Schatz Wins Afternoon Shootout

Schatz Victorious Under Sunny Skies at Volusia Speedway Park

Four-time champ leads all 20 laps of UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit feature

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Feb. 19, 2012 — After a week of frustration, Donny Schatz finally caught a break.

The four-time World of Outlaws champion capitalized en route to winning Friday’s rain-delayed event, which began early Sunday afternoon at Volusia Speedway Park. Windy conditions and sunny skies presented unique challenges to teams more accustomed to racing under the lights.

Schatz struggled during the first two nights of the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment as the veteran failed to advance to the feature both nights. That all changed on Sunday when he won a heat race, the dash and main event.

Schatz’s first break came in qualifying when he timed in 16^th quickest. It provided him the final position in the invert for the heat races, which placed him on the pole of the fourth-and-final heat. Schatz led all eight laps to advance to the dash, where he caught another break.

“They drew the right number, but we had to have a good car, too,” Schatz said.

The random draw was an eight to invert the top eight for the dash. It put Schatz on the pole and he led all six laps on the tricky track to claim the dash victory. That gave Schatz the pole position for the feature, which was trimmed to 20 laps.

“The conditions were about as bad as you could get with the wind, sun and heat,” he said. “You just have to be smart. Sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.”

Sammy Swindell challenged Schatz for the lead on the start and closed to his rear bumper in lapped traffic on lap 16. However, Schatz never bobbled and maneuvered through traffic perfectly to regain a several car length advantage. Because of track conditions, the restarts were single file and a caution with two laps remaining provided Swindell with one last chance at Schatz.

“You never really know how hard to run,” Swindell said after finishing second. “It was hard for anybody to pass. You had to make a big mistake for somebody to pass you.”

Several cars sustained tire issues in the closing laps, including fourth-running Jason Meyers with two laps to go.

“We just started getting cords,” said Jason Sides, who finished third. “I’d say we maybe had another two or three laps.”

Joey Saldana finished fourth and Craig Dollansky, who started 15^th, was fifth. Fred Rahmer, Brad Sweet, 21^st-starting Kraig Kinser, Sam Hafertepe Jr. and 18^th-starting Dale Blaney rounded out the top 10, respectively. Kinser earned the Hard Charger Award.

Meyers was the fast qualifier with a top lap of 14.634 and Kerry Madsen, Cap Henry, Saldana and Schatz claimed victories in the heat races. Jac Haudenschild won the Last Chance Showdown.

The drivers have a short break before Sunday’s regularly scheduled race.

Tickets for the rest of the 41^st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit can be ordered online by clicking WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets, by calling 877-395-8606 or purchased at the track.

Volusia Speedway Park Notebook

WINNERS – Donny Schatz – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Danny Lasoski – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18).

TIME TRIALS – Jason Meyers was the fastest qualifier around the half-mile oval with a time of 14.634 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Fred Rahmer (4 points), Cody Darrah (3), Jason Sides (2) and Danny Lasoski (1).

WE’RE ONLINE – Make sure to check out WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com.

UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment Statistical Report; Volusia Speedway Park; Barberville, Fla.; Feb. 19, 2012 (rain delayed from Feb. 17)

A-Main – (20 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1] [$10,000]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [2] [$5,500]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [4] [$3,200]; 4. 9-Joey Saldana [3] [$2,800]; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky [15] [$2,500]; 6. 51-Fred Rahmer [6] [$2,300]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [8] [$2,200]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [21] [$2,100]; 9. 1Z-Sam Hafertepe Jr [14] [$2,050]; 10. 2-Dale Blaney [18] [$2,000]; 11. 77-Aaron Ott [17] [$1,500]; 12. 89G-David Gravel [7] [$1,200]; 13. 4S-Danny Smith [23] [$1,100]; 14. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [26] [$250]; 15. 54-Cap Henry [9] [$1,000]; 16. 4-Cody Darrah [11] [$900]; 17. 11-Steve Kinser [25] [$]; 18. 14-Jason Meyers [10] [$800]; 19. 63-Chad Kemenah [24] [$800]; 20. 29-Kerry Madsen [5] [$800]; 21. 20E-Brian Ellenberger [22] [$800]; 22. 6-Bill Rose [27] [$]; 23. 71M-Paul May [16] [$800]; 24. 5-Jac Haudenschild [13] [$800]; 25. 2X-Dustin Morgan [19] [$800]; 26. 27-Daryn Pittman [20] [$800]; 27. 33-Danny Lasoski [12] [$800]. Lap Leader: Donny Schatz 1-20. Hard Charger Award: 11K-Kraig Kinser [+13].

