DANNY WOOD PILOTS SECOND
PARKERSTORE CAR AT THE
LOWE’S DIRT TRACK

Fargo, ND, May 27, 2003 ~ Donny Schatz had a racing marathon of his own this weekend. Following Thursday night's USAC Silver Crown race at IRP, Schatz prepared for his first USAC dirt track event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Unfortunately Schatz didn't get much of an opportunity to form much of an opinion on what it was like to run a big one-mile dirt track in a Silver Crown car.

Trouble started before the race got under way when Schatz's #115 ParkerStores J & J throttle stuck on the backstretch during practice. Despite the best efforts of the R.E. Technologies Racing crew headed by Jack French to make the repairs necessary to get the car back on the track, the impact bent the chassis, eliminating Schatz from the rest of the night's competition.

"Something caused the throttle to stick, when I realized what was going on, I clamped down on the brakes and tried to spin it around so it backed into the wall instead of hitting the wall head on," said Schatz. "I did not expect it to catch and flip but it did and flipped hard. I am ok, just a little sore."

"I feel bad for the crew, all the hard work on this car getting it ready for our first dirt race. I was looking forward to having fun on the mile. This was not my first crash and it will probably not be my last either. Just one of those deals."

Mother Nature again hit the World of Outlaws Series raining out the Friday night preliminary event at the Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway. With the format changed to a one-night show, team owners Danny and Diane Schatz wanted to make a decision fair to Danny Wood who had traveled to fill in for Schatz while he was in the Silver Crown car in Indiana.

They determined running two cars would be the best for all involved and gave Wood laps in the car and a chance to work with the crew for future conflicts with Schatz WoO and USAC programs. Norman, Oklahoma native Wood is a WoO veteran with several preliminary and A-feature wins, numerous top-five and top-ten finishes to his credit. He was the 2000 WoO Rookie of the Year and a veteran of ASCS competition prior to joining the WoO full time.

Schatz qualified fifth in the 30-car entry order with Wood posting 19th quick. Because weather was again threatening, the WoO officials shortened the program to three heat races in an effort to get the main event run in its 25-lap entirety.

Track conditions were such there wasn't much passing in the heat races with both drivers finishing out of the transfer positions and forced to run the B-main. Following second and fourth place finishes in the B-main by Schatz and Wood respectively; the pair lined up in the 17th and 19th starting positions at the drop of the green flag.

Wood, driving the #115 Parker Stores J&J spun in turn four on lap eleven with the field running in almost the exact positions in which they started. The spin turned out to be fortuitous for both Schatz and Wood who both found running room at the top of the track at the restart. Schatz, who started inside the ninth row, passed Paul McMahan and Daryn Pittman to move into ninth spot, within a lap after the green flag replaced the yellow on lap 17. Schatz continued his run toward the front during the 21st lap, passing Steve Kinser for eighth place in the low groove between turns one and two. Rain started falling during the caution period on lap 23, making the track unsafe for racing, prompting officials to throw the checkered flag.

Schatz driving his familiar #15 ParkerStores J&J chassis passed 9 cars to again capture the Hard Charger Award for the night with his eighth place finish. Wood captured an impressive 15th place after the spin sent him to the back forcing him to re-pass cars he had already overtaken.

"When we found our grove, it was a ton of fun out there," said Schatz. "It was definitely a tough track to pass guys and you had to make sure you got them setup right before you make your move. I wish the rain hadn't come and we had had more laps to keep moving up but that is the way it goes when you are fighting Mother Nature. It didn't seem like there were many people able to pass. Sammy (Swindell) and me were all I could really tell during the race but found out Danny (Wood) was doing the same behind us. You just never know what you can find in a track until you look around during the race to see if there is running room. It is always dangerous because you can lose spots faster than you can gain if you get out of the groove everyone is running and there is nothing there. Tonight it worked in our favor."

"I can't thank Danny, Diane and Donny Schatz enough for tonight's opportunity," said Wood. "Their equipment is just topnotch and I wish we had been able to do better for them but it was good to be in such a fast car. I look forward to subbing for Donny in the future when he is at a USAC event. We passed enough cars out there tonight, just not enough and too many of them twice. It was fun, wish the rain had held off though because I think we could have gotten a couple more spots."

The WoO event at Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon, NY scheduled for Monday was rained out and rescheduled for Tuesday night. The tour then moves to Rolling Wheels Raceway, Elbridge, NY on Wednesday: Sharon Speedway, Hartford OH on Friday; and Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, OH Saturday night.

Friday, May 23rd, the ParkerStores team made an appearance at Gaston County Connectors in Belmont, NC on behalf of major sponsor, ParkerStores. The team members enjoyed interaction with enthusiastic fans and company employees. Tuesday, May 27th, Donny and the ParkerStores team were the guests of PowerTech Motion Control in Kingston, NY again representing ParkerStores. Fans enjoyed a great lunch plus the opportunity to visit with Donny, get autographs and tours of the transporter.