Schatz and the ParkerStore team  Come up just short in Houston

BAYTOWN, TX – No one said winning was easy and Donny Schatz and his ParkerStore World of Outlaws sprint car team have been working their tales off trying to capture their first victory of the 2004 season.

It almost came on Saturday night when Schatz stormed his #15 ParkerStore J&J inside of race leader Steve Kinser on the white flag lap of the 30-lap “A” feature event. When Schatz pulled along side Kinser the leaders saw a ton of traffic a head of them and by the time Kinser and Schatz reached the finish line, Kinser had a half-a-car-length advantage and claimed his 500th career WoO “A” Feature win.

“It was just one of those deals where Steve and I came up on lapped traffic,” remarked Schatz following his runner-up finish at Houston Raceway Park. “Steve was decent and we just kept getting better and better. My guys (Tyler Swank and Dave Yingst) did a great job tonight with this racecar. We’ll just keep plugging away and hopefully get our first one soon.”

It was deja vous for Schatz at the 4/10-mile dirt track located east of Houston. Only two years ago, he and another Kinser, Mark, waged an epic duel to the finish line that was nearly a photo finish. The Kinser won the race that night also.

Schatz began the evening by qualifying 12th in the field and moving forward every time they hit the track. He finished third in his heat race and third in the Dash to start on the inside of the third row. He took third place on lap 16 when he passed Brian Paulus and moved into second two laps later when he surged around Brook Tatnell.

The final 12 laps allowed Schatz his opportunity to close in on Kinser as they worked traffic. Even though his final lap attempt came up just short, the 26 year-old racer from Fargo, ND feels good about the direction his team is heading.

“You never want to finish second, but Steve’s been on a pretty good roll to start the year,” continued Schatz, who moved into second place in the WoO standings 50 points behind Kinser following Saturday’s performance. “We’ve had a couple bad nights already this year, but to be able to pull ourselves up into the position we are in the points without winning any races is really key. I know Steve’s not going to keep pilling up all the wins. We’re going to get our share and some other guys are going to win too. If we can keep being as consistent as we’ve started the season, then we’ll be right where we hoped to be.”

The runner-up finish for Schatz was the best of this young season for the ParkerStore team. Their only finish outside of the top nine came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when a lapped car forced Schatz into an accident. Schatz and the ParkerStore team had what he called his other “bad night” on Friday in Union Hill, LA at Thunder Valley Speedway. He qualified 17th and finished the feature 9th as Shane Stewart picked up the victory.

“We’ve been searching for ways to improve our qualifying efforts,” continued Schatz. “We’ve been racing really well, but once we get better in the qualifying department everything else will fall in place. I’m excited about heading down to Texas Motor Speedway. It’s one of those places where I just haven’t put a good finish on the board. I’m sure we’ll do the best we can and hopefully come away happy.”