Provided by Shawn Miller, WoO PR

CONCORD, N.C. – Feb. 4, 2013 – Donny Schatz has been designated as the favorite to win the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship in 2013.

A variety of 55 members of the sprint car media selected the five-time and reigning champion to garner the prestigious title again this season. They also tabbed Schatz to repeat as the winner of the Knoxville Nationals with Joey Saldana the favorite to claim the Kings Royal and Greg Hodnett the top pick to win the National Open.

Schatz ended last season by recording eight wins, 20 podiums and 24 top fives in the final 29 races to earn his first World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship since winning four straight from 2006-09 to become this season’s favorite.

“I don’t know if you’d say a favorite,” Schatz said. “There are a lot of competitive cars out there on the road with the World of Outlaws and at the tracks where we race. It keeps a guy on his toes. You can’t sit on your hands too long. You have to be game on and think outside the box to get a little bit of speed or do things a little better than anything else.

“We definitely want to be repeat champions. Going into this year I feel a lot more relaxed and a lot less weight on my shoulders.”

Almost exactly half of the voters picked Schatz as the No. 1 and he was the only driver to be on every ballot, which asked the media members to rank the top five for the 2013 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series title. Five points were awarded to first-place votes, four points to second-place votes and so on.

The media were also asked to select a winner in each of the three highest-paying events – the $150,000-to-win Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa; the $50,000-to-win Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio; and the $50,000-to-win National Open at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Schatz, who has won the last two Knoxville Nationals and six of the last seven, was picked as the favorite in that event by 30 media members. Swindell, the 1983 winner, had 11 votes with 12-time Knoxville Nationals champion Steve Kinser third with six votes. Schatz also earned the second most votes to win the National Open, an event he won last year to establish a record five National Open wins.

2013 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Media Poll:

1. Donny Schatz (27)…………………………………………………..243

2. Craig Dollansky (15)………………………………………………..172

3. Sammy Swindell (8)…………………………………………………131

4. Steve Kinser (2)………………………………………………………..90

5. Joey Saldana (2)………………………………………………………..86

6. Daryn Pittman …………………………………………………………47

7. Kraig Kinser (1)………………………………………………………..24

8. Cody Darrah……………………………………………………………10

9. Jason Sides.…………………………………………………………….7

10. Paul McMahan……………………………………………………….6