Port, Rain, and Ransomville

10/19/2017

Jacob Allen

Port, Rain, and Ransomville

Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway would be the final chapter in the PA Posse vs. World of Outlaws 2017 story. This battle is always interesting for the Shark Racing team being based out of PA and full-time World of Outlaw competitors the team is a bit of neutral character in this famed battle.

Comically the last time Logan Schuchart pulled into victory lane at Port Royal as an Outlaw, an odd peace seemingly was placed over the heated rivalry as the Outlaws claimed the win as did the PA Posse.

Every time the Outlaws race in "Posseland" the stakes are raised, and that's what fuels this rivalry, as for Shark Racing, they enjoy being home and always want to perform and a higher level for the hometown fans.

Firing off in time-trials, it was Jacob Allen laying down a blistering lap 15.705 around the Juniata County half-mile. That would be QuickTime in flight B qualification; Logan Schuchart put down a lap of 15.878, which placed him 6th in flight B qualifications.

Next up was Heat Race competition as Jacob Allen was slated to roll from the front row of heat race number three and Logan Schuchart was pushing off from third in heat race number four.

Jacob Allen would come home second while walking away from Lance Dewease and Jac Haudenschild, but after the checkered flag flew an issue seen Jacob Allen hard into the outside retaining wall, the crash would end a promising night for the 1a car.

Heat #3 - Flight (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [1]; 3. 69K-Lance Dewease [3]; 4. 17-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 6. 24-Lucas Wolfe [7]; 7. 27-Greg Hodnett [8]; 8. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 9. D4-Danny Holtgraver [9]; 10. 5B-Justin Barger [10]

Logan Schuchart would slip back a bit from his third starting spot to finish 5th in heat race number four locking him into the night's A-Main event.

Heat #4 - Flight (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4]; 4. 19P-Paige Polyak [7]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3]; 6. 55-Mike Wagner [9]; 7. 2-Shane Stewart [6]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri [8]; 9. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [10]; 10. 18-Ian Madsen [5]

After the stars and cars of the Craftsman World of Outlaws Sprint Car series would shake out of the famous four-wide formation, Logan Schuchart would find himself rolling off in the 19th starting position.

Logan would quickly move into the 16th position as he picked his way through the field in the early going. The charge would, however, end a broken fuel fitting would while running in 14th position would end Logan Schuchart's Night.

The team would thrash throughout the night to have the cars ready to rock for Sunday's Empire State Challenge at Weedsport Speedway, but once again mother nature would be the winner of that event.

Monday Night the team would head to Ransomville Speedway in Ransomville, New York. 32 sprint cars would take time trials Jacob and Logan would place 12th and 13th (12. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.185; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.193)

Logan Schuchart would start 4th in heat race number one and a pretty fast, but narrow racing surface didn't provide a lot of elbow room as Logan would settle into that fourth spot locking himself into the night's A-Main event.

Jacob Allen would start 3rd in hear race number four, and the story was much the same, Jacob would ride in third place locking himself into the feature event.

On the coldest night of the 2017 campaign the shark racing machines lined up 12th and 13th at the drop of the green flag. The track was very fast and all night long as it proved to be a tough test for the World of Outlaws.

With passing at a premium, the excitement was still aplenty. Logan Schuchart raged a fierce battle with Ian Madsen for most of the A-Main with Jacob Allen just behind him. Tim Schaffer would rail the cushion for 30 straight laps and take home the Big R Showdown at Ransomville Speedway. Logan Schuchart would come home 13th, and Jacob Allen would finish 15th.

The series will now head out to Kansas City Kansas and race at the Lakeside Speedway Friday, October 20th and then they will make their way down to the Salina high banks for the "twister showdown."

Race Recaps

Donny Schatz Downs ‘The Posse’ and Claims 19th Win of Season at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, PA – October 14, 2017 – Donny Schatz passed Port Royal Speedway Track Champion, Brock Zearfoss on lap 18 and survived a late charge from Lance Dewease to extend his points lead atop the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series Point Standings and score his 19th win of the season. Dewease and 10th starting Daryn Pittman completed the podium at Port Royal.

