World of Outlaws Dega Duel

The 10-time champion slices through traffic to end long winless drought

Make no mistake about it, Donny Schatz is back.

Last year served up perhaps the most trying time of his career. After battling struggles through the first half of 2025, Schatz and Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing parted ways in August. Schatz patched together plans to finish his 29th consecutive World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season, driving for four different teams over the last few months. He went winless for the first time since his rookie year in 1997.

But throughout it all, Schatz made one thing clear: he’s not done. The 10-time champion linked up with CJB Motorsports for his 30th season with The Greatest Show on Dirt. They unloaded with speed at Volusia Speedway Park to open the campaign, but gremlins continued to cause them to start toward the tail of the field.

Then on Friday the scene shifted to Eastaboga, AL’s Talladega Short Track, and Schatz and the CJB crew put together a nearly perfect night. They timed in second quickest in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying. Schatz won his Heat Race and followed that by topping the Toyota Dash. That lined him up on the pole for the 35-lap Feature, and Schatz was just about perfect.

He faced early pressure from Bryce Lucius and Sheldon Haudenschild, but once the leaders got to traffic, the Fargo, ND driver took them to school. Schatz moved all over the track as he put cars between himself and Haudenschild and drove away to one of the most popular wins we’ll see all year.

“I just can’t remember the last one,” Schatz admitted. “It was a long time ago. What can you say? These guys. Chad (Clemens) built this team from the ground up. We didn’t want to do anything to cripple Brenham (Crouch) in any way. These guys worked their tails off this winter. When we went to Volusia, I said, ‘I think if we’re alright, we can win a race there.’ I felt like we were good enough to. We just didn’t get things to go the right way. But, man, Talladega. We just had a solid all night performance. To get back to Victory Lane feels really good. It’s like getting a monkey off your back.”

The triumph was Schatz’s first trip to World of Outlaws Victory Lane in 510 days dating back to Oct. 12, 2024 at Lincoln Speedway. He’d never won at Talladega before, making it the 90th different track that his now 317 career checkered flags are spread across. For CJB, Schatz becomes the sixth different driver to top a World of Outlaws race with the Chad Clemens-owned team, joining David Gravel, Paul McMahan, Spencer Bayston, Fred Rahmer, and Shane Stewart.

Sheldon Haudenschild’s punctuated a strong week for himself and KCP Racing with a runner-up result.

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid bounced back from Monday’s mechanical misfortune with a third place effort.

Bryce Lucius and Garet Williamson completed the top five.

With Carson Macedo finishing seventh and David Gravel in 11th, the two are now knotted atop the standings.

NIGHTLY NOTES:

Cole Macedo clocked the Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night.

Sheldon Haudenschild recorded his second straight Simpson Quick Time in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races belonged to Bill Balog (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Donny Schatz (DIRTVision Heat Two), and Buddy Kofoid (WIX Filters Heat Three).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Bryce Lucius.

Donny Schatz topped the Toyota Dash.

Giovanni Scelzi debuted the Spire Motorsports No. 77 Sprint Car and wheeled it from 22nd to 14th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Carson Macedo was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.

Ashton Torgerson finished 12th to notch his third consecutive Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race.

Buddy Kofoid’s 12.933 was enough to grab the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Cole Macedo.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Texas for a weekend at Kennedale Speedway Park on March 13-14. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Where can you get tickets to see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 2. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 4. 32-Bryce Lucius[2]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[8]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo[13]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]; 9. 9-Daison Pursley[9]; 10. 17-Spencer Bayston[6]; 11. 2-David Gravel[17]; 12. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[12]; 13. 7S-Chris Windom[14]; 14. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[22]; 15. 19-Brent Marks[18]; 16. 27-Emerson Axsom[11]; 17. 9R-Chase Randall[10]; 18. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[20]; 19. 15K-Creed Kemenah[19]; 20. 40-Howard Moore[15]; 21. 16C-Scotty Thiel[21]; 22. 98-Ricky Peterson[25]; 23. 28M-Conner Morrell[23]; 24. 51-Scott Bogucki[24]; 25. 2C-Cole Macedo[16]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.