FARGO, ND (May 20) –Donny Schatz and his ParkerStore team race all over the United States chasing the World of Outlaws Sprint Series championship. This weekend Schatz and the team will get the opportunity race somewhat close to home when they compete in the inaugural Polydome Princeton Nationals in Princeton, MN.

“I’ve never raced at Princeton, but I’ve heard a lot about the track and know everyone involved has really tried to make this a huge deal,” said Schatz, who will pilot the #15 ParkerStore J&J at the high-banked 1/4-mile oval. “We get to race at home every year when the Outlaws come to Fargo, but other than that this will be just about as close as we get. We race near Sioux Falls and the race in Cedar Lake are close too, so we’re hoping to give the fans a good show.”

Schatz knows all about the so called “home-track advantage” that fellow Outlaw competitor Craig Dollansky will have this weekend. For years Schatz had that so-called advantage and pressure to win at Red River Valley Speedway before winning the Duel of Dakotas “A” Feature in 2002. Schatz followed that victory up with a preliminary feature win and a runner-up finish at Red River Valley Speedway last year.

“Craig will definitely have a lot on his mind, but once the racing gets going things should go fine,” said Schatz. “I know I seem to put a lot of pressure on myself when we race here. With the race being in Minnesota, I hope we have a lot of fans there too. We need a good couple of nights before we head east.”

Schatz and the ParkerStore team entered the 2004 World of Outlaws campaign with consistency being their biggest goal. The 26 year-old driver from Fargo leads the WoO series with 13 top ten finishes this season in 15 full point programs, and he currently ranks third in the season point standings.

“I’d say we’ve been pretty consistent, but like a lot of things you always want to be better,” continued Schatz. “We want to be in the top three every night and win our share of races. Last year we won 12 races, and we’d like to do better than that this year. We’re still trying to get our first win of the season, so that’s the main goal right now.”

The ParkerStore team, which consists of Crew Chief Tyler Swank and Crewman Brian Bloomfield and John Cressman, spent the week preparing for 11 races in the next 16 days. With two races in Minnesota, four in Pennsylvania, one in Maryland, two in New York and two in Ohio, the team will be pushed to the limit.

“We won’t be able to get back to the shop for quite a while, so we’ve been busy trying to make sure everything is in order,” said Swank. “Everyone has been working hard and trying to keep the big picture in perspective. We know after this weekend we head to Pennsylvania where the competition is really tough, but Donny is pretty tough out there too.”

This weekend's event in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area will also give representatives from the team’s corporate sponsor, ParkerStore, the opportunity to see the team in action. John Strand, a Market Specialist from the Quick Coupling Division of Parker Hannifin Corporation, will be in attendance both nights.

“It’s great that we can race really close to where John is,” concluded Schatz. “He’s been a really big proponent of our involvement with Parker’s racing program and hopefully, we’ll get him in some victory lane photos this weekend.”

SCHATZ TO MAKE PRINCETON APPEARANCE

Donny will join Craig Dollansky, Danny Lasoski and Joey Saldana on Saturday at the Finish line Café (located just off of Rt. 169 in Princeton). The drivers will sign autographs and chat with fans from 12 Noon until 2:00 PM.

ON THE COVER

Mike O’Leary wrote a cover story on Donny in the June issue of Sprint Car & Midget Magazine. The June issue was recently sent out to regular subscribers. Those interested in getting a copy of the issue can call Wheels-Up Publishing at (813) 984-8021. Be sure to you mention that you are interested in receiving the June issue because of the Donny Schatz story and your subscription will begin with that issue.