The Craftsman Club Dash Inversion was eight, putting Zearfoss on the pole. Zearfoss, who scored his first career World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory back in July at Williams Grove, led all six laps of the Dash to earn the pole for the 30-lap Feature.

Zearfoss edged fellow front row starter, Jason Sides to lead lap one. As Zearfoss extended his lead, Schatz worked by Sides for the runner-up position on lap three. It didn’t take long for the leaders to catch traffic as Zearfoss did so on lap six. The Jonestown, Pennsylvania native was strong in traffic, utilizing the top of the Speedway to clear the first five or so lapped cars. Just as Schatz began cutting into Zearfoss’ lead, last year’s event winner, Logan Schuchart came to a stop with 14 laps complete.

On the ensuing double-file restart, Zearfoss choose the bottom but quickly made his way back to the top of the racing surface. Schatz attempted a pair of sliders in turn one, but Zearfoss never lifted and maintained the lead. On lap 18, Zearfoss went a couple of car lengths lower in turns one and two allowing Schatz to get enough momentum down the backstretch and take command going into turn three.

A lap later, Tim Shaffer brought out the yellow with 11 laps remaining with Schatz as your leader. Schatz, who chose the inside for the double-file restart, got a good restart, allowing Lance Dewease to work by Zearfoss for second. As Dewease and Schatz put distance between themselves and the rest of the field, Zearfoss began to fade, eventually bringing out the caution with two to go, out of fuel.

The restart gave Pennsylvania Posse member Lance Dewease one last chance to steal the victory for the hometown crowd. Dewease stayed right on the back bumper of the Tony Stewart Racing No.15 on the restart and brought the crowd to their feet with a slide job into turn one. Schatz stayed on the hammer and powered back in front down the backstretch and went to win by .792 seconds.

When asked about the restart with two go Schatz said, “I knew [Lance] was going to try something. We weren’t the greatest on the start, but once we got up to speed, I could move around the racetrack. He races clean. He gave me just enough room to get by. We come here for excitement, and that got me excited, so I hope it got the crowd into it too.”

Schatz, who is en route to his ninth Series Championship, was pleased to get his first win since the West Coast swing, “We need to get these wins. It seems like it’s been a while. With the season coming to an end, we’ve got to get these wins. It’s good to get one in PA.”

Dewease, who has 106 career Port Royal Speedway victories, was happy with second. “That’s all we had,” he said regarding the late race restart slider. “[Donny] was really good all night. We’re happy to end the year with a ninth to the second run against these guys,” Dewease added.

Before Daryn Pittman could comment on his 10th to the third run, he applauded the Port Royal Speedway. “Our guys work hard on our racecars, so it’s fun to go to tracks that you can see the effort they put into the track. For a driver that only gets here once a year, you see the huge differences and improvements,” Pittman, who spent a handful of years racing as a local in Central Pennsylvania, said.

“With the way we started, we’ll take third,” Pittman, who fell as far back as 11th, said. “Late restarts went our way and some holes opened up. The track was nice and wide for the Feature; the best cars ended up winning and running up front. As a racer, that’s all you can ask for,” the Oklahoma native added.

Schatz echoed the positive statements about the improvements. “This place is incredible. The improvements, the lighting, everything. It’s crazy the amount of work and financial effort Port Royal is putting in. When you come here, you know the parking lot will be full; the pits will be full, and you’ll see a race,” the eight-time series Champion said to a nice applause from the Pennsylvania fans.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series returns to action in New York Sunday evening at the Weedsport Speedway and again at the Ransomville Speedway Monday night. Both races are makeup rain dates from earlier this year. DIRTVision.com will have live video coverage of all the action from Weedsport Sunday. For more information about the Empire State Challenge at the Weedsport Speedway, click here.

