Kinser Closes Gap on Points Leader as Mother Nature Shortens Weekend Again
The World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series staged a classic event on Friday night at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park and the capacity crowd witnessed a vintage performance by Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Donny Schatz. The driver of the TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J raced to his first victory of the season and 106th career WoO A-Feature triumph. TSR’s Steve Kinser was a contender throughout the program in the TSR No. 11 Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/ Chevrolet Maxim and ultimately finished sixth.
A season-high 58 cars were in competition at the 1/3-mile dirt oval in north central Ohio. Schatz went out late to qualify and turned the 16th-fastest lap. He easily won the first heat and charged from seventh to third in the six-lap dash. His performance in the dash proved the four-time WoO champion had a strong car, and he quickly flexed his muscles in the 40-lap feature event. He passed Kinser on the opening lap and then took the lead on lap two. The Fargo, N.D., racer was in complete control until a caution slowed the action on lap 23. Schatz continued to lead the race despite several restarts during the final 17 laps. The final restart came with three laps remaining and Schatz fended off the challenges of Craig Dollansky to earn the victory.
“The first one is always the hardest one,” Schatz admitted following his second WoO victory at Attica Raceway Park. “The STP guys have been doing a great job giving me an awesome car these last few weeks. Tonight, we were able to complete the job. We needed this one bad and what a great birthday present for the boss (Tony Stewart).”
Kinser entered the program at Attica looking to continue his quest for a 21st WoO title. “The King of the Outlaws” was fast throughout the program, and he started by qualifying sixth in the field. He raced to a fourth-place finish in the first heat and came home second in the dash. In the A-Feature, he battled his way into second before five laps were complete and remained in the top-three over the first half of the race. During the latter stages, he continued to battle inside the top-five, but dropped to sixth following the final restart with three laps remaining.
The TSR teams return to action Friday night at The Dirt Track @ Charlotte Motor Speedway. Friday’s Circle K NOS Energy Outlaw Showdown will be televised live on SPEED beginning at 8 p.m. EDT.
