INDIANAPOLIS—During the last two Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series seasons, Donny Schatz has shown his strength following the annual Gold Cup Race of Champions in California. Each season, Schatz has won the first WoO races following the annual Gold Rush Tour en route to winning consecutive WoO series championships.
Schatz will be looking to continue that trend this week as he returns to the Midwest behind the wheel of the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) No. 15 Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J. The 31 year-old Fargo, N.D., resident will resume action at Clay County Fair Speedway (CCFS) in Spencer, Iowa, before competing this weekend at US 36 Raceway in Cameron, Mo., Heartland Park Topeka (Kan. ) and Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
The two-time WoO champion hopes to continue the consistency he has shown during the final stretches the past two seasons. In 2006, he took five wins in the final 11 WoO races. Last year, he won six of the final 13 shows to close out his second championship season. Starting Wednesday, there are 17 scheduled feature events remaining in 2008, and Schatz will need to win seven of those to reach the coveted 20-win milestone.
Tonight’s return to CCFS offers Schatz the chance to make it consecutive victories at the 3/8-mile dirt oval. Last September, Schatz was victorious before a standing-room-only crowd. He has two WoO wins in the state of Iowa this year, both coming at Knoxville Raceway, where he also picked up his third consecutive Knoxville Nationals crown last month.
In two appearances at US 36 Raceway, Schatz has experienced both good and bad results. On May 5, 2006, he qualified second in the field of 40 cars, but got upside-down in both the dash and feature events before being credited with a 21st-place finish. Last May, he was the fastest qualifier and finished fifth in the 40-lap feature.
In true Outlaw style, Saturday night’s race has some added intrigue for Schatz and the rest of the series competitors. A local group has put up a $1,000 bounty for any driver who defeats Schatz in the feature event on the 3/8-mile oval. There’s incentive for Schatz, too, as the Topeka Capital-Journal has put up a $500 bonus if he can win his second consecutive feature at HPT and third overall. After hosting two WoO events on a temporary surface built on the HPT drag strip, a permanent facility was constructed in 2001 and has hosted three WoO events. Schatz won the first WoO race at the facility in 2001, and also won last fall, on Sept. 14, when he led the final eight laps to score the victory.
On Sunday, Schatz will travel to the new Lucas Oil Speedway, where he and the rest of the Outlaws will be making their debut. Schatz has added six new tracks to his career WoO list in 2008, and he’d like to make it eight with victories at US 36 and Lucas Oil Speedway.
Following the 12-race Gold Rush Tour through the west, Schatz continues to lead the WoO season point standings with 7,174 points, 104 ahead of Jason Meyers. Schatz has 37 top-fives this season and has finished inside the top-10 in 48 of the 51 events this year.
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