Donny Schatz catfished his way through the 30-lap World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series portion of the Outlaw Clay Classic to win his 12th race of the season on Tuesday night at The Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL. On Wednesday night, he will roll out a Outlaw Late Model and go for the sweep.

Schatz started the night in eighth but quickly made his way through the field by using an extreme low line--nearly clipping the tire that demarks the bottom of the track exiting turn four. As he navigated track, Kraig Kinser had even more momentum using both the bottom and upper groove as he raced from 11th to the lead in only five laps.

Schatz was immediately on his back bumper bar applying pressure for most of the remaining 20 laps. The only time Schatz ventured to the high side of the track--and the only time Kinser had a little relief--came at the halfway point following a caution. That allowed Brad Sweet to grab second for five laps. Schatz dropped back to the bottom, regained his rhythm, and retook second. Five laps later, he surged past Kinser on the backstretch.



"Kraig was really good at the start," said Schatz from Victory Lane. "He took off there on the bottom. I didn't quite know if the bottom or the top, the middle, what was going to happen. I just had to give a little time for the race car to come in and the tires to get warm. You kind of had to be all over really. It was a guessing game there for a while, and then we had to restart. Being on the outside, I kind of felt like I was hung out to dry a little bit, and Brad got by. Obviously they were really good. I think he started a ways back."

This was the first time the series had raced at The Dirt Oval in 12 years. Schatz won that event in July 2005 as well.

Sweet held on for second and earned the hard charger award for advancing the most position in the race.

Daryn Pittman finished third with David Gravel and Jason Sides rounding out the top five.

After losing the lead, Kinser faded all the way back to eighth.

Top 10 Finishers

1. Donny Schatz
2. Brad Sweet
3. Daryn Pittman
4. David Gravel
5. Jason Sides
6. Shane Stewart
7. Greg Wilson
8. Kraig Kinser
9. Jason Johnson
10. Brady Bacon
Complete Results, with heat finishes

Season Winners:

Donny Schatz: 12 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, LoneStar Speedway on March 3, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 10, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 18, Missouri State Fair Speedway on May 5, 81 Speedway on May 6, Eldora Speedway May 13, Knoxville Raceway on June 10, Granite City on June 20, The Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway on June 27)
David Gravel: 9 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 17, Placerville Speedway on March 29, Perris Auto Speedway on April 1, Gator Motorplex on April 13, Plymouth Speedway on April 28, Lincoln Speedway on May 17, Williams Grove on May 19, New Egypt Speedway on May 24, River Cities Speedway on June 16)
Brad Sweet: 4 (Stockton Dirt Track on March 25, Devil's Bowl on April 15, Jackson Motorplex on June 3, Knoxville Raceway on June 9)
Shane Stewart: 4 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 20, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 29, West Liberty Raceway on June 23, Beaver Dam Raceway on June 24)
Logan Schuchart: 3 (Keller Auto Speedway on March 31, Eldora Speedway on May 12, Charlotte on May 26)
Jason Johnson: 2 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 17, Devil's Bowl on April 14)
Brian Brown: 1 (Cocopah Speedway on April 7)
Rico Abreu: 1 (Arizona Speedway on April 8)
Parker Price-Miller: 1 (Tri-State Speedway on May 14)
Ian Madsen: 1 (Jackson Motorplex on June 1)
Kerry Madsen: 1 (Jackson Motorplex on June 2)
Kyle Larson: 1 (Eagle Raceway on June 13)