COMMERCE CITY, CO ~ AUGUST 19, 2003 ~ Donny Schatz in the #15 ParkerStores, Shaver J & J led from the drop of the green flag to the wave of the checkered flag at the World of Outlaws 30-lap A-Main at Rocky Mountain National Speedway, tying his career-best WoO season wins at ten. The victory came on the heals of a disappointing night at the Jetmore Motorplex, Jetmore, KS on Monday where a broken intake valve then a flat right rear tire relegated the North Dakota driver to a 20th place finish. "This was a great run for us tonight," said Schatz. "In Kansas we were going to be able to hold on to a top-five despite the broken valve, but when the yellow flew late in the race, the tire was done and there weren't enough laps left to make a run any farther forward in the field than we were. My guys worked so hard after driving all night to get here to do a ParkerStores appearance today. The car was awesome. We know we have to keep running this well to get back to Knoxville next year to make another run at winning the Nationals." "This is the game plan we have for the rest of the season, win as many races as we can by running up front every night. Now we head for the West Coast swing, which is one of my favorite parts of the series. We've always done pretty well on the tracks at Chico and Calistoga. This late in the season, it is important to keep building for next year." Schatz qualified seventh fast of the 34 cars on hand at the Colorado track. He ran third in the second heat race qualifying him for the dash. He won the first dash putting him on the pole for the feature. He led the field into turn one with Paul McMahan, Steve Kinser and Tim Shaffer in hot pursuit. When the field hit lapped traffic, McMahan was only two car lengths behind Schatz, but never got any closer to mount a serious challenge. Schatz avoided track-blocking crashes to take the victory followed by McMahan, Kinser, Danny Lasoski and Shaffer. Schatz and the ParkerStores team head for Elma, WA for the two-day event at Grays Harbor Raceway Park on August 22-23, 2003. (Image courtesy of Michael Hill Photo) |