Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Donny Schatz to the stage.
Schatz, a 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut when the series visits Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for the first time on July 9. RELATED: History, new traditions intersect for Truck Series' debut at Knoxville The native of Minot, North Dakota, might be new to NASCAR, but he is far from a rookie at the historic half-mile oval, despite the yellow stripe that will be on the bumper of the No. 17 Ford F-150 fielded by David Gilliland Racing that Schatz will drive at Knoxville. The 43-year-old Schatz has more experience at Knoxville Raceway than nearly all the other expected entries for the Corn Belt 150 put together. The lone exception is Brian Brown, a four-time Knoxville track champion, who will also make his Camping World Truck Series debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports at Knoxville.Schatz, who drives for Tony Stewart Racing, is one of the most prolific winners in Knoxville Raceway history. Knoxville Raceway has hosted the Knoxville Nationals, considered the biggest and most prestigious race in all of sprint car racing, since 1961. In the last 15 years, Schatz has won that event an astounding 10 times.
RELATED: Camping World Truck Series schedule | Buy tickets Included in that stretch are streaks of four-straight wins from 2006 to ’09 and five-straight wins from 2011 to ’15. He earned his most recent Knoxville Nationals victory in 2017. In addition, Schatz has finished second in the Nationals seven times since 2000. He has 27 career victories at Knoxville, which ranks 10th all-time in the 410 sprint car division despite having never raced there on a weekly basis. Brown, meanwhile, has won 53 features at the Sprint Car Capital of the World. Away from Knoxville, Schatz is just as good. He began racing full-time with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series in 1997, earning rookie-of-the-year honors. He earned his first victory with the series one year later, setting the stage for things to come. Schatz improved year by year and in 2006, he captured his first series championship. He won the World of Outlaws title four-straight seasons from 2006 to ’09 and added additional championships in 2012 and each season from 2014 through ’18. His 10 World of Outlaws championships rank him second all-time behind 20-time series champion Steve Kinser. In addition to his exceptional championship record, Schatz has racked up an astounding number of World of Outlaws victories. On June 18, Schatz won his 300th feature with the series at Iowa’s Dubuque Speedway. That ranks him third all-time behind Sammy Swindell (394 victories) and Kinser (690 victories). Schatz can count some of the most prestigious sprint car races in the country among his triumphs, including the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway, the Brad Doty Classic at Ohio’s Attica Raceway Park, the Kings Royal at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, the Williams Grove National Open and the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, North Carolina. While Schatz may be new to NASCAR, he’s far from a rookie. In fact, he’s likely one of the top contenders to win the Corn Belt 150 when the green flag waves on July 9 at Knoxville Raceway.