Schatz Wins Fifth Knoxville Nationals Title in Six Years

KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Donny Schatz charged through the A Main field Saturday night en route to winning his fifth Knoxville Nationals title in six years.

Schatz started the race 13th but powered his way up to 3rd before a restart on lap 14.

On the restart, Schatz went below Brad Sweet and Sammy Swindell to make a three-wide pass for the lead, one of the most exciting moves all night.

It was that kind of car control and power that helped Schatz get to victory lane.

"We had an awesome car," said Schatz. "It takes everything to be perfect (to win here)."

Schatz was in control up to a mandatory open red flag on lap 27 of the 50-lap race that allowed crews to refuel, change tires and make necessary adjustments.

When the field took the green flag, Daryn Pittman was able to get around Schatz, resulting in a roar from the crowd that rose above the noise from the cars.

Though Pittman was scored as a lap leader, Schatz made sure his time up front was short-lived.

Along with Sammy Swindell, Schatz raced with Pittman for the lead. He would take it back for the final time with 22 laps to go.

Swindell was disappointed he couldn't challenge Schatz at the end.

"We had a great car," said Swindell, who finished third. "I just got held up in the second half for a bit."

Shane Stewart was able to get around Swindell to finish second. Stewart had a good showing all week in Knoxville.

"It's kind of crazy," said Stewart. "We came here for weekly shows and we stunk this place up."

Stewart, winner of the this year's 360 Knoxville Nationals, said he brought a much better 410 car this week than he did when he visited earlier this year.

"It just rolls around the track nice," said Stewart. "I don't fight it and I think that's key here."

Schatz, who finished second at the Knoxville Nationals last year and won the previous four years, said he isn't sure what makes him so consistent at the Sprint Car Capital of the World.

"I'd like to bottle it up and sell it to a lot of people," said Schatz.

51st Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals Results:

A main (started), 50 laps, NT: 1. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (13) 2. 57, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (17) 3. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (1) 4. 83x, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (19) 5. 27, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (5) 6. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (7) 7. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (6) 8. 9, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (2) 9. Lance Dewease (24) 10. 7, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (18) 11. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (20) 12. 83, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (16) 13. Stevie Smith (21) 14. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (11) 15. 55, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (14) 16. 11, Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN (8) 17. Don Droud Jr. (23) 18. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (10) 19. Kraig Kinser (22) 20. 2, Dale Blaney, Fowler, OH (3) 21. 51, Fred Rahmer, Salfordville, PA (9) 22. 14, Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA (4) 23. 92, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust. (15) 24. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (12). Lap Leaders: S. Swindell 1, Sweet 2-5, S. Swindell 6-14, Schatz 15-27, Pittman 28, Schatz 29-50.

B main (started), 22 laps, NT: 1. 1z, Stevie Smith, Broken Arrow, OK (3) 2. 6, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (2) 3. 47, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (15) 4. 30c, Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, PA (9) / 5. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (8) 6. 39, Greg Hodnett, Thomasville, PA (14) 7. 4, Danny Smith, Danville, IN (16) 8. 89G, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (18) 9. 45x, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (12) 10. 2B, Ben Gregg, Glendale, AZ (19) 11. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (5) 12. 01, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (17) 13. Bronson Maeschen (21) 14. 10, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (6) 15. 1zz, Jessica Zemken, Sprakers, NY (20) 16. 59, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust,. (4) 17. 28, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (13) 18. 7x, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (10) 19. 35, Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD (1) 20. Tim Kaeding (22) 21. 14x, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (7) 22. 91, Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA (11)

C main (started), 15 laps, NT: 1. 1J, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (2) 2. 83JR, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (4) / 3. 55x, Jason Solwold, Mount Vernon, WA (3) 4. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS (1) 5. 17B, Bill Balog, Eau Claire, WI (7) 6. 5w, Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, PA (10) 7. 1s, Kevin Swindell, Charlotte, NC (11) 8. 63, Chad Kemenah, Findlay, OH (15) 9. 23w, Scott Winters, Butterfield, MN (18) 10. 22, Kenny Jacobs, Holmesville, OH (13) 11. Jason Sides (21) 12. 11c, Roger Crockett, Medford, OR (16) 13. 29, Bud Kaeding, Campbell, CA (9) 14. Austen Wheatley (22) 15. 1w, Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls, SD (8) 16. 6H, Danny Heskin, St. Michael, MN (19) 17. 71R, Ryan Anderson, Deloit, IA (5) 18. 2D, Bryan Dobesh, Sioux Falls, SD (6) 19. 20E, Brian Ellenberger, Butler, PA (17) 20. Danny Holtgraver (20) 21. 0, Jonathan Allard, Chico, CA (14) DNS – 6RX, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL, 6M, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH.

D main (started), 12 laps, 3:15.7: 1. 7s, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (1) 2. D4, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (3) 3. 44w, Austen Wheatley, Lake Stevens, WA (4) 4. 91x, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (12) 5. 33, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (8) 6. 02, Mike Reinke, Howards Grove, WI (5) 7. 04, Cap Henry, Bellevue, OH (13) 8. 1K, Chris Shirek, Thompson, ND (6) 9. Robby Wolfgang (19) 10. Randy Hannagan (27) 11. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (7) 12. 19K, Todd King, Sheboygan Falls, WI (9) 13. 8, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (15) 14. 45, Mark Johnson, Des Moines, IA (10) 15. Tasker Phillips (20) 16. Bruce White (14) 17. Donovan Peterson (16) 18. 9N, Wade Nygaard, Grand Forks, ND (11) 19. Mike Houseman Jr. (18) DQ – 4x, Toni Lutar, White Horse, BC, Can. (2, crossed 2nd – no scales) DNS – Kevin Ingle, Bob Weuve

E main (started), 10 laps, 2:38.6: 1. 96AU, Bruce White, Merrylands West, NSW, Aust. (2) 2. 19D, Donovan Peterson, Brookings, SD (1) 3. 22H, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (8) 4. 7K, Robby Wolfgang, Sioux Falls, SD (7) 5. 68, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (3) 6. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (6) 7. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (5) 8. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (4) DNS – 7AB, Billy Alley, Bennet, NE, 20PK, Ron Krysl, Atkinson, NE, 23x, Russel Borland, Kewaskum, WI