SEDALIA, Mo. — As a warm-up for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event June 10 at Sedalia’s State Fair Speedway, Donny Schatz took part in a celebrity modified race to benefit the Michael Ross Memorial Foundation, filling in for his car owner Tony Stewart.
While it was Schatz’s first time in a modified, that did not slow him down as he held off NASCAR star Clint Bowyer for the win. He followed that up by winning a thrilling dual with Joey Saldana to pick up his third-consecutive victory with the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and his fifth triumph in the last six races.
After battling Saldana for several laps, Schatz dove under him exiting the second turn on the 22nd lap and ultimately took the $10,000 win in the Ditzfeld Transfer Summer Nationals at the historic half-mile.
It was the 76th-career WoO triumph for the North Dakota native with the World of Outlaws and his second at Sedalia.
Schatz qualified second, but started sixth in the feature after finishing sixth in the dash.
“I learned a lot driving that modified,” he acknowledged. “I ran the hot laps and they ran the dash for the sprint car, and then had some more laps in the modified feature before the sprint car feature.”
Schatz has won three-consecutive Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws events and now leads the series with six victories as he chases his third-consecutive title. He remains the only driver that has finished in the top 10 of every event this season, a streak that now is at 18 races.
“We try to win every night out,” he pointed out. “Right now, we are not playing around, we are on top of our program. The crew is fine tuning the little things they need to fine tune and they are doing one hell of a job. They always do a great job, but it’s more fun when you can show your appreciation with wins like we have been the last five or so races.”
The event June 11 was very reminiscent of the battle that Schatz and Saldana had June 7 at Knoxville Raceway, where Schatz also came out on top in traffic late in the race.
“It’s a lot fun,” Schatz said of the close racing. “This one and the one at Knoxville were certainly door bangers. It came down to the last couple of laps and he was good and we had a good car. We had to race in traffic and that is the fun part. We’re glad to be in that position and those guys are running pretty consistent. We have to keep our game up and worry about what is going on with this (No.) 15 Armor All car.”
Saldana led laps 17-21 as he again nearly picked up his first win of the season.
“I felt like in the lapped cars I did the right thing,” said Saldana. “His car was working better than mine. When we were in traffic he could turn off the top and run on the bottom. I couldn’t do it. He had a better car.”
Craig Dollansky led the first 16 laps and finished third, with Jason Meyers collecting his series-leading 15th top-five finish in fourth. Kraig Kinser was fifth.