INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 23, 2009) – Three-time-defending World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz wanted to make a statement earlier this month in the 2009 season-opener. The message was that he wasn’t going to settle for anything but winning races. The Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) driver made his point pretty clear by starting his quest for a fourth straight WoO title with a dominating victory.
The news only gets better for Schatz this week as the 2009 WoO campaign resumes with The Las Vegas Super Sprint Classic at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), where the Fargo, N.D., resident is the winningest Outlaws driver in history. He’s competed in all 44 WoO events that have been contested at the half-mile dirt oval, bringing home five wins in all.
Schatz began the season by driving the TSR No. 15 Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J to a pair of victories in the first three WoO shows at Volusia Speedway Park (VSP) in Barberville, Fla. Those wins punctuated an impressive first week of action for Schatz and the Armor All crew. In six nights of racing, they won four races at VSP, including twice in the three All-Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) events that preceded the Outlaws three-night program.
The first race of the season proved to be a memorable one as Schatz put on a thrilling display of driving ability in the ASCoC event. After starting the feature race 16th, he was involved in a first-lap crash that sent him to the pit area for repairs. With only two minutes to fix the damage, the Armor All crew was aided by its TSR teammates from the Bass Pro Shops No. 20 team, and Schatz was able to get back on track for the 30-lap race. He restarted 23rd and, during the non-stop race, he charged all the way to the front, taking the lead with five laps remaining and roaring to the win.
The last time Schatz competed at LVMS, he also found himself in victory lane at the end of the night. On October 28, 2006, Schatz not only scored his fifth career feature win at the track, he also earned his first WoO Series championship. It wasn’t the first time Schatz closed the Outlaws season at LVMS with a victory. In November 1999, he won the final WoO race of the millennium, bouncing through the holes in true cowboy fashion en route to his fifth career WoO win. Five years later, he finished the 2004 WoO season with a victory on Nov. 6. Four months later, he overtook his current TSR teammate Kraig Kinser with only seven laps remaining to capture his first win during the spring race at LVMS. In March 2006, he earned a first-place finish that gained him the WoO series point lead that he would never relinquish.
After three 2009 WoO races, Schatz has two victories and another top-10 finish. He currently leads the WoO Sprint Series championship standings with 442 points.
On Thursday at LVMS, the pit gates will open at noon PST, while the grandstands gates open at 5 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. For more details, contact Las Vegas Motor Speedway at (800) 644-4444 or visit the official Web site of LVMS, www.lvms.com.
Race fans unable to attend the race can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen live as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO Sprint Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the site features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other race fans.
Donny Schatz, driver of the No. 15 TSR/Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J:
You started your season with four wins in six starts. Could you have imagined things would start so well?
“Well, we could have won all six, but that didn’t happen. I said in Florida that this Tony Stewart Racing team did its homework and put in the time needed so that I could have a fast racecar. The people that this organization has assembled are second to none. I’m happy they chose me to drive the Armor All car, because it’s one awesome piece.
“It was good to be able to go down there and win right away. I’ve always said that winning your first one, no matter what it is, is the toughest. The first night with the All-Stars, we had some bad luck to start the race, but everybody helped get us back out there and we just had a phenomenal car that night. One night we had a problem that we shouldn’t have had, but everyone stuck together and we came away with two wins in three Outlaw shows.
“We learned some things down there that may help us in the future, but you can’t base your season off what happens in Florida. Now, it’s about going out to Las Vegas and seeing if we can get back up front and have a chance to win at the end of the night.”
The Dirt Track at Las Vegas is a big half-mile track, and you’ve had a lot of success there. Any particular reason why?
“The combination I’ve been running for years – Shaver Motors and J&J cars – has always seemed to work well on the big tracks. Williams Grove, Knoxville, and places like them, we have been good at for quite a while. We’ve seen this track be slick, rough, rubber-down in one corner and as slick as ice in the other. The biggest key is having the horsepower to get around it early in the night and have your car handling well enough at the end of the night to make consistent laps. Chevy gives us a lot of good power and (crew chief) Ricky Warner does a great job figuring out how to make my car better at the end of the race.
“We raced (now-TSR teammate) Kraig (Kinser) for the win there a few years back. He was really fast, pounding the cushion early. But as the race went on, I could get my car to roll the corners on the bottom and we won the race.”
You’ve reached the top of the mountain and have been able to stay on top the past three seasons. What’s been the key to staying there?
“I don’t think we’ve reached the top. Steve Kinser has won 20 Outlaw championships, so we’ve got a long way to go.
“My parents gave me an opportunity to race and built a tremendous team. Tony Stewart Racing gave me the opportunity to bring that core group of people with me to TSR. The biggest thing we try to do is work as hard as we can every night and treat every night like it’s a new challenge. We want to win everything we can. We understand things are going to happen and we won’t win them all, but even if we win we have to find ways to get better the next night.”
For complete WoO Sprint Car Series results, log on to www.worldofoutlaws.com. For information regarding TSR, Schatz, Armor All, Chevy, or ParkerStore, log on to www.tonystewartracing.com, www.donnyschatz.com, www.aa-ownercenter.com, www.chevrolet.com, or www.parkerstore.com.
