ORLANDO, Fla. —Donny Schatz added to his collection of off-season hardware, collecting the fifth annual Economaki Champion of Champions award presented by Rockett Brand Racing Fuel Thursday afternoon during the PRI Trade Show at the Orlando Convention Center.
Schatz, who won his second-consecutive World of Outlaws sprint-car championship,  was selected by the National Speed Sport News staff from 10 finalists, narrowly beating out NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
National Speed Sport News Editor Chris Economaki made the presentation while accompanied by Rockett Brand Racing Fuel President Jack Day.
Schatz, who acknowledged he was “shocked,” was in the audience and accepted the award from Economaki and Day.
“I am very surprised to have won this award,” Schatz said. “When you consider this is from all the forms of motorsports and all the great drivers there are, there is no question this is the ultimate award in motorsports for the year.

“To go up against Jimmie Johnson with everything that he accomplished in The Chase, there is no way I would have considered myself in that category, but obviously other people did.”
Schatz won 19 World of Outlaws races and 21 features overall, including the Knoxville Nationals, Kings Royal, National Open and Don Martin Memorial, four of the highest-paying events in the sport.
Still, Schatz, who drove the No. 15 J & J sprint car with Shaver engines owned by his parents Danny and Diane, was surprised to add the honor to his resume.
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack when they called my name, so this is pretty big for me,” said Schatz, who will move to the Tony Stewart Racing team for the 2008 season. “When you take the series we race with and compare it to Formula One and NASCAR and the greats in NASCAR and my new boss (Stewart), who will some day win this award, it takes someone like me and puts them in a whole different category.”
Previous winners of the award, which goes to the driver deemed by the NSSN staff to have had the most outstanding season while winning a major touring series championship competing in North America, are J.J. Yeley, Steve Kinser, Tony Schumacher and Johnson, who won the honor in 2006.
Schatz will be honored on the cover of NSSN’s Dec. 19 year-end triple issue.