Brian Brown Gets First Outlaws Win as Schatz Cruises to Sixth Championship

Contact: Aaron Fiedler
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series PR
704-795-7223 | afiedler@dirtcar.com

Brian Brown Gets First Ever Outlaws Win as Schatz Cruises to Sixth Championship

20-time champion Steve Kinser completes his final World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series race as a full-time, touring driver

CONCORD, N.C. – Nov. 8, 2014 – The 2014 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series season went out with a bang on the final night of the Bad Boy Buggies World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte as the series saw a first-time winner in victory lane, crowned a new champion and said goodbye to a legend.

In front of a sold out crowd, Brian Brown out-battled the Outlaws and held off challenges from Daryn Pittman and Stevie Smith to score his first ever series win. It was a long time coming for the Grain Valley, Mo.-native.

“I’ll tell you what, to win your first one, there’s nothing better than winning in front of 30,000 of your friends, is there?” Brown said in victory lane. “These guys, I think, take these Outlaw wins for granted. We’ve tried a lot and we’ve run up a lot of second place finishes. I thought there, I maybe gave that one away. I don’t really know what I did wrong but Daryn got going there and we buckled back down. I said, ‘you know what? I’m going to give it all I’ve got here.’ I’m going to put it in the fence or maybe try to win this.”

Brown started the feature on the pole in his No. 21 FVP car with Pittman, who won the previous night at World Finals, next to him. When the green flag fell, the two staked their positions on track – Brown to the top, Pittman to the bottom.

As the field came around for lap eight, Donny Schatz, who started sixth, was battling Kerry Madsen for fourth when the two made contact that left Schatz stopped against the turn three wall. Schatz restarted in 25th after the caution.

While Pittman and Brown continued their battle for the lead, Smith took over the third position from Madsen.

As the laps wound down, the top-two caught lapped traffic, giving Pittman the opportunity he needed.

“We were right with him and really need to get to traffic for my line to take over,” Pittman said. “He was definitely quicker than me on the top of one and two, I felt like I could gain on him in three and four. It worked out perfect. I stayed right with him and I got to lapped traffic and he opened the door up just enough that I could get by him.”

Just as Pittman took the lead in his No. 9 Great Clips car, a caution came out. Pittman saw this as an opportunity for him in the closing laps. Ultimately though, Pittman said it was his undoing.

“The main thing I knew I had to do was to get going on that restart and not spin my tires and try to get a good run on Daryn,” Brown said. “I just wasn’t sure what he was going to do there. I didn’t know where he was running, so I thought he may peel off the bottom and give me the top. He did that, and that’s probably the best top I hit in one and two the whole race, and it made it work.”

As Pittman got bottled up and slid back, Smith, who had been running third much of the night in his No. 51S Miller Chevrolet car, moved into second and set his sights on Brown. The two drivers battled through the closing laps with Brown holding the lead. As the drivers hit the front stretch with the checkered flag in the air, Smith drag raced Brown back to the line, but came up short.

“It’s been a lot of fun and congratulations to (Brown),” Smith said. “He did a really nice job here and this win. He’s been running fast all year. We’re glad to get second. We would have loved to beat him on that last lap – I just couldn’t get it done.”

Pittman, who finished the night in third, said he probably should have moved to the top.

“I knew it was faster up there but just thought I could run the line that I’ve been running all night and hold him off,” Pittman said. “Especially out in clean air I thought it would make a big difference but it just wasn’t enough. So congrats to Brian. At the end of the day this is a great weekend for this team.”

In addition to taking home his ever Outlaws win, Brown became the 24th different and seventh first-time winner of the season.

While Schatz had the championship locked up at Port Royal Speedway two weeks ago, his charge back into Saturday night’s feature further cemented how his team was able to be so dominant all season.

After rising as high as fifth, Schatz fell back to 25th after his spin and subsequent caution. In the succeeding laps he picked up position after position, moving back into the top-five by lap 21. After mixing it up on the restart with three to go, Schatz moved into fourth and stayed there.

“When you drive for one of the best car owners in the sport and the best guys in the pit area, you never give up on them,” Schatz said at the end of the night. “I had no choice. It’s not in the cards to quit. We weren’t happy having to go to the back but it is what we were dealt and I made the best of it.”

After a disappointing end to 2013, Schatz was a man on a mission in 2014, determined not to let the mistakes of the previous year derail another shot at the title. He ultimately compiled 26 wins, the most of any single season in his career, 63 top-fives, 80 top-tens and eight quick time awards.

At the end of Saturday night, Schatz was finally able to hoist the 2014 championship trophy above his head and salute his whole STP / Armor All team.

“Hats off to the whole STP team. They put us in this position where we came here and we didn’t have to race for the win to win the championship but that doesn’t change how we race and tonight proves it.

