ELMA, WA - Donny Schatz admitted in victory lane on Tuesday
night in Billings, MT, that he wasn't the fastest car on the track, but circumstances
worked out and he won.
On Saturday night at Gray's Harbor Raceway Park, "The Minot Missile" led 35 and 1/2 laps of the 40-lap Pennzoil World of Outlaws "A" Feature. The last half a lap cost him his 10th win of the season and he finished second behind Stevie Smith.
"You never want to lose a race especially on the white flag lap," said Schatz. "We've won some races that we probably shouldn't have this year and have let a couple get a way that we probably should have won. My crew is doing a great job giving me a fantastic race car."
Schatz qualified the #15 ParkerStores/Featherlite Coaches J&J fourth in the field and he finished second in the fourth heat race. He moved from eighth to sixth in the Channellock Dash. In the Feature, he raced to the lead on the fifth lap and looked in control most of the way. After taking the white flag, Schatz had to get by two lapped cars and he chose the high side coming out of turn two, but the track was blocked up there. Smith dove to the bottom and got by both Schatz and lapped cars to claim the win.
"Second place is a good place to be late in the race with traffic," said Schatz. "We should have gotten by those guys, but we didn't tonight. We've got to keep working hard every night and take what we can get from here on in."
The team will race on Wednesday night in Yakima, WA, at the Central State Fair Speedway before traveling to Portland for two nights of action beginning Friday.
(Article and photo by Bill Klingbeil)
A Feature Results (40 laps)
1. Stevie Smith [3] ($12,000)
2. Donny Schatz [6] ($6,000)
3. Danny Lasoski [7] ($4,000)
4. Mark Kinser [11] ($3,500)
5. Andy Hillenburg [5] ($3,300)
6. Randy Hannagan [9] ($3,100)
7. Dale Blaney [2] ($3,000)
8. Paul McMahan [10] ($2,500)
9. Jeff Shepard [13] ($2,100)
10. Tim Shaffer [14] ($2,050)
11. Brad Furr [12] ($2,000)
12. Sammy Swindell [16] ($1,600)
13. Joey Saldana [15] ($1,500)
14. Danny Wood [8] ($1,200)
15. Steve Kinser [4] ($1,100)
16. Jason Meyers [17] ($1,000)
17. Shawna Wilskey [18] ($900)
18. Barry Martinez [21] ($820)
19. Jeff Hodgson [19] ($800)
20. Scott Aumen [22] ($820)
21. Jeff Thompson [20] ($800)
22. Jayme Barnes [24] ($820)
23. Craig Dollansky [1] ($800)
24. Gary Taylor [23] ($820)
Lap leaders: Craig Dollansky 1, Dale Blaney 2-4, Donny Schatz 5-39, Stevie Smith 40
