(PARRAMATTA, NSW, January 22, 2000) Donny
Schatz brought about an end to a barren winless streak of 10 races when he led all 30 laps
of the Series Grand Final at Parramatta City Raceway. Having set an unprecedented streak
of six consecutive wins to start the 17-round Series, Schatz had only one other podium
(runner-up at Horsham's Blue Ribbon Raceway) until tonight's victory. "Well, we
finally won another one," exclaimed the obviously relieved 22-year old Outlaws ace.
"We've had our bad luck, dominated some races and given Brooke (Tatnell) four wins.
It is time for me to pick my tempo up before going home."
Having opened the night setting fast time, Schatz crashed hard in his first heat, his Bunbury Toyota-Parker Stores Maxim needing immediate surgery to replace "the rear end, torsion arms, Shock absorbers, torque tube, driveline, top wing and right rear wheel." When highest qualifier Kerry Madsen drew a six to invert the Dash field, Schatz started outside the front row and sped to victory to set up his feature win.
Schatz and outgoing WSS champion Skip Jackson led newly crowned titleholder
Tatnell away from the start and the trio ran a closely fought non-stop 30-lap race in
front of a huge audience. Such was the pace of the event; Schatz slashed 16 seconds from
the previous Garry Brazier record. Jackson had one fleeting moment ahead of his American
rival, temporarily putting his Pennzoil-Skilled Jackson past negotiating lapped traffic at
mid-race, however this seemed to spur on Schatz.
"I thought I had a shot at Donny but I didn't quite pull it off in Turn Three," said Skip. "I'm disappointed I didn't win but with the ups and downs we've had this season I'll settle for second. I'm not disillusioned as we're running pretty good and everyone on this team is giving it 100 per cent effort." Tatnell tried repeatedly to come to terms with the duo ahead but, with 10 laps remaining, admitted, "I ran out of tear-offs trying to get around Skip. I backed off to try and get a run at him but wasted my opportunity. I don't want to be greedy!"
Madsen's Motor Up Grizzly was tantalizingly close to the trio ahead but also
unable to offer a challenge. Kerry said, "We were chasing the track all night and
weren't very good anyway. The full six inversion hurt but, considering those ahead of us,
we all seemed to be set up loose over the bumps." Max Dumesny worked his Valvoline
J&J up from 10th starting position to fifth pronouncing, "The car was nice -
pretty good in fact. I got caught up in the mid-field ruck and by the time I passed them
and got up top on the highline I had left my run too late. The race went so fast I
couldn't believe it when the fireworks went off to signify the end of the 30 laps."
A fine sixth was Garry Rush in the Pick 'N Payless ex-Lee Brewer Maxim, the son of former legend Garry Snr admitting, "All the guys in front of me have more than 100 US races a season experience more." Next was Peter Murphy who conceded, "I should have left the Scott's Transport Maxim alone as I was too loose in the ruts - I really need to listen to my first impressions."
A lap in arrears was Indiana's Danny Smith in the Castrol-Powermax Eagle ahead of hard-charging Queensland youngster Drew Kruck who started 15th and finished ninth in his Titan Garages & Carports Eagle. Kruck said, "It was a physical track and I got tired towards the end but, after I was lapped, I found I could keep pace with the leaders." Ohio's Phil Gressman ran 10th, saying, "We had a tough night with the BC Motorsports Gambler from the time we opened the doors of the truck! Maybe we made too many changes to the car for the feature as it didn't seem to matter where I ran, I kept losing spots."
Second generation racer Steven Graham, the new 15-lap record holder after his B-Feature
win in the Fox Sports-Richard Petty Driving Experience Stealth said, "It is a pity
the car arrived so late from our Charlotte base as we've only done four races. NSW state
champion John Shore was next to finish, happy that, "This is the best the car has
been this season even if we were a little too tight." Dubbo's Mark Blyton headed home
Mick Turner and former WSS champion Brad Heywood, the non-stop race's only withdrawal
being fast femme Kelly Linigen whose safety harness popped open on the formation laps and
forfeited an excellent eighth-starting spot. Kelly lamented, "I decided to get out of
the way when I got lapped as it is too hard to go forward starting right at the
back."
1999/2000 WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 17- SERIES GRAND FINAL
Parramatta City Raceway, Sydney, NSW - Saturday, Jan 22, 2000
TIME TRIALS: 1. Donny Schatz (WA#2) 12.490s, 2. Brooke Tatnell (NSW#8) 12.521s, 3.
