A thriller in Attica ends with Kyle Larson holding off Donny Schatz to win the Brad Doty Classic.
Larson grabs his second Doty Classic win, second World of Outlaws win at Attica in 2022 and wins his third Outlaw race this year. Donny Schatz is able to go from ninth to second and was challenging for the lead late. Showing Larson his nose, Schatz gave the Nascar Champion a run with 8 laps to go.
Fans stood to their feet as the 10-time Outlaws champ went side by side with five laps to go on Larson. However, it was the cushion that prevailed for Larson. He set sail off of turn 4 by three car lengths and that was all Larson needed with 2 laps to go.
. @dirtvision REPLAY: What a Fantastic battle for the lead between @KyleLarsonRacin and @DonnySchatz @atticaracewyprk!!!! This time it's @KyleLarsonRacin who comes out on top and wins the Brad Doty Classic!!! pic.twitter.com/ReTWyeYQQG
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) July 13, 2022
“Donny is THE cleanest racer in the world. You can always trust him when racing with him,” Larson said on DirtVision afterwards. “I don’t know if there’s a lot of midget racers watching right now with the USAC race going on, but if they are take notes off of Donny Schatz because he’s as clean as it gets and a lot of people have lost respect. Take notes from that guy.”
Getting to the lead was a bit of a challenge for Larson as well. Not near the battle he had with Schatz but a battle nonetheless. David Gravel and Brad Sweet led the field to green in the 40-lapper. Sweet took an early advantage and was checked out. Larson started fourth and was in second by lap 4. Then a slew of cautions fell including when Sheldon Haudenschild spun while running with Kerry Madsen for third place. Madsen and Haudenschild made contact and that sent the NOS Energy No. 17 around.
With 29 laps to go Larson rocketed around brother-in-law Brad Sweet by nearly going off the track to take the lead. Sweet tried to challenge back but to no avail. Larson cruised to over a full second lead on Sweet. Meanwhile, Sweet was being chase by Schatz who had climbed from ninth starting spot. With 11 laps to go Schatz made it around Sweet, then set his sights on Larson.
Schatz gave it a run but would end up one position and two car lengths short. The Brad Doty Classic at Attica was another thriller in a season full of outstanding races for the World of Outlaws in 2022. Larson held off Schatz for his third World of Outlaw win of the season.
Another consistent night for Brad Sweet helped him gap Haudenschild and Carson Macedo in the points battle. Sweet still looking for that second win of the seaosn but the consistency playing key for the 3-time and defending World of Outlaws champion. Logan Schuchart and David Gravel round out the top five on the night.
Next up is the four night spectacular at Eldora Speedway. Two big races including the return of the Historic Big One on Thursday night. Then the Kings Royal is held on Saturday night. Tyler Courtney and Kyle Larson each became Kings last year as part of the 2020 make-up and 2021 editions of the Kings Royal.
Full results from the 2022 @BradDoty18 Classic: pic.twitter.com/OXvl8baOUE
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) July 13, 2022
