Donny Schatz

Donny Schatz collects fifth World of Outlaws A-Feature win at the Dirt Track at LVMS Saturday - LAS VEGAS – October 28, 2006 - By Tara Bargis - Donny Schatz of Fargo, N.D. took the checkered flag for the fifth time in the World of Outlaws A-Feature at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday night. Schatz holds the track record with five A-Feature wins over Steve Kinser, Mark Kinser and Danny Lasoski who each have three at LVMS. Brooke Tatnell started on the pole of the 30-lap A-Feature after winning Friday night’s preliminary race. Schatz started sixth and worked his way to the front taking the lead position from Tatnell on lap eight. Schatz held off Tatnell for the remainder of the race taking the checkered flag ending the season as the 2006 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Champion. (More)

A Heartfelt Win: Donny Schatz Dedicates Victory to Ted Johnson - Tucson, AZ—Oct. 21, 2006—By: Tony Veneziano, WoO Sprint Series PR Director - Donny Schatz wants to win every time he takes to the track, but he wanted to win even more on Saturday night at USA Race Park to honor his friend Ted Johnson, the founder of the World of Outlaws, who passed away on Friday evening. On a night filled with emotion, Schatz led wire-to-wire and dedicated the win to Johnson and the legacy he created, that will last forever. “We definitely wanted to win this one,” said Schatz, driver of the Parker Store J&J. “Everybody had a heavy heart tonight. I was around ten years ago when Ted was still here. It was just an emotional night for everybody. I don’t think anybody wanted to race, but we wanted to go out and do everything that we could.” (Read it all)

Schatz sweeps WoO weekend - Jackson, MN—September 16, 2006—By: Tony Veneziano, WoO Sprint Series PR Director Even Mother Nature could not stop Donny Schatz on Saturday night at Jackson Speedway from completing a weekend sweep of World of Outlaws Sprint Series races. With a fast approaching thunderstorm on the horizon, Schatz charged to his second straight win A-Feature win and series best 14th triumph of the season. He started the weekend on Friday night by winning the 1/3-Mile Short Track Nationals at Eagle Raceway. Schatz started on the pole position for a series best eighth time this season after winning his series leading eighth dash. The reigning Knoxville Nationals winner led the most laps on the night and received four bonus points for this, along with receiving one bonus point for being the fifth fastest qualifier on the night. This helped him extend his point lead with nine races remaining as he chases his first series title. (Read it all)

Schatz at Skagit, Lasoski at Elma - HD Staff - Washington - August 25, 2006 ...For the first time this season the World of Outlaws, and National Sprint Tour raced in the same region on the same night. At Skagit Speedway in WoO action, Donny Schatz won the preliminary feature Friday night. Meanwhile at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Washington, it was Danny Lasoski over Steve Kinser in the NST 30 lap feature. Roger Crockett was third at Elma followed by Paul McMahan, and Jason Meyers. At Skagit - the top five included Schatz, Brokke Tatnell, Craig Dollansky, Daryn Pittman, and Chad Kemenah.

Schatz wins Knoxville Nationals - By Bobby Gerould - August 12, 2006 - Donny Schatz did it. He won the biggest winged sprint car race in the world, the Knoxville Nationals, after four career second place runs in the event. The 46th annual 'Grand Daddy of em all' paid $140,000 to the winner from Fargo, North Dakota. Joey Saldana finished second, edging Jason Johnson. Danny Lasoski drove from 24th to fourth, and Clovis California's Jason Meyers completed the top-five. ...Saldana led the original start but a caution forced a restart. Jason Solwold was the first driver out of the Nationals A-Main after popping a tire on the opening lap. The restart saw Donny Schatz take the lead but Tim Kaeding did a quick spin in turn four to bring out a second yellow flag forcing a third attempt at a start. This time Saldana got the jump and led the early laps before being overtaken by Schatz. Schatz opened up a ten car length advantage before a caution on lap 19 for a stopped Terry McCarl. With 19 of 30 laps complete Schatz, led Saldana, Jason Johnson, Jason Meyers, and Craig Dollansky in the top-five. Steve Kinser - who started 19th raced up to sixth at that point. The next lap saw Shane Stewart and Brian Paulus tangle bringing out the fourth yellow flag period. A red-flag was displayed to clear the front chute, leaving only a ten lap 'heat-race' to the checkered flag. Schatz dominated the final ten circuits.

