KNOXVILLE, IA (August 15, 2026) – You can never count out Donny Schatz at Knoxville Raceway.

The Fargo, ND legend has built a major part of his legacy at the historic 1/2 mile. It started with many painful losses and runner-up finishes at the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s. Then the winning began and rarely stopped as he collected 11 titles in the sport’s biggest race.

Schatz hasn’t experienced the same level of success at Knoxville in recent years, but he proved again Saturday afternoon at the FVP Parts Prelim why he still can’t be overlooked on the sport’s biggest stage.

Schatz ripped the CJB Motorsports No. 15 from seventh to the front, sealing the deal with a Lap 5 slide job on Carson McCarl and driving away over the last 20 laps to his 31st overall Knoxville victory. He’ll still have a way to go starting 11th in the C-main, but he just might give the fans a show.

“It’s awesome,” Schatz said. “The guys have done a tremendous job, we’re making huge strides here. The track played our way, we were really good early when the other guys weren’t, then it latched up halfway through in the rubber. I think everybody’s gonna go around there good. Obviously, we’ve been battling weather, we’re out in the sun, it’s gonna happen. We just came out on the right end of it.”

NIGHTLY NOTES

Chris Windom earned the Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night.

Heat Races belonged to Carson McCarl (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Steven Snyder Jr. (Toyota Heat Two), Brock Zearfoss (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Rees Moran (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique Pole Award went to Carson McCarl.

J.J. Hickle drove from 24th to eighth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Kasey Jedrzejek was the Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Matt Covington.

UP NEXT: The 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s Championship Feature will hand out $200,000 and Sprint Car immortality to the winner on Saturday, Aug. 15.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

FEATURE RESULTS:

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz[7]; 2. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[2]; 3. 27-Carson McCarl[1]; 4. 7S-Chris Windom[6]; 5. 45X-Rees Moran[4]; 6. 12X-Landon Crawley[9]; 7. 09-Matt Juhl[14]; 8. 2M-JJ Hickle[24]; 9. 1K-Kelby Watt[18]; 10. 26R-Levi Hillier[20]; 11. 11N-Darin Naida[10]; 12. 33W-Cap Henry[19]; 13. 17GP-Brock Zearfoss[3]; 14. 40-Clint Garner[16]; 15. 45D-Derek Hagar[15]; 16. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[8]; 17. 0-Lynton Jeffrey[21]; 18. 23L-Jimmy Light[22]; 19. 87X-Ashton Torgerson[13]; 20. 17A-Jack Anderson[17]; 21. 95-Matt Covington[12]; 22. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 23. 5-Brenham Crouch[11]; 24. 6DC-Will Armitage[23]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

ARTICLE:https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/sprintcar-recaps/another-schatz-donny-schatz-drives-to-knoxville-nationals-fvp-prelim-victory/

EVENT INFO:https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/schedule/event-info/?event=4549399
TRACK INFO:https://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/

FAN 101: https://about.worldofoutlaws.com/

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners. Official partners include, NOS Energy Drink (Official Energy Product), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Federated Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Milton Hershey School (Official Education Partner), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel).  Also supported by : ACME Trading Company, AMKUS, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Dave Warren Powersports / Kawasaki, ESI Equipment – FIREBULL, Evolve Transporters, Five Star Bodies, Golf Cart Services, Inc., Honest Abe Roofing, Intercomp, J&J Auto Racing, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), Lifeline USA, Micro-Lite LLC, MSD, Smith Titanium Brake Systems, SPA Technique, Tub O’ Towels, and WIX Filters.

Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.