Donald R. Schatz (born August 10, 1977) is an American professional

sprint car racing Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

driver who competes full-time in the

World of Outlaws The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...

, driving the No. 15

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

for

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

Racing. Schatz is a ten-time champion in the World of Outlaws with a current total of 306 wins.

Racing career

Schatz is son of Danny Christ Schatz, a sprint car driver in the 1970s, and Diane Korgel. He started his racing career at 11 in go karts, and moved to 358 sprint cars as a 15-year-old at Red River Valley Speedway. Schatz moved to 410 sprints and The World of Outlaws series three seasons later as an 18-year-old.

World of Outlaws

Schatz won the 1997 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year award, and picked up his first A-feature win in 1998.. Schatz has gone on to win ten championships in 2006–2009, 2012, and 2014–2018."World of Outlaws History"
at worldofoutlaws.com He became only the second driver to win the points championship four years in a row, with the other being

Steve Kinser Steve "The King" Kinser (born June 2, 1954) is a former professional sprint car racing driver. He has won 20 championships in the World of Outlaws (WoO) series. Kinser left the World of Outlaws in 2006 to compete with the National Sprint Tour s ...

. Since 2006 he has recorded a top two points finish, with three second places to go along with the ten championships. As of June 19th, 2021, Schatz has 300 WoO wins, third most all-time behind

and

Sammy Swindell Samuel Alan "Slammin Sammy" Swindell (born October 26, 1955) is an American sprint car driver. He is a three-time champion and four-time runner-up in the World of Outlaws series; he has also competed in NASCAR and Champ Car competition and attem ...

. Prestigious wins include the

Knoxville Nationals The NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals is an annual sprint car event held at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. An Associated Press writer called winning the event "sprint car racing’s premiere title". It is nicknamed "The Granddaddy of Th ...

eleven times, (2006–09, 2011–15, 2017, 2022),the 2006, 2007, 2020 Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup; the Brad Doty Classic in 2013, 2016 and 2018; the 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012 and 2020 National Open at William's Grove Speedway, and the inaugural World of Outlaws World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2008. He also holds the record for farthest in the field a winner of the Knoxville Nationals has started, when he won from the 21st starting position in 2013. In 2008, he moved to

Racing, and continues to drive for that team today. 15 Donny Schatz 2013

Australia

Schatz has spent time racing in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

during his career. He won the

Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic The Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic is an Australian dirt Sprint car racing meet that takes place at the Sungold Stadium Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Victoria every year in late January. The classic traditionally takes place one week before ...

at the

Premier Speedway Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 2002, and was runner up in the 1999/2000 and 2001/02 World Series Sprintcars series.

NASCAR

On June 2, 2021, it was announced that Schatz would make his

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

and

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

debut in the inaugural Truck Series race at

Knoxville Raceway Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked 1/2 mile dirt oval raceway (zook clay) located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa, United States. Races at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World" are held on Saturday nights from April throug ...

, driving the No. 17 for

David Gilliland Racing TRICON Garage, formally known as David Gilliland Racing and Team DGR, is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East, the ARCA Menards Se ...

Personal life

He was a 1995 graduate of Minot High School. He currently lives in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

. He has a step-daughter, Savanna. Schatz is a licensed pilot and spends a great deal of time working with his parents in their family truck stop businesses in Fargo and Minot. He is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and snowmobiling.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schatz, Donny 1977 births Living people NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Minot, North Dakota World of Outlaws drivers Racing drivers from North Dakota USAC Silver Crown Series drivers