LAS VEGAS — Donny Schatz patiently chased Sheldon Haudenschild Thursday night at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and his patience eventually paid off with his third World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series win of the year.

Schatz mercilessly worked the bottom lane on restart after restart, finally taking the lead from Haudenschild with five laps to go en route to victory on night two of the FVP Outlaw Showdown.

Haudenschild led the first 25 laps, but settled for second to continue his torrid start to the season, with David Gravel coming from 12th to complete the podium in third.

Texas native Aaron Reutzel — in search of his first World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory — won the Craftsman Club Dash and started from the pole, but it was Haudenschild getting the jump to lead lap one of the feature.

Schatz started fifth and began rolling the bottom of the speedway meticulously, yet effectively, moving into third on lap six and by Reutzel into second one lap later.

Haudenschild’s lead disappeared in traffic, as he and the nine-time champion ended up side by side at the line on lap 12. As the duo entered turn one, the lone red flag of the feature halted action as Kerry Madsen got upside in turn two.

Madsen walked away from the incident under his own power.

A lap 15 caution gave Schatz the opportunity to size up the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17. The duo battled side-by-side for a pair of laps, with Haudenschild pounding the cushion and Schatz smooth as can be on the bottom.

Two laps later, on another restart, Schatz slipped as far back as fifth but came back a man possessed. He charged his way, on the bottom again, back to the runner-up position in time for the final caution of the night, which waved with eight to go.

Haudenschild fended off Schatz for a trio of laps before lowering his line in turn three and four, allowing Schatz to get underneath him and lead lap 26.

Haudenschild got up on the wheel and made it close in the final laps but was unable to secure the sweep of the week, settling for second.

“I felt like I ran 29 good laps and one not very good lap, and Donny is great at capitalizing on any mistake,” Haudenschild said. “I’m still really happy with our performance this weekend. I can’t thank NOS Energy Drink, the Marshall family and Ricky [Stenhouse Jr.] enough. We are having a lot of fun and that’s what matters most.”

“Sheldon was really good on the cushion, and I was kind of married to the bottom, because I know you are not going to pass him up there,” added Schatz.

When asked about his hiccup and falling back on the restart, Schatz smiled before replying.

“That’s what it makes it fun. We made up for it,” Schatz said. “My guys gave me an awesome working race car and we are looking forward to Ricky [Warner] coming back to us, but we are hitting on all cylinders right now. Hopefully, we can keep winning some more races.”

For the second consecutive night, Gravel charged from deep to a top-five finish.

“We are passing a lot of cars in the feature; we just need to qualify better and get some better track position,” Gravel said. “Hats off to my guys — we had to change motors before qualifying and we were able to bounce back.”

Brian Brown and Reutzel rounded out the top five.

Full race results can be viewed on the next page…