to have Haudenschild win a drag race down the front stretch. This allowed Kinser to open a sizeable lead. Schatz ran third for the first five laps, before getting around Haudenschild and setting his sights on Kinser. He used lapped traffic to his advantage as he chased down the 20-time series champion as the laps wound down.

“You always have to be patient, but tonight I was not,” Schatz said. “I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. When you are as hungry to win a race as we have been, you just have to go and I went. It could have cost, but that’s all part of it. If you sit back and slack, you start to do that on a regular basis and I don’t want to do that. I want to get myself back on top of the ladder and start winning races. Next week we start racing hard and when the going gets tough, the tough get going and we are ready.”

While Mother Nature has wreaked havoc on the World of Outlaws this spring, Schatz has kept busy back home in North Dakota, working on a number of different projects. After an extensive off-season run in Australia that netted him six wins, he used the break in the schedule to relax and enjoy some time away from the track for the first time in many years.

“We haven’t been racing, but I have been doing other things,” said the two-time defending series champion. “I have had a lot of things business-wise and everyday life-wise to focus on, that I actually forgot for a bit what the task at hand was to do. We did a little bit of testing, though not nearly enough. We had fun in the off-time. This is the most off-time that I have had in several years. It felt good to have that.”

After Schatz took the lead, Kinser had his hands full with a hard charging Joey Saldana, as the pair battled for the second position for five laps. At the same time, Haudenschild closed back in and slipped into the second spot with just two laps remaining. On the last lap, Saldana, driving the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar powered around him exiting the fourth turn to snare the runner-up spot.

“We had a good car and came home second,” said Saldana. “We tried to tighten the car up for the dash and cost ourselves a front row starting spot. We were good halfway through the feature.”

Haudenschild ran in the Top-three all night long, en route to a season-best third-place performance aboard the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. He climbed into the seventh position in championship points with the podium finish.

“The car felt very good,” said Haudenschild. “Everything was going pretty smooth. The track was in nice shape tonight and we are glad to have a third-place run.”

Kinser, who led the first 18 laps of the event, came home fourth aboard the Q Oil Maxim. He began the night by turning the third quickest lap in time trials and followed that up with a strong run in the fourth heat and a win in the Crane Cams Dash to earn the pole position for the 25-lap contest.

Jason Meyers finished fifth aboard the GLR Investments KPC to earn his sixth Top-Five finish of the season in seven events. He moved to within 12 points of Craig Dollansky in the World of Outlaws championship points.

Dollansky was sixth on Saturday night in the Auto Value Parts Stores Maxim, to earn his seventh finish of sixth or better this season in the same number of races. The native of Elk River, Minnesota remains atop the standings and continues to lead the Qwik Liner Cup, which awards points to the Top-Five in time trials at each of the first 13 events of the 2008 season.

Daryn Pittman was seventh in the Titan Garages Maxim, with Kerry Madsen in eighth driving the TK Concrete Maxim. Danny Lasoski came home ninth piloting the American Compressed Steel JEI, and Stevie Smith rounded out the Top-10 aboard the R.A.C.E Foundation JEI.

Late in the race Saldana had one of the fastest cars on the track, but had too much ground to make up. He had a strong start on the first start of the event, which was negated by a caution. He then fell back to fifth early in the race once a lap was in the books, before a steady charge over the last 15 laps of the event helped him to score his sixth Top-10 finish of the season.

“The first one I got a really good start and (Donny) Schatz and (Steve) Kinser actually got bad starts,” said the native of Brownsburg, Indiana. “After that, those guys weren’t going to make the same mistake twice. I think we fell back to fifth or sixth, but then my car came around and we ran them down. We though we had something for them.”

With the World of Outlaws schedule picking up in the month of May, Saldana is very pleased with the performance of his team over the course of the last few races. He dominated the event at Eldora Speedway on April 11, before a tire shredded on him with just nine laps to go. He and his team returned to the Ohio half-mile last week and won in a tune-up for the series return to the track at the end of the month.

