As he gears up for the stretch run of his remarkable 2007 season, Donny Schatz hopes to close the deal with gusto. His focus is clear, and simple: with six races remaining, he hopes to hold onto a 90-point lead and clinch his second straight World of Outlaws sprint car title.
If he is successful, there is one thing we won’t be talking about: an asterisk.
One year ago, Schatz captured his first WoO title, besting a divided series that saw many stars race with the rival NST. That led some to insist that Schatz would go down in history as an “asterisk” champion, because he didn’t really beat the best of the best.
But after his performance this season, such pundits are noticeably quiet with their criticism of the low-key 30-year-old North Dakota racer.
Schatz has emerged as the premier performer in contemporary sprint-car racing, with 18 WoO wins this season including dominating performances in the Knoxville Nationals and Eldora Kings Royal. He is hitting his stride just in time to join Tony Stewart Motorsports in 2008 as the team expands to a two-car effort.
The question now is simple: How good can this guy be?
His potential is unlimited. He has cultivated the right skills, he has developed a powerful racer’s instinct, and he has steadily matured in his attitude and focus. Now he’ll bring all that to the deepest pockets in the sprint-car world, and it certainly appears that the rest of the field will need to bring their A-plus game in 2008.
Schatz arrived on the national scene eight years ago, when he ran his first full season with the Outlaws. At the time he toiled quietly in the background, a fresh-faced kid paying his dues, being devoured nightly by tough, ruthless veterans.
The knock on Schatz early on was that he was another rich kid racing on dad’s money, and that he’d had a soft ride all the way. The fact is, sprint car racing is full of rich kids today; take an honest look around any pit area in America. It isn’t a new phenomenon, and here’s the reality: When it comes down to production, you can’t question that Schatz has delivered.
Schatz often catches flak for his quiet personality, and his perpetual cast-iron serious expression at the race track. Actually, it isn’t difficult to have an enjoyable, interesting conversation with the guy, and in truth he’s got a lively sense of humor. He’s frank and candid and has become a very good interview.
Besides, think back 20 years, to the days of the Big Three in sprint car racing. How many nights could you describe Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, and Doug Wolfgang as, say, jovial? Chatty? Happy? Outgoing? Those guys are tremendous champions, but their race face often made them not a lot of fun to be around.
You’re not out here hoping people will elect you Homecoming King; you’re fighting for professional survival amongst a highly-skilled and motivated group of badass racers in a badass form of the sport. So give a guy a break if he isn’t wearing a sunny smile each and every time he faces a crowd.
In a way, Schatz has become something of a throwback racer. His focus is far more on the racing than the residual duties such as interviews and marketing. He likes a basic, traditional setup with his race car, eschewing such modern techie stuff as cockpit-adjustable shocks. While others experiment with all sorts of aero devices and computerized setup tools, he races by the seat of his pants.
Now that the good times are upon him, he has remained steadfastly loyal to people such as Jack Elam of J&J Chassis and Ron Shaver of Shaver Engines. He has stuck with those who got him here; frankly, you’ve got to admire such loyalty in this cutthroat era of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately.
It’s too soon to pronounce Donny Schatz a dynasty. It’s too soon to discuss where he fits historically among all who came before him. It’s too soon to talk about the Hall of Fame. However, the time is right to acknowledge that this guy has arrived, and he is poised to generate a lot of horsepower over the next few years.
The North Dakota sky seems wide and vast, to the point of being endless. Right now, that pretty much describes the potential of the state’s favorite sprint car son.