Garry Rush (NSW#2) 12.562s, 4. Kerry Madsen (NSW#29) 12.641s, 5. Peter Murphy (NSW#11)
12.658s, 6. Skip Jackson (NSW#71) 12.777s, 7. John Shore (NSW#6) 12.777s, 8. Max Dumesny
(VIC#5) 12.777s, 9. Drew Kruck (QLD#36) 12.788s, 10. Andrew Scheuerle (QLD#95) 12.811s,
11. Steven Graham (NSW#40) 12.829s, 12. Phil Gressman (USA#2) 12.848s, 13. Danny Smith
(SA#33) 12.852s, 14. Darren Jensen (QLD#75) 12.956s, 15. Robert Jackson (NSW#12) 12.973s,
16. Justin Mineeff (NSW#14) 13.037s, 17. Dean McComb (QLD#21) 13.140s, 18. Mick Turner
(NSW#61) 13.170s, 19. Kevin Burton (NSW#50) 13.197s, 20. Adrian Maher (NSW#77) 13.215s,
21. Trevor Shields (NSW#17) 13.285s, 22. Warren Ferguson (NSW#19) 13.290s, 23. Brett
Loadsman (NSW#33) 13.392s, 24. Marty Perovich (NSW#52) 13.427s, 25. Darrell Hodges (QLD#5)
13.447s, 26. Mark Blyton (NSW#82) 13.450s, 27. Brad Heywood (NSW#46) 13.453s, 28. Kelly
Linigen (NSW#25) 13.533s, 29. Darren Saillard (NSW#9) 13.537s, 30. Stephen Grassmayr
(NSW#63) 13.635s, 31. Nathan Smee (NSW#95) 13.643s, 32. Mark Bertacco (NSW#78) 14.057s,
33. Dave Hall (NSW#68) 14.111s, 34. Jamie Thompson (NSW#22) 14.609s, 35. Shane Sonter
(NSW#23) 14.765s, 36. Ray Bartlett (NSW#67) 19.669s
QUALIFYING HEAT RACES (10 laps) :
HEAT 1 : 1. 1. Kelly Linigen, 2. Warren Ferguson, 3. Kerry Madsen, 4. Darrell Hodges, 5. Justin Mineeff, 6. Andrew Scheuerle, 7. Nathan Smee, 8. John Shore, 9. Danny Smith, 10. Kevin Burton
HEAT 2 : 1. Mark Bertacco, 2. Mark Blyton, 3. Darren Saillard, 4. Brett Loadsman, 5. Dean McComb, 6. Peter Murphy, 7. Steven Graham, 8. Brooke Tatnell, 9. Max Dumesny, 10. Darren Jensen, 11. Shane Sonter
HEAT 3 : 1. Stephen Grassmayr, 2. Brad Heywood, 3. Dave Hall, 4. Trevor Shields, 5. Marty Perovich, 6. Mick Turner, 7. Phil Gressman, 8. Skip Jackson, 9. Drew Kruck, 10. Robert Jackson, 11. Garry Rush
HEAT 4 : 1. Kelly Linigen, 2. Mark Blyton, 3. Darren Jensen, 4. Max Dumesny, 5. Brooke Tatnell, 6. Warren Ferguson, 7. Andrew Scheuerle, 8. Kerry Madsen, 9. Mark Bertacco, 10. Justin Mineeff
HEAT 5 : 1. Brad Heywood, 2. Danny Smith, 3. Nathan Smee, 4. Dave Hall, 5. Darrell Hodges, 6. John Shore, 7. Kevin Burton, 8. Robert Jackson, 9. Trevor Shields, 10. Donny Schatz, 11. Drew Kruck, 12. Garry Rush
HEAT 6 : 1. Mick Turner, 2. Phil Gressman, 3. Skip Jackson, 4. Dean McComb, 5. Peter Murphy, 6. Steven Graham, 7. Brett Loadsman, 8. Shane Sonter
GOODYEAR EAGLE TROPHY DASH (6 laps): 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Skip Jackson, 3. Brooke Tatnell, 4. Garry Rush, 5. Kerry Madsen, 6. Peter Murphy
B-FEATURE (15 laps) : 1. Steven Graham, 2. Drew Kruck, 3. Andrew Scheuerle, 4. Robert Jackson, 5. Dean McComb, 6. Darrell Hodges, 7. Trevor Shields, 8. Mark Bertacco, 9. Brett Loadsman, 10. Shane Sonter, 11. Nathan Smee, 12. Kevin Burton, 13. Jamie Thompson, 14. Darren Jensen, 15. Dave Hall, 16. Justin Mineeff, 17. Warren Ferguson
A-FEATURE (30 laps) : 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Skip Jackson, 3. Brooke Tatnell, 4. Kerry Madsen, 5. Max Dumesny, 6. Garry Rush, 7. Peter Murphy, 8. Danny Smith, 9. Drew Kruck, 10. Phil Gressman, 11. Steven Graham, 12. John Shore, 13. Mark Blyton, 14. Mick Turner, 15. Brad Heywood, 16. Kelly Linigen
LAP LEADERS : Schatz (1-30)
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS AFTER 17 ROUNDS
POINT STANDINGS : 1. Brooke Tatnell (12840), 2. Donny Schatz (10350), 3. Skip
Jackson (8705), 4. Max Dumesny (8270), 5. Garry Brazier (5000), 6.Andrew Scheuerle (4420),
7. Drew Kruck (4235), 8. Darren Jensen (3935), 9. Nathan MacDonald (3880), 10. Trevor
Green (3680), etc
A-FEATURE WINNERS : 1. Donny Schatz (7), tie Brooke Tatnell (6), 3. Skip Jackson (1), tie Max Dumesny (1), tie Garry Brazier (1), tie Danny Smith (1)
A-FEATURE LAP LEADERS : 1. Donny Schatz (203), 2. Brooke Tatnell (148), 3. Skip Jackson (53), 4. Max Dumesny (39), 5. Trevor Green (38), 6. Kerry Madsen (28), 7. Phil Gressman (7), 8. Garry Brazier (2), tie Danny Smith (2)
FAST TIME WINNERS : 1. Donny Schatz (5), 2. Skip Jackson (3), tie Garry Brazier (3), 4. Trevor Green (1), tie Brooke Tatnell (1), tie Phil Gressman (1), tie Kerry Madsen (1), tie Tim Kaeding (1), tie Max Dumesny (1)
GOODYEAR EAGLE DASH WINNERS : 1. Brooke Tatnell (4), 2. Donny Schatz (3), 3. Max Dumesny (2), tie Trevor Green (2), 5. Peter Murphy (1), tie Phil March (1), tie Skip Jackson (1), tie Nathan MacDonald (1), tie Kerry Madsen (1), tie Phil Gressman (1)
(Photo by Paris Charles)
