Schatz is the son of Danny Christ Schatz, a sprint car driver from the 1970s. He grew up in Minot, graduated from Minot High School, and began racing go-karts at age 11. At 15 he moved to 358 sprint cars at Red River Valley Speedway. Three seasons later he debuted in 410 sprint cars and appeared in the World of Outlaws as an 18-year-old. He earned the World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year award in 1997 and scored his first A-feature win in 1998.
Outside racing, Schatz is a licensed pilot and works alongside his parents, Danny and Diane Korgel, at their family truck stop businesses.
Schatz won ten World of Outlaws championships between 2006 and 2018, becoming the second driver after Steve Kinser to win the points title four consecutive years. His championship years were 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
His record at the two most prestigious events on the WoO calendar is unmatched in his era:
Knoxville Nationals: Schatz won the Knoxville Nationals eleven times. In 2013 he won from 21st starting position, a record for the farthest back a winner had ever started in the event's history.
Kings Royal: He won the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway six times.
He also won the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway and the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup, among numerous other major sprint car events.
Schatz joined Tony Stewart Racing in 2008 and drove for the team for eighteen seasons, until August 2025. It was the longest driver-team relationship of the modern WoO era, and the partnership produced the bulk of his ten championships and most of his 315-plus career victories. Following the separation, he moved to Big Game Motorsports.
Schatz competed extensively in Australia, where sprint car racing has a passionate following. He won the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway in both 2001 and 2002. In the World Series Sprintcars he was runner-up in the 1999–2000 and 2001–02 seasons.
In 2021, Schatz made his stock car racing debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Knoxville Raceway, driving for David Gilliland Racing. The appearance was a one-off marking the historic return of Truck Series racing to the Knoxville dirt oval.
More than 315 World of Outlaws wins place Schatz second all-time on the WoO wins list. His ten championships, consecutive title runs, and record Knoxville Nationals win from 21st position define a career that set the standard for sprint car excellence in the late 2000s and through the 2010s.
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