Donny Schatz wins Lebanon Valley

W. LEBANON, NY - Donny Schatz and his ParkerStores sprint car team remained one of the hottest teams on the Pennzoil World of Outlaws tour on Monday by dominating the 25-lap "A" Feature at Lebanon Valley Speedway. Neither an afternoon Thunder Storm or a malfunction within the motor could slow down "The Minot Missile" as he won his second "A" Feature of the 2001 season.

"I really wasn't sure we were going to get this one tonight," said Schatz, who has won three races in his last eight starts. "We were having problems getting our motor to run all the way around the track. I was able to run wide open down the straightaways, but in the corners I really had trouble keeping it running. It started in the Channellock Dash and my crew changed the magneto, fuel pump and everything we could think of to solve the problem."

Schatz qualified the ParkerStores J&J ninth in the field and won the third O'Reilly Heat Race. In the Dash, he beat Daryn Pittman to the first corner and won the 8-lap contest, which put Schatz on the pole for the 25-lap "A" Feature. In the feature, Schatz got the lead on Pittman again and drove off to a commanding lead. A red-flag on lap 12 gave "The Minot Missile" a chance to talk with Crew Chief Kenny Woodruff about the motor problems. "On the red, we even tried something with fuel lines," continued Schatz. "The guys told me that we had built a good lead, but I wasn't sure that we were going to make it all 25 laps. After the red, we still had the motor problems, but everything else worked flawlessly. Our J&J car was terrific and the Goodyear's performed great tonight. We're working pretty good right now, and we just want to keep this momentum going. Our goal on Wednesday (at Rolling Wheels Raceway) is to make it two in a row in New York."

The team will continue their busy week of action on Wednesday before traveling to the Pittsburgh area on Friday for the inaugural "Commonwealth Classic" at Lernerville Speedway. The race will be aired live on TNN: The National Network beginning at 9 PM (et). They will conclude the week with a one-night program at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH, Saturday.

-www.donnyschatz.com