Donny Schatz Wins at Volusia; Milestone 500th Win

Donny Schatz reeled in his 500th career win at Volusia Motorsports Park

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — After night one of the Bike Week Jamboree at Volusia Speedway Park got canceled, veteran Donny Schatz made history on what would’ve been night two by winning for the 500th time in his sprint car career.

Sheldon Haudenschild was on the pole with Michael Kofoid to his right with Giovanni Scelzi and Schatz behind.  

Going into Turn 1, Haudenschild went low, allowing Kofoid to take the lead with Schatz right on his heels.  Haudenschild in third, Carson Macedo battled with Scelzi for fourth.  By the end of the first lap, Macedo was the victor.

For 11 more laps, the top five consisted of Kofoid, Schatz, Haudenschild, Macedo and Scelzi.  But on Lap 12, Kofoid would run into some lap traffic that slowed him down, allowing Schatz to edge closer to that first place position.

Going into Turn 1 on Lap 14, Kofoid’s left rear tire exploded, sending him straight into the wall and handing over the lead to Schatz.  This would also put David Gravel in fifth.  

On the restart, Schatz and Haudenschild went into Turn 1.  Going into Turn 2, it looked like Haudenschild was going to overpower Schatz, but as they entered onto the backstretch Schatz pulled away.  

While first and second place were battling it out, so was third and fourth.  Scelzi and Macedo were side-by-side heading into Turn 2, but Macedo went low and emerged the victor as they hit the back chute.

For the next few laps, the top five would remain the same.  But in the middle of the pack, there were some battles going on for seventh, eighth and ninth place.

Corey Day had his sights set on seventh place. (Photo: Corrnell Chu | The Podium Finish)

On Lap 18, Jacob Allen was in seventh.  But eighth place holder, Corey Day, had his sights set on Allen.  Going into Turn 1, Allen and Day were side-by-side.  Day would go high on Allen, getting around him and earning the seventh position as they exited Turn 2.  Allen would go low only to have his teammate, Logan Schuchart, come up on his side.  This caused Allen to go high, almost getting together with Schuchart.

They raced side-by-side down the frontstretch and all throughout Turns 1 and 2.  But as they hit Turn 3, Schuchart pulled a slide job on Allen and as they crossed the finish line Schuchart had eighth.

On Lap 22, Allen followed Kofoid with having his left rear tire blow going into Turn 1.  Allen was sent into the wall, giving Cory Eliason ninth place.

On the restart, Gravel dove to the inside as he and Scelzi headed into Turn 1.  Going into the second turn, Scelzi hopped the cushion, allowing Gravel to take fourth place.  Scelzi had to fight to keep fifth though, as Corey Day was right beside him in Turns 3 and 4.  Scelzi would pull away to keep his position.

For the final two laps, the field would remain the same, with Schatz coming home with his 312th win with the World of Outlaws.

“I really don’t want to think about it,” said Schatz about his milestone win. “I feel like I’ve got a lot of years left in me. I’ve got a lot of good racing left in me because I still love to race. That’s the important part. Numbers are numbers. I’ve been very fortunate to race with a lot of great people and have great partners behind us.”

Second place finisher, Haudenschild, was content with where he finished.

“The outside just seemed like you could kind of keep your speed up a little bit better,” said Haudenschild. “Definitely in (Turns) 1 and 2 you could roll it way faster at the start of the race. Don’t think there’s much I could’ve changed there. I feel like my car was really good, and whoever was out front was going to be really fast and hard to catch.”

Rounding out the top three was Macedo.  He was pleased with where he was after the struggles he faced last month.

“We worked really hard. I think we were as good as the other two here in the feature. It’s just once we get strung out at this place it’s crazy. You kind of hit that air barrier and you can’t go any faster,” said Macedo. “All in all, we took those three weeks to do all we could. I feel like we’re getting closer and closer.”