TULARE, Calif. — Donny Schatz led all 35 laps to win the inaugural Dave Helm Memorial at Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday night.
Schatz started on the pole and jumped to an early lead, battling a rough race track, an early charge from Ronnie Day and a late charge from Jason Sides and Tim Kaeding. Schatz used a strong restart after a caution with two laps to go on to claim the $10,000 top prize for his World of Outlaws-leading 19th triumph of the season and the 70th of his World of Outlaws career, which puts him in a tie with Dave Blaney for sixth on the all-time win list.
“It was a good night,” said Schatz, driver of the ParkerStore J&J. “The race track was very wet and a little rough. That’s not really my style anymore. I’m a little bit older than 18. Back when I was 18, I thought that was fun. We have really been working on our short-track program. Any time that you get to victory lane is great and we are excited to be here.”
Early in the race, Schatz maintained a slight lead over Day, who closed the gap on the seventh circuit as the pair entered lapped traffic. While Schatz was running the high side in traffic, Day worked the bottom but could not pass Schatz.
Sides took second from Day on lap 19 and Kaeding passed Day five laps later, but neither could do anything with Schatz.
For Sides, the runner-up finish was his best result at the third-mile oval.
“Second place is a good strong run here,” Sides said. “We have never finished in the top five here. Any time we can run second to Donny and in front of Kaeding at his home track is good for us.”
Kaeding, who won the last World of Outlaws event at Thunderbowl Raceway on Feb. 23, finished third.
“It was a great weekend for us,” Kaeding said. “We did what we needed to do, and that was run up front with these guys. We probably could have been a lot freer to get around these guys.”
Day and Kerry Madsen rounded out the top five. Schatz holds a 107-point lead over Joey Saldana with four races remaining.