GRANITE CITY, IL (May 8)- In the competitive world of sprint car racing, a little positive energy can go a long way. Donny Schatz and his ParkerStore team are hoping after a run from 10th to sixth in Saturday night's World of Outlaws Sprint Series "A" Feature at Tri-City Speedway near St. Louis that their performances will continue to improve.

"I think we're starting to get back to where we need to be," said Schatz following the feature event. "I was really comfortable with the car and felt better than I have in a while. We had a tough month or so, and after tonight, I'm ready to get back on the track again."

Schatz and his team were scheduled to conclude a three-race stretch in four nights Monday at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, OK but a severe rainstorm Sunday took it's toll on the track and forced World of Outlaws officials to postpone the event.

"The schedule starts to get a little bit more hectic now as we head out east, and we need to get back in the hunt," continued Schatz, who holds down fifth in the WoO standings. "We went for a long time without making the dash, let alone finishing close to the front. You have to start closer to the front to have a chance against these guys. Tonight (Saturday), we were fortunate to get into the dash and get the car better for the feature."

Schatz entered Saturday's event at Tri-City following an uneventful debut at Lake Ozark Speedway where he finished 14th in the "A" Feature event. On Saturday, he started the evening by qualifying 14th in the field of 27 cars and then dominated the second heat race. After starting last in the second dash event, Schatz earned a fifth place finish. The finish put the #15 ParkerStore J&J with Shaver power on the outside of row five for the feature event.

The Fargo, ND racer got a terrific start when the green flag waived for the 30-lap feature moving up to sixth position before a lap was complete, but the start was negated when a yellow flag flew forcing a complete restart. The second start wasn't as good for the ParkerStore team, but Schatz worked his way back to sixth as the race neared the halfway point. The track began taking rubber by lap 15, and Schatz was forced to fall in line and follow the freight train during the final stages of the race.

"You hate to see the rubber come in, when you feel like you've got a car that you can pass guys with," said Schatz. "Like I said, I feel good about tonight even though you want to do better when you feel that comfortable in the car. I'm going to take it as a step in the right direction and hope we can build on it next time out."

Following the postponement of Monday's race, Schatz will have to wait until next Saturday to return to action when the World of Outlaws visit Chillicothe, Ohio for a one-night race at K-C Raceway.