JACKSON, Minn. — When the white flag waved on Saturday night the 46th FENDT Jackson Nationals looked to already be decided.
Donny Schatz had led from the drop of the green in the 35-lapper. The 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car champion worked through traffic masterfully, did what he needed to do on a restart, and held a comfortable advantage when the final lap began.
But Sheldon Haudenschild can never be counted out.
Haudenschild was more than a second behind Schatz as the white flag was displayed. He put the NOS Energy Drink No. 17 right where he’s most comfortable – against the cushion – and let it rip. As they exited turn two, the gap visibly shrank. And then in the final set of corners Haudenschild went full send around the top and closed in, but Schatz narrowly held him off for $25,000 in a finish that brought the Jackson Motorplex crowd to its feet.
“I guess you’ve got to look at stats and look back at things, and I think we’ve taken these two-day shows, almost every one of them on the first night we’ve kind of tried something to get where we’re at,” Schatz explained. “Then when Scuba (Steve Swenson), Todd (Devnich), and Dauson (Heitritter) come back the second day it’s game on. Tonight was another one of those nights. We took what we learned from the first night for the second night. Obviously, we had help with that pill draw.
“Man, on the race track you could go everywhere. We could run the bottom and the top. I ran the middle there at the end. I kind of knew I needed to keep my tires underneath me. I was kind of hanging off of (Turn) 4. I don’t know what was going on up there, but that’s my own fault. I asked to get really tight, and sometimes you pay the price when you get over that crown that way.”
Schatz’s win gave him his second Jackson Nationals title to go along with his 2018 triumph. The Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian driver now owns four victories at Jackson, putting him in a four-way tie with Logan Schuchart, Brad Sweet, and Carson Macedo for the most wins at the Minnesota oval with The Greatest Show on Dirt. His fourth of 2024 is the 315th of his legendary career.
Schatz led the field to green after coming out on top of the Toyota Racing King of the Hill. Second-starting David Gravel attempted to give him an opening lap challenge. Schatz committed to the bottom on the first circuit while Gravel rolled about a lane higher in the Big Game Motorsports No. 2.
Exiting turn four on the first lap Gravel nearly got his left front alongside Schatz but couldn’t quite get there. Schatz began to extend the advantage on lap two.
Disaster nearly struck Schatz with 24 laps remaining as he worked through traffic. Landon Crawley and Kelby Watt got together right in front of him and spun. Schatz quickly reacted by driving between the two, narrowly avoiding disaster.
When the green flag brought the action back to life Gravel looked to Schatz’s outside, but just like the race’s initial start he couldn’t find the momentum necessary.
Haudenschild momentarily slipped back to fourth as Aaron Reutzel rolled past, but Haudenschild rallied to drive back around him. Haudenschild then got to work on tracking down Gravel. Haudenschild’s first move for second was countered as Gravel crossed him over. But on lap 28, Haudenschild ripped the cushion to secure the runner-up spot.
Three lapped cars stood between Schatz and Haudenschild once he snagged the second spot. Victory appeared entirely out of reach until the 30-year-old got clear of traffic. The margin fell bit by bit as Haudenschild prepared for one final swing on the last lap. He gave it everything he had but couldn’t quite make the pass.
The veteran felt especially grateful to hold off Haudenschild’s charge.
“All I can say is if you’re a fan, it’s a good time to be alive,” Schatz said. “These kids, I criticize them a lot there’s no question. But it makes me damn proud to race with guys like Sheldon and Carson (Macedo) and seeing what’s happening because not only are they awesome, but they make the old guys like me even better. And that’s what this is all about. Happy to steal one from them tonight, that’s for sure.”
The runner-up run for Haudenschild’s was his second consecutive second-place finish. He and the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing crew are building some momentum with their fourth podium run in the last five points races.
“I think just rolling around there in third and fourth and being able to search especially with a really good race car. That’s the only way you’re able to do that,” Haudenschild said. “Hats off to Donny. It’s fun racing Donny. He’s the best at it. I’m just happy with our speed this weekend and looking forward to the next.”
Rounding out the top three was David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports No. 2.
“The top of (turns) one and two was pretty good early on, but the top of (turns) three and four wasn’t. I felt like I was right there on his (Schatz’s) right rear, but I just wasn’t able to get around him. I feel like that would’ve changed our race a lot there. Donny was good through lapped traffic. I just feel like in the middle of that race I kind of struggled to find a place in (turns) one and two where I felt good.”
Aaron Reutzel and Emerson Axsom completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 3. 2-David Gravel[2]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[6]; 5. 27-Emerson Axsom[8]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[10]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[7]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]; 10. 5T-Ryan Timms[18]; 11. 10-Scott Bogucki[11]; 12. 41-Carson Macedo[19]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog[12]; 14. 55-Kerry Madsen[9]; 15. 3-Tim Kaeding[24]; 16. 23-Garet Williamson[17]; 17. 2KS-Kelby Watt[16]; 18. 70-Kraig Kinser[13]; 19. 3J-Dusty Zomer[22]; 20. 17GP-Justin Henderson[20]; 21. 16-Brooke Tatnell[14]; 22. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[23]; 23. 7S-Landon Crawley[21]; 24. 24T-Christopher Thram[15]