DANNY WOOD TO SUBSTITUTE FOR SCHATZ AT GRANITE CITY WORLD OF OUTLAWS EVENT

GREENWOOD, NE ~ MAY 3-4,2003 ~ Donny Schatz had a weekend in his #15 ParkerStores World of Outlaws J & J that, from time to time, went virtually every direction but right. But the North Dakota driver rallied to score a top-five finish in the preliminary A-main Friday night and a top-ten finish in Saturday night's 30-lap finale.

Schatz drew the highest number in the jar making him the 28th and final qualifier Friday night. His lap put him 20th in the order and the climb continued upward from that point.

The track did not form two fast grooves during heat race competition making passing very minimal forcing Schatz to the B-Main. After a couple laps of knowing his car was strong enough to finish in a transfer position, Schatz used the opportunity as a learning experience, working the track high and low in all four turns to find the quick line for the 25-lap A-Main event.

Starting in the inside of the 10th row, Schatz expertly worked the track and traffic to his advantage charging through the field to capture fifth in the order at the drop of the checkered flag.

Not locked in for Saturday night's program, Schatz qualifying attempt netted much better results putting him fifth in the order. After finishing third in the heat race, it was time to focus on the A-main event.

Starting on the inside of the fifth row, Schatz was ready to make a charge to the front but it was going to be a more difficult challenge than originally thought. Several cars tangled in the shuffle for position during the early laps of the race sending Schatz spinning. He easily restarted the car but had to start in the rear of the field.

At the restart, Schatz again mounted a charge through the field but jumped the cushion in turn two. Although he did everything possible to correct the car, he flipped upside down damaging the top wing and other parts that had to be changed before he could continue.

Tyler (Swank, crew chief) and Chad (Lambert, crewman) sprang into action replacing the top wing and a bent drive-link and checking the car for any other parts needed for Schatz to safely return to action.

Again relegated to the back of the field, Schatz went to work maneuvering through the field. When the crossed checkered flags flew, Schatz had worked his way to the 10th finishing position. His never-say-die effort moved him up one place in the WoO series point standings.

"My crew was ready for me with the parts we needed to change to get back in the race," said Schatz. "To come back to 10th after starting in the rear twice isn't too bad all things considered. What a weekend. We had a good car; solid motors but missed somewhat on the setup Friday until the feature. Saturday night I felt like we could contend for the win but it was just some racing incidents that slowed our progress to the front."

The upcoming weekend will present a new challenge for Schatz with events in both the World of Outlaws and USAC Silver Crown. He will be in his familiar #15 ParkerStores car May 6, 8 and 9 in WoO competition at Lawrenceburg, IN, Farmer City, IL and Terre Haute, IN. On May 10, he will compete in his second USAC Silver Crown series event in the #115 ParkerStores J & J at Indianapolis Raceway Park missing the WoO event at Granite City, IL. Veteran WoO competitor Danny Wood will substitute for Schatz in the World of Outlaws May 10th at Granite City.

Schatz and the R.E. Technologies Racing team recently tested the ParkerStores Silver Crown car at both IRP and Nazareth Speedway in preparation of the upcoming events.

"By noon at the IRP test I was scratching my head over that track, it is a tough place to get around," said Schatz. "But Jack (French, crew chief) kept working on the car, changing the chassis characteristics with shocks and other handling adjustments which helped me get a better feel for the car and our times got better and better. Although I would have loved to have more test time at IRP, I think we will be solid this weekend. It was really windy all day when we tested so I am sure that contributed to how the car handled all day. It is definitely a driver's track. I have heard from a number of drivers that if you can hustle a Silver Crown car around IRP, you can get one around anywhere. Now I know exactly what they mean.

"Nazareth was great. I really felt very good after the test there. It is such a different track than anything I have run before and it really tests all aspects as a driver. I loved it; it is fast in spots and very technical in others. Again, we worked on the shock package and all the other handling.

"As we did at IRP, Jack and the crew worked on the shock package tweaking all the other handling components searching for the perfect combination. The car was very comfortable and I was turning lap times that made the crew happy. I would have like to have spent more time trying different combinations and gotten more laps but we had engine failure about mid-afternoon so we called it a day at that point.

"I am looking forward to my next Silver Crown race at IRP on May 10th. My goals remain the same as they were for Copper World. I want to practice well, qualify for the race and finish all 100 laps. There is still a great deal for me to learn about racing these cars, especially on pavement and getting as many laps as I can will help our efforts. "I am sure Danny will do a great job for us in Granite City," concluded Schatz. "Having a very qualified driver in the seat should give us the opportunity for the ParkerStores team to have a great night in WoO while I am working on getting a good run in the Silver Crown car."