IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 4, 2009 From Back to Front: Donny Schatz wins at Volusia Camargo, IL (1-30-09) by Kelly Brown - Public Relations Director – Someone once said “you can’t keep a good man down.” No one could have illustrated this saying better than Donny Schatz did tonight at Volusia Speedway Park in All Star Circuit of Champions action. When the Green Flag first flew on tonight’s main event, it was short lived as Chad Kemenah spun his 8k racing machine in Turn 3 on the first circuit. On the restart the canary banner would fly again as Steve Kinser and his son Kraig Kinser touched wheels going into Turn 2. Trying to avoid the incident Donny Schatz attempted to take evasive action, but instead made contact with the 3c of Craig Conley. The incident caused Conley to roll end-over-end, and left Schatz at a halt at the exit of Turn 2. After a stop in the work area, Schatz joined the field at the tail end. Some may have thought Schatz’s night was over, but he showed he knows how to overcome adversity. When the race restarted Lance Dewease jumped into the lead with Sammy Swindell and Danny Lasoski in tow. It didn’t take long before Swindell would put his nose under the 30c machine on the back straight to take the lead. By Lap 5 Dewease found himself in another battle as Lasoski stole the position away from him. Up until this point Stevie Smith had been holding on in the top-five, but now he began his steady climb up to third getting around Dewease. There was a lot of lapped traffic in his way, but Smith made his way up the next rung of the ladder getting around Lasoski to take the second position. On Lap 11 Smith made his move around Swindell into the lead and held on to it up until three laps to go. After running third in the first two nights of Winter Nationals, it looked as if it may be his night to visit Victory Lane. At this point Schatz began to make his presence known as he moved his way into the top-ten. Lap-after-lap he began to pick off another position one-by-one, until he got around Cody Darrah to make it into the top-five. Schatz was clearly the fastest car on the track and he kept ascending in the running order moving up to fourth, third, and finally around Swindell to take the runner-up spot. Schatz quickly closed in on Smith, and they ran nose-to-tail for a few laps with Schatz sizing up Smith each lap finding the best way to get around him to take the top spot. With three laps to go Schatz made his move and zoomed around Smith. Smith hung on and tried to battle back, but in the end Schatz proved to be too strong, taking the Checkered Flag. This was Schatz’s fourth All Star Circuit of Champions Winter Nationals win. The first came in 2006 and the other two came last year at Volusia Speedway Park, when he won two out of three nights. Will he be able to make it a three night sweep this year? The All Star Circuit of Champions will be back in action at Volusia Speedway Park tomorrow night for the fourth night of Florida Speedweek Winter Nationals. Top Three Quotes: Third Place Sammy Swindell – “That is the first race I have lost so far this year, but that is OK. A few weeks ago we didn’t have our stuff to even come down here and we are still having parts sent to us. I haven’t run on a half-mile since the Knoxville Nationals in August so this was a good night for us. We couldn’t ask for a whole lot more, these guys have been running and winning races and to step in with a new team and do this well, I would have liked to win, but it was a great feat.” Second Place Stevie Smith – “We’ll settle for second, we’re happy. The guys are doing a great job. Schatz did a really good job tonight, so we will take second. He took me by surprise, because I knew he started back there. At first I thought it was Sammy or