The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series kicks off the summer stretch Tuesday, June 14 at Granite City Speedway, before dueling in the Dakotas at River Cities Speedway on Friday, June 17 for the First Leg of the Northern Tour and Brown County Speedway on Sunday, June 19.

CONCORD, N.C. – June 13, 2016 – This week the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series will migrate north for a summer stretch that begins at Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids, Minn. on Tuesday, June 14, then heads to River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. for the First Leg of the Northern Tour on Friday, June 17 and Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D. on Sunday, June 19.

Tuesday’s action at Granite City will kick-off a stretch of seven races in six different states over the course of 15 days to conclude the month of June.

Donny’s Dakotas

Seven-time World of Outlaws champion, and Fargo, N.D. -native, Donny Schatz, has owned both North and South Dakota in recent years. In 2015, Schatz dominated all five races held in the Dakotas, including sweeping both events at River Cities. The previous year, Schatz won two of four races in the Dakotas, including the June event at River Cities.

In total, Schatz has won six of the 17 World of Outlaws races that have been held at the track located less than 80 miles from his hometown.

Sweet Return

For the first time since 1985, the World of Outlaws will return to Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D. In the only series race at the track, Sammy Swindell defeated 20-time series champion Steve Kinser and Bobby Davis.

Brad Sweet, who has won six races so far this season and dominated the championship standings until Schatz jumped ahead of him last week, will be eyeing his own form of a return this week. Since his most recent trip to victory lane at Plymouth Speedway on May 13, Sweet has struggled to return to the front of the field as he only has scored one podium finish (I-96 Speedway on June 4) with zero laps led in 12 races.

Podium Popularity

Speaking of podium finishes, Daryn Pittman, who sits third in the championship standings, leads all series drivers in podium finishes with 15 so far. Just behind Pittman on the list is a three-way tie between Sweet, Schatz and Gravel who each have 14 podium finishes.

The next closest competitor to these four is Shane Stewart with 10 top-three finishes.

Summer Heat

Joey Saldana, who sits sixth in the championship standings, has been the driver that has mastered the heat so far this season.

That’s not a reference to the driver’s ability to handle the sweltering temperatures that are associated with the summer races on the World of Outlaws schedule. Instead, it’s an indication of Saldana’s dominance in heat race action, as he leads the series with 17 heat race victories in 36 races so far this season.

In 2016, Saldana has a 47 percent chance of capturing the checkered flag in his heat race and transferring to the dash.

Like a Rolling Stone

Since the start of June, David Gravel has been consistently in the top five. In the five races so far this month, Gravel has scored five consecutive top-five finishes, with his worse finish being a fifth at Knoxville Raceway on June 10. The only other driver to finish in the top five in all five races is Donny Schatz.

Since the start of June, Gravel has led a lap in three of the five races, including the most at Fremont Speedway on June 3 and I-96 Speedway on June 5. The Watertown, Conn. -native, who has led a total of 116 laps so far this season, has led 41 of those in the five races this month.