WEST FARGO, N.D. – Falling short of Knoxville Nationals title No. 11 to Kyle Larson last Saturday, Donny Schatz stewed between his hatred of finishing second and the growing thought the most trialing chapter of his storied career might be in its final paragraphs.
“I don’t wear it very well some days,” Schatz told DIRTVision’s Wade Aunger.
But then the trademark grin of the 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series champion appeared. There, he started to realize a greater perspective.
“Yeah, I gave it everything I had,” he added. “I gave her the ole Hail Mary. It didn’t quite come out the other end in the spot I wanted.”
Schatz didn’t capture the moment he desires each year, but he’s starting to contend for wins on the biggest stages again.
Saturday he’ll attempt to bottle that feeling at his backyard track, Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D., as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series starts its post-Knoxville downturn.
Anyone who follows sprint car racing knows Schatz’s perplexing troubles over the past two years. He’s won one World of Outlaws feature in the tour’s last 61 events. That lone win happened to be his 300th victory with the tour at Dubuque (Iowa) Fairgrounds Speedway on June 19.
Sixty-two events ago he won his sixth Williams Grove National Open, his first since 2012, but even up to that moment the demands of navigating a fledgling engine department were showing.
Last year he failed to reach double-digit wins for the first time since 2011 as the new Ford Performance Stewart 410 engine developed by his team, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, often overheated and didn’t provide consistent throttle response.
After shaking down some upgraded features on the FPS 410 engine, developed through rigorous trial and error, Schatz felt a sense of direction for the first time in a while after the Capitani Classic.
Schatz set quick time in his flight and raced to a third-place finish in the 25-lap feature. He nearly translated that into another Knoxville Nationals title, leading 14 laps in the event before Larson stormed by moments before the halfway fuel stop.
“They make a lot of power,” Schatz said of the new engine. “They make a lot of torque. But as the night goes on, when you have to throttle them, we can’t get the car to respond the way it needs to when someone makes a mistake and be able to pass them. It’s not as simple as something you can do on site at the track every night.
“It’s something that when you get the motor, you run it out until it needs to be freshened,” he added. “Then it’s time to discuss what changes need to be made for the next trial.
“We felt pretty decent,” he continued. “All we can do is go off how we felt the last time on the race track and see what happens. I’m pretty optimistic and realistic.”
Those words were after the Capitani Classic. Schatz has had one Knoxville Nationals near-miss to reflect on since. Even when Larson got by Schatz on lap 24, Schatz regrouped and charged past Larson on the backstretch on lap 26.
The only issue was the race stopped right in that moment for the scheduled open red stop at the halfway mark, and the lap therefore couldn’t be completed.
“Should of, would of, could of,” Schatz said. “I’m not going to hang my head.”
Now Schatz heads to the very place that forged his unrivaled competitive edge, which hasn’t dulled nor been in question in his time of struggles, five minutes from his Fargo, N.D., home.
“We’re going to roll on,” Schatz said. “We’re going to home territory next weekend, so maybe we can get a win.”