Schatz earns Knoxville pole. Tatnell wins World Challenge - HD staff - August 12, 2006 - Knoxville, IA. - Donny Schatz raced to second position in the A-Scramble Friday night at Knoxville Raceway, securing enough points to earn the pole position for Saturday's 46th annual Knoxville Nationals A-Main. Schatz will share the front row with Joey Saldana. ...Brooke Tatnell won $10,000 for his victory in the World Challenge. Calvin Landis won the non-qualifiers feature event. (Saturday line-ups!)

Schatz at Lernerville – By Tony Veneziano. Sarver, PA. – July 18, 2006 - Donny Schatz has won a lot of races in his career, but one that has eluded him a couple of times has been the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway. On Tuesday night he took to the track in the 15th annual edition of the event that honors the former owner and promoter of the track, ironically driving the No. 15 ParkerStore J&J. Schatz started the 40 lap A-Feature in the 6th spot and powered his way to runner-up position by the 10th lap. He gained a spot each of the first three laps of the race, by running the high grove. The native of Fargo, N.D., then patiently raced with local favorite Ed Lynch Jr., and used lapped traffic late in the race to his advantage. (Read it all)

Schatz: No place like home - West Fargo, ND — June 17, 2006 — By Tony Veneziano, WoO Sprint Series PR Director Donny Schatz brought a broom with him to Red River Valley Speedway on Saturday night and made it a clean sweep of the Duel in the Dakotas. The hometown crowd was on its feet for most of the thrilling feature from the first lap, when Schatz took the lead entering Turn 1. From there he set sail and never looked back, withstanding a few late cautions. Schatz was able to maneuver the ParkerStore J&J wherever he wanted on the track as he picked up his series leading sixth feature win of the season. He made a couple of bold moves by splitting two cars in traffic to distance himself from the other lead pack cars. Tyler Walker and Joey Saldana staged an epic battle for the runner-up spot, reminiscent of the battle in the dash on Friday night between Saldana and Schatz. On Saturday night, Saldana and Walker traded the second spot countless times, with each using text book slide jobs as well as power moves down the straightaways. (Read the whole deal)

Schatz sweeps WoO weekend - By Chris Dolack - April 1, 2006 - Pevely, MO. ...Two World of Outlaws events. Two huge fields of cars. Two victories for Donny Schatz. The Mean 15 racer from Fargo, N.D., powered his way to one of the most successful weekends of his career, wrapping up back-to-back victories with an impressive win Saturday night at high-banked I-55 Raceway a night after putting his ParkerStore J&J into the RacinSoles Victory Lane at Batesville Speedway. Schatz swept into the lead Saturday night and weaved through lapped traffic, darting high, low and even right through the middle of the track to capture the checkered flag in the 40-lap feature, topping a field of 55 cars only a few hours after getting the best of a 39-car field in Arkansas. For his efforts during the two nights, Schatz pocketed $20,000. (Read it all)

Donny Schatz slides to victory in the World of Outlaws Batesville Bash - Locust Grove, AR — March 31, 2006 — By Chris Dolack, VP Public Relations ...Donny Schatz looked high and low for a way to slip past Terry McCarl in a dash Friday night during the World of Outlaws Batesville Bash. While he didn’t get the pass done there, Schatz put that experience to work in the feature as he slid in front of McCarl during a thrilling mid-race duel and held onto the lead for his second victory of the season. McCarl was able to fight off Schatz on each lap during that dash, but when the main event rolled onto high-speed 3/8-mile Batesville Speedway, Schatz had a plan to swipe the lead. McCarl quickly jumped out front as Schatz powered his way into second. After racing back-and-forth midway through the 30-lap event, Schatz found a line that carried his ParkerStore J&J around McCarl and into the lead just before a caution prevented McCarl’s Big Game Treestands Eagle from trying to slide back around. (Read the whole deal)

Schatz masters 'the Grove' again, wins third National Open - Mechanicsburg, PA — Oct. 1, 2005 — By Chris Dolack, WoO Sprint Series Public Relations Director ...Donny Schatz knows it’s not where you start but where you finish so on Saturday night in the Cleveland Brothers National Open at Williams Grove Speedway, he continued his roll as the hottest driver on the World of Outlaws Sprint Series tour by racing from fifth to the checkered flag, and he’s $30,000 richer for the experience, too. Schatz slid past Daryn Pittman to grab the lead on Lap 17 in Turn 3 and he made it stick as they raced down the front-stretch. From there, he survived two restarts and drove away to the checkered flag in the ParkerStore J&J to win his third National Open crown, and second in a row. It also was his second consecutive A-feature victory and his eighth win of the season as he gears up for the 2006 Outlaws season. Pittman, another of the ’06 Outlaws, continued his own hot streak by holding on to finish second in the Titan Garages & Carports Maxim for the best Williams Grove A-feature finish in his career, one night after his second-place run in the preliminary feature. Pittman has finished first or second on five of the past six race nights. Pennsylvania legend Fred Rahmer, the preliminary feature winner on Friday, brought his Miller Brothers Cadillac J&J to the checkered flag in third, followed by Steve Kinser in the Quaker State Maxim and Greg Hodnett in the Manheim Auctions JEI. (More)