“It’s so tough to win one of these races,” he said. “When you come home second, it is gratifying, because you know you are there. It would have been nice to have won on Budweiser night in the Budweiser car, that would have been huge. We had a good solid run and the crew is going back Charlotte so that will make the drive a little bit better.”

Haudenschild jumped to an early lead on the first start of the race, before the initial caution flag flew, prompting a complete restart. After a red flag on the second start, the rest of the event went non-stop for 25 circuits.

“When you get a good start and it gets called back, you just have to try and get another good start the next round,” said the veteran driver.

The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Friday, May 9 at Tri-City Speedway in Illinois, followed by a visit to Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky on Saturday, May 10.

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY NOTEBOOK

• FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 45 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 1/2-mile oval at 14.778 seconds at 121.803 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Jason Meyers (4), Danny Lasoski (3), Steve Kinser (2), and Craig Dollansky (1).

• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana, Jac Haudenschild and Chad Kemenah won heat races… Brandon Wimmer won the C-Main… Steve Kinser won the Crane Cams Dash… Terry McCarl won the B-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been seven Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2008. The winners include: Jason Meyers (Volusia Speedway Park, Manzanita Speedway and I-55 Raceway), Craig Dollansky (Volusia Speedway Park and Eldora Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Volusia Speedway Park) and Donny Schatz (Knoxville Raceway).

• 1/2-WINNERS: Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked 1/2-mile oval. The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series have raced six times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Jason Meyers (Volusia Speedway Park and Manzanita Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Volusia Speedway Park and Eldora Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Volusia Speedway Park) and Donny Schatz (Knoxville Raceway).

• ON THE WEB: The Official Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Web site is at http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint. Among the features are updated driver biographies with individual statistics and pictures, race-by-race statistics, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases. Also, links to the 2008 Official Rulebook can be found at the bottom of the home page.

• LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws live on DIRTVision.com through the DIRT Radio Network. To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.DIRTVision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo. Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail webmaster@DIRTVision.com.

• UP NEXT: A visit to Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Illinois on May 9, followed by a stop at Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky on May 10.

• UPCOMING EVENTS: The first East Coast swing of the season, which will encompass events at Lernerville Speedway, Williams Grove Speedway, Orange County Fair Speedway, The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the inaugural race at Virginia Motor Speedway and Rolling Wheels Raceway Park.

Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Knoxville Raceway; Knoxville, IA; May 3, 2008

Qualifying
1) 15-Donny Schatz 14.778
2) 14-Jason Meyers 14.841
3) 5-Danny Lasoski 14.909
4) 11-Steve Kinser 14.919
5) 2-Craig Dollansky 14.920
6) 55-Kerry Madsen 14.922
7) 19-Stevie Smith 15.013
8) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15.033
9) 21-Daryn Pittman 15.082
10) 9-Joey Saldana 15.139
11) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 15.167
12) 5Z-Dusty Zomer 15.171
13) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 15.184
14) 6-Tim Shaffer 15.202
15) R19-Jac Haudenschild 15.204
16) 8K-Chad Kemenah 15.225
17) 2X-Skip Jackson 15.228
18) 40-Clint Garner 15.240
19) 24-Terry McCarl 15.273
20) 83-Shane Stewart 15.297
21) 21X-Brian Brown 15.298
22) 47-Jeff Mitrisin 15.329
23) 56-Davey Heskin 15.373
24) 22-Billy Alley 15.391
25) 12-Lynton Jeffrey 15.407
26) D1-Justin Henderson 15.419
27) 20-Kraig Kinser 15.438
28) 96-Bronson Maeschen 15.439
29) 13-Mark Dobmeier 15.477
30) 7S-Jason Sides 15.514
31) 5C-Chad Hillier 15.532
32) 49-Josh Schneiderman 15.566
33) 9P-Rager Phillips 15.583
34) 10-Ricky Logan 15.606
35) 7K-Kaley Gharst 15.656
36) 70-Calvin Landis 15.689
37) 13V-Seth Brahmer 15.692
38) 7TW-Brandon Wimmer 15.722
39) 47T-Tony Shilling 15.731
40) 57X-Jake Peters 15.732
41) 69-Mike Moore 15.799
42) 4X-Toni Lutar 15.815
43) O1-Kaylene Verville 15.830
44) 71R-Ryan Anderson 15.873
45) 19W-Bob Weuve 16.213

Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 21-Daryn Pittman
3) 2-Craig Dollansky
4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
5) 21X-Brian Brown
6) 13-Mark Dobmeier
7) 2X-Skip Jackson
8) 12-Lynton Jeffrey
9) 13V-Seth Brahmer
10) 69-Mike Moore
11) 19W-Bob Weuve
12) 9P-Rager Phillips

Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 14-Jason Meyers
3) 55-Kerry Madsen
4) 6-Tim Shaffer
5) 7S-Jason Sides
6) 7TW-Brandon Wimmer
7) 47-Jeff Mitrisin
8) D1-Justin Henderson
9) 10-Ricky Logan
10) 4X-Toni Lutar
11) 40-Clint Garner

Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild
2) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
3) 5-Danny Lasoski
4) 19-Stevie Smith
5) 5C-Chad Hillier
6) 20-Kraig Kinser
7) 56-Davey Heskin
8) 47T-Tony Shilling
9) O1-Kaylene Verville
10) 24-Terry McCarl
11) 7K-Kaley Gharst

Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 8K-Chad Kemenah
2) 11-Steve Kinser
3) 5Z-Dusty Zomer
4) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
5) 83-Shane Stewart
6) 22-Billy Alley
7) 49-Josh Schneiderman
8) 70-Calvin Landis
9) 57X-Jake Peters
10) 96-Bronson Maeschen
11) 71R-Ryan Anderson

Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild
3) 15-Donny Schatz
4) 9-Joey Saldana
5) 21-Daryn Pittman
6) 2-Craig Dollansky
7) 8K-Chad Kemenah
8) 14-Jason Meyers
9) 5-Danny Lasoski
10) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.

C-main (8 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 7TW-Brandon Wimmer
2) 47T-Tony Shilling
3) 57X-Jake Peters [$125]
4) 71R-Ryan Anderson [$125]
5) 19W-Bob Weuve [$125]
6) O1-Kaylene Verville [$100]
7) 69-Mike Moore [$100]
8) 4X-Toni Lutar [$100]
9) 7K-Kaley Gharst [$100]

B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 24-Terry McCarl
2) 2X-Skip Jackson
3) 22-Billy Alley
4) D1-Justin Henderson
5) 20-Kraig Kinser [$200]
6) 40-Clint Garner [$180]
7) 10-Ricky Logan [$175]
8) 12-Lynton Jeffrey [$160]
9) 7TW-Brandon Wimmer [$150]
10) 49-Josh Schneiderman [$150]
11) 70-Calvin Landis [$150]
12) 13V-Seth Brahmer [$150]
13) 96-Bronson Maeschen [$150]
14) 56-Davey Heskin [$150]
15) 13-Mark Dobmeier [$150]
16) 47-Jeff Mitrisin [$150]
17) 47T-Tony Shilling [$150]
18) 9P-Rager Phillips [$150]

A-main (25 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 15-Donny Schatz[3] [$10,000]
2) 9-Joey Saldana[4] [$5,500]
3) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2] [$3,200]
4) 11-Steve Kinser[1] [$2,800]
5) 14-Jason Meyers[8] [$2,500]
6) 2-Craig Dollansky[6] [$2,300]
7) 21-Daryn Pittman[5] [$2,200]
8) 55-Kerry Madsen[11] [$2,100]
9) 5-Danny Lasoski[9] [$2,050]
10) 19-Stevie Smith[12] [$2,000]
11) 8K-Chad Kemenah[7] [$1,500]
12) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[13] [$1,200]
13) 83-Shane Stewart[19] [$1,100]
14) 20-Kraig Kinser[25] [$250]
15) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[15] [$1,000]
16) 7S-Jason Sides[23] [$900]
17) 5Z-Dusty Zomer[14] [$800]
18) 2X-Skip Jackson[17] [$800]
19) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[10] [$800]
20) 5C-Chad Hillier[24] [$800]
21) 22-Billy Alley[21] [$800]
22) D1-Justin Henderson[22] [$800]
23) 70-Calvin Landis[26] [$]
24) 24-Terry McCarl[18] [$800]
25) 6-Tim Shaffer[16] [$800]
26) 21X-Brian Brown[20] [$800]

