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Schatz hustles to a fifth-place finish after starting 21st; Bayston bests the WoO Sprint field

By Alex Nieten

BARBERVILLE, FL (February 4) - Spencer Bayston admits the last couple years haven’t been easy for him: struggling for results, parting ways with multiple teams, and an unstable future in the sport. But the uncertainty caused by that timeframe feels long gone after Wednesday night at Volusia Speedway Park.

Bayston partnered with Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing to return to the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in 2026. The pairing got acquainted with a few races before 2025 wrapped up, and they came out of the gate swinging as Bayston began his third overall campaign with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

He lined up 10th on the starting grid for the 25-lap DIRTcar Nationals season opening feature, and Bayston got to work right away. The Lebanon, IN native wheeled by a trio of cars on the opening circuit. A little mid-race chaos among the leaders helped him climb to fourth. From there, he worked his way forward until ripping around Anthony Macri’s outside on the 16th circuit and driving away to victory.

It marked Bayston’s first Sprint Car triumph since topping the Night Before the Ironman on Aug. 4, 2023. He pushed his career total with the World of Outlaws to six checkered flags and grabbed a gator in the process with his first win at Volusia.

“I’m trying to take it all in,” Bayston said. “I think it’s no secret it’s been a rocky road upon my career and what I’m capable of. I think this kind of shuts up some of the naysayers, but more than anything rewards this team for all they put into the sport, all Richard and Jennifer (Marshall) and Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) have put into this Series ... to come out swinging and hammering this thing first night out and get ourselves a win for all of our partners is awesome.”

Fargo, North Dakota’s Donny Schatz finished fifth. Schatz, a former WISSOTA Sprint Car National Champion and now well-known World of Outlaws competitor, started 21st on the grid.Wisconsin’s Bill Balog qualified for the feature but was scored 27th.

SUMMARY

Woo Sprint Cars:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17-Spencer Bayston[10]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[9]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri[4]; 4. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[21]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 7. 10-Ryan Timms[7]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson[26]; 9. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[8]; 10. 21-Brian Brown[14]; 11. 27-Emerson Axsom[23]; 12. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]; 13. 9-Daison Pursley[24]; 14. 2C-Cole Macedo[22]; 15. 7S-Chris Windom[18]; 16. 17GP-Hank Davis[17]; 17. 32-Bryce Lucius[11]; 18. 88-Austin McCarl[19]; 19. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[12]; 20. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[27]; 21. 23D-Chase Dietz[15]; 22. 28M-Conner Morrell[16]; 23. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[13]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[20]; 25. 2-David Gravel[3]; 26. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 27. 17B-Bill Balog[25]

Dash (6 Laps): 1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 3. 2-David Gravel[3]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[6]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[7]; 7. 10-Ryan Timms[8]; 8. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[1]; 2. 10-Ryan Timms[2]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 4. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 5. 17GP-Hank Davis[8]; 6. 9-Daison Pursley[6]; 7. 27-Emerson Axsom[5]; 8. 5C-DJ Christie[11]; 9. 16C-Scotty Thiel[7]; 10. 71-Parker Price Miller[9]; 11. 15T-Ryan Turner[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[4]; 3. 32-Bryce Lucius[1]; 4. 23D-Chase Dietz[8]; 5. 88-Austin McCarl[3]; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich[10]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 8. 0D-Danny Sams III[6]; 9. 51-Scott Bogucki[7]; 10. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[9]; 11. 77T-Tyeller Powless[11]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 3. 17-Spencer Bayston[6]; 4. 21-Brian Brown[8]; 5. 7S-Chris Windom[5]; 6. 2C-Cole Macedo[9]; 7. 5-Brenham Crouch[7]; 8. 4-Cameron Martin[10]; 9. 15K-Creed Kemenah[11]; 10. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[4]; 11. 15-Donny Schatz[3]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri[1]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 4. 28M-Conner Morrell[3]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 6. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 7. 44-Chris Martin[5]; 8. 13-Tanner Holmes[7]; 9. 0-Glenn Styres[11]; 10. 11-TJ Stutts[10]; 11. (DNS) 26-Justin Peck

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 2. 2C-Cole Macedo[4]; 3. 27-Emerson Axsom[1]; 4. 9-Daison Pursley[3]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[7]; 6. 71-Parker Price Miller[15]; 7. 44-Chris Martin[10]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 9. 5-Brenham Crouch[8]; 10. 5C-DJ Christie[9]; 11. 13-Tanner Holmes[13]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich[5]; 13. 51-Scott Bogucki[14]; 14. 0D-Danny Sams III[11]; 15. 4-Cameron Martin[12]

C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 51-Scott Bogucki[3]; 2. 71-Parker Price Miller[5]; 3. 16C-Scotty Thiel[1]; 4. 11-TJ Stutts[8]; 5. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[7]; 6. 0-Glenn Styres[4]; 7. 15T-Ryan Turner[9]; 8. 77T-Tyeller Powless[11]; 9. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[6]; 10. 15K-Creed Kemenah[2]; 11. 26-Justin Peck[10]