INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 4, 2017) – For the past eight years, the World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman Sprint Car Series has made a late-season stop in New York in conjunction with NAPA Super DIRT Week. For Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing’s (TSR) Donny Schatz and the TSR Textron Off Road/Arctic Cat/Ford Performance team, the timing has been just right.
Schatz, the driver of the TSR No. 15 Textron Off Road/Arctic Cat/Ford Performance/Curb J&J, has finished first or second in six of the eight October starts in the Empire State including four consecutive wins. The eight-time and reigning WoO champion will look to move that number to five in a row Saturday night when the Outlaws return to Fulton Speedway, where last October Schatz led the final 23 laps of the 30-lap A-Feature.
The TSR team will be making their third trip to New York in 2017, but are still looking to complete their first night of competition. In May, they traveled to Weedsport Speedway, but persistent rain washed out the program during heat race action. The second venture into New York in July at Ransomville Speedway was also forced to be rescheduled when rainy weather continued throughout the night. The good news is following Saturday’s race at Fulton the Outlaws will return to make up both the Weedsport and Ransomville races next weekend.
Following last weekend’s runner-up finish in the 55th annual Williams Grove National Open at the historic half-mile, dirt oval, Schatz will tackle the 3/8-mile dirt oval where he first came out victorious in July 2006. The win was his fifth career victory in New York and 45th WoO A-Feature of his career during his initial championship season with the Outlaws. Last October, he raced past Danny Deitrich on lap eight and raced away to secure his second triumph at Fulton and 228th of his WoO career. Saturday, he’ll be looking to earn his 15th career WoO A-Feature in New York and 248th overall.
In his 10th season driving for TSR, Schatz is chasing his ninth WoO title. With 10 races remaining, he holds a 114-point advantage over Brad Sweet. In each of his previous three championship seasons, Schatz has been victorious in New York at least once. In 2014, he was triumphant at Rolling Wheels Raceway in October and during his epic 31-win 2015 campaign, he won at Weedsport in May, at Lebanon Valley in July and Rolling Wheels in October. Last year, he was a winner at Weedsport in May and Fulton in October.
Schatz and his TSR crew of Rick Warner, Steve Swenson and Brad Mariscotti have been consistent throughout the 2017 WoO campaign winning a series-best 18 races and finishing in the top-10 67 times in 74 races. The results have been similar for Schatz during in his previous five starts at Fulton. In his debut in 2005, he charged from 18th to finish sixth. His two victories in 2006 and 2016 sandwiched finishes of ninth (in 2010) and second (in 2014).
RACE NOTES
Saturday at Fulton Speedway, the pit gates and grandstands will open at 4 p.m. EDT. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. More details are available by calling at (315) 593-6531, or by visiting fultonspeedway.com.
Race fans unable to attend Saturday’s race can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen live as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO Craftsman Sprint Car Series races on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the progress of Schatz, TSR and the No. 15 Textron Off Road/Arctic Cat/Ford Performance/Curb J&J throughout the campaign on the web and social media. More information can be found at www.TonyStewartRacing.com, www.textronoffroad.com, www.arcticcat.com and www.donnyschatzmotorsports.com.
Tony Stewart Racing: Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TonyStewartRacing or on Twitter and Instagram @TonyStewart_Rcg.
Donny Schatz: Facebook at www.facebook.com/DonnySchatz or on Twitter and Instagram @DonnySchatz.
Textron Off Road: Facebook at www.facebook.com/TextronOffRoad/ or on Twitter and Instagram @TextronOffRoad
Arctic Cat: Facebook at www.facebook.com/arcticcat.snow/ or on Twitter and Instagram @ArcticCat_atv @ArcticCat_Snow
Curb: Facebook at www.facebook.com/CurbRecords or on Twitter and Instagram @CurbRecords.
Ford Performance: Facebook at www.facebook.com/FordPerformance or on Twitter and Instagram @FordPerformance.
Donny Schatz, Driver of the No. 15 TSR Textron Off Road/Arctic Cat/Ford Performance/Curb J&J:
The season is down to only 10 races and it’s time for your annual October trip to New York this weekend. Looking back at your previous results indicate you and your TSR team have been successful late in the season. What’s been the key to being able to finish strong?
“The biggest thing at this point in the year is that you know time is running out on the season. Your opportunities to race are getting numbered. We start each season knowing we have almost 90 nights to go out and do what we love. You get to October and you can count on your hands the number of races left. We’ve been fortunate to be in the thick of the championship battle for most of the past 10 seasons and it’s kept all of us motivated to win as often as we can late in the year. That’s a reflection of (car owner) Tony (Stewart) and this Textron Off Road/Arctic Cat/Ford Performance team. The guys have worked hard all season going back to last December when the preparation was going into the year. Rick (Warner), Scuba (Steve Swenson) and Brad (Mariscotti) do an incredible job and they want to win more than any group that I’ve ever been around. That usually shows when we come to New York late in the year. We set pretty high expectations and that starts with winning races. We only have 10 more chances left and I know we are going to do everything we can to be in a position to try to get as many as we can.”
When the Outlaws schedule started to include an October date around Super DIRT Week in 2009, you had a really good run of finishes at Rolling Wheels. Last year, they moved the event to Fulton and you continued your winning ways. What’s the biggest difference between the two tracks?
“They are two completely different tracks. I loved racing at Rolling Wheels. It was one of the biggest tracks we raced on with the Outlaws during my 21 years out here. We had some great nights of racing there and always seemed to unload and be fast. The surface made for some great racing where you had a lot of speed, but also had to be able to maneuverer through the corners. It’s a fun place and hopefully, we’ll get to go back there. Fulton on the other hand is more of a traditional short track. Good banking in the corners and a place where you can get some momentum as well. The TSR guys have a good package for it too and hopefully, we’ll be able to put ourselves in a good position late in the night there on Saturday.”
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Contact Bill Klingbeil with True Speed Communication • (704) 875-3388 ext. 804 or Bill.Klingbeil@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
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