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

I don't care who you  place in the order but Schatz went from 4th in the B, then started 21st.  By the stop on lap 24 he was in 5th place.  He went from 21st to 5th.  That's 16 spots.  In 24 laps.  He gained 16 spots in 24 laps.  Does that compare to going from 14th place to 1st in 30 laps?  I am a long ways from a Schatz fan but he put on one of the most amazing performances I have seen at any race and I have been attending races for 52 years.  You wanted a show, you got a show and the man put one on for you.   Thank you Donnie for making this one of the most thrilling races in years.    

My wife told me if I went to one more Sprint Car race 
she would leave me.................I'm sure gonna miss 
that ol' gal. 

As good ole Bigfish would say, it would depend if you are only talking about winged sprint car  drivers or grouping winged and non-wing together. I think as of now Donny is the best in the business as far as all of sprint car racing. All time though, I would not put in 2nd but somewhere in the top 5 as of NOW. All of sprint car racing you are talking about not only Kinser but Oppermann, Foyt, Swindell, Hewitt, Parnelli Jones, Rutherford, etc.

Even at Knoxville non-wing drivers such as Eddie Leavitt, Tim Green, Wolfgang, Ray Lee Goodwin, Dick Sutcliffe, Randy Smith, Jerry Blundy, Thad Doser, Joe Saldana would give your group a run for the money.

How many times did Opperman actually win at  the Knoxville track, other than the Nationals? I'm not sure?

In the words of Bruce Ellis, "if they had a mt Rushmore of sprint car drivers, he'd be on it"

JESUS! You "newbies" need to do some research. And dsc1600, REALLY? Three guys! REALLY? You definitely need to do some more research! I love it when uninformed "fans" come on here and make total fools of themselves thinking that they know what they're talking about. Fact: Donny isn't even close yet. So he's won the Nationals 7 times. BIG DEAL! Not to say that the Nationals isn't huge because it is. But put him in a Midget, a traditional sprint (360 and 410) and on some pavement in anything, and when he starts winning then we can talk about "the greatest of all time" Until then, SORRY but winning in one division (and only one) doesn't cut it when being touted as "the best of all time" PERIOD!

SUPPORT WILDLIFE, go to a sprint car race! 

Posted By: CT Sprint Fan on August 11 2013 at 01:22:30 AM

I think we can all agree that Kinser is the best sprint driver ever. But there was always a debate on the second spot between Sammy, Wolfgang and Donny. After tonight's performance did Donny secure the second spot and we can end the debate? It's tough not to put him there

He's still down the list.  Got a little ways to go to ever get to #2.

 
I LEARNED ESP FROM MY MOM

"PUT YOUR SWEATER ON: DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW WHEN 
YOU'RE COLD?"

Exactly.

Personally... I think the results speak for themselves.  Championships, big race wins... Donny has more than a couple of members of the Big 3.  I greatly prefer Mr. Wolfgang & Mr. Swindell but Donny has skins on the wall, folks.  If Knoxville is a big deal, and it is, and championships are a big deal, and they are, then he's done an awful lot.  I told a friend "he just joined the big 3" after the race.  I believe it.

It's tough for me not to say the Big 3 are "modern era" meaning post 1975-8 or so.  Really complicated to compare Kinser to AJ Foyt or Jan Opperman in their respective primes.  Schatz is the best of his own era in time.

Mark Kinser being in the conversation is humorous to me although I respect opinions in here.  One argument against Schatz may be "one car, one chassis builder, one motor builder, one mechanic" for his triumphs.  Mark Kinser did what exactly when not in a Karl car with a Karl motor?  Steve was better known for Karl time but has a lot more diversity with wing/nonwing late 70s to now.

Haven't been following sprint cars long enough to compare Schatz to the old timers (apples & oranges?), but Kinser going 14th to win in 30 laps = .43 cars passed per lap. Schatz going 21st to win in 50 = .4 cars passed per lap.

Pretty damn close. Schatz is awesome, & even tho I was rooting against him, his run was astounding & made the whole week worthwhile for me.

Revjimk,

The most impressive part of Schatz's run was the first 24 laps, where he started 21st and ran up to 5th in those 24 laps...that calculates out to a .666 cars/lap being passed.  While some will no doubt point out that Schatz probably made a deal with the devil (.666) in order to climb out of the B and run that well, but he was unbelievable regardless.

I thought we had a chance at a new winner when he was following Lynton around in second place in the B, till the last lap, when he just drove right on by him for the win.

Pretty much the same thing in the A.  When it came time to pass Brown, he does it effortlessly...  Brownie chased him for what, half a lap maybe, but Donny just checked out.. 

As dominating as he was, I think he wouldve won from the B in a 30 lap race if pushed to..

Lol, yea, winning 7 nationals in 8 years, been done before. I really do need to do some more research as I thought that was unprecedented. Thanks for enlightening me and the guy I quoted, Bruce ellis, announcer at the grove since the early 80s.

"deal with the devil" ... teehee

"You know who's gonna win before you get there" Really? That's what you think? Huge Schatz fan here, but I did not think he could win from that far back. Granted he's leading in wins this season, but Pittman has lots of wins too. Go ahead and stay home.....Either your missing history happeninng in front of you or you're missing great racing. Either way you are losing dude.