Vintage

Big Weekend

World of Outlaws Champion Donny Schatz Looks To Make History
At Williams Grove Speedway in Tony Stewart Racing’s Armor All Sprinter

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 1, 2009) – Grabbing a piece of history in any sport is difficult. Putting your name in the record books can sometimes be even harder. The names Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth filled the pages of baseball’s record books, having given players like Joe DiMaggio and Pete Rose numbers to shoot for. In Sprint car racing, Steve Kinser is the icon of the sport and is a part of nearly every record. His presence is what brought many of today’s competitors into the sport, including current World of Outlaws (WoO) champion Donny Schatz. With his results the past few seasons, Schatz himself is beginning to add his name to several pages of Sprint car racing’s book of records.

SCHATZ MAKES ANOTHER CHARGE TO SIXTH

ROSSBURG, OHIO - Even though it's 2009, it may seem like 2004 or 2005 the past few weeks of this year's World of Outlaws season. Donny Schatz has made charge after charge from deep in the field several times lately reminiscent of his hard-charging style that helped him ultimately become a champion.

On Friday night, he once again roared forward charing the Tony Stewart Racing No. 15 Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J from the 22nd starting position to finish sixth in the opening night of Chevy Weekend at Eldora Speedway. It marked the third time in the last seven races, the Fargo, N.D. racer charged from 20th or deeper into the top six.

Mother Nature washed out Saturday's race at Lernerville and it will be made up on Saturday, October 31. Schatz and the Armor All team will return to action at legendary Williams Grove Speedway for the National Open on Friday night. The weekend offers three races as the Outlaws make-up the $20,000-to-win Summer Nationals on Friday along with two complete shows culminating with the $50,000-to-win National Open on Saturday night.

Winning Matters

Tony Stewart Racing’s Donny Schatz Eyes Victories
In Outlaws’ Final 2009 Stops at Eldora Speedway and Lernerville Speedway

 INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 23, 2009) – In racing, a split-second can make all the difference. It might be the difference that determines the outcome in qualifying, or the distance separating two cars at the finish line. In this year’s World of Outlaws (WoO) campaign, the competition has been so close, every night seems to come down to the smallest of margins between winning and losing. During the past three seasons, Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Donny Schatz built a comfortable points lead en route to capturing the series title. But this year, his championship chase seems to be following the theme of the WoO season. With the season points battle shaping up to be one of the closest in the series’ 31-year history, winning races down the stretch, no matter the margin, may be all that counts.

Fortunately for Schatz, this weekend’s schedule includes a pair of venues where the three-time and defending WoO champion has scored some of the biggest wins during his three previous championship crusades. Schatz will pilot the TSR No. 15 Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J in Friday night’s World of Outlaws portion of Eldora Speedway’s Chevy Weekend. In July, Schatz won the $50,000 Kings Royal, at the Rossburg, Ohio, track owned by two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart. Following Friday’s race at Eldora will be a stop at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., where Schatz captured the 2006 and 2007 Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup races.

JUST A BIT SHORT IN DEER CREEK

SPRING VALLEY, MN - Donny Schatz was doing everything he could to win his 101st World of Outlaws (WoO) feature win on Saturday night at Deer Creek Speedway. Ultimately, he came up 0.273 seconds short in a thrilling finish of the 35-lap feature event. Schatz finished second and moved his point lead in the season-long standings to 18 points over Jason Meyers and 48 over Saturday night's winner Joey Saldana.

“It’s a decent finish,” admitted Schatz following the race. “We haven’t had a Top-Five for a little while. We definitely wanted to win, but he (Joey Saldana) is really good when the track is like that right on the wall. I got a little too comfortable there. It started to lay a little rubber off both corners and I thought well if I just don’t miss the rubber I’ll be all right. I didn’t want to push the issue with lapped traffic. Sometimes you are in the catbirds seat running second and he gave it what is was worth and got the job done.”