In whatever way you dice it - it was a big night for
Western Australian Sprintcar racing. With 28 cars in the pits, predominantly Open class
cars, a massive crowd on hand & superlative driving from podium finishers Donny
Schatz, Terry Cutts & Mark Wells - you just know it was a night to go down in history!
Season Car Craft Wild West series frontrunner Jamie Maiolo got things off with a very fast
time trial effort and looked set to have fast time until Michael Figliomeni edged him out
on a track surface that was probably the best prepared since the Motorplex, Kwinana Beach
opened a few weeks ago.
The Heat racing action was intense and you knew the drivers meant business for Speedweek;
with Trevor Green, Figliomeni, Ryan Farrell, Mark Wells and Donny Schatz all signaling
their strong intentions during these events.
After the B-Main and Champion of Champions Top 6 Dash where Kendrick race team driver Ryan
Farrell fought off a determined Trevor Green and Mark Wells in a thrilling race, it was
time to conduct the A-Main event. Most punters expected the visiting American trio of
Schatz, Brad Furr & Jason Meyers to start from deep in the grid, as they had generally
struggled earlier in the night.
However, after some grid setup errors and an early race crash involving Gavin Migro and Rob Holmes, this worked in Donny Schatz's favor as he was able to pilot the Luch Monte Motorsport owned #15 Maxim on the highline and pass early race leader Terry Cutts for the win - despite hard charges towards the end from a never-say-die Cutts and recent trendsetter Mark Wells in his Geraldton Sand & Gravel Murphy car after starting right near the rear of the large field.
"Running the full World Series campaign took its toll on me last year as I got
quite jaded early on in my recent Outlaws Campaign as a consequence. However I love
Western Australia and the big wide-open tracks over here. This Kwinana track is awesome
and I had a whole heap of fun running on it" declared Schatz, the Minot North Dakota
native who also went on to elaborate on the climate here: "The Weather here is
beautiful right now...back home we are snowed under big time and I just have so many
friends in Western Australia. I hope I can be part of Speedweek each and every year for
some time to come...but I guess one day they will want someone else out here but I hope
not for some time", grinned Schatz.
Mark Wells also enjoyed his racing and Terry Cutts continues to excel in his Geoff Murphy
sponsored Sprintcar.
Of the hard luck stories, Trevor Green was on a tear early on in feature race action in
his immaculate Adrad Radiators/PMFM Maxim before a vibration in the rear end brought him
unstuck.
The Series now moves to Bunbury City Speedway tonight for the second round of the 20th
Annual USA V WA Sprintcar Speedweek.
(Article by Dean Neal)
