W.Lebanon, NY (July 25) - The signs of things turning around continue
to appear for Donny Schatz. The four-time and reigning World of Outlaws
(WoO) hasn't seen the kind of results in 2010 that he has been
accustomed to the last few years. The good thing is that there is still
time to make 2010 a memorable season and stake claim at keeping the
"Drive for Five" alive.
This past week, he earned four top-four finishes in five starts. Second
place runs at Lernerville and Williams Grove coupled with a charge from
ninth to third on Sunday night at Lebanon Valley Speedway has everyone
in the Tony Stewart Racing camp optimistic about the rest of the season.
"We aren't winning the races we want to, but we are getting closer,"
admitted Schatz. "The little things are making a difference. For the
most part, we are qualifying better. We've been able to come forward a
little better as of late. If we can put a win on the board, who knows
maybe it'll be something we can add to. This is the time of the year
that you want to be running well and we're getting closer to that."
SCHATZ CONTINUES PODIUM FINISHES IN SUMMER NATIONALS OPENER
MECHANICSBURG, PA (July 23) Donny Schatz continued his recent run of
top-three finishes with the World of Outlaws on Friday night at Williams Grove
Speedway. Schatz raced the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) No. 15 Armor
All/STP/ParkerStore J&J to a second place finish in the 25-lap Summer
Nationals opening night A-Feature.
Were getting better every night and right now thats all we can ask for,
admitted Schatz, following his second runner-up finish of the week. We
qualified good, raced well in the heat race, and just came up one spot short in
the main event. Lance (Dewease) had a little better car than we did and got
away from us. We were getting better as the race went on and that is what we
were trying to do. Hopefully, we can come back tomorrow and do just a little
bit better.
Schatz opened the program by turning the fastest lap in the field of 48 cars to
earn his second fast time award of the season. He raced to second in the heat
race and fourth in the dash to earn a top-four starting position. On the
initial start, Schatz was on the move, jumping into fourth. Unfortunately, the
start came back and on the second try, Schatz found himself in fifth. A lap
seven red stopped the action when his TSR teammate Steve Kinser got into the
wall while running second. Schatz restarted in third and ultimately would pass
Paul McMahan for the runner-up spot. He spent the final 9 laps trying to track
down Dewease, but simply ran out of laps.
Schatz and the Armor All crew will return to Williams Grove on Saturday for the
$20,000-to-win finale of the Summer Nationals. Schatz has won the Summer
Nationals three times (2003, 2007 and 2008), and his most recent win of that
2008 triumph. That win was the last time an Outlaw regular defeated the PA
Posse member at The Grove, and Schatz hopes to be able to break their
seven-race win streak.The action
continues on Sunday with a trip to Lebanon Valley Speedway in New York.
SILVER CUP RESULTS
Written by Bill Klingbeil
SCHATZ EARNS SILVER CUP CROWN AFTER FINISHING SECOND AND FOURTH
SARVER, PA - Donny Schatz came to Lernerville Speedway looking to win
the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. At the end of the night, he was
award the Silver Cup, but it wasn't exactly what he was hoping for.
Schatz raced Tony Stewart Racing's (TSR) No. 15 Armor All/STP backed
J&J to second and fourth-place finishes in the Twin 30's and by
doing so was award the overall crown. The four-time and reigning
champion would much rather have won the A-Feature events though.
"We come to win races," said Schatz following the race. "In the first
feature, I thought I was going to be able to get Lance (Dewease) and
win the race, but we just came up short. In the second one, we worked
our way forward, but didn't get in enough traffic to run down the guys
up front. We are getting closer. The guys on this Armor All team have
been working hard and we feel like we've got a lot to accomplish in
these next few weeks."
Tony Stewart Racing Outlaw Teams Travel East for Summer Tour
Four-time and reigning champion Donny Schatz built some momentum heading into this week with a pair of solid finishes at Eldora. On Friday night, he raced the TSR No. 15 Armor All/STP/ParkerStore J&J to a second-place finish and kicked off Saturdays Kings Royal by qualifying third in the field of 49 cars. He was fast early in the 40-lap Kings Royal feature race, charging from ninth to third, before ultimately finishing fourth.
SECOND PLACE FINISH HIGHLIGHTS WOO OHIO ACTION FOR SCHATZ
ROSSBURG, OH - Donny Schatz headed to Ohio looking to pick up his
second straight Kings Royal crown and also his first Brad Doty Classic
win. After the dust settled, he wasn't able to get either, but he did
score a second place finish on Friday night at Eldora Speedway and a
fourth place finish in Saturday night's 27th annual Kings Royal.