The best way to forget about hard times is to make them better. On Saturday night, Donny Schatz won his third race in his last four tries with a flag-to-flag victory at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH, on night two of the #LetsRace2 in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. 

Schatz started the race from the pole and never looked back, leading all 30 laps. 

"That's not me; that's this race team," Schatz said. "These guys are incredible. They're all capable of being crew chiefs on this car. They feed off each other. Sometimes I don't give the best information. I try to do my best job, but some days I'm racing lap 29 and they're trying to figure out how to start the race. It's just lucky to be around great people like that. It's fun to get a win, especially here at Eldora."

Hard times mean something different to everyone. Most drivers would not consider one -- or even two bad races -- as qualifying for that distinction. Schatz finished 16th and 10th in mid-April at Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas. 

Compounding the problem, the Outlaws would race only one more time in the next three weeks. That left a bad impression for far too long. On May 5-6, Schatz swept a two-night show in Missouri and Kansas, which put him back in a winning state of mind. He finished fourth in night one of the #LetsRaceTwo and earned his ninth victory of the season in night two. This was his 10th Eldora victory. 



While Schatz bolted to the lead, Kasey Kahne Racing's Brad Sweet and Jason Johnson swept around outside pole sitter Sheldon Haudenschild. They were so focused on one another, that no one paid much attention to Alvada, OH, native Chad Kemenah, who spends most of his time these days in the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions. 

Kemenah got around Johnson and was challenging Sweet when caution waved for an accident involving Shane Stewart on lap 20. Kemenah battled with Schatz briefly but eventually settled into a comfortable second. 

"We'll take second against these guys," Kemenah said. "You know, they are the best." 

Last year, Kemenah finished in precisely this same position in this race. He was the runner-up to Kerry Madsen.

"This is really good," Kemenah said. "Two years in a row now I ran second in this thing, so I need one more."

Rico Abreu was also able to slip past Sweet and Johnson. Coming off a disappointing night on Friday when he finished 15th, Abreu charged from ninth to third. This was his sixth top five finish in 14 Outlaw races this year. 

Sweet finished fourth with Johnson rounding out the top five. 

Top 10 Finishers

1. Donny Schatz
2. Chad Kemenah
3. Rico Abreu
4. Brad Sweet
5. Jason Johnson
6. Logan Schuchart
7. Kraig Kinser
8. Joey Saldana
9. Tim Shaffer
10. Sheldon Haudenschild
Complete Results