Donny Schatz Begins Knoxville Nationals Defense with Victory on Night #1

Schatz is Also the Point Leader for Wednesday

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 9, 2023) – Donny Schatz charged from the fourth row to earn victory on BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night #1 of the 62^nd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s Wednesday night.  The Fargo, North Dakota driver is an eleven-time winner of the Knoxville Nationals, but those victories were never preceded by a preliminary win.  He’s hoping to change that on Saturday.  His win Wednesday was worth $12,000 aboard the Tony Stewart Racing #15.  Schatz also was the high point driver on a night that saw many of the fastest cars in qualifying fail to transfer through their heat.  Hunter Schuerenberg, Kerry Madsen, Gio Scelzi, and Corey Day rounded out the top five in points (full points below).

Blake Hahn shot from his pole position in the 25-lap feature to lead early over Dustin Selvage, Chase Randall, Madsen, and Schuerenberg.  Randall and Madsen both shot by Selvage on lap two for second and third, while Schuerenberg followed them into fourth on the next lap.  Sheldon Haudenschild started outside row six, but was into the top five by lap four.  Schatz had to repass Haudenschild on lap nine using the low side, and then claimed fourth from Schuerenberg on lap ten.  Hahn entered lapped traffic at that point, while Haudenschild re-entered the top five on lap 13.

Justin Peck was on a roll and had a run at Haudenschild on lap 17 when he made contact with his right rear and took a wicked ride down the frontstretch with eight laps to go.  Peck climbed out of the car.

Hahn led Randall, Madsen, Schatz, and Haudenschild back to green.  Randall dogged the leader and slid in front of him in turn four to lead lap 18.  Schatz followed him by Hahn to claim second on lap 19.  Schatz reeled in Randall slowly, passing him once, only to have Randall shoot back by him.

On lap 22, Schatz executed a slider in turn three and claimed the point for good.  Randall followed him to the checkers, followed by Haudenschild, who grabbed third with two to go, Madsen and Hahn.  Sye Lynch, Schuerenberg, Selvage, Brandon Wimmer, and Gio Scelzi completed the top ten.  David Gravel set quick time on the 52-car field, but suffered a setback in his heat.  That sent him to the C.  He won that, but was mired deep in the B main, which was won by Scelzi.  Brady Bacon, Haudenschild, Justin Henderson, Lynch, and Carson McCarl won heat races.

“We used to be really good in the prelims, and not as good on Saturday,” said Schatz in Victory Lane of his first prelim win in 20 years.  “We kind of took the emphasis off that.  I think being in the fifth heat was really key to getting through there.  The more you run, the more the track widens out, and it was good all night.  You just kind of go where they’re not.  That’s kind of what I did on the restart.  When the tires cycle through the heat a little bit, a little better car shines a little bit.  I could make the bottom work, make the middle work, it’s tricky.  You’ve got to be patient.  I knew I was in a good spot.  We came out of here with a decent point night and we’ll see how it goes.”

“It was just frustrating,” said Randall of his near miss.  “We’ve been working so hard to stand up here every week.  I feel like we’re getting close.  We’re on the biggest stage of the year this week, and it just stinks.  Being a rookie, I just want to succeed so well.  I feel like we had one of the best cars here.  I felt good really early on, and we got to him right before that red came out.  That kind of messed me up, but I’m really happy about how we did.  I wasn’t trying to make it easy on (Schatz).  I was just trying to race my butt off.  I want to be where they are.  It just takes time.  We’ll get better, and be there on Saturday.”

“(Kyle) Ripper had the car really good for the feature,” said Haudenschild of his crew chief.  “I got a good start, and the first couple, three laps, passed quite a few cars there.  I knew once I got by Donny, I needed to keep him back there.  I got hung up on the 39 car, and Donny was able to get by and gap us.  All in all, it was a good night.  That was a really fun feature.  It was the best I’ve felt in my car here in a long time.”

Join us Thursday, August 10 for the 62^nd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s Iowa Lottery Qualifying Night #2!  For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!

62^nd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s, BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night #1 Results 

