Donald R. Schatz (born August 10, 1977) 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.
thumb|left|Donny's 2013 sprint car at [[Beaver Dam Raceway.]]
Australia
Schatz has spent time racing in Australia during his career. He won the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at the Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Victoria back to back in 2001 & 2002. He was runner up in the 1999/2000 and 2001/02 World Series Sprintcars series.
NASCAR
On June 2, 2021, it was announced that Schatz would make his NASCAR and stock car racing debut in the inaugural Truck Series race at Knoxville Raceway, driving the No. 17 for David Gilliland Racing.
Personal life
Schatz was a 1995 graduate of Minot High School. He currently lives in Fargo, North Dakota. He has a step-daughter, Savanna. Schatz is a licensed pilot and spends a great deal of time working with his parents in their family truck stop businesses in Fargo and Minot. He is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and snowmobiling.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (<span style="font-size:85%">Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.</span>)
Camping World Truck Series
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%"
! colspan=29| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
|-
! Year
! Team
! No.
! Make
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
! 16
! 17
! 18
! 19
! 20
! 21
! 22
!
! Pts
! Ref
|-
! 2021
! David Gilliland Racing
! 17
! Ford
| DAY
| DAY
| LVS
| ATL
| BRI
| RCH
| KAN
| DAR
| COA
| CLT
| TEX
| NAS
| POC
| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| KNX<br>
| GLN
| GTW
| DAR
| BRI
| LVS
| TAL
| MAR
| PHO
! 84th
! 7
!
|}