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Wichita, KS (April 23) - After a hot-start to the 2005 World of Outlaws season, Donny Schatz and his ParkerStore team and are having a difficult time returning to the podium. Schatz finished 14th and 10th on consecutive nights this weekend in the Schatz Motorsports #15 ParkerStore J&J with Shaver power. "We're having a tough time getting back to the early rhythm we had," said Schatz, who scored "A" feature victories in Parramatta (Australia), Las Vegas and Houston. "Getting qualified well has become so important and we just have been struggling to crack the top 12 lately. If you don't make the top 12, your chances of starting up front really go down. Early on, we were qualifying well enough to make the dash and start closer to the front. Now we seem to be racing from the back of the field every night." Schatz kicked off the weekend by making his debut at Outlaw Motor Speedway in Muskogee, OK. He qualified 19th in the field of 31 cars and after finishing seventh in his heat race, he won the "B" feature. He started the "A" feature in the tenth row and raced his way to a 14th place finish. On Saturday night, Schatz and the team ventured to 81 Speedway in Wichita, KS. He qualified 18th in the 31 car field and finished second in the first heat race. The Fargo, ND racer started the 35-lap feature in the ninth row and came home 10th. "We're going to keep searching for ways to get us back up front," continued Schatz. "We need to qualify well and give ourselves a chance. This weekend, we are heading to Knoxville and it will be tough with the number of cars that are there, but we have a pretty good notebook. Hopefully, we'll get back on track and start running up front and being a contender again." The ParkerStore team will return to action on Friday night at legendary Knoxville Raceway for the first of two nights of racing. |