TALLADEGA, AL (April 24) – The Talladega SuperSpeedway offers NASCAR drivers unbelievable speed, but the drivers have to stay in the drafting line to keep all that momentum. Donny Schatz and the ParkerStore team raced just across the street from the Superspeedway on Saturday night as the World of Outlaws Sprint Series took their action to the high-banks of the Talladega Short Track.

Schatz and his fellow Outlaw competitors knew they would have to get in line similar to the Cup cars, but that wasn’t for drafting purposes...they were fighting for the rubber. Schatz raced his #15 ParkerStore J&J to a seventh place finish in Saturday’s 35-lap “A” Feature event on a rubber-down surface where drivers simply played follow-the-leader on a track that usually has some of the best racing anywhere in the country.

“There certainly wasn’t as much action as we’re used to here,” said Schatz, who has put on a number of great shows on the Alabama red clay. “We qualified well, won our heat race and simply started the race in the wrong spot. Before the feature, we all knew the track was going to take rubber, so we just did the best we could tonight with the situation we were in. I was in the same row as Danny (Lasoski) and Steve (Kinser) and all we could do is try to rub our way into the freight train where the rubber was. I got next to Steve once trying to get sixth, but that was about it.”

Schatz qualified fourth in the field of 29 World of Outlaws sprint cars. He won the third heat race and finished third in the first dash event, earning the inside third row starting spot for the “A” feature. At the drop of the green, Schatz wormed his way behind Joey Saldana and simply tried to be patient and wait for the guy in front of him to make a mistake.

“I feel like we’re getting better and the more times we hit the track the better,” continued Schatz. “We’re still trying to have a great total night and win our first feature of the season. My crew is doing a great job, and it will all pay off before too long.”

The ParkerStore team will head to legendary Knoxville Raceway next weekend for the annual Spring Classic where Schatz has been very successful in recent years at the famous half-mile in Central Iowa including two runner-up finishes in last year’s Spring Classic.

Schatz will also try to continue his string of getting “locked into” the second night by finishing in the top four Friday night. In the first four double feature programs of 2004, Schatz has been locked in three times including the last two (Lone Star and Eldora).