Donny Schatz seeking breakthrough at Texas

FORT WORTH-DALLAS (March 16, 2001) - Donny Schatz is convinced that the 2001 Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint car season will be a breakthrough year. Schatz is seeking similar results March 29-30 when "The Greatest Show on Dirt" invades Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track for the Southern Bleacher Classic.

Schatz has been a dominant force the last two winters in Australian sprint car racing. He won six out of 12 races this past "summer" Down Under including the two biggest events, the Warrnambool Classic and the Gough & Gilmour $50,000-to-win program at Parramatta City Raceway.

But success in Australia doesn't guarantee top finishes in the rugged Pennzoil World of Outlaws dirt track series that criss-crosses the United States from February through November. The "Minot (N.D.) Missile" struggled through the early segments of last year, which bruised his confidence.

But when the Parker Store team hired veteran WoO crew chief Kenny Woodruff last August, things changed. Schatz finished second in the Amoco Knoxville Nationals, sprint car racing's premier event, and followed up by winning the National Open in Pennsylvania late in the year. Hope reigns eternal for 2001.

"It's a great new facility," said the fifth-year WoO driver of the Dirt Track. "All four times I was there last year I struggled, but I'm hoping this is the year that all changes. There's probably not a racetrack where I drive harder but haven't gone anywhere. Maybe I need to try a new technique and hope that we've got the car on the right part of the racetrack.

"I think we'll have a good chance. It only takes one good night to get a place figured out."

Southern Bleacher Classic tickets are on sale at the speedway ticket office, by calling (817) 215-8500, online at www.texasmotorspeedway.com and at Ticketmaster locations.

-TMS