Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Donny was with us on PA Sprint Car Live last night and while expressing his want to do more Late Model Racing in the future, he also announced that he will no longer be running the chili bowl and is done racing midgets.

he basically says after losing Jason and Greg this year, and after doing it a couple times, he doesn’t exavtky feel safe behind the wheel of a midget and he’s no longer going to do it. Basically added it was out of his element a bit and that the chili bowl didn’t hold the significance as Sprint Car races did to him and that he’s just done with them. 

Donny has always been a straight shooter and he had a lot of interesting things to say. 

https://www.facebook.com/BeerhillGangTV/videos/281378532708491/

Smart man!

doesn't feel safe in a midget but sprint cars are ok, can someone explain what he is referring too about midgets being less safe than a sprint car or does it have to do with his little experience in a midget, the "out of his element a bit statement'

My guess is within 5 years he'll retire from sprints after putting up unbelievable numbers and during those 5 years try to get more and more late model races in and then move to the much safer late models full time, possibly the WoO late model series. Lets face it, these sprint cars are not going to get much safer but will keep adding about 10 HP a year and be over 1,000 HP in a few years.  Meaning less and less safe with the constant need to make the engines put out more HP year after year.

Lawlessness + liberalism = HELL -  NYC, Detroit, Chicago, 
Seattle, LA  Who the H runs those cities. 

My guess , and I haven't listened to his interview, that is safety comments are more to the fact that he doesn't have a lot of experience in them, or non wing for that matter. As well his size, being a bigger framed driver, they just don't fit him as well. When a midget starts flipping, in my opinion, though not going the speeds of a full up sprinter most of the time, due to their light weight, the midgets flip much more violently.  While late models may be safer (no race car inherently safe) he is more comfortable to him. I would guess with time, he could be just as good at late models as he is sprints as sprint cars, seemingly things happen much quicker. But I don't think he is knocking the safety of midgets as a vehicle to race, rather the safety of him in one. 

Considering that he never made it out of the D at Chili Bowl last year, easy decision. I was there & had to look it up, thats how much impression he made....

Donny has accomplished a hell of a lot in sprint cars, if he wants to get out with his body intact, OK with me. Or maybe he wants to take a shot at Kinser's records, who knows? If he goes, competition will be really equal, anybody's guess....

The primary reason is that he has better things to do with his time than race for peanuts which is what everybody who tows to Tulsa in January each year is doing. If you look at it from a financial ROI potential (or lack there of) for each and every racer there VS potential risk it's a non starter. If every driver looked at it like Donny is the people who put on that race would have to start paying a hell of a lot more money to get competitors to show up and risk their asses vs just lining the promoter's pockets with buttloads of cash.

He may well be looking at options for a few years down the road.  No doubt he could stay in a sprint car & be dominant for a while, but I'm guessing it takes more of a toll on the body than a late model does.  Bloomquist is north of 50 & is still one of the top 2 or 3 in the sport.

Also, there are lots of options to run for good $ in the late models most every week during the summer.  Maybe he wants a new challenge.  His limited time in a late model seems to show he could be pretty good in them if he went full time.  

I believe year before he missed A main by one or two spots...

The question about the midget came up after talking late models. He basically said he’s always wanted to race Sprint Car his whole life and that’s all he’s wanted to do. But that there is a lot of b.s he doesn’t agree with and that while he doesn’t want to quit, he could certainly do it with the option of running Kate models.

he added he didn’t like the way it felt in a late model at first and that he enjoys being able to run closer to home (as sprint cars are not as big there as gendered racing and he enjoyed the challenge) I don’t think he has a timeframe,  but to me I def think it’ll be his next step when he decides to hang up the Sprint Car wheel.

in terms of the midget, he mentioned Jason and Greg’s accident and that with his size he felt like he was basically going out there waiting to get get caught up in something and he just didn’t ever really feel comfortable in them. He mentioned he did it a few times because he got asked and that he was 100% sure he wouldn’t do it again. He said he likely wasn’t going to win the chili bowl either and they even if he did, it didn’t outrank a Knoxville Nationals, Williams grove National Open or any of the Sprint Car races. He just doesn’t want to do it anymore and said he hadn’t told anyone. It was kind of an accident he even said it as he said I put him in the spot ha. 

      Maybe he's talking about the relative safety of a winged sprint car verses a non-wing midget.

Well that’s a stupid comment if I’ve ever heard one. First year in Tulsa he missed the A by only a few spots. He may not be a fan Of the exposed top on the concrete walls at the Chili Bowl. Anyone who remembers Payton Pierce crash a few years back knows what I’m talking about.

-Austin Rankin

He wasn't knocking the midgets. He just is not comfortable with the cars which makes him feel unsafe. Regardless I think he has earned the right to drive whatever he wants to drive. If that means a late model in the future than so be it.

Add up the numbers...donny is a smart businessman. late models races pay money...midget racing is an expensive ego trip, think I'm kidding? ... Call the Toyota team and ask for a rent a ride quote...

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

I can't read Donny's mind, you could be right. I was just saying he's not a big contender in midgets. I don't think thats "stupid"

This comes as no surprise considering the amount of Late Model racing here in the upper Midwet.  Schatz got to know some of the Late Model people early on at Cedar Lake and other tracks where both classes ran together.  Personally I think they're fun to watch and setup is way more of a challenge.  If he transitions to Late Models it would allow him to race closer to home and tend to his business interests.  After losing some popular drivers this past season it has to make them think twice about Sprints.  

Stan Meissner

There are high paying WISSOTA races and the Lucas Oil and World of Outlaws come up this way as well.  Jimmy Mars is one example of someone racing locally while running his chassis business.  It would be fun to see Donny run shows like the USA Nationals.  That reminds me, see more fenders next year.  

Stan Meissner

I wouldn't blame Schatz for walking away from the sprint cars all together and concentrating on his Late Model deal. He sure as hell doesn't have anything to prove in a sprint car. He could keep one around for an annual trip to the Knoxville Nationals just to make everybody sweat a little. He sure doesn't need the money, but there is plenty of money available for the top Late Model guys, too, so he'd still haul in some good cash once he got rolling.

Schatz is very good in a late model and all cars have a weight rule and are as safe as any form of professional racing I might be wrong but the Chili Bowl is pretty much a one off midget race that has a thin rule book and not a large puse that is more about having fun and winning a Driller. Tim Mcready won it one year and suffered a severe crash related back injury  later. Schatz has nothing to prove as He is the best and most consistent WOO driver.Being with one of the NASCAR teams where money isnt a problem makes it more fun than a local Knoxville driver that also has to work to help pay the bills.$70K + engines producing over 900+ H.P. are one reason there seems to be some good teams that are getting out. Sammy and Jac and  Bloomquist are examples of longeity in racing as there is no retirement plan,Ipers,401K in racing. Social Security Medicade isnt that far off fot Jac and Sam.I am 73 and still race some and it is still just as much fun as when I was 16 but you definately lose some every year.

Does anyone here think that the Chili Bowl is a tad bit overrated?

Absolutely.  Only 5 days of racing?   300 cars?  Events like that are a dime a dozen.