BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Two of America’s best racing talents squared off in Thursday night’s NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series opener at Volusia Raceway Park.
Kyle Larson got one big run and threw an amazing slide job at Donny Schatz to momentarily grab the lead, but Schatz’s Advance Auto Parts No.15 ended up gracing victory lane.
After turning fast time and convincingly winning his heat and the dash to claim the pole for the feature, Aaron Reutzel seemed poised to run the table, but Schatz would have none of that.
Reutzel beat him into turn one on the break, but Schatz blasted around the high side of the big half mile and came off turn two like a rocket, blowing past Reutzel and taking a lead he would hold to the checkered flag.
“I knew that if anybody else was going to come out on top tonight it was us,” declared Schatz. “The outside was the place to start and I stayed up top all night. The middle was just too rough.”
Schatz had just caught the tail of the field when Ayrton Gennetten and Jacob Allen both slowed to draw the first yellow flag. Schatz dominated Reutzel again on the single-file restart, reaching the backmarkers again on lap seven.
Behind him, the sixth-starting Larson and David Gravel, who started right in front of him, were disputing third. Gravel held the spot until Kasey Kahne spun on lap eight to draw a yellow flag, with Larson somehow getting through the rutted turn one fast enough to get under Gravel and move to third once action resumed. He then closed steadily on Reutzel and slid under him on lap 17.
Schatz’s lead shrunk steadily but still looked safe until Brad Sweet, who had been struggling, slowed with three to go to trigger one last yellow flag.
Much to the delight of the full house, Larson blasted down inside Schatz on the green and slid up in front of him as they hit turn one. But Schatz’s Ford powerplant drove him back underneath the NASCAR Cup Series champion and out to a substantial lead and the victory.
Reutzel was third amidst a cloud of smoke with Gravel and Anthony Macri rounding out the top five.
“I was surprised he got me back,” admitted Larson. “The bumps bothered me but they bothered everyone so I can’t complain.”
The bumps and ruts were a result of new clay and four days of rain, posing a major challenge for the track crew, who turned out a surface better than many had expected.
“There was enough bite there that we got off that turn good when I needed to,” said Schatz. “It was a long time coming but this Ford is hitting on all cylinders now. Normally, I’m not that aggressive but I had to do something to get the lead back. We made it work!”
As for Reutzel, he said “the smoke didn’t bother me. I knew we could finish. I wasn’t struggling or anything, those guys were fast and that was all we had.”
The finish:
The Feature (25 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$10,000]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [6][$6,000]; 3. 8-Aaron Reutzel [1][$3,500]; 4. 2-David Gravel [4][$2,800]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri [3][$2,500]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [9][$2,300]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [16][$2,200]; 8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5][$2,100]; 9. 83-James McFadden [11][$2,050]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [20][$2,000]; 11. 11-Kerry Madsen [14][$1,600]; 12. 19-Brent Marks [15][$1,400]; 13. 41-Carson Macedo [7][$1,200]; 14. 26-Cory Eliason [18][$1,100]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich [13][$1,050]; 16. 49-Brad Sweet [12][$1,000]; 17. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [23][$1,000]; 18. 5-Spencer Bayston [19][$1,000]; 19. 9-Kasey Kahne [10][$1,000]; 20. 7S-Jason Sides [22][$1,000]; 21. 55-Alex Bowman [17][$1,000]; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser [24][$]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [8][$1,000]; 24. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [21][$1,000]; 25. 6-Bill Rose [25][$]; 26. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [26][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-25. KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+10]