Qualifying – 1. 14-Jason Meyers, 14.634; 2. 51-Fred Rahmer, 14.913; 3. 4-Cody Darrah, 14.968; 4. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.060; 5. 33-Danny Lasoski, 15.106; 6. 5-Jac Haudenschild, 15.156; 7. 1Z-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 15.205; 8. 7-Craig Dollansky, 15.223; 9. 29-Kerry Madsen, 15.321; 10. 71M-Paul May, 15.338; 11. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.396; 12. 77-Aaron Ott, 15.451; 13. 2-Dale Blaney, 15.499; 14. 54-Cap Henry, 15.524; 15. 9-Joey Saldana, 15.559; 16. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.568; 17. 1-Sammy Swindell, 15.629; 18. 2X-Dustin Morgan, 15.636; 19. 27-Daryn Pittman, 15.700; 20. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.715; 21. 20E-Brian Ellenberger, 15.783; 22. 89G-David Gravel, 15.845; 23. 4S-Danny Smith, 15.894; 24. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 15.914; 25. 11-Steve Kinser, 15.914; 26. 63-Chad Kemenah, 15.929; 27. 39-Greg Hodnett, 15.990; 28. 24-Terry McCarl, 16.079; 29. 45-Paul McMahan, 16.183; 30. 6-Bill Rose, 16.209; 31. O-Glen Styres, 16.647; 32. 28-Brian Paulus, No Time.

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [2]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [5]; 3. 2-Dale Blaney [1]; 4. 14-Jason Meyers [4]; 5. 33-Danny Lasoski [3]; 6. 11-Steve Kinser [7]; 7. 20E-Brian Ellenberger [6]; 8. 45-Paul McMahan [8].

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 54-Cap Henry [1]; 2. 89G-David Gravel [6]; 3. 71M-Paul May [2]; 4. 2X-Dustin Morgan [5]; 5. 51-Fred Rahmer [4]; 6. 63-Chad Kemenah [7]; 7. 6-Bill Rose [8]; 8. 5-Jac Haudenschild [3].

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 9-Joey Saldana [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 1Z-Sam Hafertepe Jr [3]; 4. 4-Cody Darrah [4]; 5. 27-Daryn Pittman [5]; 6. 39-Greg Hodnett [7]; 7. 4S-Danny Smith [6]; 8. O-Glen Styres [8].

Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [4]; 3. 77-Aaron Ott [2]; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky [3]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 6. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [6]; 7. 24-Terry McCarl [7]; 8. 28-Brian Paulus [8].

Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [9]; 3. 9-Joey Saldana [2]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen [5]; 6. 51-Fred Rahmer [7]; 7. 89G-David Gravel [10]; 8. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 9. 54-Cap Henry [3]; 10. 14-Jason Meyers [8].

B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 5-Jac Haudenschild [1] [-]; 2. 20E-Brian Ellenberger [2] [-]; 3. 4S-Danny Smith [3] [-]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah [6] [-]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [4] [$200]; 6. 39-Greg Hodnett [7] [$180]; 7. 45-Paul McMahan [9] [$175]; 8. 11-Steve Kinser [5] [$160]; 9. 6-Bill Rose [10] [$150]; 10. 28-Brian Paulus [12] [$150]; 11. O-Glen Styres [11] [$150]; 12. 24-Terry McCarl [8] [$150].

