EAGLE, NE – Donny Schatz is not a big fan of getting in line and riding around. The World of Outlaws Sprint Series star tried everything he could on Sunday night in the 21st annual Eagle Nationals finale aboard the #15 ParkerStore J&J, but an abrasive racing surface took its toll on his right rear tire, which eventually ruptured. The ParkerStore team replaced the tire, but Schatz couldn’t make the top line work in the final 14 laps and was credited with an 18th place finish.

“This won’t go down as our best performance of the season,” said Schatz, who remains in third place in the WoO points chase. “I understand the weather had a lot to do with the track conditions, but this is the kind of track where we should be able to race all across the track. We got up to seventh and I tried everything to get sixth from (Daryn) Pittman. I ended up using up my right rear. After we changed it, I just thought I could try something else, but that didn’t work either.”

Schatz began the two-night program on Saturday night by qualifying 16th. He started the preliminary feature ninth and raced his way into the top five before a red-flag slowed the action with only a handful of laps remaining. Schatz was working to get the #15 ParkerStore J&J into fourth to get locked into Sunday’s finale, but he came up two spots short and finished sixth.

The team returned on Sunday and qualified 12th in the field of 33 cars. He won the first heat race and started the 40-lap “A” feature 16th. He worked his way into the top ten and as the track began taking rubber everyone got in line around the bottom. Schatz seemed to be faster than Pittman, but he couldn’t get by him on the one-lane track. On lap 26, he surrendered seventh place when his right rear tire blew. He returned to the field, but wasn’t able to stay ahead of eventual winner Danny Lasoski and went a lap down before finishing 18th.

The ParkerStore team will be back in action on Tuesday night at Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, KS.