CONCORD, N.C. – Saturday night’s World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte was a both a coronation ceremony and a victory celebration for Donny Schatz.

Schatz, who wrapped up his 10th World of Outlaws championship simply by signing in for competition this weekend, took advantage of misfortune for race-long dominator Carson Macedo to win his 22nd Outlaw feature of the season.

The Fargo, N.D., veteran assumed the lead with seven to go, when Macedo slowed in turn one with a destroyed right-rear tire, then held off a furious late-race challenge from Logan Schuchart to secure the spoils of victory.

Schuchart actually completed a slide job of Schatz to take the lead in turns one and two with two laps left, but Schatz returned the favor in turns three and four coming to the white flag and never looked back after that.

Saturday night’s victory was Schatz’s 12th Outlaw win at Charlotte and the 283rd of his career. It also marked the fourth-straight season that he won at least once during the World Finals.

“I guess the old guy can still get the job done,” Schatz joked on the victory stage. “That was an awesome race. My car just kept getting better and better. Hats off to this team; they’re awesome. I’m the hardest guy in the pit area to work for, because if it’s not perfect, I’m not very nice.

“The yellows might have helped us. After the yellow with seven to go, I thought to myself, ‘Man, it’s going to take a long stretch for someone to get by me,’ and then there came the (No.) 1s,” Schatz added. “It’s a good thing I didn’t make too many mistakes and got her back going in the end.”

Spencer Bayston may have led the field to green from the pole, but it was Macedo who ripped the high side in turns three and four on the opening lap to make a commanding statement and assume the lead.

From there, it was a game of huge defense for Macedo, who opened up a 1.3 second gap over Bayston in the first three laps but had to contend with a hard-charging Logan Schuchart in the laps that followed.

Schuchart charged past Bayston and into second on the eighth round, immediately taking to the cushion and waging war with Macedo for the top spot. With Schuchart finding speed up top and Macedo glued to the low lane in turns three and four, Macedo was forced to block heavily exiting turn four each time Schuchart would challenge him.

A caution on lap 14 for a stopped Jason Sides in turns three and four took Macedo out of traffic and put him back in clean track, but also allowed Schuchart to attempt a slide job for the race lead. That maneuver failed, however, and Macedo was able to run off to another big advantage before Sheldon Haudenschild shredded a right-rear tire at the halfway point to draw the second of three yellows.

Running fourth at that point, Schatz charged past both Bayston and Schuchart to move into second on the next restart, but by then Macedo had opened up more than a second on the top side.

Unable to close the gap by any significant margin, Schatz appeared destined to come home second on this night, but Macedo’s tire issue with seven to go erased the chance for a stunning victory by the new Kyle Larson Racing driver and paved the way for Schatz’s eventual triumph.

Schuchart carried a huge smile after the race, despite of coming up one position short in the end.

“It’s hard to say what I could or couldn’t have done differently,” said Schuchart. “We raced against a lot of good cars tonight … Carson Macedo and Kyle Larson Racing, in particular, are going to be really good next year. He was really fast to start tonight.

“I was pretty bummed out when I saw that (No.) 15 car get back inside of me,” he continued. “I knew it would be tough to get back by him. We were a little too tight in the middle of the race, and that last yellow let me loosen the car up by moving the wing forward. We were close, just not quite enough.”

Brad Sweet came from ninth to complete the podium, followed by Tim Shaffer and Gio Scelzi.

Bayston, David Gravel, Kerry Madsen, Joey Saldana and Parker Price-Miller completed the top 10.

For complete race results, advance to the next page.