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Top 20 Championship Standings

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), UNOH, VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), Vicci (Official Apparel) in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, JE Pistons, Superflow, Wix Filters, Penske Shocks, Intercomp, MSD Ignition, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Racing Electronics and S&S Volvo. Engine Builders Challenge participants include Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines. Chassis Builders Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.

Live Updates from Volusia Speedway Park

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Click on this page throughout the afternoon for live updates, including lineups and results for qualifying, heat races, the dash and main events. We will also provide any weather updates when necessary and other interesting tidbits from the pits.

* We will have a complete show this afternoon and a complete show this evening.

(3:44 p.m.) Donny Schatz held off Sammy Swindell to claim the afternoon feature on a track that plagued tires. Steve Kinser and Jason Meyers had tire issues with two laps remaining, ending Meyers’ bid with a top five. Craig Dollansky, Danny Smith, Lucas Wolfe and Kerry Madsen also blew right rear tires on the final lap. Here are the results:

1, Donny Schatz. 2, Sammy Swindell. 3, Jason Sides. 4, Joey Saldana. 5, Craig Dollansky. 6, Fred Rahmer. 7, Brad Sweet. 8, Kraig Kinser. 9, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 10, Dale Blaney. 11, Aaron Ott. 12, David Gravel. 13, Danny Smith. 14, Lucas Wolfe. 15, Cap Henry. 16, Cody Darrah. 17, Steve Kinser. 18, Jason Meyers. 19, Chad Kemenah. 20, Kerry Madsen. 21, Brian Ellenberger. 22, Bill Rose. 23, Paul May. 24, Jac Haudenschild. 25, Dustin Morgan. 26, Daryn Pittman. 27, Danny Lasoski.

(3:02 p.m.) The feature has been trimmed to 20 laps. Here is the lineup:

1, Donny Schatz. 2, Sammy Swindell. 3, Joey Saldana. 4, Jason Sides. 5, Kerry Madsen. 6, Fred Rahmer. 7, David Gravel. 8, Brad Sweet. 9, Cap Henry. 10, Jason Meyers. 11, Cody Darrah. 12, Danny Lasoski. 13, Jac Haudenschild. 14, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15, Craig Dollansky. 16, Paul May. 17, Aaron Ott. 18, Dale Blaney. 19, Dustin Morgan. 20, Daryn Pittman. 21, Kraig Kinser. 22, Brian Ellenberger. 23, Danny Smith. 24, Chad Kemenah. 25, Steve Kinser. 26, Lucas Wolfe. 27, Bill Rose.

Kinser, Wolfe and Rose utilized provisionals based off last year’s points.

(2:58 p.m.) Jac Haudenschild won the Last Chance Showdown. Brian Ellenberger, Danny Smith and Chad Kemenah also earned transfers to the feature. Here are the results:

1, Jac Haudenschild. 2, Brian Ellenberger.  3, Danny Smith. 4, Chad Kemenah. 5, Lucas Wolfe. 6, Greg Hodnett. 7, Paul McMahan. 8, Steve Kinser. 9, Bill Rose. 10, Brian Paulus. 11, Glenn Styres. 12, Terry McCarl (DNS).

(2:49 p.m.) Donny Schatz claimed the dash and will start on the pole for the feature. Here are the results:

1, Donny Schatz. 2, Sammy Swindell. 3, Joey Saldana. 4, Jason Sides. 5, Kerry Madsen. 6, Fred Rahmer. 7, David Gravel. 8, Brad Sweet. 9, Cap Henry. 10, Jason Meyers.

(2:19 p.m.) The invert was the No. 8 for the dash. Here is that lineup:

1, Donny Schatz. 2, Joey Saldana. 3, Cap Henry. 4, Brad Sweet. 5, Kerry Madsen. 6, Jason Sides. 7, Fred Rahmer. 8, Jason Meyers. 9, Sammy Swindell. 10, David Gravel.

