American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 8 | Page 29

this championship somewhat
makes up for that.”
This year’s championship and a
victory at the highly-regarded
King’s Royal at Eldora (Ohio)
Speedway were two
redeemable up-sides to the
season. To him, those moments
are still “hard to put into
perspective.” In the 10-month
span of preparation and
competition, Schatz’s successes
have yet to resonate with him.
Though it will take Schatz some
time to absorb the total success
of the year, his triumph for the
finale of World Finals was felt
immediately in victory lane.
Schatz, who started fifth for the
30-lap feature, used his
momentum from the previous
night toward his 2016 season
send-off. Schatz was honored
with the KSE Hard Charger
award the previous night,
climbing 10 spots to a third
place finish. Starting nine spots

better than Friday’s feature,
Sch atz was in a better position
to contend for the win.
Platinum driver David Gravel,
who won his heat race and the
Craftsman® Club Dash earlier in
the program, was seeking his
10th win of the season; by
doing so, he would have joined
Schatz as the only two drivers in
the series to record double-digit
win totals. Gravel led the field
into the green flag. From there
he alternated from the top in
turns one and two to the
bottom in turns three and four
to maintain the top spot.
The first of four cautions on the
second lap not only diminished
Gravel’s buffer, but also
regrouped the field. On the
restart, Schatz charged forward.
He picked-up his podium spot
then, thereon setting his sights
on quick-timer Greg Hodnett
and Gravel ahead of him. Schatz
eventually used lapped traffic to