FARGO, ND - After closing the 2004 World of Outlaws Sprint Series with a bang, Donny Schatz is ready to return to the racetrack as he embarks on his seventh Australian Assault, which begins December 26th. The Fargo, ND racer will leave on Monday and be back on the track in his familiar #15 ParkerStore J&J on Australian soil during a ten-race run Down Under.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Series star will compete primarily on the Parramatta City Raceway clay, located near Sydney, culminating with the World of Outlaws sanctioned three-night “Outlaws Down Under” program.

“We finished the season really well, but the next performance is the one we are looking to,” said Schatz, who finished the 2004 WoO season winning eight of his last 22 starts including the $25,000 Gold Cup Race of Champions, $30,000 Williams Grove National Open and the Las Vegas season finale. “We won the last race of the year in 1999 and went to Australia and won a bunch of races, so we’re hoping to duplicate that.”

“I’m excited to be working with Gary Rush. He and my dad are good friends and they worked out a deal to make sure we had everything organized to race well over there. Gary and I both have a motor program with Ron Shaver, so we know that we’ll be good in that department. Gary is a great guy and I’m really pumped up about getting the chance to work with him.”

Schatz will use his first three races, Rounds 9, 10 & 11 of the Parramatta City Raceway (PCR) Sprintcar Track Championship, to prepare for the $50,000-to-win Sprintcar Spectacular. Schatz will try to break in 2005 in a big way as he vies for his fourth $50,000 triumph on January 1st and 2nd.

“Luck has a lot do with winning the big races and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with good people in Australia,” said Schatz, who won the $50,000 race at PCR in 2000, 2001 and last year. “I’ve won the race driving for Monte Motorsports and my own team, and this year our goal is to win it working with Gary. The competition is going to be as tough as ever, so we’ll just do the best we can and hope to come out on top.”

After two more rounds of the PCR Sprintcar Track Championship on January 5th and 8th, the ParkerStore driver will begin the 2005 World of Outlaws season with the three-night “Outlaws Down Under” program on January 13th. Schatz led the feature in last year’s opener before coming ending the race in fourth. He finished 10th and fifth the following two nights, which set the foundation for a career-best third place finish in the 2004 World of Outlaws Sprint Series standings.

“We want to get our Outlaw season started on the right foot,” said Schatz, who will begin his ninth season as a full-time WoO racer. “Last year, we may have gotten a little burned out by the time the Outlaw races, and that’s another reason we are excited to be working with Gary. We’d like to win and have some good finishes in the three races, so we can return home feeling good about the trip.”

Keep up will all of details of Donny’s Australian Assault by logging onto www.donnyschatz.com and www.parker.com/racing.