(2:17 p.m.) The Last Chance Showdown has been cut to 10 laps. The top four will transfer to the feature. Here is the lineup:

1, Jac Haudenschild. 2, Brian Ellenberger. 3, Danny Smith. 4, Lucas Wolfe. 5, Steve Kinser. 6, Chad Kemenah. 7, Greg Hodnett. 8, Terry McCarl. 9, Paul McMahan. 10, Bill Rose. 11, Glenn Styres. 12, Brian Paulus.

(2:12 p.m.) Polesitter Donny Schatz led all eight laps to claim the fourth-and-final heat. Here are the results:

1, Donny Schatz. 2, Jason Sides. 3, Aaron Ott. 4, Craig Dollansky. 5, Kraig Kinser. 6, Lucas Wolfe. 7, Terry McCarl. 8, Brian Paulus (DNS).

(2:06 p.m.) Joey Saldana led all eight laps to win the third heat race. There is a rubber smell in the air. Here are the results:

1, Joey Saldana. 2, Brad Sweet. 3, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 4, Cody Darrah. 5, Daryn Pittman. 6, Greg Hodnett. 7, Danny Smith. 8, Glenn Styres.

(1:59 p.m.) Cap Henry held off David Gravel to win the second heat race. There are a couple of spots where smoke is coming off the right rear tires of the drivers. Here are the results:

1, Cap Henry. 2, David Gravel. 3, Paul May. 4, Dustin Morgan. 5, Fred Rahmer. 6, Chad Kemenah. 7, Bill Rose. 8, Jac Haudenschild.

(1:51 p.m.) Kerry Madsen claims the first heat race on a track that is pretty dry. After missing the invert by one position during qualifying, Sammy Swindell drove from fifth to second to earn a spot in the dash. Here are the results:

1, Kerry Madsen. 2, Sammy Swindell. 3, Dale Blaney. 4, Jason Meyers. 5, Danny Lasoski. 6, Steve Kinser. 7, Brian Ellenberger. 8, Paul McMahan.

(1:42 p.m.) The first heat race is headed toward staging.

(1:29 p.m.) Here are the lineups for the eight-lap heat races, which transfer the top five to the feature:

Heat #1: 1, Dale Blaney. 2, Kerry Madsen. 3, Danny Lasoski. 4, Jason Meyers. 5, Sammy Swindell. 6, Brian Ellenberger. 7, Steve Kinser. 8, Paul McMahan.

Heat #2: 1, Cap Henry. 2, Paul May. 3, Jac Haudenschild. 4, Fred Rahmer. 5, Dustin Morgan. 6, David Gravel. 7, Chad Kemenah. 8, Bill Rose.

Heat #3: 1, Joey Saldana. 2, Brad Sweet. 3, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 4, Cody Darrah. 5, Daryn Pittman. 6, Danny Smith. 7, Greg Hodnett. 8, Glenn Styres.

Heat #4: 1, Donny Schatz. 2, Aaron Ott. 3, Craig Dollansky. 4, Jason Sides. 5, Kraig Kinser. 6, Lucas Wolfe. 7, Terry McCarl. 8, Brian Paulus.

(1:22 p.m.) Jason Meyers was the fastest qualifier on a different track than we’ve seen all week. His lap of 14.634 seconds topped the chart and only Fred Rahmer and Cody Darrah qualified within 15 seconds. Most of the drivers were on the high side and the lap times definitely slowed down through qualifying. Here are the results:

1, Jason Meyers. 2, Fred Rahmer. 3, Cody Darrah. 4, Jason Sides. 5, Danny Lasoski. 6, Jac Haudenschild. 7, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 8, Craig Dollansky. 9, Kerry Madsen. 10, Paul May. 11, Brad Sweet. 12, Aaron Ott. 13, Dale Blaney. 14, Cap Henry. 15, Joey Saldana. 16, Donny Schatz. 17, Sammy Swindell. 18, Dustin Morgan. 19, Daryn Pittman. 20, Kraig Kinser. 21, Kraig Kinser. 22, David Gravel. 23, Danny Smith. 24, Lucas Wolfe. 25, Steve Kinser. 26, Chad Kemenah. 27, Greg Hodnett. 28, Terry McCarl. 29, Paul McMahan. 30, Bill Rose. 31, Glen Styres. 32, Brian Paulus (No Time).

