GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Donny Schatz rallied from misfortune Friday night at River Cities Speedway to earn his eighth Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of the season.
Schatz was involved in a heat-race accident that seriously damaged his No. 15, but the team made repairs and Schatz won the B main and got a little luck in the feature en route to victory on the first night of a two-night stand at the quarter-mile dirt oval in Schatz’s home state.
Schatz was in the right place at the right time when Jason Meyers and Kerry Madsen, who had battled for the lead throughout the 40-lap event, tangled and took each other out of contention.
“It was a good night,” Schatz said. “The car really came on at the end, and we had a very good car late in the race. We could roll through the middle in (turns) one and two. We needed lapped traffic, and we got it. That allowed us to get some spots and watch the battle-fest with the 14 (Jason Meyers) and 55 (Kerry Madsen).”
With only five laps remaining, Jac Haudenschild, who was running third, slid off the track. Almost simultaneously, Madsen made contact with Meyers, causing Meyers, who had led the first 35 laps, to spin, leaving Madsen nowhere to go.
Schatz inherited the lead, and despite losing the lead to Craig Dollansky on the restart, battled back for the $10,000 triumph.
“I was kind of playing it cool,” said Schatz, who started 11th. “I didn’t know what he was going to do on the restart. He got a run on me. He was running the top and slid me, and I just had to be calm and cool and get back by him, which I did. It was a good race. He raced us clean, and we had a good time. I’m glad we came out on top.”
Dollansky led the 36th lap and finished second.
“It would have been nice to have been one more spot better, but we were struggling,” said Dollansky. “The car wasn’t what we were looking for in the feature. We made a few changes that did not work out too well. It was a good second-place effort. Donny (Schatz) did a good job, and they had a good race car.”
Joey Saldana finished third, with Sam Hafertepe, Jr. and Daryn Pittman rounding out the top five.