Donny Schatz swept the One-Third Mile Short Track Nationals Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Eagle Raceway. The Fargo, ND driver passed Jason Sides on lap 16, and held off Steve Kinser to win the 40 lap A-feature Saturday night. The victory was Schatz’s fourth in a row and his second Short Track Nationals championship.
Jason Sides set the pace in the #7s Sides Motorsports Maxim. Schatz drove around the outside of Danny Lasoski’s #20 J.D. Byrider Eagle with two laps down to take second and close in on Sides. Steve Kinser’s #11 Quaker State Maxim challenged Lasoski for third, taking the position on lap nine. Lasoski took third back on the following lap, but Kinser found a holeshot in lapped traffic and sped past both Lasoski and Schatz to take the runner up position. Kinser caught up to sides on lap 16, but as they entered turn four, Sides jumped the cushion, getting the car sideways. Help came from an unlikely source as Kinser tapped Sides’ machine and straightened him out. As the top two got together, Schatz missed the episode completely, ducking underneath both Sides and Kinser to take the lead.
Paul McMahan brought out the caution with a turn two spin, and a new challenger would greet the battle raging throughout the top five. Brian Paulus had raced his #28 Arnold Transportation Maxim from the 15th starting spot to sixth, just behind the #2 Volcano Joe’s Maxim of Joey Saldana. Schatz sped from the field as the green flag flew, the lapped car of Sammy Swindell giving him an extra buffer against the hard-charging Sides in second. On lap 25, Sides again jumped the cushion in turn four, and again Steve Kinser made contact and righted the machine. This time, Lasoski picked off Kinser to take third place. Kinser would retake the position on lap 30.
Brian Paulus and Terry McCarl had both found speed in the middle groove of the racetrack and now began to challenge the leaders. Paulus passed passed Lasoski for fourth on lap 31. McCarl, who set quick time for the night but had to qualify from the B feature after being victim of an incident in the first heat also discovered Paulus’ secret and was in position for a top five finish after passing Lasoski on the same lap. Steve Kinser took second place from Sides on the next lap. With five laps remaining, it was Schatz out front with Kinser, Sides and Paulus fighting for second.
On the white flag lap, turn four again bit Sides as he jumped the cushion. He recovered from the mistake, but not before falling to seventh place. Paulus, McCarl, Lasoski and Jason Meyers – who also qualified from the B feature - made their way past. Donny Schatz defended his 2003 Short Track Nationals title as he crossed the line ahead of Kinser. Third place went to an elated Brian Paulus, fourth to McCarl, and fifth to Meyers. 23 of the 24 starters finished the race.
Patience and perseverance were the keys for Schatz. “Jason (Sides) was setting a pretty good pace. We’ve been fighting a loose race car all night long—it’s something that we’ve been dealing with all year long, and I guess we were lucky to only lose a couple of spots in the dash,” Schatz said. “I just had to not do anything silly there in traffic. When I saw the two to go signal I figured that green car (Steve Kinser) would be breathing down my neck because that’s usually when he’s the toughest.’ Schatz was pleased with his fourth straight win and hoped they've overcome their season long difficulties, “I didn’t get many wins this year, and it’s a little late in the year to be picking up the pace. We’ve been fighting a loose race car all night long—it’s something that we’ve been dealing with all year long, and I guess we were lucky to only lose a couple of spots in the dash. I have to thank this whole Parker Stores team. Jack Elam builds a great racecar, and thanks to my Mom and Dad for all of the support to make this team possible. I want to thank Craig Cormack for giving us a great racetrack both nights—they do things right here.”
