CHICO, CA (9-10-10) - Defending World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz charged his way to victory Friday night in the second night of competition at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico to win the preliminary feature event. Schatz captured the $8000 win and secured healthy starting position in tonight's 40-lap feature event that will pay $50,000 to the winner."It was a great night for us," said Schatz. "We kept plugging away and plugging away at it. It's fun to race with guys like Paulie (McMahan) and Joey (Saldana). I haven't had that much fun in a while. It's good to have that and great to return to Victory Lane, especially here at Chico."

For Schatz, the Gold Cup Race of Champions is an event that holds many memories for the three time World of Outlaws' champion. Back in 2004 the resident of Fargo, ND took home the win in the event. Two years later he was involved in a frightening accident on the backstretch of Silver Dollar Speedway during a preliminary night of racing where his #15 sprint car became a virtual ball of fire, cuasing Schatz to suffer burns to his face and narrow his chances for a repeat win that year.

Friday night, Schatz began his charge to become one of an elite group of repeat winners of the Gold Cup Race of Champions. His charge to the checkered flag entertained the packed grandstands at Silver Dollar Speedway as he raced wheel to wheel with local favorite Paul McMahan. McMahan cut his teeth in the sport of auto racing in Chico and has since been a fulltime driver with the World of Outlaws tour.

Schatz started second and fell back fell back to third on the third lap before getting around Jason Sides to move into the runner-up spot and then track down McMahan, who led from the outset. Schatz battled McMahan for a number of laps in traffic before taking the lead on the high side of turn four on the 13th circuit. Schatz would lead the remainder of the distance to score his fourth win of the season and the 104th of his World of Outlaw career, which puts him just three behind Hall of Famer Doug Wolfgang for fourth on the series all-time win list.

Joey Saldana came home third on Friday night to retake the lead in the World of Outlaws championship standings by a mere two markers over Jason Meyers, who had taken the lead on Thursday night by two over Saldana. Meyers finished fourth on the second night of the Gold Cup as he too chases his first title. Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws champion, remains third in points and is 55 points back after contact with a lapped car on the final lap on Friday night relegated him to a 19th-place finish, following a first lap spin that sent him to the rear of the field from which he had worked his way back into the Top-10. Schatz is currently fourth in the standings, 119 markers out, as he chases his fifth consecutive title.

Schatz and McMahan battled for the majority of the 30-lap contest in traffic, with Schatz nearly taking the lead a couple of times between the seventh and 12th laps in turns three and four, before taking the top spot on the 13th circuit on the high side of turn four. Three cautions and two red flags slowed the race, with the leader choosing the low line on the double file restart each time. Schatz was out front on the lap-18 red flag and quickly shot out to a lead when the green flag flew aboard the Armor All/STP J&J as McMahan had his hands full with Jason Sides.

"The car was great, especially in traffic," noted the winner. "I have struggled every time I have come back here after I won the Gold Cup (in 2004). A lot of it is probably having the hardest crash of your life and the fire and walking away from it and coming back to a place I enjoy. They do a great job here and make the track great. There was a middle, a top and a bottom. I got by Paul (McMahan) in traffic and just about got passed back. That's the way it's supposed to be. I hope the fans enjoyed every minute of it, because I know I did."

Schatz earned the sixth most points on the first two nights of the Gold Cup to solidly put himself in the 40-lap main event on Saturday night as he looks to claim his second career Gold Cup. He came all the way from 19th to finish eighth in Thursday night and looks to use a number of things he learned on the first two nights in the $50,000 to-win finale.

"The track will be closer to what it was tonight tomorrow night rather than what it was on the first night," shared the North Dakota native. "It's still sticky and slick out there and my guys had an awesome balance on the car and I think we have a good handle on it. I'm just looking forward to it and to be starting in the Top-10 is a great start."

McMahan led the first 12 laps on Friday night aboard the Great Clip Maxim en route to the runner-up finish at his home track. Coupled with a seventh-place finish in the opener of the Gold Cup, he earned the third most event points to earn a second row starting spot on Saturday night.

"We had a good run," said McMahan. "I think my car may have been a little better than Donny's (Schatz) in traffic. I think I got close to the lead there on lap-27. He got back around a lapped car and kind of used it as a pick. It was a good run and anytime you can run up front against these guys is great, especially here at home."

Saldana started eighth and charged around the top of the �-mile bullring to work his way into the Top-Five and then onto the podium to come home third in the Budweiser Maxim. He finished two spots ahead of Jason Meyers to retake the series point leader after losing it on Friday night after a 15th-place finish.

"I was dying for lapped traffic and when we got to it, I thought I was much better than those guys," stated Saldana. "We were running the top in (turns) one and two and I think that was the difference. In traffic we had that yellow and just didn't have enough time. It was a good run for us and we are in a pretty good spot for tomorrow."

Jason Sides continued a solid weekend at Silver Dollar Speedway coming home fourth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, after a sixth-place effort in the opener. The veteran earned the second most event points and will start on the outside of the front row tomorrow.

Jason Meyers came home fifth on Friday night in the GLR Investments KPC and wound up earning the most event points, which will put him on the pole for the 57th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions on Saturday night as he looks to add his name to the illustrious list of past victors. He finished fourth on Thursday night.

Jonathan Allard finished a very solid sixth on Friday night in the Red Line Oil A.R.T. and coupled with a runner-up finish on Thursday night earned the fourth most event points.

Kerry Madsen ended up seventh on the second night of the Gold Cup aboard the Halls Haulage KPC, with Sam Hafertepe Jr. eighth piloting the Lone Star Speedway Maxim. Kyle Larson scored the best finish of his World of Outlaws career coming home ninth in the Stadlehoffer Construction Maxim after a 10th-place run on Thursday night. Sammy Swindell, who was victorious in the opener of the Gold Cup, came from the 20th spot to finish 10th in the Big Game Treestands Maxim to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.

The 57th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway concludes tonight with the $50,000 to win finale. Sitting on the pole of the 40-lap feature will be local favorite Jason Myers of Clovis. Myers started his racing career at Silver Dollar Speedway and nearly won the Gold Cup two years ago until a lapped car took him out of contention.

Myers will lead the field with Jason Sides on the outside of the front row. Last year Sides led all but one lap of the 40-lap feature event after Joey Saldana stole the win on the last turn of the last lap. McMahan starts on the inside of row two with former track champion and King of California titlist Jonathan Allard of Chico in fourth. Kerry Madsen and Schatz will form row three of the line up while Saldana and Sammy Swindell sit in the fourth row.

Row five of the feature event will feature Sam Hafertepe Jr. on the inside and the recently crowned Gold State Challenge Series Champion Kyle Larson starting 10th. The 11th row will house Shane Golobic and Brad Sweet.

Many top names in the World of Outlaws will have to work their way into the money race tonight from preliminary competion. Duel B features will be ran to determine the remainder of the field. Drivers in the line ups for those events include top names like Craig Dollansky, Jac Haudenschild, Tim Kaeding, Danny Lasoski, Steve Kinser and more.

As of press time a total of four preliminary events will lead up to the 40-lap finale. Duel B feature's and duel C features will for the venue, transferring drivers from there respective positions to eventually fill the final six rows of the A-feature.

The grandstands will open at 5 p.m tonight. A limited number of tickets are available to the event and can be purchased at the track box office. For further information visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com.