Feature: (30 Laps) 1. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$10,000]; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease [9][$5,500]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [10][$3,200]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [5][$2,800]; 5. 41-Jason Johnson [6][$2,500]; 6. 71M-Dave Blaney [4][$2,300]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [8][$2,200]; 8. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$2,100]; 9. 17-Jac Haudenschild [13][$2,050]; 10. 5-David Gravel [22][$2,000]; 11. 2-Shane Stewart [25][$700]; 12. 18-Ian Madsen [21][$1,200]; 13. 19-Brent Marks [14][$1,100]; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser [11][$1,050]; 15. 7S-Jason Sides [2][$1,000]; 16. 20-Ryan Taylor [12][$900]; 17. 11-T.J. Stutts [18][$800]; 18. 19P-Paige Polyak [15][$800]; 19. 14-Tony Stewart [20][$800]; 20. W20-Greg Wilson [17][$800]; 21. 4-Parker Price-Miller [16][$800]; 22. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [1][$800]; 23. 49X-Tim Shaffer [23][$800]; 24. 1S-Logan Schuchart [19][$800]; 25. 39-Cory Haas [24][$800]; 26. 24-Lucas Wolfe [26][$]; Lap Leaders: Brock Zearfoss 1-17, Donny Schatz 18-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 2-Shane Stewart[+14]

Qualifying Flight-A: 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 15.704; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.929; 3. 71M-Dave Blaney, 15.997; 4. 7S-Jason Sides, 16.026; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.038; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman, 16.071; 7. 20-Ryan Taylor, 16.122; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 16.123; 9. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 16.136; 10. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 16.184; 11. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 16.209; 12. 11-T.J. Stutts, 16.226; 13. 5-David Gravel, 16.247; 14. 39-Cory Haas, 16.277; 15. 7W-Logan Wagner, 16.34; 16. 13-Clyde Knipp, 16.41; 17. 47K-Kody Lehman, 16.495; 18. 747-Davey Sammons, 16.517; 19. 10K-Joe Kata, 16.547; 20. 12W-Troy Fraker, 17.255

Qualifying Flight-B: 1. 1A-Jacob Allen, 15.705; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.775; 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.811; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 15.84; 5. 69K-Lance Dewease, 15.841; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 15.878; 7. 17-Jac Haudenschild, 15.913; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.978; 9. 14-Tony Stewart, 16.005; 10. 18-Ian Madsen, 16.014; 11. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.094; 12. 2-Shane Stewart, 16.106; 13. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 16.112; 14. 19P-Paige Polyak, 16.114; 15. 27-Greg Hodnett, 16.123; 16. 39M-Anthony Macri, 16.275; 17. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 16.297; 18. 55-Mike Wagner, 16.372; 19. 5B-Justin Barger, 16.454; 20. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 16.529

Tim Shaffer Goes Flag-to-Flag at Ransomville
RANSOMVILLE, New York – October 16, 2017 - The ‘Steel City Outlaw’ Tim Shaffer led flag-to-flag in the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series first visit the Ransomville Speedway in 20 years. Shaffer fell off the narrow front stretch in lapped traffic with two to go but was able to corral his No. 49X and pilot it to his second World of Outlaws Feature win of the year. Brad Sweet and Shane Stewart completed the podium at ‘The Big R Outlaw Shootout’ presented by Budweiser.

The Craftsman Club Dash inversion was zero lining Shaffer on the pole of the Dash, which he would win to earn the pole for the 30-lap Feature.

Shaffer reached lapped traffic quickly and was nearly taken out by a spinning Dane Lorenc on lap eight. “I have no idea how we missed the 00,” was the first thing Shaffer mentioned after the race.

Sheldon Haudenschild brought out the only other caution on lap ten, as he was battling inside the top ten before a broken front axle sidelined the No.93.

Shaffer was untouchable in the open air and had a commanding lead with ten to go with Brad Sweet and David Gravel waiting for lapped traffic to make their move in on the ‘Steel City Outlaw.' With three to go, Shaffer had to slow his pace significantly with a hoard of lapped cars battling for position in front him. Shaffer slipped off the front stretch into the small moat with three to go, allowing Sweet and Gravel to close in. Shaffer recovered quickly and went to claim the win .581 seconds in front of Sweet.

