News Director 
Column By: ALEX NIETEN / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – KNOXVILLE, IA – Hope is alive for Donny Schatz at the 63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s.
Wednesday’s prelim night at Knoxville Raceway didn’t go according to plan for the 11-time Knoxville Nationals champion. He nearly missed the Heat Race invert with a 38th place Qualifying effort. And then in the Feature he could only move forward once spot from 19th to 18th. The night left Schatz well outside the lock-ins for Saturday’s 50-lap finale and forced him to Friday’s FVP Hard Knox Night.
And Hard Knox Night is just what Schatz needed. It’s all about a clean slate. It’s designed to give those with a forgettable prelim a chance to make up for it, and that’s exactly what Schatz did with the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing team.
After setting Simpson Quick Time, Schatz had a little help in his Your Life Iowa Heat Race. He finished fourth, one spot outside a transfer to the Feature, but Jack Dover missing the scales and the resulting disqualification lifted Schatz into a transfer spot. With the main event lined up on Qualifying times, Schatz earned the pole. Logan Schuchart gave him a challenge in the first few laps, but Schatz went on to drive away and secure the checkered flag along with a starting spot in Saturday’s finale.
“You’ve got to get in the show first,” Schatz said. “I just think that’s something that’s getting harder and harder to do all the time. Obviously, I’m not getting any younger, but I’m not going anywhere either. I feel like experience sometimes kicks in, and we’ll see if we can’t put a little experience to the test tomorrow and get through there. We’ve done it before. We’re going to have to be a little bit better than we were right there. But I’ve got all the faith in the world in my guys that they’ll go to work and get us there.”
The victory put Schatz in his 26th consecutive Knoxville Nationals Championship Feature, equaling him with Danny Lasoski for the third most appearances. He’ll start 21st with his sights on a record tying 12th event title. Schatz started one other finale back in 2013. The result? He charged all the way to Victory Lane.
Schatz pulled out to an early advantage but narrowly led the first circuit over Logan Schuchart. On the second lap Schuchart snuck under Schatz in Turns 3 and 4 to take the top spot. Schatz refused to be rattled as he used a similar move in the same set of corners on Lap 3 to reclaim the lead.
“I needed to get off that bottom and wanted to go up there and try it,” Schatz explained. “I figured I better do it early in the race. So, when I did go to the top, I changed lanes and Logan went right by on the bottom. And then he went up there and I went back down, and I was like, ‘Well, we’re not going to do that again.”
“I felt comfortable on the top,” Schuchart said of their early battle. “When we switched lanes on me, I went to the bottom of (Turns) 3 and 4. I felt good, felt like I ran a really good corner and obviously was able to come out in the lead. But I didn’t know what the bottom of (Turns) 1 and 2 was going to feel like, and I didn’t feel like the bottom of (Turns) 3 and 4 was going to last the whole time I felt comfortable running it. So, I went back to the top, and once Donny passed me I knew I was going to have trouble getting back by him.”
Getting back by Schuchart proved to be the winning move for Schatz as he went effectively unchallenged for the remainder of the 25 laps.
But behind him the battle for the other three tickets to Saturday’s finale was far from over. Schuchart held down the second spot while a mix of Austin McCarl, Justin Henderson, Emerson Axsom, and Lynton Jeffrey began to go at it for the final two transfer spots.
Henderson blasted into third on Lap 7, putting Austin McCarl on the bubble. Then on Lap 13 McCarl fell outside the lock-in spots as Axsom went by him for fourth. Shortly after losing the spot McCarl slowed to a stop due to rear end damage.
Up ahead Schatz pieced together a strong drive through traffic on his way to a Hard Knox checkered flag and a spot in the sport’s most prestigious race.
“It wasn’t the prettiest, but this is the Knoxville Nationals, and I guess sometimes you’ve got to be lucky too. I guess when it happens to you it’s great, and when it happens to doesn’t happen to you it’s not so great… We’re going to have to be a little bit better tomorrow if we’re going to come through the field. You’ve got to take it in steps. The first thing you’ve got to do is get it in the show.”
