SCHATZ ROCKETS TO WIN
ON LAST LAP

The Vegas kid has four of a kind down under!
(ADELAIDE, SA, Saturday Dec 4, 1999) American Donny Schatz continued his winning streak with a fourth successive victory in a nail-biting finish to the 30-lap WSS A-Feature at Adelaide's Speedway City. The 22-year old was the first to admit that, "I just got lucky," after race-long leader Trevor Green and chief adversary Brooke Tatnell tripped over each other in their enthusiasm to grab the win on the final lap. While Green wrestled with a broken front wing post and the attentions of Tatnell, Schatz slipped beneath both combatants in Turn One and rocketed from third to an improbable victory.

The incredible climax brought an end to a record-breaking night that had seen track records broken for one, six and eight lap journeys. Green's Adrad Radiators Maxim set new marks in time trials and the Goodyear Eagle Trophy Dash while Australian Sprintcar champion Phil March shattered the heat distance. Schatz had tied with defending three-times WSS champ Skip Jackson as highest qualifier from the preliminary events but again drew a full six inversion of the Dash where he finished third.

Green jumped into the lead of the feature ahead of Drew Kruck.,Tatnell and Schatz. Although the two World of Outlaws racers quickly demoted Kruck by lap two, at which time Joel Knott created a caution when his Ultimate Sprintcar Experience Gambler ground to a halt at the start/finish line. The race then ran green until lap 28 with the leading trio carving through the traffic seemingly tied together by an invisible chord of elastic.

The Adelaide local seemed likely to pull off a hard-fought win in front of a parochial crowd until a second caution was called with two laps remaining for debris in Turn Four, a side nerf bar having been torn from Kelly Linigen's Gambler when her right rear tire blew. The restart was not what Green wanted as he found it hard to regain momentum struggling with a drooping front wing when a lightweight bracket broke only a few laps prior to the stoppage.

As Green's ex-Mark Kinser Maxim washed mid-track with Tatnell on his outside, Schatz needed no second invitation to sweep through a miniscule gap and jump into the lead as the trio began the last lap. "Those two guys got excited at the white flag and, you have to give them credit, I got a lucky break," said Schatz. "This was good, clean racing - I'm loving this –and it’s the nicest track I've seen so far in Australia. We had some really tough racing at this joint. I was pushing as hard as I could but this is Trev's home turf. To me racing is more than a hobby and a job, you can never give up an inch and tonight that was the difference between first and third, I just want to win every time I race."

A distraught Green was displaced back to third by Tatnell whose Shell Helix Avenger snatched second away around the last half-lap. "My Avenger was a little 'flighty' in the front end," claimed Brooke. "It is easier to come from behind to make a winning move and, as I tried to go around the outside I got squeezed up a little and that allowed Donny to go under both of us. His guys are doing a really good job, we had one of those runs a few years ago, and Skip has for the last three years - I'm going to win one of these races real soon!"

Green admitted, "I really didn't have any idea who was behind me all race as I could see shadows and hear noises, but then any WSS feature are like that. When the wing post broke I had to change my driving style on entry into the corners and the last thing I wanted was that caution as it was hard to get back some momentum. I knew I was in trouble - I had 'bad vibes'!"

Fourth, from 10th-starting position, was a fighting effort from Max Dumesny who said, "I couldn't believe it when I got past David and then Skip and then Drew on the very last corner". Rounding out the top ten were Darren Jensen and locals Mark Reuter and Peter Smith. March endured an horrendous run which included a flip in the B-Feature having been put there when he failed to record a time trial after a universal broke then an o-ring blew off the oil filter during a heat race.

