On Thursday night, Donny Schatz and the ParkerStores #15 team were hoping to begin the three-night Silver State Shootout at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in similar fashion to last year when they finished a strong second.

After qualifying 15th and finished third and eighth in his heat race and O'Reilly Dash, Schatz started the feature 16th. Before he even reached the start/finish line, the car bounced through turn four and made contact with the wall. The contact turned the #15 J&J upside down. Damage to the top wing, front end and rear wheels kept the team from being able to return to action, and he was credited with a 24th place finish.

"Something happened while we were going through the corner," said Schatz. "It's hard to figure out. The car just turned right towards the wall and I had no control of it. It's frustrating because we wanted to have a good night. I'm not sure how far we could have moved up, but we'll just have to make up for it tonight."

The team will be back in action on Friday and Saturday to complete the Silver State Shootout.

(Article by Bill Klingbeil)
(Photo by David Allio)