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

Donnie Schatz gets his 500th win of his career and no comments....wow!

No comment.

I'll get the $hit storm started.  To me, Donnie's career is more impressive than the King's.  Loved the King, and loved watching him race.  I would boo Donnie on a regular basis in the prime of his career----not sure why, the guy raced with more respect than any other driver on the track.  No matter who I was, or was not a fan of, I think Donny's career is at the very least an equal comparison to Kinser's.   IMO, I give Donny the edge.  I've heard "Kinser's the greatest, just look at the total outlaw wins of 690 (or whatever it is)."   That is very impressive, and that number will never be eclipsed.  Because of this, are we saying no one can every possibly be as good at Kinser?  Not true.  Can anyone every be as good as Petty because he had 200 wins?  Petty doesn't even make my top-5 of all time drivers when I rank talent in Nascar.  (which is just me giving an opinion, so relax)   

So, good for Donny.  500 total wins, with over 300 of them on the Outlaw tour, is further solidifying his career, in my mind, as the greatest for a winged sprint car driver.    (notice I said greatest career----doesn't mean I think he's the most talented driver to ever strap into a sprint car) 

I'm in complete agreement with Egras.   Why are there no comments on it?   He's not a High Limit driver...

There's no comments because it's not like we were in some countdown in the offseason, "Donny's at 499, when will he get his 500th win?" No one knew he was close to 500 until Gibby announced it on the mic on Monday. And as for a list of all 500 wins? I've not seen it, by no means am I questioning it, I'm just saying Schatz's non WoO career has not been well documented. 

I too agree with egras.  Donny is the greatest of all time.  He raced in in a time when everybody had the same equipment.  Not to take anything away from Kinser or Swindell or Wolfgang, but these three raced mostly in a time when one of those three was going to win----most of the time they would win, especially during the first 20 years of their careers.  And he will go down as possibly the cleanest racer at a time as said, when everyone had the same equipment.  He never raced a guy rough though if someone is blocking for 20 laps, he might have to let them know he is there and waiting to get by.  

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

For those saying that Schatz is the GOAT, my only argument is that all of his accomplishments came with a wing.  The Big 3 from the 70s and 80s all had the ability to win with or without a wing.  Not that Donny couldn't, he just didn't really try (save for a quick pavement stint in the late 90s).  But then again, the time periods those 3 raced in provided more opportunities for wingless racing.

Which brings up a good point in the GOAT discussion.  How do you objectively compare Tommy Hinnershitz, to Jud Larson, to Jan Opperman, to Steve Kinser, to Rich Vogler, to Donny Schatz?  The equipment, the competition, the opportunities/number of races available...it's all different.  Are Tommy, Jud, Opp, and Vogler automatically out of the discussion without a WoO win?  What about Opp, Kinser, Vogler, and Schatz having better technology available to them?  I get that it's all personal opinion, just something to think about.

Signature here.

Nope, The King was the best and no one is even close.  The king has over double the outlaw wins than any other driver on the outlaw tour.

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

Agreed on all accounts. GOAT discussions are always just opinions because it's too hard to judge drivers from different eras, but Donny has to be in the discussion. Much respect to Donny and congrats on #500. 

A

I think it's called going to school.  Later, what a sight seeing the Blue Beacon Truck Wash hauler pulling into a race track close to you!

So the breakdown on these 500 wins is what? Go karts and bicycle races? just wondering...

Still feel like Eliason has the edge... (extreme sarcasm)
 

But in seriousness Steve > Donny

This !      Donny is one of the cleanest drivers out there and should be an inspiration to all sprint car drivers.    He has over 300 Outlaw wins.    Despite struggling the past few seasons and having moments of desperation,  there have been minimal racing incidents and I don’t recall him ever racing anybody dirty.      He passes guys by driving around them - not through them.   This PA Posse fan has mad respect for Mr. Schatz.   Congrats on 500 wins.

Good Point, He has 311 Outlaw wins, where do the other 189 come from? Are they winged sprint cars/ what is counted into this 500?

*(Outlaw wins: Swindell 394, Kinser 690) 

he never was popular...not then, not now imo...

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Yes, only an opinion.  That's why I was careful in the way I worded my statement.  IMO, Donny had the greatest WINGED sprint car CAREER in history.  Greatest winged driver?  Lots of arguments to be made against that.  But, greatest winged career?  Only a handful of guys can be compared.  So many variables to sift through.  That's why it's fun to have debates about it in this fashion where someone like yourself gives honest arguments and reasons why you think differently.  Sure beats those whose only argument is that Kinser is the GOAT solely because of his 690 wins----which in today's racing, will never again be attainable again much like Petty's 200.  With that logic, they are saying no one can ever be better than Kinser or Petty?  Not so.  I still have a tremendous love for Kinser as a driver, so there are not a lot of drivers I would be willing to argue had/have more talent than Kinser.  But Petty?  He's not in my top-5 of talented drivers.  200 wins was a product of him, and his team, being better than everyone else during a certain era.  IMO, Tim Richmond had more talent in his big toe, than Petty had in his whole body----and he only had 13 Cup wins.  Is Larson more talented than Kinser was?  It's a worthy debate.  But, Kinser raced for much longer, and more consistently, so he obviously at this point had the better career.   All of the guys you listed are great arguments for having more talent, but tough to compare.  That's why I stuck to winged career because I'm out of my comfort zone with those guys as I didn't see them race.  

If we're getting into the greatest sprint car drivers of all time, there a ton of guys that can be added to that list and its all based on our own perceptions of the time they raced, combined with their success and numbers.  Some left us too soon, so tough to find their place.   Kind of a fun debate really.  

I wonder how many total wins Kinser, Wolfgang, or Swindell have.  Steve had Karl, which might be the best crew chief ever. Donnie had Ricky Warner who I'm pretty sure used to work for Karl Kinser.  Ricky might be the second best crew chief ever.  Just shows you how much the crew chief means to the success of their careers.  Karl even made Kraig look good.

Hmmmmm.   I’m not sure if I've ever seen anybody wearing a Schatz T-shirt.   I just assumed they were illegal here.

We watched him in the 360 at Cedar Lake fairly often in the 90's before he went 410 racing.  Knoxville didnt have anything to do with WISSOTA but he may have gone there with the 360.  

Stan Meissner