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FARGO, ND (November 6) - It seems to happen every year as the Pennzoil World of Outlaws season comes to an end. It being that everyone wants to be the last winner of the year before all of the teams head home for the winter and begin working towards 2003. Donny Schatz and his ParkerStore team are just like everyone else in that theory of going home the last winner, but for Schatz closing the season with a victory would a great way to end a roller-coaster season. "Every year we go to Las Vegas and everyone is ready to finish the season," said Schatz. "We've got some things to try and accomplish in the last two nights before we start thinking about next year. I've been calling all the shots on the racecar since mid-September and it would mean a lot to me to get a win. We've been close a couple of times, so I know we can do it." Schatz finished the 1999 WoO season strong by winning three of the final five WoO feature races including the finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he led all 30 laps. He will have his #15 ParkerStore J&J in the field on Friday and Saturday night at the half-mile dirt oval searching for his fourth WoO victory of the season. "Things were going really well for us at the end of the season in 1999 and that's just how it is on this deal," continued Schatz. "When you are going good things seem to work out. We had a couple of stretches like that this year. We won in Fargo and then a couple of days later, and then about a month later we won the Big One and went to Knoxville the next week and won two races. It just takes one to get you going." Schatz has had a strong season, but not a good one in his words. He currently ranks eighth in the WoO standings, but only trails seventh place Brad Furr by 14 points. He has two "A" feature victories and a preliminary feature win to go along with 24 Top Five finishes and 41 Top Ten finishes in 66 "A" Feature starts. His WoO earnings of $300,080 are a career-high and rank him fourth in the series. For the past 12 races, Schatz has been responsible for setting up the car, a duty that former Crew Chief Kenny Woodruff handled for most of the season. He's learned a lot in those races and seems confident things are going in the right direction. "I knew it was going to be difficult, but Shane (Anderson) and Tyler (Swank) have done a great job of helping keep everything in order," explained the 25 year-old. "I know it will feel awesome to finally win one on my own, but it's just like getting that first one of the season. It's the hardest one. Last weekend in New Mexico, I had a big driver error and gave one away. It was a one-lane track and I got impatient while leading. You can't do that, but we're getting closer." "I really like Las Vegas, because it's big and fast. If we can get a good starting spot, I think we'll be right there. It's my last chance to go out there and have some fun in a racecar for a while. There will be a lot of people there including a lot of our product sponsors, so we'd like to go out with a bang." Friday and Saturday's program will conclude the Pennzoil World of Outlaws season and will be nights 95 and 96 for Schatz in the racecar this season. Both nights can be heard live on Sprint Car Network, which can be accessed at www.sprintcarnet.com. |