DONNY SCHATZ
Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance Team
Makes First Visit to Angell Park Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 19, 2016) – For the fifth time in 2016, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing (TSR) driver Donny Schatz and his Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance team will compete in the state of Wisconsin as the World of Outlaws (WoO) Craftsman® Sprint Car Series makes its first-ever appearanceSunday at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin as part of the annual Sweet Corn Festival.
The race was recently added to the schedule and provides Schatz another shot at a victory in what has already been a good run for the seven-time WoO champion in the Badger State this season. He’s raced the TSR No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance J&J to a victory and three other podium finishes there so far this season and he’s looking to make Angell Park the 79th different facility where’s won a WoO A-Feature during his illustrious 20-year WoO career.
His June 29 victory at Rockford (Ill.) Speedway was his most recent at a new facility on the Outlaws’ slate. Schatz led all 30 laps to become the Outlaws’ first winner at the facility and he’s looking to duplicate that outcome Sunday at the 1/3-mile, Angell Park dirt oval.
Schatz’s first four starts on Wisconsin soil this season have showcased the talents of Schatz and his crew of Rick Warner, Steve Swenson and Brad Mariscotti. The first race was the annual “JB” Jim Boyd Memorial on June 25 at Beaver Dam Raceway. Schatz experienced a mechanical problem during his heat race and was forced to start deep in the field. And the former WISSOTA champion charged his way forward, driving from 14th to finish third in the 40-lap contest. Next up was an early July doubleheader at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, where Schatz finished second in the opening-night main event before leading 27 laps the following night and scoring the victory in the 35-lap finale. The fourth stop came on the final day of July as the Outlaws returned to Wilmot Raceway for another 40-lap event in which Schatz continued his podium streak by racing from sixth to second.
Schatz leads the Outlaws back to Wisconsin on the heels of Tuesday night’s flag-to-flag triumph at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska. The victory was his 17th of the season and third victory at the 3/8-mile, dirt oval. He increased his WoO career win total to 221, ranking him third behind Sprint car racing icons Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell.
With 24 races remaining in the 2016, Schatz is focused on continuing his quest for an eighth WoO championship and winning as often as he can during the next 10 weeks. He has a 241-point lead in the standings and tops the series in most statistical categories, including wins with 17, podium finishes with 30, 44 top-five finishes and 57 top-10s.
The pit gates open Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT. The grandstands will open at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit www.angellparkspeedway.net or call 608-837-5252.
Race fans unable to attend Sunday’s race can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen free as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO Craftsman Sprint Car Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go toDIRTVision.com for more information.
The TSR Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance team can be followed on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/TonyStewart_
| Donny Schatz, Driver of the No. 15 TSR Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance J&J: |
Throughout your 20 years of racing with the Outlaws, you’ve been challenged with racing at new facilities. How do you approach Sunday’s race at Angell Park?
“We’re going to treat it like every other night but without the notes to look at that we have for so many other tracks. When I first got out here back in 1997, there were so many good drivers and teams who could figure out new tracks so quickly. I kind of learned back then that some things you just had to experience. Tony Stewart has built an incredible team. Collectively, we’ve got a lot of years of experience. I talked with them today and they are back at the shop in Indiana getting things ready forSunday. We all have a pretty good idea of where to start and then it’s just like most of the other nights, where you have to pay attention to what the track is doing and make an educated decision on what the surface is going to do so you have the best car possible. That goes back to that experience factor. We’ve seen it play out many times before. We’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in a good position at the end of the night.”
This is the time of the year when the season begins its path toward Charlotte and the end of the year. You and your team have put yourselves in a good position. What’s the key to maintaining that margin and finishing the season at a championship level?
“The biggest thing is to stay focused on each race in front of you. Once you get through the Knoxville Nationals, things are a little less tense. My guys have worked really hard to dig us out of a pretty big hole we had in the standings early this year. We’ve done that by winning races and continuing to get our entire package better. We want more wins and that’s what we are focused on. We still have some important races out there and we want to enjoy the run toward Charlotte. We have set our expectations bar pretty high and we still have a lot accomplish in these final 24 races.”
CONTACT:
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