Schatz makes it four in a row at 49th Annual Knoxville Nationals
Monday, August 17, 2009
By Stacy Ervin
Donny Schatz finished second four times at the Knoxville Nationals and now he can call himself a four-time champion.
It took an extra day but the Fargo, North Dakota, driver made it four in a row, winning the 49th Annual Super Clean Knoxville Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The win was worth $150,000.
The race was originally scheduled for Saturday, August 15, but a heavy rain pelted the speedway just after Saturday’s C-Main had finished around 10:20 p.m. The B-Main and the A-Main were then postponed to Sunday night, August 16. This was the sixth Sunday Nationals finale in the 49-year history of the event.
This year’s championship main was historic because it was the first time in history that 40 laps were run and the race included a fuel stop. Nationals championships in previous years had been 30 laps.
Schatz started sixth in the race and steadily marched his way toward leader Joey Saldana. Early in the race, Saldana, who started outside the front row, battled polesitter Stevie Smith.
Saldana led the first lap, with Smith getting the best of him in turn two the next time around. However a yellow flag came out when Jason Meyers slowed on the track in turn two. He came to the work area with a flat right front tire.
After that, Saldana kept the lead through the majority of the race. He was just coming to lapped traffic at lap eight when the yellow returned for Meyers, who had blown out his right rear tire in turn one just in front of the leaders. Meyers also had top wing damage and a broken shock, so his crew was not able to complete the work in time for him to restart.
The second driver to fall from the race was Brian Brown, who brought out the yellow on lap 10 with mechanical troubles. He did not restart. Sam Hafertepe Jr. also came to the work area to change a tire.
Just before that caution came out, Steve Kinser thrilled the crowd when he did a major wheelstand in turn two and never got off the throttle. This was after contact with Tyler Walker.
When the race returned to green, Saldana again led and Smith closed on his bumper when they came back to lapped traffic at lap 18. Lapped traffic proved hard on Smith though and Schatz began to close on him.
The historic fuel stop was made on lap 22, at the same time Hafertepe pulled into the pit area to call it a night.
After refueling, Saldana again ran away with the lead and Smith again closed on him when he entered lapped traffic at lap 29. On lap 32, Schatz began to show his muscle, going three wide with Smith and a lapped car. Another lap later, he was in second place and closing fast on Saldana.
Coming to the line at lap 35, Schatz nearly touched a lapped car in the fourth turn but came out with the lead. From there, he pulled away from the second place battle. Saldana held on for second and Smith was third.
In victory lane, Schatz said he gave “120 percent more than my body can take.” He noted the significance of his J&J race car’s special paint scheme this week honoring Mario Andretti.
Schatz noted during the first 20-lap segment he just sat back to see what he could do. During the fuel stop, he continued to contemplate what he could do as a driver. He noted he needed lapped traffic to force Saldana into a couple of mistakes and take advantage.
The 22-lap B-Main was won by polesitter Jac Haudenschild of Wooster, Ohio. He waged a torrid battle on the opening laps with third starter Chad Kemenah. Haudenschild led the first lap but Kemenah beat him to the flag stand on the second lap. Just then, the yellow flag came out for a spinning Justin Henderson in turn four. When the race restarted, Haudenschild, Kemenah and Jason Johnson went three wide for the lead, with Kemenah keeping it another lap. From lap four on, it was all Haudenschild. Jason Meyers came from 11th starting spot to get second and Danny Lasoski came from 17th starting spot to get third. Jason Johnson, who started outside the front row, held on for fourth.
The 15-lap C-Main was won by Wayne Johnson, an Oklahoma native now calling Knoxville home. He started outside the front row and got the jump on polesitter Billy Alley in a race that went green to checkered. Just after this race ended, a heavy rain pelted the speedway at about 10:20 p.m. At 10:44 p.m., Race Director Ralph Capitani announced that the B-Main and A-Main would be postponed to Sunday night.
The 12-lap D-Main was won by Kaley Gharst of Decatur, Illinois, who led the way from the pole with a smoking machine. This race was halted after the fifth lap when Ricky Montgomery went for a nasty series of flips in turn two and took a trip to the local hospital. As rescue crews were working with him, a moderate rain shower began to fall over the speedway and that set up an hour and 20 minute rain delay.
The 10-lap E-Main was won by Bill Rose of Plainfield, Indiana. He started outside the front row and led the distance from green to checkered.
The award for Best Dressed Crew went to Greg Hodnett’s team. Second place was Lance Dewease’s crew and third place was Mark Dobmeier’s crew.
Daron Clayton of Sikeston, Missouri, was named Rookie of the Nationals. Terry McCarl was named the Southern Iowa Sprint Week Mr. Sprint Car for amassing enough points through all the nights of racing in the past two weeks.
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