New Egypt: Race report

Schatz extends winning streak at New Egypt Speedway.

NEW EGYPT, NJ (July 28) -- Donny Schatz is getting hot at just the right time -- in the middle of the O'Reilly World of Outlaws Series' "Month of Money."

The 1997 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year won his third straight feature race Monday at New Egypt Speedway, passing O'Reilly World of Outlaws Series points leader Danny Lasoski in dense lapped traffic late in the 17th lap on his way to the $10,000 victory. Schatz also won a fierce battle with "The Dude" for the $20,000 first prize Saturday in the Cleveland Brothers Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway. Donny has won two of the series' three main events at New Egypt Speedway.

"The car was really good tonight," Schatz said following his fifth main event victory of the season. "We won here the first time we came here, but last year didn't have as good a run. Tonight, everything was working great. We timed great, my guys worked hard all night long, and it feels great to be standing here in victory lane -- the trophy girls here look pretty awesome. We'll just take this win, and worry about the next race tomorrow.

"Danny was running pretty good at the start, and I was trying to hang in there and make sure I didn't make any mistakes in traffic. Danny got to where he was sliding up in turns three and four, but I couldn't really do anything at first. Then he got trapped down there on the bottom and I was able to slide by on the top. The lapped cars were pretty tough, and it got to where you pretty much had to slide up and park right in front of them, but that's all part of it."

Schatz, the second-fastest qualifier in the 35-car field, followed Paul McMahan and Mark Smith across the finish line in the Second Dash Race for the right to start the 30-lap "A" Feature outside the third row.

Lasoski, who earned the privilege of starting on the pole by winning the First Dash Race, drove NASCAR Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart's #20 J.D. Byrider Eagle into the lead as the green flag fell. Greg Hodnett, the fastest qualifier and First Heat Race winner, jumped the cushion, hit the wall and flipped in turn two, however, nullifying the original start. The 1993 Rookie of the Year was uninjured, but the severe damage to the #12 Apple Motorsports Maxim kept him from restarting the race.

"The Dude" burst into the lead and Schatz steered his #15 Parker Stores J&J into the high groove to pass Billy Pauch, Smith, Trevor Lewis and McMahan as the green flag replaced the red. McMahan and Smith passed Lewis during the second and third laps.

Schatz caught Lasoski as the leaders entered lapped traffic five laps into the race. Donny raced wheel-to-wheel with "The Dude" through turns one and two the next time around, then barely avoided a collision with Randy West during the seventh lap.

Schatz threatened to take the lead with an inside move through the first and second corners midway through the race, but was unable to surge ahead. Donny continued to challenge Lasoski before riding the rim around him in turn four late in the 17th lap.

Steve Kinser, who drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim into 10th place from inside the eighth row during the first 20 laps, suffered a flat right rear tire early in lap 26 when he collided with the spinning Daryn Pittman in the second corner. "The King of the Outlaws" restarted at the back of the pack with a fresh right rear tire and raced into ninth place. Pittman, who turned the #21 Hop & Sack J&J completely around in the collision, passed Fourth Heat Race winner Joey Saldana for fifth place with an inside move in turn four as they raced to the checkered flag.

Schatz lapped up to ninth place and crossed the finish line as Lasoski raced into the third corner.

"This is a habit I want to keep repeating," Donny said. "My guys just keep giving me an awesome race car that will perform anywhere I need it to run on the track. It was a great battle again with Danny, very typical of how we both usually race -- me on the top and him on the bottom.

"It came down to a matter of how the traffic was going to affect us. About halfway through the race, Danny got bottled up for just a second while I had clear track on the cushion and got around him. From that point, I had to take advantage of every opening in traffic to pull away. It was a great race. I hope the fans enjoyed it because it was great fun from my seat.

"Our Parker Stores team has really gelled the past few weeks and our results are the proof. I am so proud of my guys; these wins are as much theirs as they are mine."

McMahan finished in third place, ahead of 10th-starting Jason Meyers, Pittman, Saldana, Pauch, Brian Paulus, Kinser and Lance Dewease.

-WoO-