Lasoski, someone who I had been racing with. It is pretty amazing coming from the tail end to the front. We had a good car, but he was just a little bit better. I am real happy with my finishes so far this season, my crew, car owner and everyone who is involved with the team, they are giving me something fun to drive and I am trying to do my best. There are plenty more opportunities left.” First Place Donny Schatz – “I hope the crowd liked the show we put on tonight. I am not sure if my crew wanted to put me back on the track after that crash, but I don’t ever give up. I cannot say enough about this race team. They did their homework over the winter and it is going to be fun this year. We knocked the tow off a little bit in the crash, but nothing major with the shocks or anything like that. Everything was fine. I have to take my hat off to my guys. This is not how we wanted to start with a crash, but at least we recovered from it. The car was a bit of a hand full. The steering wheel wanted to wobble, but that is part of it. I am glad to be here in Victory Lane. I haven’t been feeling good today, my throat is a little scratchy, but it is nothing a little cold beer won’t wash down and I will definitely feel better tomorrow.” Kistler Engines Qualifying Car-Driver-Time 1. 1 Stevie Smith 13.251 2. 30c Lance Dewease 13.304 3. 14aj Wayne Johnson 13.324 4. 10 Sammy Swindell 13.348 5. 33 Danny Lasoski 13.355 6. 3c Cale Conley 13.363 7. 9 Joey Saldana 13.422 8. 20 Kraig Kinser 13.434 9. 8k Chad Kemenah 13.453 10. 51 Fred Rahmer 13.464 11. 89 Cody Darrah 13.466 12. 15h Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.479 13. 96 Bronson Maeschen 13.498 14. 55 Chad Layton 13.508 15. 18 Tony Bruce Jr. 13.536 16. 11 Steve Kinser 13.543 17. 25 Daryn Pittman 13.573 18. 39 Doug Esh 13.587 19. 2 Dale Blaney 13.589 20. 15 Donny Schatz 13.591 21. 83 Tim Shaffer 13.594 22. 19 Craig Dollansky 13.608 23. 7m Mark Smith 13.667 24. 1x Randy Hannagan 13.691 25. w20 Greg Wilson 13.702 26. 9x Gary Wright 13.704 27. 11e Mike Erdley 13.705 28. R19 Jac Haudenschild 13.709 29. 56r Ryan Myers 13.748 30. 22h Greg Hodnett 13.750 31. 0 Glenn Styres 13.754 32. 4 Danny Smith 13.789 33. 89g David Gravel 13.792 34. 13 Jesse Hockett 13.806 35. 4b Tom Busch 13.834 36. 14 Jason Meyers 13.836 37. 6r Ryan Bunton 13.848 38. 83jr Tim Kaeding 13.957 39. 17 Pat Cannon 13.984 40. 21k Lou Kennedy Jr. 14.036 41. 92 Daron Clayton 14.050 42. 3b Brad Greer 14.326 43. 93 Bob Schaeffer No time 44. 6f Bob Felmlee No time 45. 24 Terry McCarl No time 46. 22ti Brian Ellenberger No time Heat Finishes (Started) Heat 1 – 8 Laps 1. 25 Daryn Pittman (2) 2. 83 Tim Shaffer (1) 3. 1 Stevie Smith (6) 4. 8k Chad Kemenah (4) 5. 33 Danny Lasoski (5) 6. 24 Terry McCarl (12) 7. w20 Greg Wilson (7) 8. 96 Bronson Maeschen (3) 9. 6r Ryan Bunton (10) 10. 89g David Gravel (9) 11. 56r Ryan Myers (8) 12. 92 Daron Clayton (11) Heat 2 – 8 Laps 1. 19 Craig Dollansky (1) 2. 39 Doug Esh (2) 3. 30c Lance Dewease (6) 4. 51 Fred Rahmer (4) 5. 22h Greg Hodnett (8) 6. 22ti Brian Ellenberger (12) 7. 3c Cale Conley (5) 8. 55 Chad Layton (3) 9. 83jr Tim Kaeding (9) 13 Jesse Hockett (DNS) 9x Gary Wright (DNS) 3b Brad Greer (DNS) Heat 3 – 8 Laps 1. 7m Mark Smith (1) 2. 9 Joey Saldana (5) 3. 2 Dale Blaney (2) 4. 14aj Wayne Johnson (6) 5. 89 Cody Darrah (4) 6. 18 Tony Bruce Jr. (3) 7. 11e Mike Erdley (7) 8. 17 Pat Cannon (10) 9. 4b Tom Busch (9) 10. 0 Glenn Styres (7) 11. 93 Bob Schaeffer (11) Heat 4 – 8 Laps 1. 15 Donny Schatz (2) 2. 11 Steve Kinser (3) 3. 1x Randy Hannagan (1) 4. 10 Sammy Swindell (6) 5. 4 Danny Smith (8) 6. 15h Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4) 7. 20 Kraig Kinser (5) 8. 14 Jason Meyers (9) 9. R19 Jac Haudenschild (7) 10. 21k Lou Kennedy Jr. (10) Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!