Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing’s (TSR) Donny Schatz and his Bad Boy Buggies/Chevrolet Performance team continue to prove that, no matter where they start a World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series A-Feature, they have a chance to win. The six-time and reigning WoO champion fought for victories twice last week as the Outlaws competed Wednesday at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and Friday at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska. Schatz raced the TSR No. 15 Bad Boy Buggies/Chevrolet Performance J&J into contention at both facilities before finishing second.
“We are out here to win races and we are giving everything we’ve got to do just that,” said Schatz, who leads the series with 11 WoO victories this season. “Tony Stewart surrounds us with great partners. We have an incredible group of guys here at the track who make this Bad Boy Buggies/Chevrolet Performance J&J extremely fast every place we go. We had a chance for two wins last week before Mother Nature washed us out Saturday at Lakeside Speedway (in Kansas City, Kansas). We’re all extremely competitive and are driven to keep chasing wins every time we unload our car.”
The action began at Kokomo Speedway and it was fast and furious around the high-banked, quarter-mile dirt oval. Schatz went out late in qualifying and turned the 16th-best lap in the field of 39 cars. The Fargo, North Dakota resident won the fourth heat and raced from eighth to fourth in the six-lap dash to grab the fourth starting position in the 40-lap A-Feature. Shane Stewart set the early pace with Joey Saldana and Schatz chasing him through traffic. Saldana took the lead on lap 16 and Schatz got past Stewart 10 laps later. Schatz worked his way past Saldana coming out of turn two on lap 31 and led the next two laps before a caution slowed the action. Saldana got the jump on Schatz when the race resumed, but Schatz was all over him during the final seven laps. He made several bids to retake the lead but Saldana held him off by less than a car length.
The team returned to action Friday at I-80 Speedway in eastern Nebraska. After posting the second-fastest lap in warmups, Schatz wasn’t able to make a qualifying lap in his scheduled spot because of a mechanical problem. He took one lap at the end of the session that would have put him eighth in the qualifying order but, since he didn’t make his lap in his regular position, he was credited with 13th. He finished fourth in the opening heat and started the 30-lap A-Feature 13th. Schatz was on the move throughout the A-Feature, climbing inside the top-10 by lap four. He was in the top-five with 13 laps to go and up to second when a caution with four laps remaining turned into an open red. Following the stoppage, Schatz took the lead from Danny Lasoski and led laps 28 and 29, but Lasoski made a final-lap slide job and took the win.
The results from Kokomo and I-80 enabled Schatz to add to his lead in the 2015 WoO championship standings. He has earned 4,385 points and leads Shane Stewart by 145 points with 31 races completed. His 11 A-Feature wins, 21 top-five finishes, 28 top-10s, 225 laps led and four KSE Hard Charger Awards all are tops in the series.
The TSR team will remain in the Heartland for three races this upcoming weekend. The series will make its debut Friday at Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa before returning Saturday to historic Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway. The weekend concludes with Sunday’s visit to Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota.
-TSR-