Note: Kraig Kinser used a World of Outlaws provisional to start the A-Feature, and Calvin Landis used a Knoxville Raceway provisional to start the A-Feature.

Lap Leaders: Steve Kinser 1-17, Donny Schatz 18-25
Chicken Hawk Hot Lap Award: Steve Kinser
Penske Power Position Award: Jac Haudenschild
KSE Hard Charger Award: Kraig Kinser


2008 STAT ATTACK
There have been seven Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events this season.

A-Feature winners (4 Different Drivers) Driver, Hometown - Wins
1- Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 3
2- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 2
3- Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1

Lap leaders, including A-features and preliminary features Car, driver, hometown - Total laps led (7 Drivers have led laps)
1- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 71 laps
2- Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 43 laps
3- Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 30 laps
4- Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 27 laps
5- Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 20 laps
6- Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 17 laps
7- Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 7 laps

Time trial leaders (5 different drivers) Rank - Driver, Hometown - Quick times
1- Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota - 2
Shane Stewart, Bixby, Oklahoma- 2
3- Cody Darrah, Red Lion, Pennsylvania- 1
Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 1
Chad Kemenah, Findlay, Ohio - 1


Dash Winners (7 different winners) Rank - Driver, Hometown - Dash Wins
1- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota - 1
Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Daryn Pittman, Owasso, Oklahoma- 1
Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana - 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1

Pole Positions (7 different drivers) Rank - Driver, Hometown - Poles
1- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota - 1
Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Daryn Pittman, Owasso, Oklahoma- 1
Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana - 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1

B-main Winners (6 different winners) Rank - Driver, Hometown - B-Main Wins
1- Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio- 1
Chad Kemenah, Findlay, Ohio- 1
Terry McCarl, Altoona, Iowa- 1
Brian Paulus, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania- 1
Danny Smith, Danville, Indiana - 1
T.J. Stutts, Liverpool, Pennsylvania- 1

KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award
1- Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NWS- 2
2- Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania- 1
Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania- 1

Penske Power Position
1 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 2
2 Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio- 1
Terry McCarl, Altoona, Iowa- 1
Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 1
Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tennessee- 1
Shane Stewart, Bixby, Oklahoma- 1

Chicken Hawk Hot Lap
1- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 2
Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1

Top-10 in Championship Points
1. Craig Dollansky 1032
2. Jason Meyers 1020
3. Donny Schatz 1012
4. Joey Saldana 971
5. Kerry Madsen 916
6. Steve Kinser 911
7. Jac Haudenschild 885
8. Terry McCarl 876
9. Chad Kemenah 875
10. Daryn Pittman 867

Qwik Liner Cup Points through May 3
Craig Dollansky 22
Jason Meyers 12
Donny Schatz 10
Shane Stewart 10
Cody Darrah 7
Kerry Madsen 6
Jeff Shepard 6
Sam Hafertepe Jr. 5
Chad Kemenah 5
Steve Kinser 3
Danny Lasoski 3
Daryn Pittman 3
Joey Saldana 3
Sammy Swindell 3
Randy Hannagan 2
Kraig Kinser 2
Jason Sides 2
Jac Haudenschild 1

Crane Cams Engine Builder Challenge
Shaver Specialties 30
Don Ott Engines 23 / -7
Speedway Engines 23 / -7
Kistler Engines 22 / -8

Chassis Builder Challenge
Maxim 33
J&J 30 / -3
Triple X Race Co. 15 / -18