By Bill Klingbeil
INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 2, 2013) – The bigger the race, the bigger the bullseye. For Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Donny Schatz, it seems no matter how big the bullseye is on his back, the five-time and reigning World of Outlaws (WoO) STP Sprint Car Series champion continues to succeed when it matters most.
The driver of the TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet Performance J&J leads the rest of the Outlaws back into hostile territory this weekend for the biggest Sprint car race in the East – the 51st annual Morgan Hughes National Open at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Schatz not only is defending champion and a five-time winner of the National Open, he is also in the midst of a career-best season for WoO A-Feature wins. The Fargo, N.D., racer won his 21st of the campaign Saturday at Fremont (Ohio) Speedway. Two of those wins came earlier this year at “The Grove,” including in May when Schatz started 12th and passed Greg Hodnett coming out of turn four on the final lap.
The National Open is one of the three biggest races each year on the WoO calendar, joining the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals and Eldora Speedway’s Kings Royal. Schatz finished third in the 30th annual Kings Royal this past July and won his seventh Knoxville Nationals in August after starting 21st. This year’s results simply underline the fact that Schatz is putting up some incredible results when the pressure is at its highest.
TSR’s Steve Kinser can relate to succeeding while carrying the bullseye. His 12 Knoxville Nationals wins, 12 Gold Cup Race of Champions victories and seven Kings Royal crowns attest to that. The 20-time WoO champion would like nothing more than to match Schatz with five National Open triumphs by racing the TSR No. 11 Bad Boy Buggies/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Performance Maxim to victory in Saturday’s 40-lap A-Feature.
From its storied beginning back in 1963 when a Michigan invader named Gordon Johnock won the first event, through last year’s epic 50th National Open when Schatz became its first five-time winner, the landmark event has annually attracted the best of the best to compete at one of the most competitive dirt tracks in the country. Thirty drivers have etched their names into the history books as a National Open champion, with Schatz and Kinser being the most frequent winners.
Kinser won his first National Open in 1990 when he won the 75-lap main event. Two years later, he was victorious again, but the race was a 50-lap main in 1992. He continued his trend of winning the National Open every other year by taking the 40-lap finale in 1994. “The King of Outlaws” won his fourth National Open in 2003. This weekend, he’ll be looking to score his 39th career A-Feature win at the famed facility.
Schatz competed in his first National Open back in 1997 during his WoO Rookie of the Year campaign. A 10th-place finish in that first Open was followed by his first National Open triumph three years later in 2000. He finished third the following season and fourth in 2003 before becoming only the sixth driver in National Open history to win the race in consecutive seasons. His fourth National Open closed out an incredible 2007 season at Williams Grove as it was Schatz’s fifth victory in eight starts at the track.
The weekend includes a pair of complete programs for the World of Outlaws, concluding with Friday’s 25-lap feature that pays $8,000 to the winner and Saturday’s 40-lap National Open A-Feature with $50,000 going to the winner. Schatz is hoping to continue his recent surge and close in on current WoO STP Sprint Car Series points leader Daryn Pittman. Schatz trails Pittman by 52 markers with only five events remaining in 2013. Schatz will be looking for his 22nd WoO victory of the season and 18th career win at Williams Grove.
Both nights at Williams Grove, the pit gates will open at 3 p.m. EDT with the grandstands opening at 5:30 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. For more details and ticket information, call the track at (717) 697-5000 or visit www.WilliamsGrove.com.
Race fans unable to attend this weekend’s events can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen live as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO STP Sprint Car Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the site features, including live results from the track.
Steve Kinser, Driver of the No. 11 TSR/Bad Boy Buggies/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Performance Maxim:
The National Open is one of a handful of really prestigious races on your schedule. Is there any extra anxiety heading into it?
“You are always going to be a little bit nervous when you go to a big race. That’s natural. It’s like that in any sport. A big playoff game. A chance to make it to the Super Bowl. A conference title game. It’s all part of being an athlete. When things are going great, you eat up all that pressure and just keep grabbing for more. We’re not quite in that mode heading into this weekend’s National Open, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be there by Saturday afternoon. There’s nothing like winning a race. And when you beat the quality of competition we’re going to be racing with this weekend, it’s amazing how your mentality can change. One step at time is our focus. We have to give ourselves a chance Friday night and see if we can build on it from there. It’s going to be a fun weekend. The fans will be out in full force and that’s what it’s all about.”
