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

We've debated "whats wrong with Schatz" here before, & it usually comes down to either (A) age (B) Ford (C) Ricky Warner

But judging by Rico's success this year, it pretty clear to me that the main reason, by far, is Ricky Warner!!!!

He never has received the accolades that shatz got when they were together. Ricky's goal is to win every race his cars enter. I'm telling you, DS never is successful if not for RW. When Kevin Gobrect was winning everything in micro's RW was his crewchief.  They would have won championships together. 

Some times i wished that when they show the pictures of the drivers they also show pictures of the crew chief...because i think yunz are correct on .....who is the crew chief...Kyle Larson is a great driver...and his crew chief knows how to make that car go...would the outcome be the same with a not so good crew chief ...????

Fascinating that Schatz has won 2 Crown Jewels without Warner but he'd never have been successful without Warner. About as good a post as your "Knoxville will be lucky to get 60 cars this year" post a few years back. 

Glad you asked, taking WoO races in the past 2 years: 

Schatz: 8 wins (including 2 Crown Jewels), 42 top 5s in 111 races 

Abreu: 5 wins, 22 top 5s in 65 races

Its almost as though they are held to different standards.....

Donny Schatz is nearing 50 years old.  Comparing his results now to years ago and saying it's all the crewchief is a bit of a stretch.  Donny can still get up on the wheel when he really wants to.  But he simply doesn't have the same desire night in and night out that he had 10-15 years ago.  He's done it all.  He has nothing to prove.  

Rico, on the other hand, is young and full of want to.  He stands on the gas every time he gets in the car.  He has a lot more desire right now than Donny does.  That plays a significant factor in results.  

I'm not saying Ricky has no affect.  He certainly does.  He's proven to be one of the best crewchiefs ever.  He's definitely helped Rico.  But to give him all the credit is not really accurate.  The driver still has a lot to do with results.  

Rico won hundreds of races prior to 2022 when Ricky joined his team.  He won very little last year (with Ricky wrenching on the car) and has had a nice season this year.  However, Rico is a great driver.  Ricky is not the reason Rico is a great driver.  Rico has been a great driver for years.  Great drivers hire great crews.  Why would Rico settle for some shmuck?  How about Donny?  As mentioned, Donny has won 2 crown jewels, without Ricky, in what is (whether you like it or not) the twighlight of his career.  Donny would have been a beast in a sprint car even if Ricky didn't ever touch the car.  There are a lot of great wrenches out there that would have loved to put Donny Schatz in their car for all of those years, 70 races per year.  He would have been incredibly successful, and then you'd be talking about how much (insert name here) was responsible for Donny's success.  

Same with Larson. 

He wins in a midget:  Anyone can win in a Keith Kunz car. 

He wins the 4-crown in his first ever laps around Eldora:  Anyone can win in those cars

He wins in a winged 410 sprinter:  Anyone can win with Silva wrenching on the car. 

He wins a Cup title:  Anyone can win a Cup title in a Hendricks car. 

He wins in his second ever Late Model race against the top drivers in the country:  Anyone can win in a Rumley late model.  (just to be clear---not another person on the planet was going to win in their second ever night in a late model against that competition even if Jesus himself had setup the car)  

Ricky is obviously one of the best wrenches in the business.  Guys like Rico, Larson, Sweet, Gravel, and the list goes on, have earned the right to have the best wrenches working on their cars.  Because they already proved they are the best at what they do.  There's way more to it than just plopping someone in the seat of Ricky's or Silva's cars.  

Donny is probably my favourite driver. Rico is much lower on my list but if you look at those numbers Rico has 5/8 of the races, 5/8 of the top 5s and 5/8 of the wins compared to Donny. Percentage wise they are almost equal. Now to support my less favourite guy to be fair. Donny races every WoO race and some of those are in No mans Land with a 26 cars of which several maybe 360s or 360 guys puffed up for the weekend. Rico picks the bigger shows with more cars and tougher competition. 

but what's wrong with saying they are both successful and enjoyable to watch without having to prove one superior to the other?

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

Well wonder how much Rico paid Ricky to come work for him. It had to be a lot I'm sure, he aint working for nothing. Smoke paid him very good money, I'm sure. Rico was not good, average at most till Ricky started turning the wrenches. Ricky can make any driver go fast that is a proven fact. Hes a very talented individual. Rico wouldn't be near as good if it wasn't for Mr Warner. Hes like a modern Karl Kinser. A race winner. By the way did Rico ever have to work a day in his life or on the car. I highly doubt it.  Go Donny!! 

That's because with Ricky, Donny was in his prime.  Without Ricky, Donny is past his prime and competing against a bunch of young, hungry talent that's in their prime.   I can't believe how many of you cannot grasp that there's nothing wrong with drivers as they get older------they just get older.  If Donny was driving a Chevy with Ricky turning the wrenches, he would still be 45 years old and racing against a bunch of heavily funded teams with extremely talented drivers.  He's not going to pop off double-digit wins agains this group with or without RW.   

For once I agree with you

Schatz is still good, but he used to dominate... when was the last time he won the points championship? It used to be a given...

Rico started out hot early in his career, but has been kind of mediocre since breaking his neck. Now he's on fire again... don't forget he just won his FIRST Williams Grove race

Clearly driver, engine & crew chief all matter

I'm not giving Ricky ALL the credit

Just saying he's the main factor

There used to be a sprint car racer named named Steve Kinser. He and his crew chief, cousin Karl just plain dominated the WoO. Karl left, then Steve got older and started slowing down just as a kid named Donny Schatz was starting to get fast on his way to being dominate. Anybody see any similarities?

Except the 6 WoO titles Kinser won after Karl left. 

Well, yeah, there's that. Some folks at the time were probably proclaiming that "Karl is DA Man" and saying that Steve wouldn't be any good without him. ;)

Biggest differences are Steve didn't switch to Ford when Karl left and Scott Gerkin got promoted to crew chief

Who was DS before RW ?  Nobody. Ricky is with Rico because he does not want to be on the road as much anymore. Ricky got hooked up with Rico because of Tony Stewart. Tony's last run in the 14 car was crewed by RW.  Last cmoment on DS, He had a mic in his face many years ago at lernerville, I do not recall the question, DS answers, hey any of you ladies wanna go on the road with me come on down. Shatz should do well at big races, he and Ricky were winning everything. He should have a good idea of what setup needs to be under the car.

What big races has Ricky won (wrenched) without Donny as his driver ?   

besides Grandview...

Lot of negativity for a guy that just won the Knoxville Nationals last year and the Kings Royal this year...

Pretty sure those are still 2 races that the majority of drivers chase after their whole career without winning.

Much respect to both....

Was going to ask that question as well