Instant classic. Schatz wins battle with Steve Kinser in spectacular Harvest Classic at Calistoga - By Bobby Gerould - Calistoga, CA. 09/04/05 ...Rare is the World of Outlaws sprint car race where Steve Kinser passes for the lead and then gets passed back. It happened Sunday night at the high-speed half-mile Calistoga Speedway in the scenic Napa Valley. Donny Schatz took the lead from the initial green flag but was tracked down and overtaken by Kinser on lap 15 of 30. Undaunted, Schatz took his Parker Store J&J/Shaver #15 to the highest portions of the semi-banked track, and gradually reeled in Kinser. The two engaged in a side-by-side battle for the ages with Kinser working low and Schatz up high. As fans stood and cheered the ultra-exciting race, Schatz assumed command on lap 26 and won $20,000 in his first Harvest Classic victory. Kinser was second. Tim Shaffer finished third, followed by Jason Meyers, and Daryn Pittman. ...Steve Kent emerged as the 2005 Calistoga Speedway track champion; his seventh. (Read Chris Dolack's WoO report and summary here)

Schatz wins World of Outlaws Grays Harbor visit - Elma, WA — August 27, 2005 — By Chris Dolack, WoO Sprint Series Public Relations Director - ...Watching Donny Schatz power his way through the field Saturday night at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., was like watching a mountain climber finally stake a flag in a peak. A checkered flag. Sure, Schatz had four victories coming into the World of Outlaws Sprint Series A-feature, but two weeks ago he just missed reaching the summit at the Knoxville Nationals and last weekend he dominated at Billings before a mechanical failure two laps from the top socked him hard. He wasn’t disheartened by the near-misses, instead he was satisfied in knowing his reshuffled team with Ricky Warner and Dion Hindi were close to finally having a reason to celebrate. Schatz knew in his heat race, after nearly splitting Tim Shaffer and Paul McMahan, he had a car that could win the main event, but starting ninth in a 40-lap race with Steve Kinser on the pole would be a tough climb. (Read it all).

Schatz, K. Swindell enter Stockton Twin 100's. Sunday races honor memory of Fred Gerhardt, and DuWayne Starr - By Bobby Gerould - Stockton, CA. September 7, 2005. …World of Outlaws superstar Donny Schatz of Fargo, North Dakota confirmed his entry into the DuWayne Starr Classic 100 at Stockton 99 Speedway. The USAC Western Sprint Car event is part of a huge day and evening of racing Sunday, September 11, 2005. Also on the card are the USAC Western Midgets, and USAC Ford Focus Midgets. Schatz, 28, fresh off of victories at Calistoga (CA.), and Elma (WA.), is widely considered one of the world's best racers. His resume includes wins at the Historical Big One at Eldora Speedway, the Gold Cup in Chico, and the Williams Grove National Open. He will compete at Stockton in a non-winged pavement sprint car owned by Ted Finkenbinder. (More)

Schatz best in Baytown - By Bill Klingbeil - 03/19/05 - Baytown, TX. - Twice before Donny Schatz came up just inches short from winning a World of Outlaws feature event at Houston Raceway Park. On Saturday night, Schatz finally got to the checkered flag first, by inches, in his #15 ParkerStore J&J with Shaver power at the 4/10-mile oval located east of Houston claiming his second consecutive “A” feature victory and third of the season. “It feels good to be [in Victory Lane],” said Schatz, of Fargo, N.D., who finished second at Houston in 2004 to Steve Kinser and ’02 in to Mark Kinser. “[The race] didn’t really feel that good, I don’t know what’s going on. I guess I’m chasing my racecars a little bit. The team’s working awful hard, maybe I’m just not doing something right. Standing here victorious is good. It’s nice to get a win here in Houston.” (Summary)

Schatz scores big in front of huge Vegas crowd - HD Staff - 03/11/05 - Las Vegas, NV. ...Donny Schatz started fourth but was the first to the checkered flag, and $12,500, Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Fargo, ND. driver won the World of Outlaws sprint car series A-Main in front of an overflow crowd, and also earned maximum points in the Racer's Racing Series. Kraig Kinser finished second, while Craig Dollansky completed the podium. Danny Lasoski raced home fourth, and Sammy Swindell was fifth. The top ten was filled out by Shane Stewart, Jason Sides, Paul McMahan, Jason Meyers, and Steve Kinser.

