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Man on a Mission: Donny Schatz takes Night Two at Volusia
Camargo, IL (2-4-09) by Kelly Brown - Public Relations Director – After winning night one at Volusia Speedway Park in dramatic fashion, it only seems fair that Donny Schatz follow it up with a All Star Circuit of Champions victory in dominant style. He did just that leading wire-to-wire on the fourth night of Florida Speedweek Winter Nationals.
On the drop of the Green Flag, Schatz was a man on a mission taking the lead going into the first turn with Joey Saldana on his heels. Behind them a battle for third waged on as Jason Sides, Greg Wilson and Tim Kaeding got three wide at one point for the position. As Kaeding got high out of the line, Daryn Pittman jumped at the opportunity and moved his way into the top-five.
During Lap 5 Schatz got caught behind a slowing Pat Cannon and Joey Saldana took the lead for a brief moment, but Cannon brought out the Yellow Flag before the lap could be recorded. Therefore, Schatz was relegated back into the top position. On the restart Schatz retained the lead and by Lap 8 he had build over a second lead over his nearest competitor.
There were a few times where lapped traffic brought Saldana's 9 car close to the bumper of Schatz’s 15, but Saldana could not get by. This allowed Sides to close on Saldana, but he held Sides’ advances off. One of the best battles on the track was for who was going to make it into the top-five. There was quite a scuffle going on between Pittman, Kaeding, Steve Kinser, and Stevie Smith for the position.
With five laps to go the struggle for fifth was between Wilson and Pittman, while at the front of the pack Saldana once again had Schatz in his sights following him feverishly in the low line. With one lap remaining the Red Flag came out as a result of Wilson tangling with two lapped cars on the back stretch, which sent him plummeting end-over-end. Wilson would land on all fours and exit his w20 racing machine unscathed.
This set up a green-white-checker finish. When the field saw the Green Flag unfurled for the final time, Schatz once again beat Saldana into the first turn and took off never looking back. When the checkers fell it was Schatz who took them first, followed by: Saldana, Sides, Pittman and Kinser.
This was Schatz’s fifth 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. With having won two out of three nights this year, will he be able to make it a sweep? The All Star Circuit of Champions will be back in action at Volusia Speedway Park tomorrow night for the fifth and night of Florida Speedweek Winter Nationals. Top Three Quotes: Third Place Jason Sides – “Starting out the year with a top three run was good for us. We appreciate the fans coming out with the cold temperatures and I hope we put on a decent race for them. We got through tonight and will hopefully be able to build on that the next four nights of racing here.” Second Place Joey Saldana – “It was cold out there. The track was challenging and hard to pass on tonight. We had a good car and we were just riding around there. Schatz was pushing pretty hard and I was just trying to get a run, but we’ll take second and go on to tomorrow night.” First Place Donny Schatz – “It was definitely a different race track than last night. My guys are doing an awesome job with my race car. It was one of those tracks that we don’t like to get on, but at the end there it was really good. The last few laps I could run wide open. When the line gets around the gutter there, it makes it hard to pass. Most of the time when guys slow on track it is at the extreme inside or outside, so when the 17 slowed in the middle I was not ready for it. It was my own fault, but the yellow also came out and saved us. The key to getting to Victory Lane tonight was the guys on the Armor All Team, this team does an awesome job and it is a pleasure for me to get into the car each night and drive it.” Kistler Engines Qualifying Car-Driver-Time 1. 