Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I did not say it correct, engine can have plenty of power, but how it gets to track is something else.  If cam comes on to quick it will be hard to get traction under control.  Guy like Shaver and others who work on engine and dyno know what is needed.  They are smarter than all of us put together.  I guess one should say engine is being developed now.  You can not expect a brand new engine design to to be #1 right out of box.

When Mark Kinser ran the Mopar and Kasey Kahne's team did too they were strong and reliable too..

"He is the best driver out there, no question about that"-------I wouldn't say no question about that.  I, for one, don't think he's the best driver out there.  There are too many Hosers bringing up some very good points about balance, etc. that kinda bring questions up about him being the best driver out there.  Is he the smoothest driver out there?  Yes.  Is he the cleanest driver out there?  Yes.  Is the BEST driver out there?  Depends on what best means.  Can he jump into anything, hang it out there on the edge is it's not handling right, and bring it to the front?  No.  Could he have in his prime?  Probably.  He can't now though.  At least not the way these other guys are throwing these cars from the bottom to the top and top to the bottom.   

I think the resounding theme of this entire thread tells me Donny's success hinges on much more than his talent at this point in his career.  But don't worry, the young guns won't be able to do it forever either.  

And with a shorter season you wont see this as much...where Schatz will be consistent and others will crash a time or two and cost themselves a ton of points.  Well Sweet had a bad week during the season.  And that race in PA...Schatz did put it out on the edge and passed Sweet and Larson.  

The Mopar had been running for several years before Mark Kinser started running it.   And he had arguably the best sprint car mechanic ever turning the wrenches on the 5m.

Maybe one of the engine builders or other knowledgeable posters can answer this question.  Andy Durham was building pretty stout Ford engines in the LM arena and he had some high power clients - Bloomquist, B-Shep and others.  Is Schatz's engine a brand new design?  Does any of the info that Durham had on the engine translate from the LM to the sprint car?  Wasn't Durham involved in some of the testing of Schatz's motors?  I'm not an engine builder, but it does seem that the 2 year development cycle on this engine is a long time, assuming that there are sufficient resources behind the effort.

Other posters have made good points about the other teams catching up to Schatz.  There are 5 or 6 teams that can win any given night and the competition level is high.  No, none of these guys are Steve, Sammy and Doug, but they are fairly equal, have similar equipment and are very competitive.  We are pretty darn lucky to be seeing great racing!

cornett had some pretty good ford motors in the late models, as did Roush/yates.  i believe that this is a whole new design engine, and they just cannot seem to get the balance between power and torque to match what donny wants in the car

We'll never know unless he switches back to "Chevy" & we can see how he does

Which is unlikely since they probably have some kind of contract with Ford, after they spent so much $$$

Too many variables.. age, better competition, who knows?

There won't be any switching back to Chevy, it is in Tony's NASCAR contract that all of his cars must run on Ford power.  They were given a pass the last few years while developing the Ford motor, but Tony isn't giving up the NASCAR Ford money, just to win a few more Outlaw titles.  Especially when he's increased his chances at Cup titles. 

Makes sense...

I think that there are dynasties in racing but also a time when dynasties come to an end.   I think the Schatz/Warner dynasty had it's run, but it looks like a thing of the past now.   As far as Chevies go, he was getting beat with Chevies the last couple of years too.   

All good points. 

Schatz is Mr. Smooth.  To see him get wadded up in the wall at Knoxville this August, it was like you were seeing a mirage.  You just aren't used to seeing him anywhere near the messes.  He stays out of them, stays clean, and because of this, usually puts himself in position to win.  The only part of the formula missing is "usually puts himself in position to win."  And yes, he did hang the car out to beat Sweet and Larson mid-season.  But that has not been the norm.  He still runs with military precision and not reckless abandon.  And right now, reckless abandon is winning the races.  I don't know if I can remember a time when every race looked like the race of the year.  Right now, we are seeing the race of the year every other race.  I've never seen this much consistent, edge-of-your-seat action night in and night out.  

Tony will take care of Donny.  Donny is probably being paid by Tony above his percent of winnings since they are lower right now.  Just a guess.  Donny probably does not want to leave because it is a top notch operation.    Donny is staying and problems on track will be worked out/

I agree.  They get back to a full season and get more reliability I think youll see Donny right back at the top.  I think its way too early for people to write off Donny.  Not that anyone on here did...just sayin

Assuming Donny returns in 2021, he will be just fine.  Should he choose to pursue it, he probably has a championship (or 3) left in him.  However, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him call it a career at any point and run the late-model around home.  He seems like the kind of guy who is intelligent, has his crap together financially, and may be in a good spot to retire from the grind.  ?  I'm not making a prediction, just saying I would not be shocked. 

egras, lots of good points on your post..Not retiring but giving up touring,maybe and run his late model around home,yes..Another possibility with his dad being in not good health running the family businesses..He's well known in the area and would be successful..

I can see that happening too.   I don't think he'll dominate again, but it'll be fun to watch when he gets back up to speed.   

Mr.Schatz has nothing to prove as He has established him as one of the best. When people say age is just a number they dont take into account how aggresive these young drivers are and have no fear.

Guys, Donny is flying a jet to and from the race track. He is not making payments for a jet based off of his racing efforts. These guys are all smart business people. They will do what makes the most business sense for them. 

Yeah Donny has won 10 WoO championships cleanly and I'm not aware of any major failures in his career.        Lots of folks seem impressed by some NASCAR flunkees who woulda, shoulda, coulda done some of the great things that Donny has already done.     There has been a lot of speculation and fantasy here lately.    I'm impressed with the guys like Donny who have actually already done it.    Well done !