KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 13, 2024) – Adversity stared down Donny Schatz and his Tony Stewart Racing No. 15 team from the very onset of the 63rd running of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals. 106 teams made the trip to Knoxville, Iowa for the biggest week in Sprint Car racing – the largest field at the Nationals since 2019. Fifty-two cars competed during Wednesday’s qualifying night, including 11-time Nationals champion, Schatz. 

Schatz was behind the eight-ball to start the week before even turning a lap around the historic half-mile clay oval. Schatz went out 43rd in the qualifying order and turned in the 38th-quickest lap time. 

While Schatz started on the pole of heat and cruised to the win, locking into Saturday night’s A-Main was still a tall task due to the points deficit already created after qualifying. 

Schatz finished 18th in Wednesday’s preliminary feature, meaning he would have to run Friday’s Hard Knox night to try to claim one of the last four positions in Saturday’s championship main event. 

Not happy with the car on Wednesday, the Tony Stewart Racing team went to work on Thursday to rebuild a brand new car for Schatz on Friday. 

The changes seemed to have made a big difference right away on Friday as Schatz, with a much better pill draw, went quick time in Group A qualifying. Schatz then ran fourth in his heat race, missing a transfer position into the feature by one spot. Had Schatz transferred into the feature, he would have started on the pole of the feature but was instead slated into the B-main. 

With a stroke of Nationals luck, however, a driver that finished in the top three did not scale after the heat race resulting in an automatic DQ. That put Schatz into a transfer position and on the pole of the feature. 

From there, Schatz out-ran a very fast Logan Schuchart to claim the Hard Knox feature win and guarantee himself the 21st starting position on Saturday night’s A-Main. 

The win for Schatz was his 30th at Knoxville Raceway (10th-most in track history). 

The Knoxville Nationals are known for their extremely difficult format, and as a testament to Schatz’s consistency, Friday was the first time since 1997 that he had to run the Friday night “Non-Qualifier” event at the Nationals. The following year Schatz locked into the A-main for the first time and hasn’t missed a Saturday night Nationals feature for 26 consecutive years. 

Rolling off 21st for Saturday’s 50-lap, $190,000-to-win A-main, Schatz was buried in a stacked lineup and surrounded by former Nationals champions Brad Sweet and David Gravel. 

Schatz wasn’t able to move up much during the first 25 laps as he was scored 19th at the fuel stop. But Schatz was able to march forward on the fast, tacky, and narrow Knoxville Raceway. 

Schatz finished 13th, right behind World of Outlaws points leader David Gravel. 

The World of Outlaws points race will resume this weekend as the series heads to Jackson Motorplex for the Jackson Nationals. Schatz currently sits second in the standings, 98 points behind Gravel. 

Schatz and the entire Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team would like to thank all of their great partners for their continued support – Carquest Auto Parts, Advance Auto Parts, Curb Records, Ford Performance, Sage Fruit, Mobil 1, Absolute Automation & Security, J&J Auto Racing, Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts

2024 Stats:
Races: 49
Wins: 4
Top Fives: 26
Top Tens: 42