VOLUSIA, Fla. — Donny Schatz is quietly becoming the story of the week at the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season opener.
The No. 15 Tony Stewart Racing driver has been on the move ever since setting foot at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park for practice on Tuesday night.
Schatz went 10th to sixth during Wednesday’s feature and followed it up with a massive charge from 16th to fifth on Thursday.
“We want wins ultimately, but you know, you’ve gotta be able to pass cars and you’ve gotta be able to move forward. You’re not gonna win championships if you can’t,” Schatz said.
He added, “You’re not gonna draw the pole every night. Like the guy last night (Brad Sweet), the guy who won the race never had to pass a car all night long. You’re not gonna have those scenarios very often.”
Schatz is focused on maximizing car maneuverability and after his runs from deep in the pack, it’s safe to say the Tony Stewart Racing crew has found something at Volusia.
“The guys have just worked and worked and worked, trying to get speed. It hasn’t been there early in the night, but we felt solid last night,” Schatz said.
He nearly caught Gio Scelzi and Justin Peck to challenge for a podium result, but after the hard charge the No. 15 put in early in the race, Schatz said he faded a bit at the end.
“It is what it is. It’s a respectable finish from where we started and we got two more nights to try to get a win,” Schatz said.
The Tony Stewart Racing driver is second in the Big Gator Championship standings, 16 points behind Thursday night’s winner David Gravel.
NOS Energy’s Sponsorship Extension Eases Drivers
The big news on Thursday was centered around NOS Energy Drink’s title sponsorship extension with the World of Outlaws. The energy drink brand has been with the series since 2019.
From a driver’s perspective, the renewed sponsorship deal provides a certain sense of security.
“Obviously it’s a really good feeling that NOS wants to continue to support the World of Outlaws, especially when there’s another national series going on, so it shows their commitment to the World of Outlaws,” said Gravel, who finished runner-up in the championship last year.
The extension also provides a little long-term comfort to the Outlaws, as NOS Energy signed a multi-year deal with the Greatest Show On Dirt.
NOS Energy will now be the longest running title sponsor in series history.
“The sport of sprint car racing is looking very good right now and, hopefully, we keep riding this wave,” Gravel concluded.
Crawley’s Rookie Ringer
Following a near-perfect series debut on Wednesday night, Landon Crawley went through the rookie ringer on Thursday.
Compared to the previous night where he set quick time and made the dash, the No. 7s Sides Motorsports driver had to use a provisional to make Thursday’s 25-lap feature.
Not ideal, but the performance was more along the lines of what Crawley expected out of his first World of Outlaws weekend.
“I don’t think tonight could’ve gone much worse. I mean, I started out decent, but everything pretty much just went downhill from there,” Crawley said.
He finished 22nd out of 26 cars.
After experiencing both ends on the high-and-low spectrum at Volusia so far, the 16-year-old is hoping that Friday he’ll wind up somewhere in the middle. However, he’s already learned quite a few lessons from the wild swing he’s had.
“The biggest thing that I’ve learned from running these big tracks with big motors, there’s dirty air, you know. So trying to keep her nose clean is important,” Crawley said.