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 2, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (34), 15.468; 2. 13, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (19), 15.488; 3. 14, Corey Day, Clovis, CA (7), 15.537; 4. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (15), 15.601; 5. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (2), 15.636; 6. 83, James McFadden, Alice Springs, NT, A (35), 15.638; 7. 10L, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (27), 15.675; 8. 2K, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (26), 15.687; 9. 19, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (5), 15.722; 10. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (3), 15.729; 11. 39, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (18), 15.754; 12. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (1), 15.759; 13. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (9), 15.760; 14. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (23), 15.771; 15. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (52), 15.801; 16. 39M, Justin Sanders, Aromas, CA (33), 15.837; 17. 50YR, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (8), 15.841; 18. 26, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (43), 15.872; 19. 9P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (48), 15.879; 20. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (13), 15.885; 21. 2KS, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (30), 15.889; 22. 7W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (17), 15.894; 23. 16, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (6), 15.949; 24. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (31), 15.961; 25. 1C, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX (22), 15.967; 26. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (20), 15.979; 27. 1A, Chase Dietz, York, PA (16), 16.012; 28. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (44), 16.023; 29. 42, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (37), 16.032; 30. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (12), 16.058; 31. 1X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (4), 16.068; 32. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (47), 16.078; 33. 21T, Cole Macedo, Lemoore, CA (49), 16.099; 34. 7TW, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (28), 16.130; 35. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (14), 16.134; 36. 21H, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (40), 16.145; 37. 7S, Robbie Price, Cobble Hill, BC, Can (25), 16.161; 38. 1, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (50), 16.181; 39. 1M, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (36), 16.183; 40. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (24), 16.217; 41. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (38), 16.282; 42. 70, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (29), 16.294; 43. 2M, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (41), 16.319; 44. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (42), 16.362; 45. 13JT, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (39), 16.446; 46. 17X, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (10), 16.535; 47. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (51), 16.552; 48. 24H, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (46), 16.597; 49. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (11), 16.689; 50. 2KK, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (45), 16.804; 51. 37, Ayden Gatewood, Caruthersville, MO (21), 16.866; 52. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (32), 16.882

Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:56.0: 1. Brady Bacon (1); 2. Jake Bubak (2); 3. Hunter Schuerenberg (6); 4. Chase Randall (4) / 5. Justin Sanders (5); 6. James McFadden (7); 7. Terry McCarl (10); 8. Kyle Reinhardt (9) / 9. McKenna Haase (3); 10. David Gravel (8)

Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 3:08.6: 1. Sheldon Haudenschild (2); 2. Justin Peck (8); 3. Robbie Price (1); 4. Dustin Selvage (4) / 5. Scott Bogucki (7); 6. JJ Hickle (5); 7. Chase Dietz (3); 8. Kraig Kinser (9) / 9. Chris Martin (10); 10. Aaron Reutzel (6)

Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 3:04.4: 1. Justin Henderson (1); 2. Cole Macedo (2); 3. Kasey Kahne (6); 4. Blake Hahn (3) / 5. Corey Day (8); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 7. Brooke Tatnell (4); 8. Zeb Wise (5) / 9. Kade Higday (10); 10. Davey Heskin (9)

Heat four (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Sye Lynch (3); 2. Brandon Wimmer (2); 3. Don Droud Jr. (1); 4. Kerry Madsen (6) / 5. Brent Marks (7); 6. Parker Price-Miller (5); 7. Gio Scelzi (8); 8. Matt Covington (9) / 9. Christopher Thram (4); 10. Cole Mincer (10)

Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:57.4: 1. Carson McCarl (1); 2. Donny Schatz (7); 3. Tanner Carrick (2); 4. Riley Goodno (3) / 5. Brenham Crouch (4); 6. Tasker Phillips (6); 7. Jamie Ball (8); 8. Tim Shaffer (5) / 9. Mark Dobmeier (9); 10. Kevin Ingle (10)

C main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. David Gravel (1); 2. Christopher Thram (3); 3. Kade Higday (6); 4. McKenna Haase (2) / 5. Kevin Ingle (8); 6. Landon Hansen (9); 7. Ayden Gatewood (7); 8. Chris Martin (5); 9. Mark Dobmeier (6) DNS – 10. Aaron Reutzel 11. Davey Heskin 12. Cole Mincer

B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Gio Scelzi (2); 2. Corey Day (1); 3. James McFadden (4); 4. Tasker Phillips (8) / 5. Jamie Ball (3); 6. Brent Marks (7); 7. Scott Bogucki (5); 8. Zeb Wise (11); 9. Justin Sanders (9); 10. Brooke Tatnell (14); 11. David Gravel (21); 12. Kyle Reinhardt (17); 13. JJ Hickle (10); 14. Parker Price-Miller (12); 15. Matt Covington (19); 16. Christopher Thram (22); 17. Kraig Kinser (18); 18. Tim Shaffer (13); 19. McKenna Haase (24); 20. Kade Higday (23); 21. Chase Dietz (16); 22. Terry McCarl (20); 23. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 24. Brenham Crouch (15)

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Donny Schatz (7); 2. Chase Randall (3); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (12); 4. Kerry Madsen (4); 5. Blake Hahn (1); 6. Sye Lynch (9); 7. Hunter Schuerenberg (6); 8. Dustin Selvage (2); 9. Brandon Wimmer (14); 10. Gio Scelzi (21); 11. Tasker Phillips (24); 12. Brady Bacon (16); 13. Kasey Kahne (5); 14. Corey Day (22); 15. James McFadden (23); 16. Cole Macedo (13); 17. Justin Henderson (18); 18. Riley Goodno (10); 19. Jake Bubak (11); 20. Don Droud Jr. (19); 21. Robbie Price (17); 22. Carson McCarl (20); 23. Tanner Carrick (15); 24. Justin Peck (8). Lap Leaders: Hahn 1-17, Randall 18-21, Schatz 22-25. Hard-charger: T.  Phillips.

Wednesday Points

Sources: Bill Wright
Photo: Donny Schatz celebrates his win on Prelim Night #1 at Knoxville Wednesday (Paul Arch Photo)

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