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One of the critical factors that helped Donny Schatz earn the 2008 World of Outlaws (WoO) championship was where he finished more than half of the races. On 33 different occasions, he finished in first or second place over last year’s 64-race WoO schedule. During this year’s WoO schedule, the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) driver has continued to pace the field with 13 top-two finishes.
Twice last year, he finished second at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., where Schatz will lead the Outlaws into action on Friday night. On Saturday night, the three-time and defending Outlaw champion will look to add the 27th annual Eagle Nationals crown to his distinguished list of accomplishments.
Schatz enters the weekend following a second-place finish last Saturday night at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway behind the wheel of the TSR No. 15 Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J. The runner-up finish ended a two-race winning streak at Knoxville, where Schatz has won eight of his last 13 feature race starts, including three consecutive Knoxville Nationals. Saturday’s finish at Knoxville came after he charged from 12th to finish fourth at U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo. Those results allowed him to extend his lead in the 2009 WoO standings to a 76-point advantage.
Friday’s return to Huset’s Speedway for the annual July show offers Schatz the chance to begin the month of July with a victory. In the last three seasons, the 31-year-old Fargo, N.D., resident has won at least three WoO feature events during July. In 2007, he was victorious five times, including a July 3 triumph at Huset’s. Friday’s race will be his 21st WoO start at the high-banked 3/8-mile dirt oval, where he made many laps early in his career. Schatz first raced at the track in May 1994 and won his first feature at the track one year later in June 1995. He has a pair of Outlaw wins (April 2001 and July 2007) to go along with 14 top-10s at the track.
Eagle Raceway has hosted the summer classic called “The Eagle Nationals” since the mid-1980s, and the race is one of only a few annual events that Schatz has yet to claim. The high banks of Eagle Raceway have been good to Schatz during his 13-year WoO career. He has made 31 career WoO starts at the track, picking up three “A” feature triumphs and one preliminary feature win. His most recent win came in the fall of 2006, when he put on a thrilling display racing from the 15th starting spot to take the win. Last summer, he finished fourth, which tied his career-best finish in the Eagle Nationals.
Donny Schatz, Driver of the No. 15 TSR/Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J:
Schatz and the Armor All team have completed 32 of the Outlaws’ scheduled 84 nights of racing for 2009. The results include eight victories, 20 top-five finishes and 24 top-10s. Schatz continues to lead the WoO Sprint Series championship standings with 4,469 points.
