Schatz said his rivalry with Dewease is why he relishes moments like Wednesday at Lincoln Speedway.
“I tell you what, the older I get, the more appreciative I get of racers like Lance,” Schatz said. “It’s hard to find people that race as hard as they do and as good as they do and as consistent as they do with a level of respect and Lance is one of them. Lance is one of the five best in my mind I’ve had the opportunity to race with. He’s right there near the top of that list.”
While Williams Grove has been the site of great success for both drivers, it didn’t start out that way. Schatz vehemently despised the facility during his early years. Dewease raced only a handful of times at the track during his first six years of sprint car racing.
Then, in 1991, Dewease’s great ascent began with one phone call from Walter Dyer.
“When Walter Dyer asked me to drive his [No. 461], that was my breakthrough moment,” Dewease said. “That’s when I got to showcase talent and, you know, the ability to win races. Up to that point, we would struggle to run 20 to 30 shows a year.”
From there, Dewease became Posse elite. In 1994, he won his first of five track titles over a 10-year span. In 1996, he won his first of four National Opens. When he eclipsed 70 wins at the track in the mid-2000s, that’s when 100 victories became the vision.
“To me, what I’ve accomplished at the Grove is the most meaningful to me because I didn’t race there initially,” Dewease said.
For Schatz, his first win at Williams Grove on Sept. 20, 2000 may have served as a catalyst for his rise to greatness. It started a trend of four National Open wins over the next eight years. Before that moment, he had only three World of Outlaw victories in 372 starts.
“Williams Grove has always held a really soft spot for me,” Schatz said. “For me, it’s a place where I first came there and hated it. It had no level of me ever wanting to come back. But it’s a huge part of the schedule and it’s a huge part of the demographics and what we do. I’ve learned to respect it and feel like I’ve become part of [the demographics].
“Obviously, I’ve been part of the history of what’s happened there. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Schatz feels, realistically, this is his best chance to win his 300th when assessing the upcoming stretch.
“I feel really good,” Schatz said. “I think the harder things are sometimes, the harder they come, the more rewarding they are when you finally get to be where you want to be with it.”
Schatz has been stuck on win No. 299 for the past 28 races — since he won the National Open at Williams Grove last October.
“All you can do is steam ahead,” he said. “It’s very hard some days.”
For Dewease, his 99th Williams Grove victory came on June 27, 2020.
“I think initially it kind of weighs on you a little bit,” Dewease said. “I’m sure with him getting to 300 weighed on him a little bit. But after you go through not getting it, you can’t control everything. It’s just one of those deals [that] now it’s just a number to me. It’s a special number once I do it. But it’s just a number.”
But there may be one thing more important than the numbers for both drivers this weekend as the traveling World of Outlaws take on the Pennsylvania Posse.
“To me, beating the Outlaws is more important to me than the 100th,” Dewease said.
“Hopefully, we can have that kind of scenario this weekend where we get to duke it out for the win,” Schatz said.