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."

After earning his second fast qualifier award of the season on Friday night at Williams Grove, he finished second in the feature event. On Saturday night, going out last certainly didn't help his chances of continuing his podium runs. The Armor All/STP J&J came forward in the main event as Schatz passed 12 cars en route to a 13th-place finish.

Sunday's run from ninth to third was impressive. The Fargo, N.D. racer was hoping a late race, green-white-checkers finish would give him a shot at victory. Unfortunately, third was the high water mark for the evening. It continued a recent string of positive finishes.

The attention now turns toward Canada as the Outlaws race three times this week north of the border. On Tuesday night, they will debut at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec and on the weekend return to Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, where Schatz has finished second in all three previous races at the track.

This is also a big week at home for Schatz as he'll be in Fargo at the Red River Valley Speedway. On Wednesday, he'll be helping out with the USMTS show that will include Kenny Schrader and Kenny Wallace, and on Thursday, he'll compete against the All-Star Circuit of Champions in the first Sprint car race at the newly-configured RRVS. Tony Stewart is also scheduled to compete with the All-Stars, giving Schatz another chance to race with the two-time NASCAR Sprint cup champion.