Donny Schatz Rolls to Victory in Finale of Outlaws Down Under II Granville, NSW, Australia - January 16, 2005 - By WoO Sprint PR It seems as if Donny Schatz can do no wrong on the World of Outlaws Sprint Series tour. He hoped the momentum from his 2004 season-ending victory at Las Vegas would carry into this year, but after overhauling his car before the finale of Outlaws Down Under II Schatz had no idea how good he would be. With light rain falling before and during the A-main feature at Parramatta City Raceway, Schatz dove to the low side on lap 5 to slip past Danny Lasoski and into the lead in Turn 4. Schatz never gave it back as he navigated traffic, cautions and even a red flag to win the 40-lap race by 12 car lengths. Lasoski was able to hold onto second, followed by Aussie native Kerry Madsen, Outlaws star Daryn Pittman, and Pennsylvania Posse legend Fred Rahmer. Steve Kinser, who used a win in this event last year to propel himself to his 19th Outlaws championship, finished eighth. (Read the whole deal)

Schatz on FIRE! Wins National Open for second time. - HD Staff - Mechanicsburg, PA. 10/02/04 - …The Lloyd Banks rap song "On Fire" comes to mind when the name Donny Schatz comes up in Fall 2004. Schatz started a hot streak at Calistoga, CA over the Labor Day weekend with a preliminary feature win. Since then he has claimed the Gold Cup (with prelim win), the 1/3-Mile Short Track Nationals at Eagle, NE., which he swept, a Port Royal PA feature and now the Williams Grove National Open for a second time. Schatz, driving his family owned Parker Store #15, captured $30,000 for his 40-lap triumph Sunday morning. Steve Kinser finished second on the long and narrow half-mile. Fred Rahmer completed the podium. Mark Smith finished fourth and Danny Lasoski was fifth. Greg Hodnett charged from 16th to 6th. Brian Paulus finished seventh, Don Kreitz Jr. was eighth, and Kraig Kinser finished ninth as the last car on the lead lap. The night of racing suffered a rain delay and the feature did not finish until 2:50 AM.

Schatz is HOT! He sweeps 1/3-mile Short Track Nationals at Eagle - September 18, 2004 - By Jason Orth - WoO Sprint PR Eagle, NE - Donny Schatz swept the One-Third Mile Short Track Nationals Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Eagle Raceway. The Fargo, ND driver passed Jason Sides on lap 16, and held off Steve Kinser to win the 40 lap A-feature Saturday night. (More)

Schatz wins first Gold Cup - By Bobby Gerould, and Johnny Gibson - 09/11/04 - Chico, CA. - ...Donny Schatz, of Fargo, North Dakota, led all 40 laps of the 51st Gold Cup Race of Champions Saturday night at Silver Dollar Speedway. A packed house watched Schatz work traffic with precision on the quarter-mile high-banked dirt track. Joey Saldana, of Brownsburg, IN. closed the gap in Schatz's advantage but never was close enough to mount a serious challenge. Saldana, who started fifth on the 25-car grid, moved forward in the Rob Hart tuned Volcano Joe's Coffee #2. He ended up as runner-up. Craig Dollansky started third and finished third. Friday night preliminary feature winner, Tim Kaeding never made it past the start-finish line green flag. At the start of the race he hooked a rut coming to the green flag and ended up in the wall on the front chute. Jon Allard was collected in the crash and plowed into Kaeding's #83 jr.. Before local fans knew what happened Kaeding was out of the race. On lap eight, Mark Kinser who was running second attempted to split the lapped cars of Roger Crockett and Brandon Wimmer, but ran into Wimmer and spun in turn two. The race also slowed on lap 13 when Andy Forsberg and Steve Kent crashed on the front chute. At the twin checkered flags it was Donny Schatz by eight car-lengths over Saldana. Dollansky was third, Brian Paulus fourth, and Blake Robertson finished fifth. Robertson started 23rd after transferring through the B-Main. Tim Shaffer was sixth, Jason Sides seventh, Sean Becker eighth, and Jason Meyers finished ninth. Steve Kinser started 12th in the B-Main and earned the final transfer into the Gold Cup feature. He raced from 24th up to tenth in a crowd pleasing performance.

