From the penthouse to the outhouse in about five seconds

PEVELY, MO – Just when it seemed Donny Schatz and his ParkerStore team were ready to seize the moment and go get their first World of Outlaws Sprint Series “A” Feature victory of the season, things got a little crazy. Schatz had a tough weekend in Missouri racing to a ninth place finish on Friday night at State Fair Speedway in Sedalia and an unfortunate DNF on Saturday night at I-55 Raceway just south of St. Louis.

“We went from the penthouse to the outhouse in about five seconds,” said Schatz, following Saturday’s 24th place finish. “All I know is that I took the green and the lead heading into turn one and by the time we got out of turn two, we were crashed and out of the race.”

It was a tough turn of events for Schatz and the team that worked so hard to put themselves in a favorable position at I-55 Raceway. Schatz qualified the #15 ParkerStore J&J eighth in the field of 45 cars, finished third in his heat race and won the second dash event, earning the outside front row starting position.

Schatz led the field to the green flag in the 40-lap “A” Feature event and roared around the high groove on the high-banked 1/3-mile clay oval. He cleared polesitter Jason Sides but got in trouble coming out of turn two, crashing into the concrete wall. Damage was too severe to the car for the team to return to action.

“This is a tough one to swallow, but its part of racing,” said Schatz, who dropped to fifth in the Outlaws standings following his first DNF of the season. “The only positive is that Steve (Kinser) had some problems too and finished back there with us. He has been having such a good year and we’re trying to hang with him in the point’s deal. This is one those nights that unfortunately you know you’ll have when you race close to a hundred times in a season, but you just never want it to happen.”

The team started the weekend on Friday night at State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, MO. Schatz qualified 17th and raced his way from 12th to finish ninth in the 25-lap feature event. Steve Kinser won his fifth “A” feature of the season taking the lead after race leader Craig Dollansky got caught up in an accident on lap 22.

Dollanksy made up for Friday’s misfortune by leading all 40 laps at I-55 Raceway on Saturday night to claim the “A” Feature victory.

The ParkerStore team returned to Fargo following Saturday’s race in St. Louis and will spend the early part of the week building a new racecar before venturing to Batesville Speedway in Batesville, AR, for the first time ever on Thursday evening. The team will also race Saturday night on the red-clay of the Talladega Short Track in Talladega, AL.