Donny Schatz and Jason Meyers will continue their battle for the 2008 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series title to Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas on Saturday, October 25, for the second annual Thunder at the Heartland. The two drivers are separated by just 97 points with three events remaining on the schedule. The Thunder in the Heartland was originally scheduled for last month, but was postponed due to rain.
Schatz, who is the two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, won at Heartland Park Topeka last season and is a two-time winner at the track. He won the series inaugural race on the permanent 3/8-mile in 2001. He has seven Top-10 finishes in eight career starts at the track, including on the former temporary ¼-mile that the series ran on in 1999 and 2000.
A $1,000 bonus has been offered to any driver that can beat Schatz on Saturday. Also, if the North Dakota native wins, he will earn an extra $500. Schatz leads the series with 16 A-Feature wins this season, including a series-best six on 3/8-mile tracks. He also leads the series in Top-10 finishes with 55 in the 60 A-Feature events that have been contested through October 18.
“Our focus now is heading back to Topeka this week and getting things back to what we would consider normal,” said Schatz recently. “We’ve got three nights of racing left on the season and I feel like we can still get better on the track. These guys on this Armor All team have done a great job all year, and I know they want to finish the year off strong.”
Meyers finished fourth at Heartland Park Topeka last season and has three career Top-10 finishes at the track. Last season, he began the night by setting fast time in time trials. He leads the World of Outlaws with 14 fast time honors this season. The driver that sets fast time each night receives five bonus points in the championship standings, which has played to Meyers advantage this season. He gained a total of 41 points on Schatz last weekend during a two-race swing in his home state of California, picking up two more Top-Five finishes. He leads the series with 47 Top-Five finishes, and also is on top of the leader board in laps led.
“We just have to keep doing what we are doing and finishing up front,” Meyers said, when asked what it will take to win his first title. “At this point it will probably take some bad luck on Donny’s (Schatz) part. All we can do is control what we can and that is running up front and winning races. We just keep trying to do that and get as many points as we can and try to track him down.”
The Thunder at the Heartland will be a full racing program for the World of Outlaws, beginning with hot laps, followed by time trials, heat races, the Crane Cams Dash and the A-Feature event, which will pay $10,000 to the winner.
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