ROSSBURG, Ohio — Donny Schatz has a long history of coming alive when the weather gets hot and there is big money on the line in sprint car racing’s crown jewel main events.
Schatz reminded everyone that he will be among those to beat in Thursday night’s Joker’s Jackpot and Saturday’s Kings Royal — both at Eldora Speedway — with a sizzling run during Wednesday’s High Limit Racing program that saw him end the night as the high point man in Eldora’s unique every-lap-matters points format that sets the fields for tonight’s heat races.
Schatz will start on the pole of the opening heat race on Thursday after finishing second in the opening feature on Wednesday, a mere .242 seconds behind winner Logan Schuchart. Schatz raced from eighth starting spot to challenge Schuchart on the final lap.
Schatz won his third feature of the season Saturday at Wilmot (Wis.) Raceway, finished second in Tuesday’s Brad Doty Classic and was second again Wednesday.
“It was a good night. We qualified OK. Getting through that heat with an invert was important,” Schatz explained post-race. “We made up ground in the feature. Every time we hit the track it felt good. The guys have done a phenomenal job trying to get us better. The last couple of races have been great. Going into tomorrow you can’t ask for much more.”
Schatz understand and excels when special formats are in play. He’s won the Knoxville Nationals 10 times and the Kings Royal on six occasions, including last year.
“I grew up racing, going to the Knoxville Nationals and they inverted the heats entirely and you had to figure out how to get through the heats,” Schatz noted. “It’s no different than the Kings Royal or the Nationals, they just changed the number of inverts. I think it’s pretty cool and when you have that, the cream rises to the top.
“It depends on how many cars there are and when you have as many cars (64) as are here tonight, it shows you can get through there. You have to race your way in. The one that got me was the feature,” he continued. “I was like ‘man, you bust your tail to be high in points and they invert the feature.’ But it is what it is, it gave us the opportunity to gap ourselves and gain a few more points, which we did.”
Schatz feels the way to winning tonight’s $100,000-to-win, 40-lap feature is to have the best car at the end of the race.
“It’s all about that last lap,” the 10-time World of Outlaws champion said. “Tonight, we were not very good at the beginning of the feature, but we were there when it counted. The car was good. We are going to have a 40-lap race and that is what we are focusing on now, making sure we have all our ducks in a row to be good on the 40th lap.”
Midway through the World of Outlaws season, Schatz is second in the standings and trails point leader David Gravel by 62 markers. He feels he has a shot at the title.
“When you compare three wins to 10 wins (Gravel), we shouldn’t even be in the hunt, but we are. It’s by pure luck. It is by someone else’s misfortune and mistakes,” Schatz said. “Now, we are in a position where we are starting to capitalize on that. Guys are hitting on all cylinders and we are figuring everything out. Everything is just kind of gelling and there is a ton of communication. There is an opportunity for us. It is there, it is not out of reach, we just need to capitalize on it.”
After Thursday’s second night of High Limit Racing competition at Eldora, the World of Outlaws take over with the $25,000-to-win Knight Before The Kings Royal on Friday and Saturday’s $175,000-to-win Kings Royal.