Donny Schatz will return to the World of Outlaws for his 29th season on The Greatest Show on Dirt but Tony Stewart Racing will place a fresh cast around him in the pursuit of championship No. 11.
Todd Devnich will take over as crew chief for Steve Swenson, with the latter leaving the organization. The native Nebraskan has a diverse history in motorsports, having worked for the Schatz family owned Sprint Car from 1998 to 2000, moving on to Elden Racing for several years, before spending the next 15 years in NASCAR, rising to car chief status at Evernham Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports.
Devnich returned to Sprint Car racing in 2020 and served under Swenson as car chief. The decision was made to promote him to crew chief for 2025.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge of stepping into the role of crew chief, especially getting to do so with a driver of Donny Schatz’s caliber and with a team like Tony Stewart Racing,” Devnich said. “I’ve had the privilege of working with many crew chiefs across the sport who’ve served as mentors, such as Dave Yingst, Steve Swenson, Rick Warner, Kenny Francis and Keith Rodden just to name a few. They were great to learn from and provided a solid foundation of knowledge that I’m fortunate to have had exposure to.
“It’s going to be a new challenge and one that I’m ready to tackle head on every day. I also appreciate the confidence that Tony and Donny have that I’m up to the task as we take on the 2025 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series schedule.”
Gary Patellaro takes over as car chief by way of Roth Motorsports following a stint at Kasey Kahne Racing and two decades in the discipline. Ian Lyon takes over as tire specialist on the No. 15.
Schatz won five races last season, finishing third in the standings behind David Gravel and Carson Macedo, and has just been in a half-decade rut compared to the team that regularly won double digit races. At 47, and with stability under him in the Ford engine, Tony Stewart Racing hopes the shake-up brings Schatz back into the fight with greater regularity.