---

Schatz Storms from 15th to Brad Doty Classic Win at Attica

Donny Schatz steadily worked his way through the pack from his 15th starting position at the 28th Annual Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics Tuesday at Attica Raceway Park. He used a restart with 12 laps to go to grab the lead and drove to his 14th World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series win of the year.

Schatz, from Fargo, ND., became the first drive to win three Brad Doty Classics, all coming in the last six years. It was his third career win at Attica Raceway Park.

The Brad Doty Classic returned to Attica – where it started in 1989 – after spending the last 10 years at Limaland Motorsports Park, and it played out before a standing room only crowd. The 53 drivers vying for the coveted Brad Doty Classic crown represented the biggest field of the year for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series. The top three finishers in the 40-lap feature – Schatz, Dale Blaney and Daryn Pittman – came from 15th, 10th and 25th starting spots respectively. In fact, Pittman used a series’ provisional to start the feature – his first in the three years he’s been with Kasey Kahne Racing.

“I just had to be calm and cool the first part of that race. Those guys were going at it pretty hard and 40 laps you have to be really smart at the beginning. A lot of guys passed a lot of cars tonight. It was pretty cool to see the 49 (Brad Sweet) come from the C…so see those guys come all the way through…that’s pretty cool. I don’t know if I could do it. I’m just happy as hell…we won the Brad Doty Classic,” said Schatz beside his Bad Boy Off Road, Chevrolet Performance, J&J Auto Racing, Tony Stewart-Curb-Agajanian Racing machine.

“This whole Bad Boy Off Road, Chevrolet Performance team…we didn’t start the year the way we wanted. When people asked us what we thought of our season we kept saying average but when you look at what we did last year…man anything’s going to be average compared to that. These guys are digging…I’m digging…I’m doing everything I can. I hate running the cushion but I ran the cushion and that’s what you have to do to win races…be able to move around the race track. These guys are getting the job done and I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive it,” Schatz added.

For Blaney, a Hartford, Ohio native, a second place run helped build some much needed confidence for his Go Muddy.com, Eyecon Trail Cameras, BadAzz Box Blinds, CH Motorsports team.

“Donny’s the best for a reason. He came from deep in the pack. The track dictated that you could come from a ways back. There was a thin lane up on top and you could run middle and bottom a little bit. We needed this. We really haven’t been struggling…we’ve been running decent but we haven’t got the finishes we deserve. Great night for all of us…Muddy and Big Game and CH Motorsports and everyone who’s involved with this team. George (Fisher, chief mechanic) and I have been pulling our hair out a little bit. He’s trying to figure out what we need for some balance…he and Donny and Skippy are doing a good job. I’m proud to run second at this race. We’ve won the World of Outlaw race here the past two years…I think the last five or six years it’s either been Schatz or myself so we kept it in the family I guess,” Blaney said.

While he was disappointed he had to take a provisional to make the A-main, Owasso, Oklahoma’s Pittman was excited about how well his car reacted.

“It shows the attitude of this Great Clips team. They didn’t quit. It’s easy to quit when things go bad for you. It was a perfect storm to have a disastrous night. We blew and engine before we even got to the green qualifying so we had to take no time. My car felt really good in our heat race to be honest with you. I was actually kind of excited…I ran fifth in the D-main and I came in and they were like ‘what’s going on’ and I said my car’s really good but I just ran fifth in the D. It’s hard to explain that to your crew chief. We pretty much left it alone and I was confident if the track did what Attica always does we could scoot through the middle. We just had a great car the last couple of weeks, especially the last 10 laps of the race. It was a lot of fun and we passed a lot of really good cars,” Pittman said of his Great Clips, Sage Fruit, Team ASE, Curb Records, Factory Kahne backed machine.

“I’ve never missed a race since I’ve been in this nine car. So that’s three and half years. I’m pretty sad of losing that streak. Hopefully we can start another one tomorrow. It shows how good this team is and how hard they work. For us to go that long and never miss a race is a tribute to how great this Great Clips team is and I’m proud to drive it,” added Pittman.

James McFadden and Danny Holtgraver brought the field to green for the 40-lap feature with McFadden gaining the upper hand. Holtgraver would battle with Jacob Allen and Caleb Griffith for second. Holtgraver and Allen would make contact, sending Allen spinning after three laps were scored. The car on the move was Sheldon Haudenschild who stormed from sixth to second by lap four, bringing Griffith to third.

Following a Shawn Dancer spin on lap six, McFadden would get a tremendous restart over Haudenschild, Griffith, Holtgraver and Joey Saldana. As McFadden and Haudenschild pulled away a tremendous battle ensued for third involving Griffith, Holtgraver, Blaney, Saldana and Schatz. Haudenschild quickly ate away at McFadden’s lead and the pair raced side by side to the start finish line on lap 11 with McFadden holding only a .02 second advantage. The pair began trading sliders at each turn over the next three laps as they prepared to race into heavy lapped traffic.

Meanwhile Blaney had established himself in third with Griffith, Schatz, Saldana, Holtgraver and Parker Price Miller in tow. Haudenschild eventually took the lead on lap 13. At the halfway point as the leaders sliced through lapped traffic, Haudenschild held a comfortable advantage over McFadden with Blaney closing the gap while Schatz moved into fourth. Schatz would drive under Blaney for third on lap 26, right before McFadden would spin.

When the green returned for the double file restart both Schatz and Blaney drove around Haudenschild with Holtgraver moving into fourth. Meanwhile, Pittman had worked his way into the top five. Schatz would begin to pull away from Blaney as Haudenschild, Holtgraver, Pittman, Saldana and Griffith gave chase. Pittman drove into fourth on lap 33. Schatz continued to build on his lead while Blaney ran unchallenged for second. Meanwhile Haudenschild and Pittman put on quite the show in their battle for third. Pittman eventually took the spot on lap 36 but ran out of time to catch Schatz and Blaney.

Schatz would easily drive to the win over Blaney, Pittman, Haudenschild and Holtgraver.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, July 22 on Smith Family Foods, Comfort Keepers Night. It will be a Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series Presented by KS Sales and Service point night for the 410 sprints with the UMP late models also in action. The 305 sprints will be vying for $1,000 to win thanks to Griff’s Engines. Fans are encouraged to bring canned foods to the track to help feed area senior citizens.

For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com

Back to News