It didn’t take long for Donny Schatz to land on his feet. Less than 24 hours following his shock-wave-sending release from Tony Stewart Racing, the 10-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion has landed a ride with Big Game Motorsports for the next seven WoO events as a teammate to reigning series champ David Gravel.
Big Game Motorsports owner Tod Quiring made the news official just before noon E.T. on Thursday. Schatz will carry his traditional No. 15 driving for the Brandon, S.D., team.
“We’re excited to have Donny be a part of the team for the next two and a half weeks,” Quiring said in a statement issued via Inside Line Promotions. “Donny has produced a storied career with his 10 World of Outlaws championships and more than 300 World of Outlaws wins. He is also known as one of the cleanest race car drivers in the history of the sport and he does a tremendous job of taking care of equipment. All of that combined with the support from our crew and driver, David Gravel, made it an easy decision to create this second team while the World of Outlaws are racing close to our shop the rest of August.”
Schatz’s debut with the team begins Friday at Ogilvie (Minn.) Raceway in the Big O Showdown before Jackson (Minn.) Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., takes the stage Saturday.
After that, the slate continues Tuesday at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., before Schatz returns to his homeland in North Dakota on Aug. 22 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks and Aug. 23 at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, not far from Schatz’s home.
As of Thursday, Schatz’s final shows with the Big Game team is Aug. 30-31 at the Quiring-owned Huset’s Speedway at the L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout. Schatz landing with Big Game for the time being allows him to continue his longstanding streak of 1,600 consecutive WoO races competed in. The last WoO event Schatz did not compete in goes back to Atomic Speedway on July 31, 2003.
Schatz was not immediately available for comment at this time.
