INDIANAPOLIS (June 28, 2011) – As if the stakes weren’t high enough each night on the World of Outlaws (WoO) tour, a new driver claimed victory last night to add his name to the record books with the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) tandem of Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz. That winner just happened to be their boss, Tony Stewart. Now, each has won a WoO A-Feature thanks to Stewart’s dominant run on Wednesday night at Ohsweken (Ontario) Speedway in the opener of the Outlaws’ eastern Canada swing. While Stewart turns his focus to this weekend’s Brickyard 400, Kinser and Schatz look to add to their WoO victory totals (566 for Kinser and 108 for Schatz) when the Outlaws make their debut on Friday night at Brockville (Ontario) Speedway and compete for the second time at Autodromme Drummond in Drummondville, Quebec, on Saturday.
Kinser, who drives the TSR No. 11 Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Maxim, will look to add Brockville to the distinguished list of tracks where he’s won the first time the traveling Winged Sprint car stars competed at a particular track. Last July, he was the Outlaws’ first winner at Autodrome Drummond after passing Schatz for the lead. Schatz, driver of the TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J, would like to score his second career win in Ontario and his first in Quebec.
This year’s first of two ventures into Canada began Wednesday night when the Outlaws competed at Ohsweken. Both TSR drivers witnessed Stewart’s first career WoO triumph behind the wheel of the TSR No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1/Coca-Cola J&J. Schatz bounced back from qualifying 23rd in the field of 31 cars by charging from 20th starting position to sixth in the main event. Kinser, a 20-time WoO champion, won the third heat and finished 10th in the 30-lap A-Feature.
Through 42 of the 69 scheduled nights of racing, Schatz ranks second in the 2011 WoO championship standings with 4,907 points, 24 behind leader Jason Meyers. The four-time WoO champion has three wins, 16 top-fives, and 29 top-10s. Kinser ranks third in the standings with 4,859 points, five wins, 16 top-fives, and 28 top-10s.
On Friday at Brockville Speedway, the grandstands open at 5 p.m. EDT. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. For more details and ticket information, call the track at (613) 345-6324, or visit www.BrockvilleSpeedway.com.
Saturday at Autodromme Drummond, the pit gates will open at 4 p.m. EDT with the grandstands opening at 5 p.m. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. For more details and ticket information, visit www.Autodrome-Drummondville.com.
Race fans unable to attend this weekend’s events 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 Sprint Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the site features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other race fans.
Steve Kinser, Driver of the No. 11 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Maxim:
The eastern Canada swing continues to grow each year. How do you feel about going to new tracks?
“We like going to them when we win, that’s for sure. I think it’s good for our sport to be going to new tracks. The fans last year in Drummondville were really enthusiastic and we’ve built a pretty good following in Ohsweken by racing there the last four years. We want to race as much as we can, so having a week up here with three shows at three tracks is definitively good for the teams. We didn’t have the kind of night we hoped to at Ohsweken, so maybe going to a new place (Brockville) is just the medicine we need to help us turn things around.”
Last year the race at Autodrome Drummond was a battle between TSR cars early, and then late, you nearly ran out of fuel. Would you like the same outcome on Saturday?
“Heck yes. We won the race and that’s all that counts. I don’t want to get that close on fuel this year where we are sputtering on the last lap. Donny and I had a pretty good race early on before he had some problems. I’d say with the show Tony (Stewart) put on there at Ohsweken, we both need to be racing for wins.”
Donny Schatz, Driver of the No. 15 TSR/STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J:
Wednesday night, you made a strong charge through the field and finished sixth. It might not have been the end result you were looking for, but can you build on it heading into the weekend?
“I think it’s a situation where we know what happened early in the night and caused us to time so poorly. You just can’t start 20th in these races and win very often. I got going pretty well in the heat and feature event. I was able to get to sixth but pretty much got stuck there during the final few laps. I don’t know if a caution would have helped us or not, but I don’t know how close I could have gotten to Tony. He did a great job and drove a heck a race. I’m really happy he won. This team won’t back down and we’ll keep going. Friday night is an opportunity for everyone to have to guess what the track might do. We’ve got a great group of guys working on this STP machine and the decisions we make, hopefully, will put us in a position to be challenging for a victory.”
You adapted really quickly to the Autodrome Drummond facility last July. A good qualifying lap was followed by strong runs in your heat and then in the dash. Does that provide added optimism for you and your team heading back there on Saturday night?
“Whenever you get on a track and can be fast right away, it’s a good thing for everyone involved. I think early in the night we were really good and then they decided to water the track and that changed it up a little bit. We led the race early and battled with Steve until the motor just shut off on me. It was an electrical problem that we’ve since fixed, but it’s a night you remember as being frustrated with the outcome. We were fast all night and right where we wanted to be in the feature. Racing is a tough sport and you have to let them go, win or lose. I’m excited to get back there. The atmosphere was really good and, hopefully, we’ll put a complete night together and make up for last year.”
About Armored AutoGroup
Armored AutoGroup Inc., headquartered in Danbury, CT, is primarily comprised of the Armor All® and STP® brands. Armor All’s® current product line of protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products and washes is designed to clean, shine and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces. STP’s® offering of oil and fuel additives, functional fluids and automotive appearance products has a broad customer base ranging from professional racers to car enthusiasts and ‘‘Do-it-Yourselfers’’. The company has a diversified geographic footprint with direct operations in the United States, Canada, Australia and the U.K. and distributor relationships in approximately 50 countries. For more information, please visit www.armorall.com and www.stp.com.
About Bass Pro Shops Group
Bass Pro Shops – 56 retail stores in 26 states and Canada visited by over 109 million people annually, international catalog and internet retailing, American Rod & Gun wholesale division selling to over 7,000 independently owned retail stores worldwide, Outdoor World Incentives also selling Bass Pro Shops gift cards through over 132,000 retail outlets across America and a restaurant division with 26 locations. For more information regarding Bass Pro Shops store locations, products or special events, please visit www.basspro.com. To request a free catalog call 1-800-BASS PRO.
Tracker Marine Group – Manufactures and sells Tracker, Nitro, SunTracker, Tahoe, Grizzly and Mako boats through Bass Pro Shops retail stores and over 400 dealers worldwide.
Visit www.trackerboats.com
Resort Group – Big Cedar Lodge and other resort properties including restaurants and golf course. Visit www.bigcedar.com for more information.
-www.TonyStewartRacing.com-
