Donny Schatz
Ending difficult stretch of races that dated back a Knoxville Nationals preliminary night victory, Donny Schatz drove to victory on Saturday night in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Micro-Lite Harvest Rumble at the Lakeside Speedway. In a race that was delayed due to an extended period of track prep then barely got its distance completed due to rain, the 10-time series champion made a late race pass to take the top spot away from David Gravel.
It was the fourth win of the 2023 season for Schatz.
The Tony Stewart Racing driver from Fargo, North Dakota picked up the win from the track located in Kansas City, Kansas in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total of 29 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results: 1. Brad Sweet(14.499), 2. Brian Brown, 3. Giovanni Scelzi, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. David Gravel, 6. Sheldon Haudenschild, 7. Carson Macedo, 8. Kasey Kahne, 9. Scott Bogucki, 10. Spencer Bayston
Heat 1 Results: 1. Brad Sweet, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. Carson Macedo, 4. Spencer Bayston, 5. Noah Gass, 6. Ayrton Gennetten
Heat 2 Results: 1. Brian Brown, 2. David Gravel, 3. Kasey Kahne, 4. Logan Schuchart, 5. James McFadden, 6. Tanner Holmes
Heat 3 Results: 1. Giovanni Scelzi, 2. Sheldon Haudenschild, 3. Scott Bogucki, 4. Buddy Kofoid, 5. Robbie Price, 6. Brock Zearfoss
WoO Dash Results: 1. Brian Brown, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Giovanni Scelzi, 5. David Gravel, 6. Sheldon Haudenschild
Last Chance Showdown Finish: 1. Dusty Zomer, 2. Tasker Phillips, 3. Garet Williamson, 4. Skylar Gee, 5. Jack Dover, 6. Kameron Key
Feature Re-cap: The 25-lap feature got underway with Brown leading Schatz, Sweet, Scelzi and Gravel. Sweet and Gravel got by Schatz on the second lap for second and third as Schatz began to sink in the running order.
Both Gravel and Scelzi passed Sweet on lap 4 to take second and third. Gravel took the lead from Brown on lap 8 while at the same time Scelzi went by Brown for second. One lap later, Sweet would also push Brown back by a position when he wrested the third position away.
Schatz moved into fourth on lap 11 as he began to rise back through the running order.
Tasker Phillips blew a tire on lap 13 to bring out a yellow flag and regrouped the field. Shortly after the restart, Schatz made a big move that would carry him all the way up to the runner-up position behind Gravel. However, Sweet fought back as the two World of Outlaws champions exchanged the second position multiple times over the next three laps.
Once cleared of the battle with Sweet, Schatz took off in pursuit of Gravel, eventually tracking him down with less than five circuits remaining in the race. With just two laps to go, the No. 15 car closed right onto the tail of the Gravel machine.
With the top-3 running in tight formation, Schatz then passed Gravel for the top spot and ultimately sailed under the checkered flag for the win.
Feature Results: 1. Donny Schatz, 2. David Gravel, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Giovanni Scelzi, 5. Carson Macedo, 6. Sheldon Haudenschild, 7. James McFadden, 8. Brian Brown, 9. Kasey Kahne, 10. Scott Bogucki, 11. Logan Schuchart, 12. Spencer Bayston, 13. Buddy Kofoid, 14. Garet Williamson, 15. Tanner Holmes, 16. Dusty Zomer, 17. Robbie Price, 18. Brock Zearfoss, 19. Jack Dover, 20. Skylar Gee, 21. Noah Gass, 22. Ayrton Genneten, 23. Kameron Key, 24. Tasker Phillips
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