Donny Schatz
Donald R. Schatz is an American professional sprint car racing driver who competes in the World of Outlaws, driving for Big Game Motorsports. Schatz is a ten-time champion in the World of Outlaws with a current total of 315 wins.
Racing career
Schatz is son of Danny Christ Schatz, a sprint car driver in the 1970s, and Diane Korgel. He started his racing career at 11 in go karts, and moved to 358 sprint cars as a 15-year-old at Red River Valley Speedway. Schatz moved to 410 sprints and The World of Outlaws series three seasons later as an 18-year-old.World of Outlaws
Schatz won the 1997 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year award, and picked up his first A-feature win in 1998..Schatz has gone on to win ten championships in 2006–2009, 2012, and 2014–2018. He became only the second driver to win the points championship four years in a row, with the other being Steve Kinser. Since 2006 he has recorded a top two points finish, with three second places to go along with the ten championships.
As of June 19, 2021, Schatz has 300 WoO wins, third most all-time behind Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell.
Prestigious wins include the Knoxville Nationals eleven times,, the Kings Royal six times,, the 2006, 2007, 2020 Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup; the Brad Doty Classic in 2013, 2016 and 2018; the 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012 and 2020 National Open at William's Grove Speedway, and the inaugural World of Outlaws World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2008. He also holds the record for farthest in the field a winner of the Knoxville Nationals has started, when he won from the 21st starting position in 2013.
In 2008, he moved to Tony Stewart Racing, and continued to drive for the team for eighteen years, until leaving the team on August 12, 2025.