(1:10 p.m.) NASCAR drivers Tony Stewart and Dale Blaney have scratched. They are both qualifying for the Daytona 500 and had a helicopter ready to shuttle them here. However, the timing didn’t align and they will not compete in the afternoon session. Both are planning on competing in tonight’s show.

(12:59 p.m.) Kraig Kinser was quickest in the fourth-and-final session at 15.111 seconds. Daryn Pittman was second at 15.112 and Brian Ellenberger was third at 15.121. Qualifying is up next.

(12:55 p.m.) Donny Schatz was quickest in the third session at 14.536 seconds. Sammy Swindell was second at 14.853 and Steve Kinser was third at 14.877.

(12:52 p.m.) Cody Darrah was quickest in the second session at 14.781 seconds. Kerry Madsen was second at 14.871 seconds and Craig Dollansky was third at 15.143 seconds.

(12:48 p.m.) Jason Meyers was quickest in the first hot-lap session at 14.404 seconds. Sam Hafertepe Jr. was second at 14.823 seconds and Jason Sides was third at 14.932 seconds.

(12:43 p.m.) Sprint cars are on the track for hot laps.

(12:10 p.m.) The track crew is putting the finishing touches on getting it packed and ready to race. Sprints are scheduled to hot lap in 10 minutes, but it’ll likely be a few minutes after before they get on the track.

Also, a few dark clouds have rolled over the facility. According to weather.com, we are at a 10 to 25 percent chance of rain the rest of the evening. The radar shows a few green spots over Florida, but nothing substantial.

(11:51 a.m.) Drivers are now putting heat into their engines.

(11:30 a.m.) The driver’s meeting just concluded. We have 34 cars drawn in. Here is the qualifying order based on the pill draw, which is also the roster:

1z — Sam Hafertepe Jr.

33 — Danny Lasoski

71m — Paul May

14 — Jason Meyers

2x — Dustin Morgan

77 — Aaron Ott

5 — Jac Haudenschild

51 — Fred Rahmer

7s — Jason Sides

7 — Craig Dollansky

49 — Brad Sweet

14s — Tony Stewart

4 — Cody Darrah

29 — Kerry Madsen

0 — Glenn Styres

4s — Danny Smith

59 — Dave Blaney

28 — Brian Paulus

54 — Cap Henry

2 — Dale Blaney

15 — Donny Schatz

24 — Terry McCarl

11 — Steve Kinser

39 — Greg Hodnett

1 — Sammy Swindell

9 — Joey Saldana

45 — Paul McMahan

20e — Brian Ellenberger

5w — Lucas Wolfe

63 — Chad Kemenah

27 — Daryn Pittman

89g — David Gravel

11k — Kraig Kinser

6 — Bill Rose

(11:10 a.m.) The 32nd sprint car just drew in. Here is the format for the afternoon show:

Each driver gets two qualifying laps. Then there will be four, eight-lap heat races, which will be inverted by four. The top five from each heat advance to the feature. The top-two finishers from each heat and top-two qualifiers who advanced to the main event (but didn’t finish in the top two) will compete in a six-lap dash, which is inverted by either four, six or eight.

The drivers who haven’t advanced to the main event will compete in a 12-lap Last Chance Showdown, which transfers the top four to the feature.

(9:55 a.m.) It is bright and early for the sprint car teams and track crew. It has been overcast most of the morning, but the clouds are breaking in some places. The temperature is in the low 70s with a slight breeze.

This afternoon’s race will be a complete show for the sprint cars, who were rained out on Friday night. The driver’s meeting is at 11:15 a.m. with hot laps scheduled for 12:20 p.m.