Donny Schatz chased down Daryn Pittman under green and then survived a green-white-checkered finish to score his seventh win of the season Friday May 5 in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Sedalia Show-Me Showdown on the Missouri State Fair Motor Speedway in Sedalia.

The 25-lap race went caution free until the white flag waved, so Schatz did not have a lot of time or help catching the leader. He didn't need any help. He started the race third, took seven laps to get around second-place Joey Saldana and then ran down Pittman four laps later in traffic.

"Our car was awesome," Schatz said after the race. "April really didn't show it, but April is over. That's what racing is about. You'll have some good days and you are going to have a lot of bad ones. Today was one of the good ones. We just keep digging and finding ways to make the race car faster. Hats off to them, they are on their game and they got us a win tonight."

Bad days are of course a relative term when applied to Schatz. During the month of April, he earned five top-six finishes in seven races and one other top-10. Victory eluded him, however. The last time Schatz graced Victory Lane was March 18 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA.

"You don't really ever bide your time," Schatz said. "You have to be smart with your tires. This is a high speed track and it's pretty easy the fine line between stuck (to the track) and spinning (your tires).

"When I rolled across the scales, I saw the other cars around me and I saw their tires were really blistered. Mine looked good, so I guess that means I did my job at the right parts of the race. Early on, when you have all that fuel, they are not a lot of fun to drive. You have to be cautious and search out the race track and see what happens."




Pittman's second-place finish marked the fourth time this year that he has finished in the runner-up position. The start of the race seemed promising. As Schatz worked his way through traffic, Pittman gained a two-second lead over Saldana in the first six laps.

"It did feel good to run up front," Pittman said. "These guys are really working hard. It's been a struggle this year and I have a great group of guys and I am really proud to be a part of this team. There is no doubt we'll get that win and we keep getting better. We made a lot of headway and had a pretty solid car all night long. If we are going to beat the 15 car and some of these guys consistently, we still have some work to do."

Kerry Madsen worked his way to third after starting fifth.

"I was going for the win," said Madsen. "I tried that low-middle there and fed off Donny's right rear on the restart. I should have done the opposite and fed off the left rear and gotten better grip. I went to attack and wasn't close enough to attack and got attacked. It was a fun race and our car was a rocket ship."

Saldana slipped to fourth at the checkers with Grain Valley, MO's Brian Brown rounding out the top five.

Jason Sides--who was one of this week's top movers in the FloSports Sprint Car Power Rankings to finish only 13th on the Missouri Fairgrounds. Sides climbed to 11th in the rankings on the strength of a second-place finish in Plymouth, IN, last week. His modest showing in Missouri ended a streak of top-10 finishes at nine.

The other big mover last week in the rankings, Aaron Reutzel brought out the only caution of the night on the white flag lap when he slowed on the front stretch. He was credited with the 22nd-place finish.

Top 10 Finishers
1. Donny Schatz
2. Daryn Pittman
3. Kerry Madsen
4. Joey Saldana
5. Brian Brown
6. Jason Johnson
7. Brad Sweet
8. Danny Lasoski
9. David Gravel
10. Kraig Kinser
Complete Results