By T.J. Buffenbarger
(August 14, 2025) — The answer to what Donny Schatz would be up to after separating from Tony Stewart Racing on Tuesday became apparent, at least for a few weeks, when Big Game Motorsports announced they would field an entry for Schatz through Labor Day weekend.
Here are my takeaways from the pairing of Big Game and Schat for two weeks.
• Keep in mind that over the next two and half weeks the World of Outlaws have three racing programs scheduled at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minnesota and Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota that are owned by the same person that owns big Game Motorsports, Tod Quiring.
While I don’t think this was the deciding factor for why Quiring decided to put Schatz in a car through Labor Day, I’m sure Doug Johnson, who oversees both facilities, is happy his boss did so.
Hiring Schatz for this period before Labor Day is the kind of splash Quiring would make. Nobody questions Quiring passion for sprint car racing between his team and track interests. Quiring passion is not just for the top levels of sprint car racing as our last conversation while leaving Knoxville Raceway a while back was about the health of sport at the weekly level.
Schatz now gets to compete in the north central part of the country not far from his home state of North Dakota where he has a very passionate and loyal fan base. This is a fan base that many of the middle aged to older members can remember Schatz cutting his teeth in the region before going on the road to race with the Outlaws. The Schatz/Big Game combination is a win/win situation for this passionate group of sprint car fans.
Quiring is one of the few owners that could pull off such a move on this short notice with the level of personnel Big Game is putting towards this effort. While the announcement surprised me on Thursday, who was behind it was not based on the kind of operation Quiring owns.
• I am also curious about how adding the second car for Schatz could impact David Gravel’s run over the next five races, but not in a negative way.
I believe Gravel will be a good teammate in this situation. It’s for the short term, and more feedback could give both drivers a larger amount of information to work with to make their cars fast
I can’t help but believe that Gravel, who is is highly competitive, will not in some small way in the back of his mind want to outrun his new teammate every night. Giving a highly motivated person a log to place on their competitive fire can be fun to watch.
Being short term at this point in the season, I don’t see this being much of a distraction for the Big Game operation. These races are very close to their home base, and if the Big Game team was ever going to roll out a second car, they may never have a better opportunity to try it out than right now when a driver the caliber of Schatz is available combined with the easier logistics of being near the team’s home base.
• The most fascinating part of this situation is the pairing of crew chief Cody Jacobs, who will be overseeing both Big Game entries for David Gravel and Schatz. Jacobs has ascended through the ranks to be considered one of the best crew chiefs that is currently active on the World of Outlaws tour.
According to Jeremy Elliott, Brad Alexander, and Stephen Hamm-Reilly will be on the crew, giving that side of the Big Game operation a veteran presence.
These next three weeks will be a new challenge for him, balancing the need to maintain the 172-point advantage Gravel currently holds over Buddy Kofoid in search of a second World of Outlaws championship while getting on the same page with Schatz.
Jacobs is the type of crew chief that could meld well with Schatz. Jacobs is no nonsense and all business at the racetrack. He also has a deep background in the sport pounding down the road as a child watching his father Dean and uncle Kenny race around the country.
Schatz and Jacobs are the kids that likely don’t remember the first time they went to the races, they have been around the sport since birth. I could see their point of view being similar, and the combination has me intrigued so see how well they can meld during this short period of time.