“I thought I was in trouble when I slid off, but here we are,” the Aliquippa, Pennsylvania native said. Quite possibly the most remarkable feat of the victory was it was just Tim and his crew chief, Cody Jacobs, tonight at Ransomville. “Hats off to Cody, he gave me a great race car that was a lot of fun to drive,” Shaffer said sincerely in Victory Lane.

It was Shaffer’s second World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series win in the past month as he scored a victory at Eldora in late September. Shaffer hinted that he and his Demyan-Rudzik Racing No.49X might head West with the Series to Kansas next week.

Sweet settled for second “My one shot was when Tim went off the edge. I’d like to do that lap over again,” the Grass Valley, California native cited. “It’s nice to be on the podium, we’ll keep pushing to get some wins,” Sweet added.

David Gravel blew a tire running third, coming to the checkered, allowing Shane Stewart to inherit the final podium spot. “Lately, I’ve been the one blowing tires,” Stewart said with a smile as he expressed his condolences to Gravel. “I’m thankful to be here, we’ll settle for third and move forward,” Stewart added.

Donny Schatz finished fourth with Gravel limping the CJB Motorsports No.5 to the finish to complete the top five.

Schatz set fast time over the 32-car field in qualifying at a 12.629 easily establishing a new Ransomville Track Record. The previous track record was 14.360 set by Mark Kinser back in 1997.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series schedule is winding down, as the Series makes one final trek West to compete at the Lakeside Speedway Friday, October 20 and the Salina Highbanks Speedway the following night. After that, The Greatest Show on Dirt has two dates at the Dodge City Raceway Park on October 27-28 before heading to The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the World of Outlaws World Finals on November 2-4.

Feature (30 laps): 1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [2][$10,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$5,500]; 3. 2-Shane Stewart [3][$3,200]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [5][$2,800]; 5. 5-David Gravel [4][$2,500]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6][$2,300]; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman [7][$2,200]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [8][$2,100]; 9. 17-Jac Haudenschild [17][$2,050]; 10. 41-Jason Johnson [15][$2,000]; 11. 4-Parker Price-Miller [10][$1,500]; 12. 18-Ian Madsen [14][$1,200]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart [13][$1,100]; 14. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [9][$1,050]; 15. 1A-Jacob Allen [12][$1,000]; 16. 7S-Jason Sides [19][$900]; 17. 10-Paul Colagiovanni [24][$800]; 18. 49K-Scott Kreutter [16][$800]; 19. W20-Greg Wilson [23][$800]; 20. 13-Clyde Knipp [21][$800]; 21. 5B-Justin Barger [20][$800]; 22. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [11][$800]; 23. OO-Dane Lorenc [22][$800]; 24. 19P-Paige Polyak [18][$800]; Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer 1-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Jac Haudenschild[+8]

Qualifying: 1. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.629; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.738; 3. 5-David Gravel, 12.877; 4. 2-Shane Stewart, 12.956; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 12.97; 6. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 12.973; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.002; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 13.022; 9. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.057; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.094; 11. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.113; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.185; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.193; 14. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.216; 15. 41-Jason Johnson, 13.262; 16. 49K-Scott Kreutter, 13.264; 17. 17-Jac Haudenschild, 13.267; 18. 19P-Paige Polyak, 13.273; 19. 13-Clyde Knipp, 13.342; 20. 5R-Tyler Ross, 13.432; 21. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.462; 22. OO-Dane Lorenc, 13.524; 23. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.562; 24. 5B-Justin Barger, 13.575; 25. 19JK-Joe Kubiniec, 13.801; 26. 10-Paul Colagiovanni, 13.814; 27. 18X-Ryan Susice, 13.927; 28. 7K-Dan Shetler, 14; 29. 98-Joeseph Trenca, 14.165; 30. 36-Matt Billings, 14.413; 31. 58-Joe Lockhart, 14.54; 32. 54J-Scott Just, 14.654

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