Schatz had even more in him, however. The nine-time Nationals champion blasted forward to challenge Johnson for the final time with eight laps to go, then took the lead through turns three and four coming to complete lap 44, leaving just six paces to decide the Nationals finale.
Johnson slid Schatz for the top spot in turn two, but Schatz returned the favor in three and four to lead lap 45 as the two banged wheels and the intensity rose to a fever pitch. Johnson, though, returned to the high side where he had been so strong all race long and iced the modern-day king of Knoxville in turns three and four on lap 46, taking the point for good.
From there it was a mad celebration over the final five laps as Johnson worked the high lane, and though Schatz tried a last-ditch maneuver to the bottom of turns three and four on the final lap, he came up just shy of going wing-to-wing with Johnson at the finish — .168 of a second separating him from his 10th Nationals crown.
Ever gracious in defeat and stretching his streak of top two Nationals finishes to 11 consecutive years, Schatz paid credit to Johnson after the race and admitted that the handle on his car went away in the race’s second half.
“We did everything we could,” he said. “Jason [Johnson] did a great job. I didn’t think you could run that hard a pace for 50 laps, but he did, and once he got out there, I tried everything to catch him and just couldn’t do it,”
Shane Stewart rounded out the podium with a solid third-place effort, followed by Pittman in fourth.
B-Main winner Kyle Larson stormed from 21st on the grid to round out the top five, taking Hard Charger honors in the Nationals finale for the first time in his career.
Jamie Veal, Chad Kemenah, Greg Hodnett, Ian Madsen and David Gravel were the balance of the top 10.
In preliminary features, Jon Agan led all 10 laps of the E-Main to take the win ahead of Chillicothe, Ohio veteran Danny Smith, who competed in his final Knoxville Nationals on Saturday.
Austin McCarl stole the lead from Danny Holtgraver with two laps remaining in the 12-lap D-Main, going on to win while Holtgraver failed to transfer after suffering mechanical issues coming to the white flag.
Davey Heskin led 12 of 15 laps in the C-Main, fighting through two early lead changes with outside polesitter Matt Moro before taking the lead for good on the fifth round, while three-time Nationals runner-up Brian Brown missed the transfer after nearly spinning while fighting inside the top five with four to go. Brown finished a distant 14th.
In a non-stop B-Main following a complete restart, Larson passed outside polesitter and race-long leader Dale Blaney with five laps to go and went on to the win. Blaney finished second, followed by Ian Madsen and Logan Schuchart, who charged from 12th to become the fourth and final transfer into the championship A-Main.
Jamie Veal, who finished sixth in the A-Main, was both the highest-finishing Australian and the Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car” Iowa Sprint Week champion. Matt Juhl claimed Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year honors in his Octane Ink No. 09 entry.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series resumes on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at Junction Motor Speedway in Nebraska.
