Would be fun to have some kind of time machine where we could have Steve/Karl and Donny/Ricky go head to head. Two different eras of racing hard to truly compare. They are both in the best ever to race in a sprint car.
I saw Kinser win a couple times on the old granite city half mile. He was unlike any other when the race got to lapped traffic. It was fearless and precise aggression. Of course he had top notch equipment but he was masterful behind the wheel. Schatz is definitely the current version of Kinser. We will have to see where he ends up when he is done. Clearly an all time great tho
The "new" guy, is this case Schatz, NEVER compares to the "old" guy, in this case Kinser. Just the way people are. There is something reverent about "the guy you grew up watching" or "the guy who has won so much" when you first heard about him. This discussion is more about how people "feel" about a guy than just the numbers.
I'd say Donny is right up there with Steve. This is obviously a more competitive era and he still wins wins wins...
Some people are probably going by only how they feel about one guy over the other but here's the real skinny on the deal. Steve 20 WoO titles, Schatz 8. That's really all you need to know about how Donny stacks up against Steve. Not even close ! Is Donny great yes he is. He's the best right now for sure. I'm almost 50 yrs old and I have seen them both race many many times and in Steve's prime which lasted along time because even as he got older he was still winning championships Steve is called the King for a reason. Donny still has a bit of a way's to go to be standing on the same podium as Steve.
All of Donny's wins in the World of Outlaws were with and will continue to be with a wing.Steve's were with both.I am not some lunatic anti-wing guy.If this is the only consideration or criteria used there is no question.Steve was an all around race car driver. Donny is very good at what he does. Winged Sprint Cars.Given time, Donny would probably be good in traditional sprint cars, but that is not the issue in question.
Steve beat over four generations of drivers. Including many greats.
Donny is at a generation and a half.
Not knocking. Just stating The King Ruled for almost 35 years
Regardless of what you think of the competition in his era, or his sticking to one type of sprint car, or whatever, Schatz can easily be considered the 2nd most accomplished sprint car driver of all time. 8 WoO titles, 9 Knoxville Nationals etc... No one but Kinser has those records.
I would agree with most of the board in saying he's got a long way to go to match Steve, but I think you can definitely argue he's #2.
From my perspective Donny can't ever be considered the best sprint car racer of all time, best winged sprint car racer, perhaps. Steve won big race's with and without and drove other people's cars to victory too. If you call Schatz the best of all time than you could say Dave Darland is in that discussion as well, in spite of limited wing racing. I love both disciplines and winning in both, IMO, is the only way you qualify for a chance to be the greatest of all time