1999/2000 WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS CHAMPIONSHIP - ROUND 4
Speedway City, Adelaide SA - Saturday, Dec 4, 1999

TIME TRIALS : 1. . Trevor Green (SA4) 12.173s, 2. Donny Schatz (WA2) 12.175s, 3. Skip Jackson (NSW71) 12.238s, 4. Brooke Tatnell (NSW8) 12.333s, 5. Darren Jensen (QLD75) 12.368s, 6. Drew Kruck (QLD36) 12.394s, 7. Chas Calandro (SA33) 12.440s, 8. Max Dumesny (VIC5) 12.460s, 9. Tony Bartlett (SA75) 12.640s, 10. Mark Reuter (SA95) 12.640s, 11. Kelly Linigen (NSW25) 12.685s, 12. David Anderson (VIC37) 12.705s, 13. Darryl Downing (SA97) 12.740s, 14. Andrew Scheuerle (QLD95) 12.897s, 15. Brad Heywood (NSW46) 12.991s, 16. Peter Smith (SA8) 12.994s, 17. Chris Evans (SA77) 13.046s, 18. Darryl Wright (SA28) 13.057s, 19. Joel Knott (NSW44) 13.075s, 20. Mike Hanlon (NT75) 13.080s, 21. Dennis Burford (SA9) No Time, 22. Phil March (AUS1) No Time

QUALIFYING HEAT RACES (8 laps) :

HEAT 1 : 1. Peter Smith, 2. Joel Knott, 3. Brooke Tatnell, 4. Mark Reuter, 5. Phil March, 6. Darryl Downing, 7. Chas Calandro, 8. Trevor Green

HEAT 2 : 1. Darren Jensen, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. Kelly Linigen, 4. Max Dumesny, 5. Mike Hanlon, 6. Andrew Scheuerle

HEAT 3 : Brad Heywood, 2. David Anderson, 3. Drew Kruck, 4. Darryl Wright, 5. Tony Bartlett, 6. Skip Jackson

HEAT 4 : 1. Phil March, 2. Peter Smith, 3. Brooke Tatnell, 4. Mark Reuter, 5. Darren Jensen, 6. Kelly Linigen, 7. Chris Evans

HEAT 5 : Skip Jackson, 2. Joel Knott, 3. Trevor Green, 4. Brad Heywood, 5. Chas Calandro, 6. Darryl Downing, Chris Evans HEAT 6 : Mike Hanlon, 2. Andrew Scheuerle, 3. David Anderson, 4. Drew Kruck, 5. Donny Schatz, 6. Max Dumesny, 7. Darryl Wright

GOODYEAR EAGLE TROPHY DASH (6 laps) : 1. Trevor Green, 2. Drew Kruck, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Brooke Tatnell, 5. Skip Jackson, 6. Darren Jensen

B-FEATURE (8 laps) : 1. Andrew Scheuerle, 2. Dennis Burford, 3. Darryl Downing, 4. Chris Evans, 5. Phil March, 6. Mike Hanlon, 7. Darryl Wright

A-FEATURE (30 laps) : 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Brooke Tatnell, 3. Trevor Green, 4. Max Dumesny, 5. Drew Kruck, 6. Skip Jackson, 7. David Anderson, 8. Darren Jensen, 9. Mark Reuter, 10. Peter Smith, 11. Brad Heywood, 12. Chas Calandro, 13. Andrew Scheuerle, 14. Kelly Linigen, 15. Dennis Burford, 16. Joel Knott

LAP LEADER/S : Green (laps 1-29), Schatz (lap 30)

SERIES STANDINGS AFTER 4 (OF 17) ROUNDS

POINT STANDINGS : 1. Donny Schatz (4000), 2. Trevor Green (2400), 3. Max Dumesny (2330), 4. Brooke Tatnell (2210), 5. Drew Kruck (1680), 6. Ron Krikke (1650), 7. Skip Jackson (1340), 8. Darren Jensen (930), 9. Chas Calandro (890), 10. Pino Priolo (850),

A-FEATURE WINNERS : 1. Donny Schatz (4)

A-FEATURE LAP LEADERS : 1. Donny Schatz (64), 2. Trevor Green (38), 3. Brooke Tatnell (17) 4. Max Dumesny (1)

FAST TIME WINNERS : 1. Donny Schatz (2), 2. Skip Jackson (1), tie Trevor Green (1)

GOODYEAR EAGLE DASH WINNERS : 1. Trevor Green (2), 2. Max Dumesny (1), tie Brooke Tatnell

(Courtesy of John Hughes/Sprintcar World)
(Photo by James Baker)