World of Outlaws Star storms to win big payday

GRANVILLE, NSW - Donny Schatz was determined to prove his victory in Australia's highest paying sprint car race last year was no fluke. On Saturday, Schatz patiently waited for his chance to go the front in the Parts Plus 50,000 at Parramatta City Raceway near Sydney, and when the chance came, he took advantage and never looked back.

"I was really confident going into the race that we were going to have a good chance," said Schatz, following the victory. "The guys got this J&J car dialed in perfectly, and after making a mental mistake in the dash, I knew I had to be patient. This race is special to me, and I tell you it was a lot harder to win this time than it was 12 months ago."

Schatz qualified for the race by finishing third in Friday's preliminary program in the Monte Motorsports #15 Chantec / Wattleup Tractors / Western Ag J&J. He finished third in Saturday's trophy dash earning him the sixth starting position in the 40-lap race. Friday's winner Garry Brazier led the first two laps until Steve Kinser took command, but once lapped traffic became a factor on the tight quarter-mile clay oval, the "Minot Missile" rode the high-line past both to take the lead and the win.

"We went with a harder tire, so I knew it would take a few laps for us to get going," said Schatz. "After a few laps, the tire came in, the leaders just came to me, and we were gone from there."

With the added confidence boost, Schatz will continue his assault on the Australian World Series Sprintcars (WSS) title on Wednesday. He trails Max Dumesny by a wide-margin, but his approach for the next five events is to continue running like he did this weekend.

"It's going to be tough to catch Max, but our goal is to win every race we can," continued Schatz. "He's going to have to have some bad luck, but I'm not worrying about that right now. This was a huge win for everyone on this team, and I know all of us are sky-high right now."

Following the final WSS event, Schatz will be trying to defend his title at Australia's most prestigious sprint car race, The Warrnambool Standard Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway on January 26-27.

"I feel awesome right now and we've got a great motor and fantastic race car," concluded Schatz. "The Classic is a lot like our Knoxville Nationals, and I get super-pumped for events like that. I just hope we can do as well there as we did here."

(Article by Bill Klingbeil)
(Photos by Brian Darby)