Donny Schatz celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday night’s Knoxville Nationals for the World of Outlaws NOS Sprint Car Series. Photo: Trent Gower
After five years away from the top step, Donny Schatz finally returned to glory at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.
Rallying late in the running, the Fargo, North Dakota speedster drove by David Gravel on the 46th lap to take the lead.
From there, the 45-year-old drove to his 11th Knoxville Nationals title in World of Outlaws NOS Sprint Car Series competition.
“There are no words for this,” Schatz said. “I could hear my dad (Danny Schatz) telling me to gather it up and settle down and it worked.”
Schatz’s victory brings him within one away from tying Steve Kinser (12) for the most titles in the history of the Knoxville Nationals.
It was even more rewarding considering the fact that Schatz fell as far back as seventh in the early running. The Tony Stewart Racing/Curb-Agajanian Racing crew aced the halfway break and gave Schatz a car capable of winning, from there it was up to the champ.
He restarted in sixth and promptly drove by everyone in his sight en route to the win.
“I didn’t drive like I should at the beginning,” Schatz added. “We were decent both nights, but took a big swing at it and tried something new with the motor tonight. I didn’t know if we were gonna get there after I fell as far back as I did. I just couldn’t control the wheel spin.”
The halfway break at Lap 25 allowed his crew to go to work and it paid dividends.
“These guys did an incredible job,” said Schatz. “It was do or die on the bottom. I kept getting better and better there at the end. This one feels like the first time, really.”
Gravel finished in second, with Logan Schuchart in third, Tyler Courtney in fourth, and Jacob Allen in fifth.
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, Brent Marks, Sheldon Haudenschild, Brad Sweet, and Daryn Pittman rounded out the top 10.
For more information on the World of Outlaws NOS Sprint Car Series, visit WorldofOutlaws.com.
World of Outlaws NOS Sprint Car Series
Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, Iowa
Knoxville Nationals – August 14, 2022
1. 15-Donny Schatz
2. 2-David Gravel
3. 1S-Logan Schuchart
4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney
5. 1A-Jacob Allen
6. 57-Kyle Larson
7. 19-Brent Marks
8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild
9. 49-Brad Sweet
10. 27H-Daryn Pittman
11. 11X-Michael Kofoid
12. 13-Justin Peck
13. 24R-Rico Abreu
14. 8-Aaron Reutzel
15. 83JR-Kerry Madsen
16. 88-Austin McCarl
17. 41-Carson Macedo
18. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips
19. 83-James McFadden
20. 21-Brian Brown
21. 39-Justin Sanders
22. 18-Giovanni Scelzi
23. 25-J.J. Hickle
24. 11M-Parker Price-Miller
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