Quotes - Donny Schatz - “I have to thank my crew—they’ve worked so hard all year long to struggle like we have. It’s nice to come out here to the west coast and run good at Calistoga, and now here. Chico’s one of those places that I’ve never run good at, but we won Thursday, and tonight was a completely different track, but the car felt good when we hot-lapped, and I thought we had a shot at this one. My crew made the right tire choice tonight, and it won us the race. We had a harder and bigger tire than anyone else, and when you do something different sometimes it bites you but it payed off tonight. I’ve had trouble leading races this year. It seems like I can lead one lap and then it goes down the tubes. It’s not the car, it’s me, and I’ve been beating myself up mentally, but running up front last week really built up my confidence. My mom and dad are out here, and I want to thank them. Their one of the proud supporters of this team, and without them and Parker Stores I wouldn’t be able to do this. Every win is your favorite, because you’re only as good as your last race, but being able to say the Gold Cup was my last win is going to be pretty cool this week. It’s nice to come out here and run for $25,000—the money’s nice, but I want that Gold Cup trophy. I’ve been missing some trophies this year, and it’s awesome to get my name on the Gold Cup with Steve (Kinser), Sammy (Swindell), Dave Blaney, and all the other great races that have won here.” (Summary)

Schatz starting to dig California, wins Gold Cup prelim. Dollansky breaks track record - By Bobby Gerould - 09/09/04 -Chico, CA. ...Fargo North Dakota's Donny Schatz has never had much luck in California. But that is clearly starting to change as Schatz backed up a prelim win and a fifth in the Harvest Classic at Calistoga with a win Thursday night in the opening round of the Gold Cup Race of Champions. Schatz led every lap on the high banked quarter-mile that 'took rubber'. Sean Becker started from the pole but Schatz and Mark Kinser swept past him to start the 30-lap World of Outlaws preliminary feature. Joey Saldana got a tremendous run on lap two and passed both Becker, and third place runner Brent Kaeding. By lap seven Schatz hit traffic and Kinser closed in on the rear nerf of the Parker Store #15. However, a yellow flag for a tangle between John Gray and Kyle Hirst took away that drama. The scenario was repeated on lap 18 when Jon Allard spun, forcing another caution. Schatz pulled away on the next restart, and Saldana hounded Kinser for second. On lap 24, Kaeding, who was fourth at the time, had a right rear tire explode in turn four. Under caution, Jason Statler (12th at the time) pitted with a flat right rear tire. Brad Sweet (13th at the time) dropped out under the caution. Schatz controlled the race's final six laps, during which Kraig Kinser lost several spots with a mechanical ill on his Remy International #11k. At the checkered flag it was Schatz by ten carlengths over Mark Kinser, Saldana, Becker, and Dollansky. Kevin Pylant finished sixth, ahead of Roger Crockett, Jason Meyers, Blake Robertson, and Daryn Pittman. Chuck Gurney Jr. drove Brian Sperry's 360 powered sprinter to a 14th place finish. ...Dollansky broke the track record by whipping his Hawaiian Tropic #7 around the speedway in 11.423 seconds.

Donny Schatz - Quotes - “It’s nice to get a win here. I normally don’t have much of a smile on my face when we come to the west coast, but Calistoga was pretty good to me last week. This race was basically won in the Dash. I have to thank my crew Tyler Swank, Brian Bloomfield, and Sparky (John Pate): They’ve busted their butts all year for me, so it’s good to get them a win. It’s not much fun for a racer to run on an abrasive, rubber-down track, but with as hard as these guys race and as good as the tires are now, it’s tough to keep a track good all night long. They did a great job early—the track was really wet, but that’s just the way it is. Mark (Kinser) came up beside me under that one caution and signaled me that my tires were okay, and I was able to return the favor. It’s awesome to have a another driver that you respect be able to do that for you. It had to be an advantage for him to have me wearing my tires, but racing isn’t just about running up front, it’s about friendship as well. We qualified 10th tonight, and that hurt us in the (qualifying) points, but when we saw the 6 for the (dash) inversion, we thought we might have something there, but just enough cars didn’t make it to put us in the second row, and like I said, I had to make some bonzai moves there to get around Brent (Kaeding) to be able to start on the front row.” (summary)

Schatz Rolls to Elbridge Win - HD Staff - 06/02/04 - Elbridge, NY. ...Fargo, North Dakota's Donny Schatz won the World of Outlaws Sprint Series feature event at Rolling Wheels Wednesday night. (MORE)