World of Outlaws Eagle Raceway September 18, 2004 Qualifying 1) Terry McCarl, McCarl 24, 11.736 2) Mark Kinser, Roth 83, 11.745 3) Tim Kaeding, Roth 83JR, 11.768 4) Joey Saldana, Woodward 2, 11.815 5) Kraig Kinser, Kinser 11K, 11.877 6) Billy Alley, Alley 22, 11.895 7) Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1X, 11.904 8) Kerry Madsen, VerMeer 55, 11.913 9) Paul McMahan, Helm 11H, 11.949 10) Blake Feese, Vielhauer 12X, 11.951 11) Brian Paulus, Pender 28, 11.953 12) Brooke Tatnell, Grandstaff 66, 11.954 13) Craig Dollansky, Karavan 7, 11.957 14) Shane Stewart, Chilcutt 4M, 11.990 15) Jeff Mitrisin, Gifford 17G, 12.006 16) Jesse Hockett, Wright 35, 12.006 17) Justin Henderson, Oswalt D1, 12.007 18) Jason Meyers, Elite Racing Team 14, 12.066 19) Tim Shaffer, Parsons 6, 12.080 20) Daryn Pittman, Woodburn 21, 12.147 21) Sammy Swindell, Forbrook 5, 12.166 22) Lynton Jeffrey, VanderEcken 10, 12.169 23) Erin Crocker, Woodring 16, 12.219 24) Seth Brahmer, Brahmer 13X, 12.249 25) Jason Solwold, Carnahan R19, 12.269 26) Mark Dobmeier, Dobmeier 13, 12.285 27) Johnny Anderson, Anderson 7A, 12.310 28) Ryan Anderson, Anderson 71R, 12.334 29) Calvin Landis, Landis 70, 12.338 30) Tim St. Arnold, Kinnsey 8S, 12.343 31) Greg Jones, Jones 35X, 12.809 32) Mike Moore, Moore 69, 12.812 33) Adam Gullion, Gullion 49G, 13.281
Top 4 finishers in preliminary A-feature (locked into first 4 starting positions in Dash): Donny Schatz, Schatz 15; Jason Sides, Sides Motorsports 7S; Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20; Steve Kinser, Kinser 11
First Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)--1) Paul McMahan 2) Jesse Hockett 3) Kerry Madsen 4) Sammy Swindell 5) Justin Henderson 6) Jason Solwold 7) Terry McCarl 8) Calvin Landis 9) Adam Gullion
Second Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)--1) Blake Feese 2) Jeff Mitrisin 3) Mark Kinser 4) Randy Hannagan 5) Jason Meyers 6) Mark Dobmeier 7) Lynton Jeffrey 8) Tim St. Arnold
Third Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)--1) Brian Paulus 2) Shane Stewart 3) Billy Alley 4) Tim Kaeding 5) Tim Shaffer 6) Johnny Anderson 7) Erin Crocker 8) Greg Jones
Fourth Heat Race (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)—1) Kraig Kinser 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Brooke Tatnell 4) Joey Saldana 5) Daryn Pittman 6) Seth Brahmer 7) Mike Moore 8) Ryan Anderson
Dash (7 laps, finishing order determined first 8 starting positions of A-feature)--1) Jason Sides 2) Danny Lasoski 3) Donny Schatz 4) Steve Kinser 5) Tim Kaeding 6) Mark Kinser 7) Joey Saldana 8) Kraig Kinser
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)—1) Terry McCarl [$20] 2) Jason Meyers [$20] 3) Tim Shaffer [$20] 4) Daryn Pittman [$20] 5) Justin Henderson [$300] 6) Lynton Jeffrey [$300] 7) Tim St. Arnold [$300] 8) Jason Solwold [$300] 9) Erin Crocker [$300] 10) Mark Dobmeier [$300] 11) Johnny Anderson [$250] 12) Mike Moore [$250] 13) Adam Gullion [$250] 14) Calvin Landis [$250] 15) Greg Jones [$250] 16) Seth Brahmer [$250] 17) Ryan Anderson (DNS) [$250]
A-main (40 laps)--1) Donny Schatz [$12,000] 2) Steve Kinser [$6,000] 3) Brian Paulus [$4,000] 4) Terry McCarl [$3,500] 5) Danny Lasoski [$3,300] 6) Jason Meyers [$3,100] 7) Jason Sides [$3,000] 8) Joey Saldana [$2,500] 9) Tim Shaffer [$2,100] 10) Tim Kaeding [$2,050] 11) Billy Alley [$2,000] 12) Brooke Tatnell [$1,600] 13) Daryn Pittman [$1,500] 14) Shane Stewart [$1,200] 15) Kraig Kinser [$1,100] 16) Mark Kinser [$1,000] 17) Craig Dollansky [$1000] 18) Kerry Madsen [$1000] 19) Sammy Swindell [$1000] 20) Paul McMahan [$1000] 21) Jesse Hockett [$1000] 22) Randy Hannagan [$1000] 23) Jeff Mitrisin [$1000] 24) Blake Feese [$1000]
Lap leaders: Jason Sides 1-15, Donny Schatz 16-40
