The World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series closed a busy month of July with three races in eastern Canada last week. Wednesday night’s race at Ohsweken (Ontario) Speedway began the Outlaws’ first of two tours in Canada this season and will forever be remembered by Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) team owner Tony Stewart. The two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion was the class of the field as he earned his first-career WoO A-Feature triumph by driving the TSR No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1/Coca-Cola J&J to victory. TSR’s Steve Kinser earned a pair of top-five finishes driving the TSR No. 11 Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Maxim at Brockville (Ontario) Speedway and Autodromme Drummond in Drummondville, Quebec, while Donny Schatz charged forward in two of the three races in the TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J.
Stewart’s run to his first WoO A-Feature triumph began with the Columbus, Ind., resident turning the fifth-fastest lap in qualifying. He won the second heat and finished third in the dash. In the 30-lap A-Feature, Stewart quickly jumped from third to second and then chased down early leader Brad Sweet. On lap 11, he dove under Sweet in turns one and two and took the lead. In only his seventh WoO start of 2011 and eighth of his career, Stewart looked like a veteran maneuvering through lapped traffic to perfection. He held off a late challenge from Sammy Swindell to score the victory. A slow start in qualifying hindered the chances for Schatz to repeat his July 2010 Ohsweken victory. He qualified 23rd in the field of 31 cars, but was fast every other time he hit the track. He charged from eighth to third in the second heat and from 20th to sixth in the non-stop 30-lap A-Feature. Kinser qualified 12th, won the third heat and finished 10th in the feature.
On Friday night, the Outlaws made their debut at Brockville. Even though Mother Nature threatened the event, the Outlaws were able to stage a complete program. Kinser qualified eighth, won the second heat and finished fifth in the 35-lap A-Feature. Schatz was 13th in qualifying, finished fifth in the first heat and raced from 13th to eighth in the A-Feature on a very fast, single-racing-groove track. Paul McMahan took advantage of a late restart to earn the victory.
Saturday’s race in Drummond was the finale of the three-race swing through eastern Canada. Kinser timed in fifth overall and then finished third in the second heat. He raced to third in the dash and began the 35-lap A-Feature from the second row. Lucas Wolfe and Jason Meyers battled for the lead early while Kinser tried to stay with the lead duo. Meyers finally took control of the race and zoomed away to score the win and Kinser was able to overtake Wolfe for second. Schatz was the third-fastest qualifier, and he finished third in the third heat. He started the main event fifth and challenged McMahan for fourth a number of times, which ultimately cost him a few spots in the final rundown. The four-time WoO champion would finish seventh.
Schatz continues to rank second in the 2011 WoO championship standings, trailing leader Meyers by 52 points. He has totaled 5,180 points, three victories, 16 top-fives, and 31 top-10s. Kinser climbed to third with 5,146 points, 86 behind Meyers, and has earned five wins, 18 top-fives and 30 top-10s.
Following their week in Canada, the TSR teams return to Indiana for a pair of events in the Midwest. On Friday night, the Outlaws will make their return to Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway for the first time since 1999 and, on Saturday, they compete in the third annual IronMan 55 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. Following those two events, Schatz and Kinser will head to Knoxville, Iowa, for the sport’s biggest event of the season. The 51st annual Goodyear Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals takes place Aug. 10-13.
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