Vintage

SCHATZ BREAKS INTO AUGUST WITH CANADIAN TRIUMPH

OHSWEKEN, ONT. (Aug. 1) - "It just goes to show if you keep knocking, eventually, they'll let you in."

Those were the words of Donny Schatz following Sunday night's World of Outlaws A-Feature win at Ohsweken Speedway. The event was pushed back 24 hours because of rain and Schatz said before the dash event that Sunday would be the night he broke through. His words were spot on. In his previous four races at the track, he had three second-place finishes and a third, which came on Friday night night. He led all 30 laps to collect his third triumph of the season and 103rd A-Feature of his WoO career.

SCHATZ CHARGES TO THIRD IN OHSWEKEN OPENER

OHSWEKEN, ONT. (July 30) - After a dissapointing opener in Canada on Tuesday night, Donny Schatz resumed his success at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario on Friday night. Schatz, who led the early stages of Tuesday's WoO A-Feature at Autodrome Drummond before an electrical problem, followed Thursday night's All-Star triumph in Fargo up with a podium finish. He raced the Tony Stewart Racing No. 15 Armor All/STP J&J from seventh into third in the 30-lap main event.

"We got better the longer the race went," admitted Schatz. "That's what we are hoping for, but I just ran out of laps to get up to Jason (Sides). We lost a few spots in the dash and that kind of hurt us, but we lost them because we were trying something. We found out it didn't work and are better for it. There were some good battles out there, hopefully we can be a little better on Saturday."

Schatz opened the program by qualifying second for the second consecutive event. He raced to a third place finish in the heat race and finished seventh in the dash. He used a restart on lap ?? to get into the top five and then passed his TSR teammate Steve Kinser for fourth. The final laps included side-by-side action between Schatz and Joey Saldana, with Schatz nipping at the line for third.

The Armor All team will be back in action on Saturday night at Ohsweken. Schatz has three second-place and one third-place finish in four starts at the track. The goal is to get that first win at Ohsweken and make it the 51st different track where he's won an Outlaw A-Feature.

SCHATZ TAKES HOMETOWN ALL-STAR TRIUMPH

FARGO, ND - Donny Schatz always enjoyed racing in Fargo. Every year in his World of Outlaws career he has made laps in front a crowd that wanted to see him win. When the Outlaws unveiled their 2010 schedule, a hole was in it. There wasn't a race scheduled at Red River Valley Speedway.

Fortunately, the Valley Racing Group headed by Danny Schatz was able to secure an All-Star Circuit of Champions date and brought the winged Sprint cars back to RRVS.

On Thursday night, Schatz wheeled his family-owned No.15 Gerdau Ameristell backed J&J to victory with the developmental Chevy LS7 under the hood. Schatz started ninth and quickly moved forward. The Fargo, N.D. native had a thrilling battle with this boss, two-time NASCAR champion, Tony Stewart. Tim Shaffer led from the start, but both Stewart and Schatz were closing on the leader. Stewart's night came to an abrupt end when he hit an infield tire. On the restart, Schatz stalked Shaffer for the next 8 laps before making the winning pass through turns three and four. He led the final six laps to pick up his fourth career All-Star Circuit of Champions triumph.

"A win is a win, but it sure feels good to win at home," admitted Schatz, following the race. "Timmy (Shaffer) set a really good pace and I know Tony was really fast. He was coming to Tim there and just caught that tire. I know he's probably kicking himself for that. I want to thank all the fans that came out and supported this race. We love racing Sprint cars in Fargo."

Schatz was 12th in qualifying and won the third heat race. He started ninth and took the lead on lap 29. Stewart was the fastest qualifier in the field of 28 cars, but couldn't resume after contact with the infield tire and was credited with a 17th.

SCHATZ BACK ON THE PODIUM IN NEW YORK

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."