KNOXVILLE, IA (AUGUST 13, 2003) ~ Donny Schatz captured the opening night qualifying feature for the 43rd Knoxville Nationals and leads the point standings one point over runner-up Danny Lasoski. The win is the third consecutive preliminary feature win for the North Dakota driver in the ParkerStores #15 Shaver J & J.

"This is exactly where we needed to be at the conclusion of our qualifying night," said Schatz in the post-event press conference. "Qualifying here and accumulating as many points as possible is so important for the Nationals. You have to be in the Scramble Friday night to have a chance of starting up front in the A-Main on Saturday night. This is good for my guys; they have worked so hard on this new car. A win just builds momentum and confidence for Friday night's Scramble and the Kele World Challenge."

Schatz started the night by posting the third fastest time of the 48 cars entered in the first of two qualifying nights. He started the heat race on the outside of the last row and finished second putting him on the outside of row three for the 25 lap qualifying A-Main.

At the drop of the green, Schatz took the high line in turn two, coming around to the line in second at the end of lap one. He chased early leader Joey Saldana until the ninth circuit before taking the point just as the first yellow of the race. When the yellow flag flew on lap 21, Lasoski, who started on the inside of row three along side Schatz but dropped back to ninth in the order, had worked his way up to 2nd but 4 lapped cars separated the two drivers on the restart.

The yellow flew again on lap 22 with only one lapped car between the two top spots on the restart for the final three laps. Lasoski tried Schatz on the low line for two laps to no avail but took to the high side on the final lap. Schatz held his line and took the win by two car lengths.

Friday will be the next round of competition for Schatz in the 16 -lap $10,000 to win Kele Challenge for the qualified competitors from both Australia and the United States. The 12-lap Scramble for the top-ten qualifiers from Wednesday and Thursday night pays $7,000 to win but more importantly pays additional points that will determine the first five rows of the $125,000 to win Saturday night30-lap Knoxville National.

"I really have not changed our approach to this race from any other year," Schatz concluded. "The crew has worked hard to make sure we have everything we need to be where we are tonight and hopefully the same place on Saturday night."

For up-to-the-minute news on Donny Schatz and the #15 ParkerStores Shaver J & J team, log on to www.donnyschatz.com.

(Photo by John's Racing Photos)