The news only gets better for Schatz this week as the 2009 WoO campaign resumes with The Las Vegas Super Sprint Classic at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), where the Fargo, N.D., resident is the winningest Outlaws driver in history. He’s competed in all 44 WoO events that have been contested at the half-mile dirt oval, bringing home five wins in all.
Schatz began the season by driving the TSR No. 15 Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J to a pair of victories in the first three WoO shows at Volusia Speedway Park (VSP) in Barberville, Fla. Those wins punctuated an impressive first week of action for Schatz and the Armor All crew. In six nights of racing, they won four races at VSP, including twice in the three All-Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) events that preceded the Outlaws three-night program.
The first race of the season proved to be a memorable one as Schatz put on a thrilling display of driving ability in the ASCoC event. After starting the feature race 16th, he was involved in a first-lap crash that sent him to the pit area for repairs. With only two minutes to fix the damage, the Armor All crew was aided by its TSR teammates from the Bass Pro Shops No. 20 team, and Schatz was able to get back on track for the 30-lap race. He restarted 23rd and, during the non-stop race, he charged all the way to the front, taking the lead with five laps remaining and roaring to the win.
The last time Schatz competed at LVMS, he also found himself in victory lane at the end of the night. On October 28, 2006, Schatz not only scored his fifth career feature win at the track, he also earned his first WoO Series championship. It wasn’t the first time Schatz closed the Outlaws season at LVMS with a victory. In November 1999, he won the final WoO race of the millennium, bouncing through the holes in true cowboy fashion en route to his fifth career WoO win. Five years later, he finished the 2004 WoO season with a victory on Nov. 6. Four months later, he overtook his current TSR teammate Kraig Kinser with only seven laps remaining to capture his first win during the spring race at LVMS. In March 2006, he earned a first-place finish that gained him the WoO series point lead that he would never relinquish.
After three 2009 WoO races, Schatz has two victories and another top-10 finish. He currently leads the WoO Sprint Series championship standings with 442 points.
On Thursday at LVMS, the pit gates will open at noon PST, while the grandstands gates open at 5 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. For more details, contact Las Vegas Motor Speedway at (800) 644-4444 or visit the official Web site of LVMS, www.lvms.com.
Race fans unable to attend the race can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen live as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO Sprint Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the site features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other race fans.
Donny Schatz, driver of the No. 15 TSR/Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J:
You started your season with four wins in six starts. Could you have imagined things would start so well?
“Well, we could have won all six, but that didn’t happen. I said in Florida that this Tony Stewart Racing team did its homework and put in the time needed so that I could have a fast racecar. The people that this organization has assembled are second to none. I’m happy they chose me to drive the Armor All car, because it’s one awesome piece.
“It was good to be able to go down there and win right away. I’ve always said that winning your first one, no matter what it is, is the toughest. The first night with the All-Stars, we had some bad luck to start the race, but everybody helped get us back out there and we just had a phenomenal car that night. One night we had a problem that we shouldn’t have had, but everyone stuck together and we came away with two wins in three Outlaw shows.
“We learned some things down there that may help us in the future, but you can’t base your season off what happens in Florida. Now, it’s about going out to Las Vegas and seeing if we can get back up front and have a chance to win at the end of the night.”
The Dirt Track at Las Vegas is a big half-mile track, and you’ve had a lot of success there. Any particular reason why?
“The combination I’ve been running for years – Shaver Motors and J&J cars – has always seemed to work well on the big tracks. Williams Grove, Knoxville, and places like them, we have been good at for quite a while. We’ve seen this track be slick, rough, rubber-down in one corner and as slick as ice in the other. The biggest key is having the horsepower to get around it early in the night and have your car handling well enough at the end of the night to make consistent laps. Chevy gives us a lot of good power and (crew chief) Ricky Warner does a great job figuring out how to make my car better at the end of the race.
“We raced (now-TSR teammate) Kraig (Kinser) for the win there a few years back. He was really fast, pounding the cushion early. But as the race went on, I could get my car to roll the corners on the bottom and we won the race.”
You’ve reached the top of the mountain and have been able to stay on top the past three seasons. What’s been the key to staying there?
“I don’t think we’ve reached the top. Steve Kinser has won 20 Outlaw championships, so we’ve got a long way to go.
“My parents gave me an opportunity to race and built a tremendous team. Tony Stewart Racing gave me the opportunity to bring that core group of people with me to TSR. The biggest thing we try to do is work as hard as we can every night and treat every night like it’s a new challenge. We want to win everything we can. We understand things are going to happen and we won’t win them all, but even if we win we have to find ways to get better the next night.”
For complete WoO Sprint Car Series results, log on to www.worldofoutlaws.com. For information regarding TSR, Schatz, Armor All, Chevy, or ParkerStore, log on to www.tonystewartracing.com, www.donnyschatz.com, www.aa-ownercenter.com, www.chevrolet.com, or www.parkerstore.com.