8k Chad Kemenah 14.496 2. 24 Terry Mc Carl 14.639 3. 11 Steve Kinser 14.713 4. W20 Greg Wilson 14.861 5. 14 Jason Meyers 14.904 6. 15 Donny Schatz 14.917 7. 7s Jason Sides 14.928 8. 9 Joey Saldana 14.94 9. 83jr Tim Kaeding 14.963 10. 25 Daryn Pittman 14.976 11. 56r Ryan Meyers 15.006 12. 22ti Brian Ellenberger 15.024 13. 55 Chad Layton 15.045 14. 1 Stevie Smith 15.062 15. 33 Danny Lasoski 15.073 16. 4 Danny Smith 15.077 17. 2 Dale Blaney 15.083 18. 10 Sammy Swindell 15.097 19. 20 Kraig Kinser 15.104 20. 6f Bob Felmlee 15.152 21. 3c Cale Conley 15.166 22. 22h Greg Hodnett 15.181 23. 83 Tim Shaffer 15.205 24. 17 Pat Cannon 15.215 25. 19 Craig Dollansky 15.221 26. 30c Lance Dewease 15.229 27. 1x Randy Hannagan 15.231 28. R19 Jac Haudenschild 15.304 29. 0 Glenn Styres 15.309 30. 89 Cody Darrah 15.345 31. 15h Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15.412 32. 51 Fred Rahmer 15.415 33. 11e Mike Erdley 15.489 34. 14aj Wayne Johnson 15.534 35. 89g David Gravel 15.567 36. 96 Bronson Maeschen 15.599 37. 93 Bob Schaeffer 15.62 38. 13 Jesse Hockett 15.68 39. 18 Tony Bruce Jr. 15.717 40. 4b Tom Busch 15.74 41. 7m Mark Smith 15.745 42. 6r Ryan Bunton 15.881 43. 39 Doug Esh 15.921 44. 3b Brad Greer 16.827 45. 92 Daron Clayton No time
Heat Finishes (Started) Heat 1 – 8 Laps 1. 2 Dale Blaney (2) 2. 83jr Tim Kaeding (4) 3. 3c Cale Conley (1) 4. 19 Craig Dollansky (7) 5. 55 Chad Layton (3) 6. 14 Jason Meyers (5) 7. 11e Mike Erdley (8) 8. 8k Chad Kemenah (6) 9. 93 Bob Schaeffer (9) 10. 0 Glen Styres (10) - 7m Mark Smith DNS - 92 Daron Clayton DNS Heat 2 – 8 Laps 1. 22h Greg Hodnett (1) 2. 10 Sammy Swindell (2) 3. 1 Stevie Smith (3) 4. 25 Daryn Pittman (4) 5. 15 Donny Schatz (5) 6. 30c Lance Dewease (7) 7. 24 Terry McCarl (6) 8. 14aj Wayne Johnson (9) 9. 89 Cody Darrah (8) 10. 6r Ryan Bunton (11) 11. 13 Jesse Hockett (10) Heat 3 – 8 Laps 1. 83 Tim Shaffer (1) 2. 20 Kraig Kinser (2) 3. 33 Danny Lasoski (3) 4. 11 Steve Kinser (6) 5. 7s Jason Sides (5) 6. 15h Sam Hafertepe Jr. (8) 7. 56r Ryan Myers (4) 8. 39 Doug Esh (10) 9. 1x Randy Hannagan (7) 10. 89g David Gravel (9) - 18 Tony Bruce Jr. DNS Heat 4 – 8 Laps 1. 17 Pat Cannon (1) 2. 6f Bob Felmlee (2) 3. 4 Danny Smith (3) 4. 9 Joey Saldana (5) 5. w20 Greg Wilson (6) 6. R19 Jac Haudenschild (7) 7. 22ti Brian Ellenberger (4) 8. 51 Fred Rahmer (8) 9. 96 Bronson Maeschen (9) 10. 4b Tom Busch (10) 11. 3b Brad Greer (11) B Main – 12 Laps 1. 8k Chad Kemenah (1) 2. 24 Terry McCarl (2) 3. 14 Jason Meyers (3) 4. R19 Jac Haudenschild (7) 5. 56r Ryan Myers (4) 6. 22ti Brian Ellenberger (5) 7. 6r Ryan Bunton (11) 8. 0 Greg Styres (8) 9. 93 Bob Schaeffer (9) 10. 4b Tom Busch (10) 11. 1x Randy Hannagan (6) 12. 3b Brad Greer (12) - 15h Sam Hafertepe Jr. DNS - 51 Fred Rahmer DNS - 11e Mike Erdley DNS - 14aj Wayne Johnson DNS - 89g David Gravel DNS - 96 Bronson Maeschen DNS - 13 Jesse Hockett DNS - 39 Doug Esh DNS A Main – 30 Laps 1. 15 Donny Schatz (1) 2. 9 Joey Saldana (2) 3. 7s Jason Sides (4) 4. 25 Daryn Pittman (7) 5. 11 Steve Kinser (6) 6. 1 Stevie Smith (9) 7. 83jr Tim Kaeding (5) 8. 55 Chad Layton (8) 9. 14 Jason Meyers (13) 10. 33 Danny Lasoski (10) 11. 8k Chad Kemenah (11) 12. 4 Danny Smith (14) 13. 20 Kraig Kinser (17) 14. 19 Craig Dollansky (23) 15. 2 Dale Blaney (15) 16. 10 Sammy Swindell (16) 17. 3c Craig Conley (19) 18. R19 Jac Haudenschild (24) 19. 6f Bob Felmlee (18) 20. W20 Greg Wilson (3) 21. 83 Tim Shaffer (21) 22. 24 Terry McCarl (12) 23. 17 Pat Cannon (23) 24. 22h Greg Hodnett (20)