This weekend’s event will likely attract an extremely large field. What’s the biggest key to having success this weekend?
“A lot of times you can point to just one thing but, when you race at Williams Grove, you have to be good just about every time you hit the track. It’s gotten so much like the Knoxville Nationals where, if you are off just a bit, you could be in big trouble. There are so many good owners, drivers and cars out there that it really takes a complete program to be successful. The last few years at Williams Grove, we’ve had our ups and downs. A couple of years ago, we actually led the National Open (2010) and then came back the following May and won. Having two nights will help. Our goal is to go out Friday and get qualified in position to make it in the dash. That could happen either by being one of the two fastest cars in qualifying or landing on the front of a heat race and racing our way to first or second. That’s the best way to give yourself a chance. These Bad Boy Buggies guys have really been working hard. We had a good Knoxville Nationals and would like to build on that by having a good National Open.”
Donny Schatz, Driver of the No. 15 TSR/STP/Armor All/Chevrolet Performance J&J:
The season is coming down to the wire and this is final big race of the season. Do you feel good about your position coming into the National Open?
“We are extremely excited about the opportunity we have this weekend. The STP guys have been putting a great car under me all season and our success at the half-miles has been phenomenal. We’ve won a lot of races this year and have been really good at Williams Grove. We had things going pretty well there for a long time, then struggled in 2010, 2011 and most of 2012, but somehow found our way last fall at the National Open. My crew (Rick Warner, Steve Swenson and Jim Oare) is extremely competitive and wants to win as much as I do. We understand the two wins earlier this year don’t mean anything this weekend. We’ve got a really strong car for this weekend and we’re going to give it everything we have right from the get-go.”
Your success record at the National Open is pretty remarkable considering you’ve only competed in the event 14 times. Five wins and nine top-fives are pretty impressive with the quality of competition the event attracts. What’s been your secret to success in the National Open?
“It’s been something we’ve worked on for a long time. I remember my first year with the Outlaws (1997) and I absolutely hated racing at Williams Grove. I had no idea how to get around the track. We finally started figuring some things out a few years later and winning the National Open in 2000 kind of turned the tables for me. Since then, we’ve been working on our car and motor package with the idea of always wanting it to be its best at Knoxville and Williams Grove. Those are the two tracks where we see the most cars, face the best competition and have the biggest races. It says a lot about this entire team to have the kind of success we’ve had these last few years at those places. We’re still working to get better. We’re not going to think about the wins we’ve had before. The focus right now is winning the National Open. That starts Friday. We have the chance to go win another race at Williams Grove and continue getting better so that we are in the best position to win Saturday.”
About Armored AutoGroup
Armored AutoGroup Inc., headquartered in Danbury, Conn., is primarily comprised of the Armor All®, STP® and Tuff Stuff® brands. The current Armor All product line of protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products and car washes are designed to clean, shine and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces. The STP product line of fuel and oil additives, functional fluids and automotive appearance products have a broad customer base ranging from professional racers to car enthusiasts and “Do-it-Yourselfers”. Tuff Stuff cleaning products are formulated to tackle the toughest jobs.
Armored AutoGroup has a diversified geographic footprint with direct operations in the United States, Canada, Australia and the U.K. and distributor relationships in approximately 50 countries. For more information, please visit www.armorall.com and www.stp.com.
About Bad Boy Buggies
Bad Boy Buggies is a leader in off-road utility vehicles for hunting and outdoor lifestyles. Bad Boy Buggies pioneered the category of electrically powered 4×4 vehicles, ideal for hunting and outdoor recreation due to their silent, odorless operation and environmentally friendly, emissions-free drivetrains.
Today, the Bad Boy Buggies product line ranges from four-wheel-drive electric hunting machines such as the Recoil, a fully electric, 4WD vehicle with an innovative, highly efficient 72-volt AC electric drivetrain, to the Work Series of diesel and gas-powered utility vehicles, including the Bad Boy Buggies XD, a versatile 4WD, diesel-powered utility vehicle with a total capacity of 1,600 pounds. In 2010, the Bad Boy Buggies brand and product line were acquired by E-Z-GO, a business unit of Textron Inc.
For more information, please visit www.badboybuggies.com.