Schatz & Tomkins Share Canandaigua Feature Gold On Memorial Day

Canandaigua, NY – May 25, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director

Three-time reigning World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series points king Donny Schatz and home track favorite Gary Tomkins doubled up Monday night in round one of the Wings & Warriors Tour 2009 at Canandaigua Speedway and each came away with decisive wins in front of a capacity crowd on hand to help celebrate the Memorial Day special.

National touring star Schatz pocketed $10,000 for his first career triumph on the historic Ontario County Fairgrounds half-miler while Big-Block Modified standout Tomkins registered his second victory of the season in Canandaigua to earn a guaranteed starting spot in the ‘All-Star Exemption Dash’ on Saturday of the inaugural DIRTcar All-Star Weekend, July 17-19, at Cayuga County Fair Speedway.

The Monday night sprint special marked the Outlaws’ first trip to wine country since 1999, yet Schatz appeared right at home scoring his third straight top-five finish at the venerable Routes 5 & 20 clay oval. The 31 year-old invader from Fargo, North Dakota chased Pennsylvanian Stevie Smith Jr. to the checkers in ’99 after settling for third-place in Canandaigua the year prior.

This time around, Schatz sped past all-time ‘King of the Outlaws’ Steve Kinser on lap nine and opened up a half-straightway advantage en route to his sixth win of the season to pull further ahead of Kinser on the current points chart.

“New York has been very good to me in the past, a 10-year absence from this place definitely stinks,” remarked Schatz, who also scored his sixth career victory in New York State in the caution-free 25-lap A-main to increase his overall Outlaws Series total to 94, which ranks fifth all-time far behind leader Kinser who owns 551 first-place trophies.

“This place is still pretty tricky but the car ran flawless. I got a little cautious lapping cars although we went with the softest tire we could find. You gotta slow down to go fast sometimes and tonight was definitely one of those nights,” added schatz, who need just 8 min., 2 sec. to bring the curtain down on his latest masterful performance steering the Tony Stewart Racing no. 15 Armor All-Parker Stores/J&J ride.

Pole-sitter and Crane Cams Dash winner Kinser ---in a last turn, last lap pass of Schatz--- settled for the runner-up position followed by 1998 Canandaigua winner Danny Lasoski, Jason Sides, second-generation standout Joey Saldana and 23 year-old female sensation Jessica Zemken from Sprakers, New York in the best WoO finish of her young career.

Of the 18 sprinters signed in, 12 made their first-ever visit to the Ontario County Fairgrounds facility, with Schatz emerging as the 10th different winner in 16 events staged since 1983. Jason Sides from Bartlett, Tennessee posted fast time in qualifying at 16.364 sec. (109.998 mph) which was far off the single-lap standard established by Ohioan Jac Haudenschild (14.773 seconds, 121.844 mph) in 1997.

Still in search of his first Canandaigua points crown, Clifton Springs speedster Tomkins was even more stingy than Schatz in the first non-stop feature go as he led flag-to-flag to outlast rising star Matt Sheppard.

“We were a little bit loose out there tonight but fortunately my son drew number one to give us the best starting spot,” said Tomkins, 43, following his 45th career Big-Block triumph, which puts him just eight behind Will Cagle’s count of 53 on the all-time track Modified win list. “The bottom was the place to be tonight so I just stayed low and tried to protect my line while trying to be patient in traffic.”

Already capturing three of the season-opening four checkered flags at the fairgrounds, Sheppard charged into second with seven scored in the 25-lap main event. When lap 10 clicked off the deficit was still two-thirds of a straightaway yet Tomkins reached traffic to allow ‘Super Matt’ a chance to close the gap.

Lap after lap Sheppard honed in on owner Doug Dulen’s no. 84 Honeoye Auto Parts-Rochester Americans-National Guard/Bicknell machine, reducing the margin to a half-dozen car-lengths with 15 scored and just a three-car margin by lap 18.

But that was as close as Sheppard could get as Tomkins held on for a .7-second victory despite lapped cars figuring in the finish. With Tomkins and Sheppard the only winners so far this season in five features, third-place finisher Chad Homan and fifth-place runner Rob Bellinger made their best ever runs in Canandaigua while Kevin Ridley finished fourth in his Big-Block debut behind the wheel of the Brownell Motorsports no. 29x XTreme Lubricants/Bicknell mount.

Part two of the Wings & Warriors Tour 2009 at the ‘Land of Legends’ will be held on Tuesday, June 23 when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series travels to wine country for its second annual appearance.

WINGS & WARRIORS 2009 RESULTS SUMMARY

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Main (25 Laps):

1. 15-DONNY SCHATZ, 2. 11-Steve Kinser, 3. 6-Danny Lasoski, 4. 7s-Jason Sides, 5. 9-Joey Saldana, 6. 1z-Jessica Zemken, 7. 20-Kraig Kinser, 8. 21au-Brooke Tatnell, 9. 14-Jason Meyers, 10. 63-Chad Kemenah, 11. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 12. 19-Craig Dollansky, 13. 22-Brian Ellenberger, 14. r19-Jac Haudenschild, 15. 0-Glenn Styres, 16. 5w-Lucas Wolfe, 17. 38-Brad Knab,

DNS: 8-Bobby Breen.

Qualifying

Time Trials: 1. Jason Sides-16.364 sec. (109.998 mph), 2. Danny Lasoski-16.700, 3. Donny Schatz-16.881, 4. Steve Kinser-16.904, 5. Chad Kemenah-16.931, 6. Joey Saldana-16.948, 7. Brooke Tatnell-17.025, 8. Jason Meyers-17.054, 9. Kraig Kinser-17.065, 10. Sam Hafertepe Jr.-17.073, 11. Jessica Zemken-17.273, 12. Lucas Wolfe-17.285, 13. Craig Dollansky-17.450, 14. Jac Haudenschild-17.737, 15. Glenn Styres-17.954, 16. Brian Ellenberger-18.511, 17. Brad Knab-18.375, 18. Bobby Breen-No Time.

Heat Winners: Hafertepe, Zemken, Schatz.
Crane Cams Dash: S. Kinser.


DIRTcar Big Block Modified Feature (25 laps):

1. 84-Gary Tomkins, 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 3. 91-Chad Homan, 4. 29x-Kevin Ridley, 5. 8r-Rob Bellinger, 6. 99-Charlie Donk, 7. 44-Shannon Whaley, 8. 7-Paul Guererri, 9. 99b-Chuck Bower, 10. 7x-Steve Paine, 11. 29-Jeff Brownell Jr., 12. 48too-Dave Rauscher, 13. 21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 14. 25-Paul Habeck, 15. 14-Brian Swarthout, 16. 2b-Ron Cartwright Jr., 17. 14j-Alan Johnson, 18. 28p-Eldon Payne Jr., 19. 17x-Craig Gardner, DNS: 3-Justin Haers, 50-Don Slover.

Qualifying

Heat Winners: Guererri, Sheppard.