I used to think anyone who posted on these forums were lunatics.I have now become one.This is an addiction.Seriously though,Does anyone out there agree with me that what Donny Schatz has done at Knoxville over the past 11 years is the single greatest achievement in the history of Sprint Car racing if not all of auto racing.Nine out of 10 , ten out of ten if not for a mechanical problem when he was beaten by Tim Shaffer.Even the years he did not win the finishes were incredible. Consider the number of perfect laps he has had to run, the chances of crashing or being crashed, and mechanical reliability factor included it is amazing. If you went to a statistician and told them what are the chances of this type of performance occurring against 60 or 70 other competitors who are supposedly the best in the business I imagine the odds would be of lottery nature. Regardless whether you like Donny or not you are seeing excellence at its highest level . Most records are usually broken ultimately, but does anyone truly see his record in the Nationals ever being broken.
12 time champion, 17 top five finishes, 26 top ten finishes, won 14 preliminary night features, led 301 championship A-Main laps, set quick time in qualifying 9 times, qualified for the championship race 35 times in 37 entries.
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It is interesting to look at some of the stats. Kinser won it 3x's in a row twice, 5x's once and a single win. Donny has won it 4x's in a row once and 5x's in a row and is his current streak. Over a ten year period, no one has Donny's winning percentage. Scary to think it could be 10 years in a row for him if Shaffer hadn't snuck in there when Donny's motor went south. There is part of me that thinks Donny's run is a little more impressive given that everyone is running pretty similar equipment now. There is isn't as great of a differentiator among cars and engines today as in the past. Just my .02 Donny is my generation's Kinser.
Donny also finished 2nd in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2005. He finished 2nd four times before he won his first one.
Donnie has finished in the top 2 in 14 of the last 16 Knoxville Nationals. That is unbelievably insane.
Hell, he's even won the thing from the B Main once. Brownie said after the race that you could start Donnie in Oskaloosa and he'd still win. I think he's probably right.
I agree with the statement that its more dominant than Kinser. Steve may have 3 more Nationals but this stretch by Donnie is impressive.
