Jac Haudenschild

Jac Haudenschild tours Eldora Speedway during Kings Royal weekend. Haudenschild and Dale Blaney were the only full-time All Star Circuit of Champions regulars to compete in the Thunder through the Plains Tour. (Jeremy Elliott | jelliott@pennlive.com)

All Stars in trouble?

We mentioned last week that Dale Blaney and Jac Haudenschild — Tim Kaeding is part time on the circuit — were the only full-time All Star Circuit of Champions regulars to participate in the "Thunder through the Plains Tour." It didn't get much better this week, as 11 cars showed up Thursday at Williston Basin Speedway. Sunday's All Star race at Huset's Speedway drew more cars, but Blaney and Haudenschild were the only full timers in attendance. The series is suffering through some financial struggles, which makes you wonder how long things can continue and if there will be significant changes in 2015. Stay tuned.

Schatz doubles up.

A little trip north of the border is all Donny Schatz needed to get back on track. The five-time World of Outlaws champ watched Daryn Pittman cut his point lead down to 55 after the KKR standout won at Fulton Speedway Wednesday. But Schatz upped his game, claiming his 10th and 11th WoO wins of the season at Canada's Autodrome Drummond and Cornwall Motor Speedy to stretch his lead to 83 heading into Tuesday's race at Ohsweken. Schatz is hitting that winning stride at the right time with the Knoxville Nationals starting next week.

Speaking of the Nationals...

Teams have converged on Knoxville Raceway the last two weeks to prep for Sprint Car racing's biggest event. Sammy Swindell, Rico Abreu, Brady Bacon, Bryan Clauson, Jac Haudenschild and Sam Hafertepe Jr. were this week's invaders, but speedway regular Ian Madsen was the one standing in Victory Lane at the end of the night. Hafertepe finished 15th and was the only driver in the group to qualify for the 20-lap A-Main. It will be interesting to see if the extra laps will pay dividends for this group during next week's Knoxville Nationals.

Big week in Iowa kicks off Thursday.

The 360 Nationals begin Thursday and run through Saturday at Knoxville Raceway. Shane Stewart is the four-time defending winner of the event. Knoxville will host the Capitani Classic for the 410 Sprint Car division on Sunday before action moves to Southern Iowa Speedway Monday for The Front Row Challenge, which is a ASCS National and Midwest event. Fans can take a breather on Tuesday before the 54th annual Knoxville Nationals begin next Wednesday.

Some more WoO stats.

Weather has been tough at times in central Pennsylvania, Ohio and Knoxville, Iowa, this year, but the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is having one of its most efficient seasons to date. The series has only been rained out one time, the second of which — Kokomo Speedway on June 4 — was rescheduled for Sept. 16. On the track, there have been 19 different winners and 46 different drivers recording a top-five finish. A total of 297 drivers have competed in a World of Outlaws event this season.