CONCORD, N.C - A heated battle for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car championship will be settled this weekend as the series concludes its season in the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Three-time and defending champion Donny Schatz brings a 19-point advantage over Jason Meyers into Charlotte in the closest points race in series history heading into the final weekend. Joey Saldana, who leads the series with 19 A-Feature wins, is also in the hunt and sits 46 points back of the lead.
Schatz, who won at Lowe's last year for his second win at the track, is looking forward to the third annual finals starting on Thursday, that is expected to see huge crowds and some great fall weather.
"It's an awesome event," Schatz said. "It's pretty cool to see that many people want to watch the World Finals, especially at an awesome facility like Charlotte."
The track is also right down Interstate 85 from Schatz's car owner, Tony Stewart's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series shop.
"We'll get to hang out with the boss and the guys down there for a little bit," Schatz said. "It's a great event all the way around."
Schatz will be bringing back the special Mario Andretti/STP tribute paint scheme that he won the Knoxville Nationals with back in August.
"Everything worked out how we hoped it would at the Nationals," Schatz said. "The fun part now is going to Charlotte with the car and hopefully getting a few more wins with it. Mario told me he only associates with winners, so we're going to do our best to get the STP car back to victory lane and carry on his winning tradition."
Saldana heads to Charlotte as the most recent winner after scoring the victory at Lowe's back in May. But with strong competitors ahead of him in the standings, Saldana knows he will need some help if he wants to capture the championship.
"If we have some help from the other guys, hopefully we leave there with a championship, but obviously we'll need some help," Saldana said. "It's a great facility and a great stand-alone event. It's neat to know that dirt track racing can bring that many people there. Hopefully it's the same turnout again and great racing like last year. Hopefully we are at the front in both of them."
Along with the car of Saldana, NASCAR Sprint Cup driver and World of Outlaws team owner Kasey Kahne will field two additional cars for Brad Sweet and Cody Darrah in the finals.
Meyers is also a previous winner at Lowe's after taking the win in the opening night of the inaugural World Finals in 2007. Last year, he was fastest in both rounds of time trials around the 4/10 semi-banked oval.
"Qualifying is very important at Charlotte and getting that right starting position," said Meyers, who has eight A-Feature wins this season. "It's a very high speed place and starting in the right spot in a key, as well as having a good pill draw."
The first of three nights of the World Finals will kick off on Thursday with qualifying, followed by full events on Friday and Saturday.
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The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway is a semi-banked 0.4-mile oval. The track record of 11.880 seconds was established by Jeff Shepard on October 6, 2001.
2008 Event Winners: Brooke Tatnell on October 31, Donny Schatz on November 1
Pit gates will open at 12:45 p.m. ET, with the grandstand gates opening at 4 p.m. ET with hot laps set for 5:45 p.m. ET.
