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Schatz Wins Three-Way Battle at Ohsweken

A three-way battle for the lead dominated Tuesday night's Six Nations Showdown at Ohsweken Speedway with Donny Schatz, Jacob Allen and Brad Sweet jockeying for the top spot. Ultimately, it was Schatz who broke away from the pack and claimed his 16th World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory of the season.

The win was the third in the last four seasons for Schatz at Ohsweken - the series' only stop in Canada this season.

"Always good to get a win," Schatz said. "Canada has been very good to me. I love coming up here… Glad to be at Ohsweken tonight. We're going to go back to the (United) States and try to win some more."

On the drop of the green flag, Jason Johnson very quickly shot out front but the move was short-lived as Schatz battled by off of turn four and led the first lap. As Schatz moved, Sweet followed with Allen in hot pursuit.

On lap three, Allen battled past Sweet for second off of turn two as Schatz tried to gain distance on the drivers - Sweet charged back.

As Schatz caught lapped traffic an already short-distance between first and second closed even tighter. On lap eight, Sweet took over the lead in his No. 49 Ollie's Bargain Outlet car from Schatz. Schatz was not ready to give up as the two-way battle extended to a three-way battle with Allen still in the mix. Schatz retook the lead from Sweet off turn four.

Next it was Allen's turn as he took over second in his No. 1A Mark Pell Tire Service/Marty Thompson Investments car and began challenging Schatz for the lead. He stayed close through the succeeding laps and on lap 18, Allen took advantage of lapped traffic and pulled side-by-side with the No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance car. As the two drag raced into turns one and two, Allen threw the slider, trying to close off of two. Schatz however had the advantage on the exit and held on to the top spot.

The first and only caution of the night flew on lap 26. As the field took the green flag one last time, single-file, Schatz led Allen, Sweet, Pittman and Johnson.

Allen again tried to get around Schatz with a slider in turns one and two but Schatz again held the top spot. Two laps later, it was Sweet with the slider around Allen to take over the second position. Sweet worked to run down Schatz in the closing laps as Allen had his hands full with his teammate Logan Schuchart, who was the night's KSE Racing Hard Charger, advancing 10 positions to finish in fourth.

At the line it was Schatz, Sweet and Allen, who had to close the door on the car behind him through the final distance to finish on the podium.

"There was times that we had to move around the race track and I could get by guys on the race track," Schatz said. "That's what keeps it fun. Those other guys got to us and you kind of just had to keep moving around and stay patient. I didn't want to see that yellow at the end. I knew I just to carry my speed."

Schatz extended his lead after the night's feature to 245 over second place Daryn Pittman.

For Sweet, the second-place finish was a good momentum builder after a tough month that has not gone as planned.

"Donny is always going to be tough. I got by him there for one second. In lapped traffic I was a little too committed to the top. I just couldn't quite roll the middle as good as him. Jacob had the car for maneuvering around the race track."

"It's been a long month for us, so it's nice to get some momentum on our side."

Allen rolled onto the front stretch in third after what has been a good month for his Shark Racing team, including a win for his teammate Logan Schuchart at Cedar Lake Speedway two and a half weeks ago. The finish is the second podium run of the season for Allen.

"Down in one and two at the beginning it was a little tricky. You had to slow up a lot but coming off it was really nice and it seemed like they were getting loose hanging off. That went away down in one and two and they were getting around the top really good and that was the place to be.

It was a really fun race. And I'm just really blessed to be up here and race with those guys. My team does such a great job and I can't thank my dad and those guys enough for what they do. I'm blessed to be out here and having a lot of fun."

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series rolls to Michigan as the series takes on Hartford Motor Speedway for the first time since 2011 on Friday, July 29. For more information and to learn how to purchase tickets, visit WoOSprint.com/Hartford-Speedway.

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

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