BROWNSBURG, Ind. — An end of an era in sprint car racing came on Tuesday afternoon.
After nearly 18 years driving for Tony Stewart Racing, Donny Schatz will no longer wheel the team’s sprint cars.
TSR officials announced that Kerry Madsen will complete the season aboard the No. 15, racing with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series beginning this weekend at Ogilvie (Minn.) Raceway.
Schatz, the 10-time World of Outlaws champion, and TSR have struggled through the worst season of Schatz’s decorated 29-year career racing with the Greatest Show on Dirt.
Madsen, meanwhile, is not new to TSR. The Australian racer completed the 2021 season driving TSR’s No. 14 sprint car, winning six events in 37 starts with the team.
Schatz departs TSR after nearly 18 years, a combination that earned eight World of Outlaws championships and 234 victories, including nine Knoxville Nationals wins.
“Donny has been an incredible part of TSR for nearly two decades, he’s helped build this organization into what it is today,” said Stewart. “We’ve had a driver/team owner relationship that has gone beyond that partnership, he’s become part of my extended family through the years, and I have the utmost respect for him and what his career represents – a generational driving talent.
“The achievements we’ve accomplished together are something that I’ll always be proud of,” said Stewart, team owner. “But in the past few years we’ve weathered changes in the sport and our performance hasn’t been to the level that both Donny and I expect. We’re both competitors to our core and we both hold ourselves to a high standard of performance that we’ve struggled to obtain. Making a change now gives each of us the chance to reset and refocus before 2026.
“Kerry’s been in our car before and is a proven winner, so bringing him back feels natural. He knows our team, we know his capabilities, and I’m confident he’ll give us everything he’s got as we close out the season.”
Madsen comes to TSR from the No. 55 VerMeer Madsen Racing team, where he competes full-time at Knoxville Raceway. The team is third in the track’s championship standings with one event remaining. Madsen will compete in the final Knoxville event on Aug. 23. TSR will announce an interim driver for the World of Outlaw events Aug. 22-23 in North Dakota at a later date.
It’s unknown at this time what Schatz’s future driving sprint cars looks like, but there’s no question he’s one of best drivers of his generation with 10 World of Outlaws championships and 11 Knoxville Nationals victories among his accomplishments.