Weekend Review: Schatz and Haudenschild Get Milestone Wins

Donny Schatz now owns 251 career World of Outlaws wins (Mike Leone photo)

Donny Schatz is still on top of the sprint car world. And if there was any doubt heading into the DIRTcar Nationals...he made sure to clarify the issue. The nine-time World of Outlaws champion from Fargo, N.D. wrapped up the weekend by claiming his fourth gator in five nights at Volusia Speedway Park. The Tony Stewart Racing #15 was clearly the class of a talented field - picking up wins from starting positions of 1st, 4th, 6th and 12th.

Schatz's two All Star wins on Wednesday and Thursday marked his 17th & 18th career wins with the series. His "off" night came during the World of Outlaws season opener on Friday night when he marched forward from his 14th starting spot to finish fourth. To no one's surprise, Schatz returned to form on Saturday and Sunday when he picked up his 250th & 251st career WoO wins.

Taking a look at the record books, Schatz is the third driver in history to reach the 250-win plateau with the World of Outlaws, and I'm sure you can guess the two that preceded him. Already with third most wins with the series all-time, he could seriously be threatening Sammy Swindell [294 wins] for second on the series win list within the next two years. With that said, even if Schatz could somehow miraculously keep up a 20-win pace every year, it would take another 16+ years to catch "The King" Steve Kinser [577 wins]. His record should be safe for now.

(Mike Leone photo)

No matter how many wins a driver gets, they always say you never forget the first one. For Sheldon Haudenschild, February 9th, 2018 will forever hold a special place in his heart. Lil' Haud out-dueled Paul McMahan (who has 26 WoO wins to his own credit) to win his first career World of Outlaws feature. He's been close before on more than one occasion, and finally getting over the hump will open the flood gates for the Wooster, OH native. Look for this crew to pick up a handful of wins this season as they continue to gel and grow as a team.

Though Schatz and Haudenschild were the only winners, we have to credit some of the other impressive performances from the five-race stretch in Florida:

• Paul McMahan claimed four Top 10 finishes in the Tom Buch #13X, with a best finish of 2nd on Friday night
• Brad Sweet couldn't find victory lane, but he finished on the podium in three of the five nights
• David Gravel rebounded from a scary accident on Friday by going from 18th-5th the next night and claiming the Hard Charger award

410 Sprints are off for the next two weeks. When they resume action, we'll find the World of Outlaws compete in two events as they matriculate west through the great state of Texas. We'll also see our first action in the revered state of Pennsylvania as sprint cars are scheduled to light up the Pigeon Hills for their first race of the season at Lincoln Speedway.

Volusia Speedway Park "DIRTcar Nationals" results:

Feb 7th (ASCoC) - 1. Donny Schatz [15]; 2. Brad Sweet [49]; 3. David Gravel [5]

Feb 8th (ASCoC) - 1. Donny Schatz [15]; 2. Chad Kemenah [10H]; 3. Brad Sweet [49]

Feb 9th (WoO) - 1. Sheldon Haudenschild [17]; 2. Paul McMahan [13X]; 3. Shane Stewart [2]

Feb 10th (WoO) - 1. Donny Schatz [15]; 2. Jason Johnson [41]; 3. Tim Shaffer [49X]

Feb 11th (WoO) - 1. Donny Schatz [15]; 2. Brad Sweet [49]; 3. Sheldon Haudenschild [17]