Beaver Dam, WI - All season Donny Schatz and the ParkerStore team have been trying to get themselves on a roll. On Wednesday night, Schatz couldn't slow down his momentum even if he wanted to as he won the 40-lap feature making it two wins in the last three races for the Fargo, ND, racer.

"I really didn't think we were going to win this race tonight," said Schatz following his 13th career WoO "A" win. "I stepped on the brakes after that red flag, and the pedal went straight to the floor, and with the track as slick as it was and as much traffic as there was here, I didn't think I'd be able to hang on to the lead for 34 laps without brakes."

Schatz and his crew began Wednesday by visiting the Ritter Technology/ParkerStore near Milwaukee on behalf of their sponsor Parker and were fast from the get go on the high-banked 3/8-mile oval. Schatz qualified fifth, finished third in the fourth heat race and won the second O'Reilly Dash to earn the outside front row starting position.

In the feature, Schatz jumped to the lead and quickly pulled away until he caught lapped traffic five laps into the race. After a red flag on the sixth circuit, Schatz realized the next 34 laps were going to be difficult without brakes. On the restart, Schatz took charge and methodically worked his way through traffic and was only seriously challenged once the rest of the way. That challenge came on the 28th lap when Brad Furr closed in on the #15 ParkerStore J&J. Schatz passed two lapped cars, but Furr was held up giving Schatz the cushion needed to claim the win.

"I figured someone would be right behind me there at the end," explained Schatz. "I was having trouble getting by Toni Lutar. I didn't want to take a chance and crash either of us out of the race, but nobody really pushed me hard, so I just tried to stay smooth and keep out of trouble."

The victory was the second for Schatz this season following his win on Saturday at his hometown track, Red River Valley Speedway in Fargo. The schedule doesn't get any easier from here on out as the team will race in Joliet (Friday), St. Louis (Saturday) and Terre Haute (Sunday). The following weekend the King's Royal will kick off the Month of Money at Eldora Speedway.

"My crew (Ken Woodruff, Shane Anderson and Bill Klingbeil) has worked really hard this year, but we just haven't gotten the results we've wanted," said Schatz, who has closed to within 26 points of fifth place in the WoO standings. "They never hung their heads, and I never hung my head, and it's great to see things starting to turn around, especially at this time of year. This is the month of money coming up, and it's great to have this kind of momentum carrying us into the big races."

(Article by Bill Klingbeil)