Donny Schatz dedicates Knoxville Nationals win to his later father, Danny
KNOXVILLE — The cockpit of Donny Schatz's sprint car is barely big enough for him to squeeze into.
But on Saturday night, the 10-time World of Outlaws champion had a co-pilot sitting next to him for the 61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway.
As Schatz made a charge at leader David Gravel with five laps to go, he could hear the voice of his late father telling him what to do.
Schatz listened and piloted his car to victory, winning his 11th Knoxville Nationals title.
As he pulled into Victory Lane, he was the only one to climb out of his No. 15 car. But he said he could sense his father, Danny, was right there with him, smiling from ear to ear.
This one was for the elder Schatz, who passed away June 27 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. The emotions came boiling to the surface as Donny Schatz celebrated his first Knoxville Nationals win since 2017.
"I heard him giving me a little (grief) there at the beginning," Schatz said. "With my father, you always knew what he was thinking. Even though some of us never listen to our dads when we are younger, we figure it out the hard way. I could definitely hear him telling me to get my (rear) in gear. Just go out and do what you know how to do. He had a lot of confidence in me. It's pretty special."
As Schatz relaxed in Dyer Hudson Hall after the race, the memories came flowing back for him as he relished his accomplishment.
His father raced sprint cars all over the Midwest in the 1970s. He got his son started driving go-karts at age 10.
Schatz recalled the days of driving with his father from one race to the next. It was a special time of bonding between father and son, one which he will forever cherish.
"My father is the reason I got into racing," he said. "He's been with me every step of the way until he got sick. Racing is something we did as a family together right up until the day he was gone. It's a little different dynamic now with not having him around. We spent a lot of time together, riding home and to the races. We talked about things — where I made mistakes, where I could be better, things we could do. I don't have that anymore. I guess it's time for me to grow up and figure it out on my own."
Schatz battles back from seventh after rough start
Donny Schatz's Saturday started off anything but memorable. He started on the inside of the second row but soon found himself back in seventh place, struggling to find traction in his tires and a line that worked for his car.
"I didn't drive like I should have at the beginning there," Donny Schatz said. "I was a little bit frustrated. We've been working so hard on getting the tires caught up. I was driving like ... I don't even know what you would call it. There's no words for it. I could hear (my father) saying, 'Gather it up. Settle down.' It worked."
Austin McCarl took the lead on the start, but Tyler Courtney made a pass on the second lap to go ahead of him.
Defending champion Kyle Larson, who qualified for the pole position for the NASCAR Federated Auto Parts 400 earlier in the day in Richmond, cut a tire on Lap 12 and was forced to restart from the back. He finished sixth and was never a factor.
Gravel, meanwhile, worked his way up to second by the halfway break, while Brent Marks was up to fourth.
Gravel made his move for the lead on the restart as Schatz worked his way into position to make a run at Gravel.
The last five laps were all Gravel and Schatz as they traded one slide job after another.
Schatz finally made the decisive move with five laps to go, using a slide job in the third and fourth turns to get by Gravel for good.
Schatz held on in the closing laps for the win. Gravel was second, followed by Logan Schuchart, Courtney and Jacob Allen.
"I was running well on the top and didn't have to get off it," Gravel said. "The last couple laps I was maybe spinning a little bit down the straightaways. I heard Donny going into three and I figured he was coming. I guess in hindsight I should have tried running down in one and two, but when you are leading and you feel pretty good, you don't want to change it up."
Schuchart was happy to show after starting well back in the pack.
"How can you be anything but thrilled for what this team has accomplished this week? I'm very proud of everybody who is a part of this," Schuchart said. "The last five or 10 laps I felt like I had nothing to lose, just go for it. I pulled the wing back a couple inches and I could run the bottom wide open. In hindsight you always wish you would have done things sooner, done things differently. But to start 17th and get up to third is just amazing. I can't say enough about my team."
This night belonged to Schatz, who dedicated the win to his father. It was one last ride together for father and son, and Schatz was relishing this one well into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
"This means a lot. My family is all here," he said. "I think dad would be happy. He'd be smiling. He would be frustrated with things the last couple years while he was sick. That's racing. You can get frustrated and you don't have to have anything go wrong. He wasn't one to really pat you on the back. I'm not sure he would say, 'Good job.' He wasn't real super rewarding. That's why he was good. You didn't expect it."
A-Main finish
1. Donny Schatz; 2. David Gravel; 3. Logan Schuchart; 4. Tyler Courtney; 5. Jacob Allen; 6. Kyle Larson; 7. Brent Marks; 8. Sheldon Haudenschild; 9. Brad Sweet; 10. Daryn Pittman.
B-Main winner: Schuchart. C-Main winner: Kyle Reinhardt. D-Main winner: Blake Hahn. E-Main winner: Dylan Westbrook.
Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 31 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Schatz passes Gravel late to win his 11th Knoxville Nationals race