“It was a great year winning wise but when you sit there and look at the stats of this car, it wasn’t in the work area but twice all year and it was last night and tonight, that’s just tremendous. It’s what these STP guys do. They’re just phenomenal at their jobs – they don’t let anything undone.”

The night also marked the end of an era for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series as 20-time champion and 577-time winner Steve Kinser concluded his Salute to the King Tour and his tenure as a full-time touring driver with the series.

After pacing the four-wide salute before the start of the feature, Kinser took the checkered flag in 23rd.

Kinser’s Tony Stewart Racing teammate Schatz summed it up after being crowned champion.

“Tonight’s a sad night to have the last, final night of Steve Kinser full-time,” Schatz said. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to be able to watch him, as a child racing and then grow up and race next to him – be his teammate, have arguments with him, have a few drinks with him and enjoy it… Just an honor to be a part of it. It’s going to be different when we get to the next race in a couple of months and he’s not there.”

With the conclusion of World Finals, the 2014 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship has come to a close. Ticket renewals for the World Finals and other announced events on the series schedule are available for sale today. For more information or to learn how to purchase tickets, visit http://www.WoOSprint.com.

Follow the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws.

WORLD FINALS NOTES: With his win Saturday night, Brian Brown became the 24th different winner of the season and the seventh first-time winner of the season… Donny Schatz was crowned the 2014 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series champion Saturday night. It was his sixth series championship – he has won six of the last nine seasons… 20-time champion Steve Kinser concluded his Salute to the King Tour Saturday night, officially ending his career as a full-time touring driver… After early troubles in the A main, Donny Schatz advanced 21 positions to finish in fourth… Cody Darrah received the KSE Hard Charger Award after advancing 16 positions to finish in ninth.

SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz – 26 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 6, Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 27, I-96 Speedway on May 31, River Cities Speedway on June 20, 34 Raceway on June 27, Cedar Lake Speedway on June 29, Lernerville Speedway on July 15, Autodrome Drummond on July 26, Cornwall Motor Speedway on July 27, Ohsweken Speedway on July 29, Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 9, Junction Motor Speedway on Aug. 12, Nodak Speedway on Aug. 17, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23, Skagit Speedway on Aug. 29 and Aug. 30, Grays Harbor Raceway on Sept. 1, Kokomo Speedway on Sept. 16, Terre Haute Action Track on Sept. 17, Bloomington Speedway on Sept. 26, Berlin Raceway on Sept. 27, Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on Oct. 12, Fremont Speedway on Oct. 19); Daryn Pittman – 14 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Calistoga Speedway on April 6, Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19, Williams Grove Speedway on May 16 and May 17, Orange County Fair Speedway, May 18, New Egypt Speedway, May 20, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 4 and 5, Lincoln Speedway on July 17, Fulton Speedway on July 23, River Cities Speedway on Aug. 15, Southern Oregon Speedway on Sept. 3 and The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Nov. 7); Joey Saldana – 7 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 12, Salina Highbanks on April 25, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 23, I-80 Speedway on June 6, Jackson Speedway on June 13, Eldora Speedway on Sept. 19 and Lernerville Speedway on Sept. 20); Kerry Madsen – 6 (Stockton Dirt track on March 22, El Paso Speedway Park on April 15, Lakeside Speedway on June 7, Eldora Speedway on July 12 and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 3 and Antioch Speedway on Sept. 8); David Gravel – 5 (Merced Speedway on March 28, Eldora Speedway on May 3, Wilmot Raceway on May 9, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 20 and Williams Grove Speedway on Oct. 5); Paul McMahan – 5 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 5, Tri-State Speedway on May 10, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 9, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 1 and Deer Creek Speedway on Sept. 13); Brad Sweet – 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Tucson International Raceway on March 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 5, Knoxville Raceway on June 14 and Beaver Dam Raceway on June 28); Cody Darrah – 2 (Kings Speedway on April 11 and Lernerville Speedway on July 15); Shane Stewart – 2 (Eldora Speedway on May 2 and Willamette Speedway on Sept. 2);Sammy Swindell – 2 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on April 26 and Eldora Speedway on July 11);Rico Abreu – 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 15); Jonathan Allard – 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway, Sept. 6);Christopher Bell – 1 (Jacksonville Speedway on May 7); Brian Brown – 1 (The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Nov. 9);Dale Blaney – 1 (Attica Raceway Park on May 30); Roger Crockett – 1 (I-94 Speedway on June 21); Lance Dewease – 1 (July 20 at Williams Grove Speedway); Greg Hodnett – 1 (July 18 at Williams Grove Speedway); Mark Dobmeier – 1 (Huset’s Speedway on July 2); Kraig Kinser – 1 (Clay County Fair Speedway on Sept. 12);Steve Kinser – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 16); Carson Macedo – 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 5); Ryan Smith – 1 (Port Royal Speedway on Oct. 25); Stevie Smith – 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 14).